Blues

Elvin Bishop Loves the Blues

Elvin Bishop hardly has blues roots. He was born in Glendale, CA and lived near Elliott, IA until he was ten, when his family moved to Tulsa. His community was all white. But there had radios, and Bishop fell in love with the blues through the airwaves.

Bishop was a good student. Indeed, he was a National Merit Scholar finalist and won a full scholarship to the University of Chicago. He studied physics, which perhaps came in hand in his guitar work later. Wikipedia and Bishop himself, in a video interview, say that his first exposure to live blues was in the Windy City.

It was perfect, in fact. Bishop said that the location of the university made it an island of learning in a sea of the blues. Bishop met blues harmonica player and fellow student Paul Butterfield. The two spent most of their time in the black neighborhoods where they heard the likes of Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Howlin’ Wolf.

Bishop joined The Paul Butterfield Blues Band where he remained for five years. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. Bishop then formed The Elvin Bishop Group, which featured Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield. A side note is that the group was on the bill when The Allman Brothers Band played their famous 1971 concerts at the Fillmore East in New York City.

Bishop’s biggest hits were “Travelin’ Shoes” and “Fooled Around and Fell in Love.” There is not a lot of good video available for either. There is good video of Bishop, however. Above is “Rock My Soul” and below is “Crazy ‘Bout You Baby.” They show his affection for gospel and jazz as well as the blues.

Wikipedia, Elvin Bishop’s website and Michael Erlewine’s profile at AllMusic were used to write this post. Homepage photo: Michael Sierra.

Our New Things: Links to Music Sites and Info on Analog Tech and Vinyl

TDMB has focused on music and musicians. We will continue to do that, of course. We're also expanding our coverage to include vinyl and analog equipment.

More specifically, we'll look at this huge and interesting world from the perspective of music lovers who want a better experience, not committed non-audiophiles.

Check out is some of what we've written so far:

-- Assessing the Value of Vinyl Records: An Overview

-- 7 Quick Tips on Optimizing Your Turntable Cartridge

-- Why Vinyl Records Continue to Thrive

-- Finding the Best Amplifier

-- Finding the Best Phono Preamp

-- What Speakers Do I Need for My Turntable?

Check out more articles on analog equipment and vinyl.

The site also is home to The Internet Music Mapping Project, an effort to list and describe as many music-related sites as possible.

Our Music

--A Tribe Called Quest to The Dick Hyman Trio (In other words, A to H)

--Indigo Girls to Queen Ida (I to Q)

--Radiohead to ZZ Top (R to Z)

Reading Music

The stories of the great bands and musicians are fascinating. Musicians as a group are brilliant, but often troubled. The combination of creativity and drama makes for great reading.

Here are some books to check out.

Duke Ellington brought class, sophistication and style to jazz which, until that point, was proudly unpolished and raucous. His story is profound. The author, Terry Teachout, also wrote "Pops," the acclaimed bio of Louis Armstrong. Click here or on the image.

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What else is there to say? Here is the story behind every song written by The Beatles. Click here or on the image.

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The Grateful Dead don't get enough credit for the profound nature of its lyrics. Many of the band's songs are driven by a deep and literate Americana ("I'm Uncle Sam/That's who I am/Been hidin' out/In a rock and roll band" and "Majordomo Billy Bojangles/Sit down and have a drink with me/What's this about Alabama/Keeps comin' back to me?").

David Dodd's exhaustive study tells the story, song by song. Click here or on the image.

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