FILLMORE '70 "FEEL IT" Elvin Bishop BUTTERFIELD REFLECTED S.F. SOUND BLUES ROCK

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    ORIGINAL 1970 (((TOP COPY)))  FIRST PRESS       ..|/\|...............................................|/\|..                          
= the ELVIN BISHOP GROUP =     
                     "FEEL IT"                 ..|/\|...............................................|/\|..                            USA - FILLMORE RECORDS -  Z 30239

TOPS!

Original 1970 first press on the FILLMORE Record label owned by the legendary Bay Area concert promoter Bill Graham.
The SCARCE second Elvin Bishop steamy BLUES ROCK band reflects the sound of the times, throwback to '60s era Butterfield Blues Group. There is plenty to like about this obscurity, first and foremost it is inn TOP condition!

For those of us growing up in the late 60s in California, one of the staples of the era was the Elvin Bishop Group. Sometimes it all comes together, a confluence of events, people and time. Just maybe this LP was it for Bishop, though he would make a zillion dollars with his "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" hot a few years later.
Released in 1970 (Fillmore Z 30239), it was the end of flower power, although no one knew it at the time. Janis Joplin would die that year, Jim Morrison of the Doors would be dead in 1971 a year later. The Vietnam War was still raging.

This LP is a great example of the sound Bishop created after coming to San Francisco from Chicago (as a founding member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band).

Bishop’s blues roots, combined with his new situation in San Francisco was also very fortune to be a part of promoter Bill Graham’s cadre of artists. Like most of his later work, there are some strong blues-rock songs, but it is balanced with a deeper, darker tone that must have come from his blues background and exposure to San Francisco. Later in his career he would turn more towards good time rock.

Maybe not always fitting neatly into the "sound of San Francisco" back in 1970. "Party Till The Cows Come Home" is a bit of anthem for fans of Bishop. Lyrically, the title sounds like it should have come from Nashville. Instead it’s a party timer that isn’t country, but solidly the kind of BLUES-rock that BISHOP would become best known for. Good fun, with a heavier beat and a Hammond B3 adding a sound that was never associated with the Ol’ Opry House.

Party is followed by a somewhat Santana-influenced "Hogbottom" (Chepito Areas and Mike Cababello, both of Santana, are the percussionists on this tune). The title even sounds like Bishop, but this time the sound is more in line with the bands he was surrounded by at the time. A bit of swamp rock mixed up with late 60s guitar styles; add a healthy dose of exotic percussion, that’s Hogbottom. Not a trace of Chicago blues here.

Side two closes as a showcase for Jo Baker’s vocals on the dark, soulful blues, "As The Years Go Passing By." The female talent, Jo Baker had one hell of a voice. A bit of a deep roots belter, with a lotta soul. Chris Cobb, owner of San Francisco’s Real Guitars shop, who worked with Baker advised:::: “The reason Jo left this band was that she and Elvin were unable to make their relationship work and work together in his band too,” --- “They were boyfriend and girlfriend for a long time but both were very volatile, talented people and add all the alcohol and drugs going around then to the mix and there you go" Jo never said a bad word about Elvin and he was probably the love of her life. She went on to play in a popular Bay Area Band called Stoneground for many years after the Elvin Bishop Group.”

Jo Baker died in November 1996 after a few years of illness. A real tragedy that she died so young.

Elsewherre on this album: Bishop's solo is dynamically constrained on "As The Years Go By" -- his let-it-loose while playing live kind of sound. The recording quality of this LP is compressed and lacking the dynamics you’d love to hear from Bishop’s live band. The group just isn’t in your living room the way you’d like. I wonder if the recording engineer asked them to tone it down, or perhaps in the mastering process he munched down the dynamics. Bishop’s live set on Fillmore: The Last Days ( highly recommended, see listing to follow) is just the opposite; it’s full of life and jumps outta the speakers.

Don’t Fight It (Feel It), the opening song, is a good blues rock timer that fits neatly into the Bishop style. That B3 Hammond is there again. The guitar solo is short, but it’s classic Bishop, with sliding blues notes that are all Chicago, but wishing this solo went longer. Edgy vocals by Stephen Miller (he is also the Hammond B3 guy), aided by Jo Baker. WE can see the audience at Graham’s Fillmore West dancing all over this one, although this studio version sounds a little scripted in advance. Potentially wishing this was a live LP, with Wally Heider doing the remote.

Pointer Sisters Anita, June and Patricia do what they do best, harmonize the lead vocals on "I Just Can’t Go On." This sounds like Bishop again, it’s bluesy, New Orleans and yet San Francisco of the late 60s, too. Bishop double tracks his guitar solo.

Overal this LP is =solid= blues rock ...and the listener just can't help but rock  through all the tracks on both sides with this cat.
 A Don't Fight It 3:11

 I Just Can't Go On 3:38

 So Good 7:38

 Crazy 'Bout You Baby 3:15

 So Fine 2:40

B Party Till the Cows Come Home 2:22

 Hogbottom 6:47

 Be With Me 4:08

 As the Years Go Passing By 4:05

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                 CONDITION: The cover: rated: M- totally clean, a great 48 years past artifact ...flat & square with 4 sharp corners. There are no delete marks, no split seams, no bends, and no writing  ...

The vinyl: Rated: M- shiny clean all over and plays fantastic for a 48 year old relic! Both FILLMORE labels are clean                  
      A cool addition to anyone's music library!






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