Evil tongues predicted the end of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band when the guitar virtuoso Mike Bloomfield left the group to form Electric Flag. However, the ensemble actually expanded, now including a horn section which added a more jazzy sound, while Chicago blues remained as a basis. Elvin Bishop took on the role of lead guitarist and his nickname was adopted as the name of the album. Butterfield himself played the harmonica and sang, while his band grew together to form one of the most cohesive formations of their time. Butterfield’s best-known song "One More Heartache" opens the album, which in the meantime has undoubtedly become a blues-rock classic with superb harmonica and a catchy beat that is driven onwards by the top-notch horns. "Driftin’ & Driftin’" is a further well-known piece that carries on for over nine minutes; here the brass sob and sigh while Sanborn delivers a brilliant solo performance in the choruses. In addition to cover versions by B. T. Jones "Born Under A Bad Sign", Otis Rush "Double Trouble" and Roosevelt Sykes "Drivin’ Wheel", two compositions by Butterfield are included : "Run Out Of Time" and the somewhat psychedelic "Tollin’ Bells" where Bishop’s guitar and Naftalin’s floating keyboard conjure up a haunting feeling. The stunning pastiche cover, a nod to the flower power era of those times, completes this release, which marks a new phase in the career of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band that would endure for a long time.

This Speakers Corner LP was remastered using pure analogue components only, from the master tapes through to the cutting head. More information under http://www.pure-analogue.com. All royalties and mechanical rights have been paid.

Recording : 1967 by Ray Hagerty
Production : John Court