The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

A band bearing Paul Butterfield’s name need not be heard as a single musician with accompaniment. Born in Chicago immediately supplies a compact entrance, but the instrumental Thank You Mr. Poobah later changes what occupies the foreground. Keep the bass and drums in attention when harmonica or guitar steps forward. Their continuing movement helps explain why this is an ensemble record.

The 1965 Elektra debut features Butterfield on vocals and harmonica, Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop on guitars, Mark Naftalin on organ, Jerome Arnold on bass and Sam Lay on drums, with Paul Rothchild producing. Bloomfield’s official discography specifically identifies Lay as the singer on I Got My Mojo Working. The leader’s name therefore does not establish the vocalist or writer of every selection.

Different spans within a compact programme

Nick Gravenites wrote the opening Born in Chicago. After Shake Your Money-Maker, the longer Blues with a Feeling asks for a different sense of proportion. Follow the instrumental replies around a vocal phrase and the rhythm preparing the next one. Duration need not mean simply adding more solo time; a band can distribute movement differently while retaining its recognizable instrumentation.

Let the instrumental change your attention

Thank You Mr. Poobah removes the need to follow a lyric. Attend to exchanges between instruments, including the organ rather than only the most prominent harmonica and guitar. Compare it with Screamin’ later in the sequence. Similar personnel do not make two instrumentals interchangeable. You can hear a changing relationship between foreground and support without assigning every brief gesture to a particular player.

Inherited material in a particular sequence

Songs such as Mellow Down Easy and Mystery Train sit alongside contributions from band members. Their presence is not evidence that electric blues began here: the musicians were engaging an existing tradition. Hear how this group organizes it. Leave Last Night and Look Over Yonders Wall in place at the end, allowing the eleven concise performances to vary their density and manner of closing.