Search - Butterfield Blues Band :: Live

Timeless from the Master of the Blues Harp

John S. Holmes | Spokane, WA USA | 06/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Saw Butter several times, remember some, and always left in a cathartic state. This CD, or maybe the MP3 version with unreleased gems, is a must for any fan. Have listened to this version of Driftin' and Driftin' hundreds of times during the past 40 years and still go back to it for the joy of listening to the master at work."

Butterfield Live

Jerry | Chico, CA | 01/10/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was at this show. What an experience to see Paul Butterfield on an inspired night. Sadly, as it shows on the album, there was hardly 75 people there. What a loss for all of us when he left us."

Great Blues Funk!

John Palmer | Scarsdale, NY United States | 03/20/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I had this album on vinyl 35 years ago and loved it. But it became unplayable, wasn't re-issued and wasn't converted to CD for the longest time. I can't tell you how many times I checked. I'd given up hope until I happened to try again today. So, I bought it and will soon be re-united with this great live set of music once again.



While I love PB's harp tone, I've never been a big fan of most of the guitar-driven, Bloomfield-centric bands he's played in. I have nothing against Mike Bloomfield or Elvin Bishop. They're both great guitar players and Bloomfield, especially suits the original "Chicago School" sound.



The sound I prefer is a blues great backed by a soul band. The first to do this that I know of was Albert King on "Born Under a Bad Sign." He used Booker T and the M.G.'s -- the house band for STAX records: Sam and Dave, Otis Redding, etc. The blues over funk really works for me.



The 70's was great for these kinds of albums: Elvin Bishop (a former P.B. lead guitarist) did one called "Raisin' Hell." Edgar Winter did one with White Trash called "Roadwork." Those are both great albums. Eventually, you get to the Blues Brothers and the great funk band Paul Schaffer put together for them, including Steve Cropper and Duck Dunn from Booker T and the M.G.'s. What goes around.....



For me, "Butterfield Blues Band Live" is much closer to the Albert King album I mentioned earlier. In fact, Paul's earlier Pigboy Crabshaw album introduced his horn/R&B direction and included the tune "Born Under a Band Sign." Perhaps it was Albert et all that inspired Paul's shift from a Chicago sound to a Memphis sound.



With respect to the other blues/funk albums, Butterfield Blues Band Live is much more genuine and authentic sounding then the albums I mentioned above. The funk is much more 60's STAX than 70's Tower of Power. Nothing at all against Tower of Power (or White Trash for that matter). It's just a "feel" thing.



An extra added feature is the inclusion of some jazz touches: moments of swing, some hard bop chord changes. The credits are a little sketchy on the subject, but it may be that David Sanborn, the great altoist, was on the bandstand when this was recorded. Steve Madaio, who would later play with Stevie Wonder was also there. Suffice to say that the horn section not only riffs well, but they also add their own high-quality jams to the proceedings.



So if you like any of the albums mentioned above or if you're into STAX or soul jazz I think you'll love this one. Buy it and in the words of the song, "Everything's Gonna Be Alright.""