January 7, 2003
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Elvin Bishop Group (Sundazed) If god gave a shit about music, heaven would stage a trial rivaling Nuremberg for those complicit in launching the white "blues" scene of the 1960s. It was a time when cries of "tell the truth" filled nightclubs, dance halls, and high school gyms coast to coast; when 22-year-old white guitarists who couldn't bend a note bent their faces into blues-style grimaces instead as their bands determinedly pounded through Howlin' Wolf and B.B. King covers at top volume. The era produced as much bad music as any decade in pop history along with a few – and only a few – good players, Duane Allman, Eric Clapton, Danny Kalb, Mike Bloomfield, and Elvin Bishop among them. Bloomfield and Bishop were original members of the Chicago-based Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which was miles better than the rest of the pack and hugely influential. Bloomfield and Bishop could be terrific, and when Bishop left the band and headed out to the coast, 1969's The Elvin Bishop Band was his coming-out party. Let it be said that Bishop plays his ass off and the band is airtight (which wasn't the rule back then). Unfortunately, Bishop can't sing the blues, which didn't stop him from trying (it was his band, after all), and I nearly tossed the CD out my car window yesterday, cursing producer David Rubinson for letting it happen. Bishop covers up by clowning around, which makes matters worse. If you've got the stomach for it, look for nice guitar work on "The Things That I Used to Do," "Tulsa Shuffle," and especially "Prisoner of Love." Sundazed has also reissued Bishop's next two albums, Rock My Soul and Feel It. The latter features Jo Baker on vocals, and all things considered, I'd start there. (J.H. Tompkins) |
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