The Paul Butterfield Blues Band: Live

Elektra

Butterfield is one of those eternal enigmas in blues; a white man. Well, I don't intend to argue the case for white blues, in fact I don't much care. Butterfield grew in Chicargo and was listening to blues in Negro bars from his early years. He played with people like Buddy Guy and Muddy Waters, and when his own band was started most of its members had similar backgrounds. None of which proves that Paul Butterfield can play the blues, but he, at least has more claim than alienated Englishmen living in tree houses.

The present album is approximately Butterfield's fifth. His style has changed over the years. His first album was very hard and rough Chicargo blues, and following this he performed much the same function in the resurgence of interest in blues that Mayall did in England. Butterfield's was among the first of American electric bands to begin using a horn section, and, again like Mayall, a large part of Butterfield's success stems from getting together excellent side men and making them a tight unit. Butterfield has never had the trouble with his horn sections that leaders like Mayall had (i.e. unrestrained blowing as relief from continual riffs) and one suspects he is quite a disciplinarian. The horn section in the band now is not brilliant, but makes no mistakes and often is reminiscent of the horn sound of Chicago. Gene Dinwiddie, who at one time played bass with the band now is on tenor sax, is surprisingly good, and on one track So far, So good launches into an arhtthmie, atonal solo that is rather like John Coltrane and is very good indeed. Generally, with the exception of Dinwiddie and possibly George Davidson, the drummer, this band is not a band of virtuosi. The sideman are very adequate, making no errors, but of course this is all Butterfield needs to build on.

The album is, of course, live and this is a great help to any blues band. The audience here is very responsive, and my only complaint is that the engineering and production don't quite convey the power of the band. The horn section sounds a little washed out, and the bass is rather squelched.

Now, the dreaded track by track analysis. This is a double album, and few double L.P's ever manage to have consistently good material on every track. Of ten tracks here two are pretty mediocre and far better left out (in my opinion). Anyway the first track is Everything Going to be Alright which opens with the heavily aggressive and masculine Butterfield harp - he is a brilliant harmonica player and makes most other white harp players sound weak, cliched and prissy. Love Diserre now a Butterfield standard, follows and the hand whips easily through the difficult rhythums of this song. Driftin and Driftin a slow blues classic, follows and this has a fab-gas-gear harp solo of 2-3 minutes by Butterfield, again a powerful performance. Number Nine on side three is an exciting (truly!) up-tempo jump number, and the standard page break Born Under a Bad sign is given a subtle and restrained treatment that is a vast improvement on the Cream version.

Follwing this is the most interesting side four. The first track, Get Together Again was written by Butterfield and consists of his playing electric piano in a repetitive rhythmic riff, with handclaps in the background, and singing of;

So you think your jorney is coming to an end Its just the beginning friend.

The paino is vaguely country blues in style, and the singing vaguely gospel but the whole thing is very clever and moving and shows surprising lyrical sophistication. Dinwiddie's sax solo on So Far, So Good has already been mentioned, but it's interesting that this blues band doesn't need to confine itself to strict forum.

I couldn't really class this as an essential album for people interested in any kind of good music, bit if you like blues or soul I'd say it was essential, and if you have some spare bread it's a good buy. You'll note that I've cunningly avoided deciding whether whiteman can play de blues.

The Northumbrian Thug.