East-West

Paul Butterfield Blues Band: Paul Butterfield (vocals, harmonica); Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop (guitar); Mark Naftalin (piano, organ); Jerome Arnold (bass); Billy Davenport (drums).Producers: Paul A. Rothchild, Mark Abramson, Barry Friedman.Includes liner notes by Paul Nelson.The raw immediacy and tight instrumental attack of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's self-titled debut album were startling and impressive in 1965, but the following year, the group significantly upped the ante with its second LP, East-West. The debut showed that Butterfield and his bandmates could cut tough, authentic blues (not a given for an integrated band during the era in which fans were still debating if a white boy could play the blues) with the energy of rock & roll, but East-West was a far more ambitious set, with the band showing an effective command of jazz, Indian raga, and garagey proto-psychedelia as well as razor-sharp electric blues. Butterfield was the frontman, and his harp work was fierce