CD-Charts Position 1
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Paul Butterfield Blues Band, the/East-West

by: Paul Butterfield

Release Date October 15, 2001
The Butterfield Band's debut album from 1965 was traditional Muddy Waters-style Chicago blues but played with real power and authenticity that was miles ahead of any British band. It's hard to imagine now the impact it made at the time but I remember my jaw literally dropping when I heard the tough, forceful sound of "Born in Chicago" for the first time. Butterfield's harp is very much to fore in many of the tracks and he gets a great thick, dirty wedge of sound that again no British player could get anywhere near. It's very much an ensemble record when compared to say Mayall/Clapton's Bluesbreakers Beano album, featuring wonderful songs by Elmore James, Little Walter and Junior Parker.

East/West was much more experimental ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
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East-West Live

by: Paul Butterfield

Release Date November 14, 1996
The Butterfield Band's debut album from 1965 was traditional Muddy Waters-style Chicago blues but played with real power and authenticity that was miles ahead of any British band. It's hard to imagine now the impact it made at the time but I remember my jaw literally dropping when I heard the tough, forceful sound of "Born in Chicago" for the first time. Butterfield's harp is very much to fore in many of the tracks and he gets a great thick, dirty wedge of sound that again no British player could get anywhere near. It's very much an ensemble record when compared to say Mayall/Clapton's Bluesbreakers Beano album, featuring wonderful songs by Elmore James, Little Walter and Junior Parker.

East/West was much more experimental ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

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The Paul Butterfield Blues Band

by: Paul Butterfield

Release Date October 27, 1994
The Butterfield Band's debut album from 1965 was traditional Muddy Waters-style Chicago blues but played with real power and authenticity that was miles ahead of any British band. It's hard to imagine now the impact it made at the time but I remember my jaw literally dropping when I heard the tough, forceful sound of "Born in Chicago" for the first time. Butterfield's harp is very much to the fore in many of the tracks and he gets a great thick, dirty wedge of sound that again no British player could get anywhere near. It's very much an ensemble record, played in an uncompromising traditional style and featuring wonderful songs by Elmore James, Little Walter and Junior Parker.

Although Butterfield didn't mean a great deal in Britain, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
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It All Comes Back

by: Paul Butterfield's Better Days

Release Date March 01, 1993
The Butterfield Band's debut album from 1965 was traditional Muddy Waters-style Chicago blues but played with real power and authenticity that was miles ahead of any British band. It's hard to imagine now the impact it made at the time but I remember my jaw literally dropping when I heard the tough, forceful sound of "Born in Chicago" for the first time. Butterfield's harp is very much to the fore in many of the tracks and he gets a great thick, dirty wedge of sound that again no British player could get anywhere near. It's very much an ensemble record, played in an uncompromising traditional style and featuring wonderful songs by Elmore James, Little Walter and Junior Parker.

Although Butterfield didn't mean a great deal in Britain, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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Sometimes I Just Feel Like Smilin'

by: Paul Butterfield

Release Date November 27, 2006
The Butterfield Band's debut album from 1965 was traditional Muddy Waters-style Chicago blues but played with real power and authenticity that was miles ahead of any British band. It's hard to imagine now the impact it made at the time but I remember my jaw literally dropping when I heard the tough, forceful sound of "Born in Chicago" for the first time. Butterfield's harp is very much to the fore in many of the tracks and he gets a great thick, dirty wedge of sound that again no British player could get anywhere near. It's very much an ensemble record, played in an uncompromising traditional style and featuring wonderful songs by Elmore James, Little Walter and Junior Parker.

Although Butterfield didn't mean a great deal in Britain, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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The Paul Butterfield Blues Band [VINYL]

by: Paul Butterfield

Release Date October 22, 2001
The Butterfield Band's debut album from 1965 was traditional Muddy Waters-style Chicago blues but played with real power and authenticity that was miles ahead of any British band. It's hard to imagine now the impact it made at the time but I remember my jaw literally dropping when I heard the tough, forceful sound of "Born in Chicago" for the first time. Butterfield's harp is very much to the fore in many of the tracks and he gets a great thick, dirty wedge of sound that again no British player could get anywhere near. It's very much an ensemble record, played in an uncompromising traditional style and featuring wonderful songs by Elmore James, Little Walter and Junior Parker.

Although Butterfield didn't mean a great deal in Britain, ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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East-West

by: Paul Butterfield

Release Date March 11, 1993
Hard to believe now but in the mid-60s the two great white hopes of blues guitar were Clapton in the UK and Mike Bloomfield in the US. Both started as traditional blues players but by 1966 Clapton had joined Cream and Bloomer and Butter released this offering.

If the Butterfield Band's debut album had been traditional Muddy Waters-style Chicago blues, this one was much more experimental and varied. It did contain traditional blues in the shape of good versions of Muddy's "Two trains running" and Robert Johnson's "Walking blues" but also more souly Bobby Bland-style numbers like Allen Tousaint's "Get out my life woman" and "I got a mind to give up living" - the style which Butterfield would use on his next couple of albums. There was also ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 8
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The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw / In My Own Dream

by: Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Release Date August 16, 2004
For these two albums, the BBB added a generous dose of horns which gave their music an extra dimension. On 'Pigboy Crabshaw', the effect varies according to style. 'Run Out Of Time', for example, is uptempo and funky, while the superb, epic 'Driftin' and Driftin' is smoky. There's some great harmonica on this too, while the organ adds atmosphere. The bass drum motif makes the eerie 'Tollin' Bells' especially distinct, while 'Double Trouble' is another highlight.

Whereas 'Pigboy Crabshaw' relies heavily on outside material, 'In My Own Dream' is mostly the band's own work. 'Last Hope's Gone' is a twisting, brooding song which sees the band moving toward a more jazz-inflected approach, but 'Get Yourself Together' is straight r&b and 'Just To ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
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The Original Lost Elektra Sessions

by: Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Paul Butterfield

Release Date
Even though this page only lists five tracks, "The Original Lost Electra Sessions" is not an EP, it's a 19-track CD.

All but one of these 19 tracks were recorded in December, 1964, as Paul Butterfield's projected first LP, but the results were (inexplicably) scrapped and replaced by the band's official self-titled debut, cut a few months later.

With both Sam Lay, Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield already onboard, these sessions are very similar in feel to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's first album. It's perhaps a little bit rawer in production and performance, but not really worse or different than what ended up on the actual debut LP.

Dedicated primarily to electric Chicago blues standards, it opens with a somewhat ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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An Anthology: The Elektra Years

by: Paul Butterfield Blues Band

Release Date January 20, 1998
Even though this page only lists five tracks, "The Original Lost Electra Sessions" is not an EP, it's a 19-track CD.

All but one of these 19 tracks were recorded in December, 1964, as Paul Butterfield's projected first LP, but the results were (inexplicably) scrapped and replaced by the band's official self-titled debut, cut a few months later.

With both Sam Lay, Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield already onboard, these sessions are very similar in feel to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's first album. It's perhaps a little bit rawer in production and performance, but not really worse or different than what ended up on the actual debut LP.

Dedicated primarily to electric Chicago blues standards, it opens with a somewhat ... Read More: