Paul Butterfield was the first white harmonica player to develop a style original and powerful enough to place him in the pantheon of true blues greats. It's impossible to overestimate the importance of the doors Butterfield opened: before he came to prominence, white American musicians treated the blues with cautious respect, afraid of coming off as inauthentic. Not only did Butterfield clear the way for white musicians to build upon blues tradition (instead of merely replicating it), but his storming sound was a major catalyst in bringing electric Chicago blues to white audiences who'd previously considered acoustic Delta blues the only really genuine article.
His initial recordings from the mid-'60s -- featuring the legendary, racially integrated first edition of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band -- were eclectic, groundbreaking offerings that fused electric blues with rock roll, psychedelia, jazz, and even (on the classic ) Indian classical music. As members of that band -- which included and -- drifted away, the overall impact of Butterfield's music lessened, even if his amplified harp playing was still beyond reproach. He had largely faded from the scene by the mid-'70s, and fell prey to health problems and drug addiction that sadly claimed his life prematurely.
Even so, the enormity of Butterfield's initial impact ensured that his legacy was already secure.
Butterfield was born December 17, 1942, in Chicago and grew up in Hyde Park, a liberal, integrated area on the city's South Side. His father, a lawyer, and mother, a painter, encouraged Butterfield's musical studies from a young age, and he took flute lessons up through high school, with the first-chair flutist in the
By this time, however, Butterfield was growing interested in the blues music that permeated the South Side; he and college-age friend (a future singer, guitarist, and songwriter in his own right) began hitting the area blues clubs in 1957. Butterfield was inspired to take up guitar and harmonica, and he and began playing together on college campuses around the Midwest. After being forced to turn down a track scholarship to Brown University because of a knee injury, Butterfield entered the University of Illinois-Chicago, where he met a fellow white blues fan in guitarist .
Butterfield was evolving into a decent singer, and not long after meeting , he focused all his musical energy on the harmonica, developing his technique (mostly on diatonic harp, not chromatic) and tone; he soon dropped out of college to pursue music full-time.
After some intense woodshedding, Butterfield and began making the rounds of the South Side's blues clubs, sitting in whenever they could. They were often the only whites present, but were quickly accepted because of their enthusiasm and skill.
In 1963, the North Side club Big John's offered Butterfield's band a residency; he'd already recruited 's rhythm section -- bassist Jerome Arnold and drummer -- by offering more money, and replaced original guitarist Smokey Smothers with his friend . The new quartet made an instant splash with their hard-driving versions of Chicago blues standards. In late 1964, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was discovered by producer , and after adding lead guitarist , they signed to Elektra and recorded several sessions for a debut album, the results of which were later scrapped.
At first, there was friction between Butterfield and , since the harmonica man patterned his bandleading style after taskmasters like and ; after a few months, though, their respect for each other's musical skills won out, and they began sitting in together at blues clubs around the city. A song from their aborted first session, the -penned "Born in Chicago," was included on the Elektra sampler Folksong '65 and created a strong buzz about the band. In the summer of 1965, they re-entered the studio for a second crack at their debut album, adding organist as a permanent sixth member during the sessions.
In the meantime, they were booked to play that year's Newport Folk Festival. When witnessed their well-received performance at an urban blues workshop during the festival, he recruited Butterfield's band to back him for part of his own set later that evening. Roundly booed by acoustic purists, 's plugged-in performance with the Butterfield Band ultimately shook the folk world to its foundations, kickstarting an electric folk-rock movement that effectively spelled the end of the traditionalist folk revival.
On the heels of their historic performance at Newport, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band released their self-titled debut album later in 1965. Now regarded as a classic, the LP caused quite a stir among white blues fans who had never heard electric Chicago-style blues performed by anyone besides British blues-rock groups. Not only did it sow the seeds of a thousand bar bands, but it also helped introduce more white listeners to the band's influences, especially and .
Toward the end of 1965, drummer fell ill and was replaced by the jazz-trained , whose rhythmic agility and sophistication soon made him a permanent member. He was particularly useful since Butterfield was pushing to expand the band's sound, aided by 's growing interest in Eastern music, especially . Their growing eclecticism manifested itself on their second album, 1966's , which remains their greatest achievement.
The title cut was a lengthy instrumental suite incorporating blues, jazz, rock, psychedelia, and raga; although it became their signature statement, the rest of the album was equally inspired, perhaps due in part to Butterfield's more relaxed, democratic approach to bandleading.
Unfortunately, left the band at the height of its success in 1967, and formed a new group called with , which aspired to take 's eclecticism even further. moved into the lead guitar slot for the band's third album, 1967's (a reference to 's nickname).
Displaying a greater soul influence, the album also featured a new rhythm section in bassist Bugsy Maugh and drummer Phil Wilson, plus a horn section that included a young . proved to be the closing point of the Butterfield Band's glory days; the 1968 follow-up, , was uneven in its songwriting and focus, and both and left the band before year's end. Still hoping for a breakout commercial hit, Elektra brought in producer/songwriter , a longtime R B professional, which marked the first time they'd asserted control over a Butterfield recording.
That didn't sit well with Butterfield, who wanted to move in a jazzier direction than 's radio-friendly style allowed; the result, 1969's , was another inconsistent outing, despite the return of and an injection of energy from the band's new guitarist, 19-year-old Buzzy Feiten. 1969 wasn't a washout for Butterfield, though; his band was still popular enough to make the bill at Woodstock, and he also took part in an all-star session dubbed , which showcased the Chicago giant's influence on the new generation of bluesmen and greatly broadened his audience.
After 1970's and the following year's studio effort , Butterfield broke up his band and parted ways with Elektra.
Tired of all the touring and personnel turnover, he retreated to the communal atmosphere of Woodstock, still a musicians' haven in the early '70s, and in 1971 formed a new group eventually dubbed Better Days. Guitarist and drummer Chris Parker were the first to join, and with folk duo and in tow, the band was initially fleshed out by organist and bassist John Kahn, both from San Francisco. Sans , this aggregation worked on the soundtrack of the film , but and Kahn soon returned to the Bay Area, and were replaced by New Orleans pianist and bassist Billy Rich.
This lineup -- with back, plus contributions from singer/songwriter -- released the group's first album, , in 1972 on Butterfield manager 's new Bearsville label. While it didn't quite match up to Butterfield's earliest efforts, it did return him to critical favor. A follow-up, , was released in 1973 to positive response, and in 1975 he backed once again on , the last LP release ever on Chess.
Butterfield subsequently pursued a solo career, with diminishing returns. His -produced solo debut, , appeared in 1976, but failed to impress many: his harmonica playing was pushed away from the spotlight, and the material was erratic at best. The same year, he appeared in 's farewell concert film, The Last Waltz.
Over the next few years, Butterfield mostly confined himself to session work; he attempted a comeback in 1981 with legendary Memphis soul producer , but the sessions -- released as -- were burdened by synthesizers and weak material. By this time, Butterfield's health was in decline; years of heavy drinking were beginning to catch up to him, and he also contracted peritonitis, a painful intestinal condition. At some point -- none of his friends knew quite when -- Butterfield also developed an addiction to heroin; he'd been stridently opposed to it as a bandleader, leading to speculation that he was trying to ease his peritonitis symptoms.
He began to play more gigs in Los Angeles during the early '80s, and eventually relocated there permanently; he also toured on a limited basis during the mid-'80s, and in 1986 released his final album, . However, his addiction was bankrupting him, and in the past half-decade he'd seen , , and manager pass away, each loss leaving him shaken. On May 4, 1987, Butterfield himself died of a drug overdose; he was not quite 45 years old.
~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide player and singer, and one of the earliest style.
Paul Butterfield, a lawyer’s son, was born and grew up in . After studying classical flute as a teen, he developed a love for the blues harmonica, and hooked up with white, blues-loving, University of Chicago band with Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay (both of 's band).
In 1963, a watershed event in introducing blues to white America occurred when this racially mixed ensemble was made the house band at the Chicago blues club Big John’s. Butterfield was still underage, (as was Mike Bloomfield, who was already working there in his own band).
as lead guitarist.
Their original debut album was scrapped, then re-recorded after the addition of organist . Finally, their self-titled debut, , was released in . It had an immediate impact, serving as a wakeup call for a generation of musicians.
Prior to the summer of 1965, the Beatles’ music (and much of the rest of the British Invasion) was the stuff of screaming kids. Serious musical aficionados viewed it as “bubblegum.” The music of the “hip,” “in,” college crowd, along with the trend-setting musical elite, was folk music and acoustic protest songs, as played by folk’s king and queen, and .
And folk music’s Mecca was the annual . At the Newport Folk Festival of 1965, Dylan closed the music establishment.
Davenport took over on drums.
The Butterfield Band's second album, ( ) reflected the music scene's interest in sitar great and other Eastern musicians. It was also critically acclaimed.
These two albums are essential from a music-history perspective.
With the release of The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, in an instant, the image of blues as 'old time music' was gone. Butterfield's band introduced modern 'Chicago-style' blues to mainstream white audiences. It alerted the music scene to what was coming, taught American rockers the blues and how to play an improvised, extended solo.
In addition, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a root of (acid) rock is the genuine fusion of Eastern and Western music styles in Butterfield's At the height of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's success, Mike Bloomfield formed with and Bishop began playing lead guitar for ( ). The album showed that Butterfield was moving to another musical direction, what with the horn section and a soulful, R B-influenced groove. The album included , the Butterfield band's commercial successes.
After 's release In My Own Dream, both and left at the end of the year. Billy Davenport and new Keep On Moving which was received coolly by the music press. Though the Butterfield band was floundering commercially, it was still popular enough to play at the Butterfield's Better Days and It All Comes Back in and , respectively.
Though both were far from commercial successes, both albums were received well by critics. The late and early saw Butterfield as a solo act and a session musician doing television appearances every now and then and releasing a couple of albums to a small and devoted cult following. Paul Butterfield died in from a drug and alcohol overdose.
The dramatic impact on the course of rock roll by the Butterfield Blues Band with the release of their first album, “The Paul Butterfield Blues Band,” and the song “Born In Chicago,” in particular, was pivotal.
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