The Butterfield Blues Band - East-West
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Free Music Notes for East-West
Free Music Review: Bloomfield is brilliant and Butterfield is on fire.
Hit: 5 Stars
The title track "East-West" is something which can not be described and must be heard. Upon my introduction to this piece I instantly recognized the brilliance of Mike Bloomfield, definetly one of the most underrated guitarists of all time. What first struck me about the composition "East-West" was its incorporation of the styles of Ravi Shankar and John Coltrane, two musicians whose brilliance and insightfulness are unquestionable. Bloomfield ability to translates their ideas into the blues-rock medium is astounding. He breaks new ground, no one had ever gone in that direction before. What is even more astounding is that both Shankar and Coltrane were contemporaries of Bloomfield and their innovations were recent, not age old compositions and recordings studied and brought out from the vault. Bloomfield recognized the brilliance of his contemporaries and embraced the ideas they were testing, daring to bring music into an unexplored region. His awareness of these men can not be overlooked, he possessed a great ear and an analytical mind and what this gave to the music world is unprecedented.
"East-West" is a landmark album because of this composition. It would have been enough to have the incisive and fiery playing of Butterfield and his modern interpretations of old blues standards like "Walkin' Blues," but the album does not stop there. "Work Song" is incredible and establishes Butterfield as a virtuoso. Cannonball Adderley recorded a stunning version of this standard on the saxophone and both tunes, when juxtaposed, provide two equally trenchant perspectives, both revealing the possibilities of the song. Everyone knows the range of the saxophone and the abilities of Adderley, Butterfield propels the harmonica to that level. Never before has the harmonica's range been expanded so far and the power of the instrument come to stand out in the open.
Every musician in the band brings a flair to the recording and "Work Song" and "East-West" are the perfect forum for the realization of their talents. This album is a musicians' album and at its best moments, is brilliant.
Free Music Review: classic album still turns ears
Hit: 5 Stars
I discovered this album as a 16 year old in 1984. I still find it an enchanting and challenging album 15 years later. The title track is one of the few psychedelic relics that hasn't aged one iota. Bloomfield and Bishop are in my mind still the two greatest white blues guitarists from America. And Butterfield himself, well, John Popper of Blues Traveller isn't fit to wipe the sweat from his brow. Butterfield was, and is, the most innovative white harp player ever. The songs themselves range from pop (Mary, Mary) to hardcore blues (Walking Blues) to the title track's psychedelia. Very few albums range this far and wide this effectively.Free Music Review: This album (circa 1966) sounds as if was recorded yesterday
Hit: 5 Stars
I first listened to this album in 1972 -- six years after it was first recorded. It was my first introduction to the Chicago blues (although, at the time, I would not have known the difference between the Memphis Blues, the Chicago Blues and the color blue). Predictably, given the times, I was most impressed by "East West," which had a kind of psychdelic tinge to it.Since then, I have listened to a lot of blues -- B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Lightning Hopkins, Bessie Smith, Robert Johnson -- and, although I do pretend to have any expertise, I began to appreciate the blues. In any event, I completely forgot about the Butterfield Blues Band.
Then, recently, while browsing through the used CD stacks at my local music store, I happened upon the album and, recalling it fondly, purchased it for $5.95.
The album still sounds as fresh and as innovative as the first time I heard it more than a quarter-century ago. Although I still like "East West," now (at age 45) I am more impressed with "Work Song," "I got a Mind to Give Up Living" and "Never Say No." Mike Bloomfield truly is the foremost white blues guitarist of all times. And, although Paul Butterfield may lack the virtuosity of John Popper of Blues Traveller, he has more soul.