Bman's Blues Report

I just had the opportunity to review the most recent release, The James Montgomery Blues Band , from James Montgomery and it's a cranking homage to Paul Butterfield. Opening with funky rocker, One More Heartache , Montgomery blows the doors open with his always powerful harp, backed by George McCann on guitar, David Hull on bass and Jeff Thompson on drums and punched up by the Uptown Horns including Crispin Cloe on sax, Larry Etkin on trumpet, Arno Hecht on sax and Bob Funk on trombone. Super opener. Nick Gravenites' Born In Chicago gets a bit more bounce that Nick's original and McCann sports a real nice guitar solo opening the way for Montgomery's harp solo. Very cool. Little Walter's Blues With A Feeling is solid and Montgomery's vocals are raw and gritty. I particularly like the tight guitar work by McCann on this track giving it a casual pace along with stinging riffs. Young Woman's Love just has that snap making it sit solid on your foot. McCan...

Paul Butterfield (17 December 1942 – 4 May 1987) was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival. He died of drug-related heart failure. The son of a lawyer, Paul Butterfield was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood. He attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a private school associated with the University of Chicago. After studying classical flute with Walfrid Kujala of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a teenager, he developed a love for the blues harmonica, and hooked up with white, blues-loving, University of Chicago physics student Elvin Bishop. The pair started hanging around black blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and Otis Rush. Butterfield and Bishop soon formed a band with Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay, both hired away from the touring band of Howlin' Wolf. In 1963, the r...

Paul Butterfield (17 December 1942 – 4 May 1987) was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival. He died of drug-related heart failure. The son of a lawyer, Paul Butterfield was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the city's Hyde Park neighborhood. He was born and raised Jewish. He attended the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, a private school associated with the University of Chicago. After studying classical flute with Walfrid Kujala of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a teenager, he developed a love for the blues harmonica, and hooked up with white, blues-loving, University of Chicago physics student Elvin Bishop. The pair started hanging around black blues musicians such as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and Otis Rush. Butterfield and Bishop soon formed a band with Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay, both hired away from the touring band o...

The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko (bass guitar, double bass, fiddle, trombone, vocals), Garth Hudson (keyboard instruments, saxophones, trumpet), Richard Manuel (piano, drums, baritone saxophone, vocals), Robbie Robertson (guitar, vocals), and Levon Helm (drums, mandolin, guitar, vocals). All five members were notable musicians in their own right. The members of the Band first came together as they joined rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins's backing group, The Hawks, one by one between 1958 and 1963. Upon leaving Hawkins in 1964, they were briefly known as the Levon Helm Sextet with sax player Jerry Penfound being the sixth member, then Levon and the Hawks after Penfound's departure. In 1965, they released a single on Ware Records under the name Canadian Squires, but returned as Levon and the Hawks for a recording session for Atco later in 1965. At about the same time, Bob Dylan recruited Helm and Robertson for ...

Great old footage of Mr. Son House. I just love to listen to him talk. Son House was as straightforward a blues player as there ever was. He reminds me of a friend that I had as a child. It's nice to see the juxtaposition with he and Mike Bloomfield. It's great always to see him play and of course to see the early Paul Butterfield Band playing with Bloomfield playing a tele rather than his signature Les Paul that he became famous for and Elvin Bishop with his red 345. If you don't know the Butterfield Band stuff..you owe it to yourself. If you do... make sure you check out the Bloomfield/Al Kooper set as well. There is some terrific stuff there! Enjoy Get Facebook support for your favorite band or venue - click HERE