Hi everyone, wow what a snowy week we’re having for it being March!
At least it is almost spring!
And as I forgot that Word Press doesn’t use U.S. time, the original unfinished version of this posting went out much earlier today — I apologize for that! Here is the complete version!
We’re on to week two of our look at the sub-category of our 2017 music theme, Sixties Rock, Blues Rock!
And as usual we’ll be offering suggestions of music you can listen to both by streaming it through the library’s digital Freegal Music Service* and by checking out albums available in the library’s compact disc collection.
Just as a reminder, our weekly music postings have the following sections:
I. Brief Artist Bios
II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week (streaming music)
III. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week
IV. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups
V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week (a print book that focuses on a musician, musicians, songwriters or other musical genres, styles etc. from any musical era)
VI. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).
Now that the preliminaries are out of the way, here are our spotlighted bands/musicians for this week:
The Butterfield Blues Band,
The Electric Flag
& Johnny Winters.
I. Brief Artist Bios:
The Butterfield Blues Band: The Butterfield Blues Band was formed in Chicago in 1964. The group was one of the young American bands responsible for bringing the sounds of Chicago Blues music to the attention of white Rock n’ Roll fans. By 1965 the group had its classic line-up of: Paul Butterfield on vocals and harmonica, Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield on guitars, Billy Davenport on drums, Jerome Arnold on bass and Mark Naftalin on keyboards.
Just prior to recording their first album, the group backed-up Bob Dylan’s during his famous gig at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival – where Dylan stunned folk fans by switching from playing an acoustic guitar to playing an electric guitar and being backed by a band playing electrified instruments. Bloomfield went on to play on Dylan’s classic Highway 61 Revisited album.
But I digress!
Getting back to the Butterfield Blues Band, the band played a great mixture of blues and blues rock with a bit folk and sixties rock vibes thrown in! The band’s first three albums are top notch! Those LPs are: 1. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, 2. East West and 3. The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw.
The group was together from 1964 to 1971. Butterfield and Bishop went on to solo careers. And Mike Bloomfield was a founding member of the short-lived but very worthy of mention, and listen, band – the Electric Flag before he too went on to a solo career.
The Electric Flag: Former Butterfield Blues Band guitarist Mike Bloomfield was the driving force behind The Electric Flag. His idea in forming The Electric Flag was to put a blues rock band together and include a horn section. In addition to Bloomfield, the band included Nick Graventies on vocals, Barry Goldberg on keyboards, Harvey Brooks on bass, Buddy Miles on drums and a horn section including Marcus Doubleday on trumpet, Peter Strauss on tenor sax and Herbie Rich on baritone sax. The group recorded two soundtracks and two albums in their short existence of which the best is their first studio album A Long Time Comin’, which one might describe as a psychedelic blues album.
Johnny Winter: Guitarist Johnny Winter was born in Beaumont Texas in 1944, followed two years later by his future songwriter and keyboard playing brother Edgar. Interestingly, both brothers were albino. Both brothers played the blues, although Edgar veered off onto other musical paths as well – and I mention Edgar because his music is worth a listen too.
Johnny Winter met with critical acclaim that brought him to the attention of a larger audience after his first album, Progressive Blues Experiment, received a glowing Rolling Stone review. Winter released two more great blues rock albums in the 1960s Second Winter and, despite its title, his third album simply called Johnny Winter. He continued to record and play concerts until his death on tour in 2014.
Freegal Notes:
To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link: http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/
The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display — it looks like this:
The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:
II. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:
1. The Butterfield Blues Band Freegal Recommendation: There aren’t any full length studio recordings of The Butterfield Blues Band in the Freegal Music Catalog. However, there are some songs by the group available in the catalog and a cool album by guitarist Mike Bloomfield that also features a few songs by The Butterfield Blues Band.
1. The Don’t Say That I Ain’t Your Man!-Essential Mike Bloomfield 1964-1969
The Mike Bloomfield album,The Don’t Say That I Ain’t Your Man!, is credited to Mike Bloomfield as a solo artist.
However, the album two songs he recorded with The Butterfield Blues Band as well as music he recorded throughout the the 1960s – both before and after his tenure with The Butterfield Blues Band.
Some of the earliest songs in the collection feature Bloomfield on vocals and he was a superb guitar player but not a super strong singer.
The two songs on the album that feature The Butterfield Blues Band are: Born in Chicago and Work Song.
Additional songs in the double album set include: I Got My Mojo Working, Killing Floor, Albert’s Suffle, It Takes Time and Don’t Think About It, Baby.
Here’s a link to stream the Don’t Say That I Ain’t Your Man! album:
https://goo.gl/PHZEEN
2. Born In Chicago by the Butterfield Blues Band from the compilation LP Monterey International Pop Festival (Live):
The second cool album I’m going to suggest from the Freegal Catalog, that features The Butterfield Blues Band, is titled Monterey International Pop Festival (Live).
The album features, and you guessed it, live performances by artists and groups that played at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band’s contribution is a live version of a song from their first album the previously mentioned titled Born in Chicago.
And granted, that is the only song by The Butterfield Blues Band on this set. However, the album is great fun to listen to, because, in addition to the Butterfield Blues Band, it features songs by a whole host of popular sixties artists including: Simon & Garfunkel, Big Brother and the Holding Company (with Janis Joplin), The Association, Eric Burdon and The Animals, The Who, Otis Redding, The Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe & The Fish, Booker T. & The MG’s and more.
Here’s a link to stream the Monterey International Pop Festival (Live) album:
https://goo.gl/HZezhe
And as a post script note on the Monterey Pop Festival album. I had actually forgotten how great the album and the video of the concert it came from both are, prior to doing this posting; as it has been a number of years since I’ve listened to the album and watched the video. So, in putting on my Acquisitions Librarian hat, I’ve ordered a copy of the DVD set The Complete Monterey Pop Festival from The Criterion Collection and it should be available to circulate soon!
The Electric Flag Freegal Recommendation:
A Long Time Comin’
The Freegal Catalog does feature the first horn-centric upbeat studio album by The Electric Flag – A Long Time Comin’. Songs on the album include: Killing Floor, Groovin’ Is Easy, Over-Lovin’ You, She Should Just Have, Wine, Texas, Stittin’ In Circles, You Don’t Realize, Another Country, Easy Rider, Sunny, Mystery, Look Into My Eyes and Going Down Slow – this is definitely a fun sixties blues rock album!
Here a link to stream the A Long Time Comin’ album:
https://goo.gl/Vck6nn
Johnny Winter Freegal Recommendation The Essential Johnny Winter Collection:
If you find you like the music of Johnny Winter, which reminds me a bit of ZZ Top’s music, then you are in luck! As there are many, many of his albums listed in the Freegal Music Catalog. I’m going to recommend two: The Essential Johnny Winter Collection, which features more than thirty songs from throughout Johnny’s career including: Rock Me Baby, Highway 61 Revisited, Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Johnny B. Goode and Rollin’ and Tumblin.
Here’s a link to stream the Essential Johnny Winter Collection:
https://goo.gl/i7LpVD
Johnny Winter – Second Freegal Recommendation – Second Winter:
And my second Freegal recommendation is Johnny Winter’s second album, 1969’s Second Winter. Second Winter too, is available in the Freegal Catalog. The album includes the songs: I’m Not Sure, Memory Pain, The Good Love, Slippin’ And Slidin,‘ I Love Everybody, Hustled Down in Texas and many more.
Here’s a link to stream Second Winter:
https://goo.gl/m48B3X
Freegal Wild Card Album Pick Of The Week:
The Essential Frank Sinatra, The Columbia Years:
I’m going to venture way off the Blues Rock path this week with my Wild Card Pick of the Week! I’m going to suggest a cool, kick-back and relax collection of songs by Frank Sinatra! The album is titled The Essential Frank Sinatra, The Columbia Years. This double album set features more than thirty songs including: All or Nothing At All, Night and Day, Blue Skies, Nancy (With The Laughing Face), When Your Lover Has Gone, Stormy Weather and many, many more from Sinatra’s early years. Check it out!
Here’s a link to stream the The Essential Frank Sinatra album: https://goo.gl/OUnx3O
III. Compact Discs Recommendations Of The Week:
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band CD Recommendations:
Our library owns three cool albums by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, their first three albums released in 1965, 1966 and 1967 respectivley: The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, East West & The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw. If you only have time to listen to one album by The Butterfield Blues Band, I’m going to suggest you listen to their first self-titled album The Butterfield Blues Band CD as it gives you a solid low-down on what the group sounds like.
The Butterfield Blues Band Album:
The Butterfield Blues Band album, also referred to as The Paul Butterfield Blues Band album, features the following songs: Born in Chicago, Shake Your Money-Maker, Blues with a Feeling, Thank You Mr. Poobah, I Got My Mojo Working, Mellow Down Easy, Screamin,” Our Love Is Drifiting, Mystery Train, Last Night and Look Over Younder Wall. It is a great Blues Rock album!
Here’s a link to request the The Butterfield Blues Band CD via StarCat:
https://goo.gl/KWAFOl
The Electric Flag CD Recommendation:
A Long Time Comin’
As with the Freegal recommendation, I’m going to recommend you listen to The Electric Flag’s first studio album A Long Time Comin’. Here’s a complete song list for the LP: Killing Floor, Groovin’ Is Easy, Over-Lovin’ You, She Should Have Just, Wine, Texas, Sittin’ In Circles, You Don’t Realize, Another Country, Easy Rider, Sunny, Mystery, Look Into My Eyes (Album Version) and Going Down Slow (Album Version).
Here’s a link to request A Long Time Comin’ on CD in StarCat:
https://goo.gl/hs14PB
Johnny Winter CD Recommendation:
Second Winter:
The library owns two CDs by Johnny Winter, Second Winter from 1969 and 1991’s Let Me In. If you only have time to listen to one CD by Winter – I recommend the 1969 double album Second Winter.
Here’s the complete song list for the double album set:
Disc 1: 1. Memory Pain 2. I’m Not Sure 3. The Good Love 4. Slippin’ And Slidin’ 5. Miss Ann 6. Johnny B. Goode 7. Highway 61 Revisited 8. I Love Everybody 9. Hustled Down in Texas 10. I Hate Everybody 11. Fast Life Rider 12. Early In The Morning and 13. Tell The Truth.
Disc 2: 1. Help Me 2. Johnny B. Goode 3. Mama Talk To Your Daughter 4. It’s My Own Fault 5. Black Cat Bone 6. Mean Town Blues 7. Tobacco Road 8. Frankenstein and 9. Tell The Truth
And here’s a link to the StarCat request page for the Second Winter CD:
https://goo.gl/ug8Dh1
Wild Card CD Pick Of The Week:
A Sailor’s Guide to Earth by Sturgill Simpson:
This album won the Grammy for Country Album of the year last month. The album is classified as country but is really a mixture of country, classic rock and folk with a few tinges of jazz thrown in for good measure. The album includes the songs: Welcome To Earth (Pollywog), Breakers Roar, Keep It Between The Lines, Sea Stories, In Bloom, Brace For Impact (Live A Little), All Around You, Oh Sarah and Call To Arms.
Here’s a link to an NPR review of the album:
https://goo.gl/XO0LqJ
And here’s a link to request the CD version of A Sailor’s Guide to Earth album via StarCat: https://goo.gl/Ox0GKJ
IV: Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:
The Butterfield Blues Band:
Driftin’ Blues – concert footage from the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival:
https://goo.gl/pqf84m
Born In Chicago from the 1965 Newport Folk Festival:
https://goo.gl/qzlSEh
The Electric Flag:
Goin’ Down Slow & Killing Floor – this clip isn’t a concert clip but features some great music and a slideshow of photos of the group:
https://goo.gl/6Srlh7
Johnny Winter:
Be Careful With A Fool from Danish TV circa 1970:
https://goo.gl/wBPbdN
V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:
Respect Yourself Stax Records And The Soul Explosion
by Robert Gordon:
In the late 1950s, Jim Stewart, and his sister, Estelle Axton, moved their little fledgling recording studio into the defunct Capitol Theater in Memphis, Tenn., opening their doors and establishing the record label that gave birth to gritty, funky soul music. A masterful storyteller, music historian Gordon (It Came from Memphis) artfully chronicles the rise and fall of one of America’s greatest music studios, situating the story of Stax within the cultural history of the 1960s in the South. Stewart, a fiddle player who knew he’d never make it in the music business himself, one day overheard a friend talking about producing music; he soon gave it a try, and eventually he was supervising the acclaimed producer Chips Moman in the studio as well as creating a business plan for the label; Estelle Axton set up a record shop in the lobby of the theater, selling the latest discs but also spinning music just recorded in the studio and gauging its market appeal. Gordon deftly narrates the stories of the many musicians who called Stax home, from Rufus Thomas, Carla Thomas, and Otis Redding to Isaac Hayes, Sam and Dave, and the Staples Singers, as well as the creative marketing and promotional strategies—the Stax-Volt Revue and Wattstax. By the early 1970s, bad business decisions and mangled personal relationships shuttered the doors of Stax. Today, the Stax sound permeates our lives and, in Gordon’s words, became the soundtrack for liberation, the song of triumph, the sound of the path toward freedom. -Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Here’s a link to the StarCat request page for the book Respect Yourself Stax Records And The Soul Explosion:
https://goo.gl/ZxvMzo
VI. General References & Artist Specific References:
General References:
The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)
Blacks and Whites Made the Blues ‘Born in Chicago’ Tells of Titans Who Taught Young Protegés by Larry Rohter (JULY 25, 2013)
Blues Who’s Who: A Biographical Dictionary of Blues Singers by Sheldon Harris. (Da Capo. New York. 1991).
Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide by Robert Santelli (Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.)
Sturgill Simpson: A Sailor’s Guide to Earth: Nashville rebel pens a song cycle to his son that’s full of soulful left-field brilliance
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/sturgill-simpson-a-sailors-guide-to-earth-20160414
Artist Of The Week Specific References:
Electric Flag Biography by Richie Unterberger
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/electric-flag-mn0000135829/biography
Johnny Winter Artist Biography by William Ruhlmann
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/johnny-winter-mn0000819983/biography
Johnny Winter, Virtuosic Blues Guitarist, Dies at 70 by Ben Sisario (JULY 17, 2014)
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/18/arts/music/johnny-winter-dies-at-70-virtuosic-blues-guitarist.html
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band Biography by Steve Leggett
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-paul-butterfield-blues-band-mn0000016835/discography
Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL
P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713
*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and including our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York. Library cards are free and at our library you can obtain one by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features both your name and your current address.
