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He Had Tiny Exposure To Live Music, But His Family Did Have A Radio, And In Between The Pop Hits Of The Day And Some Country Music That Ruled The Airwaves Of The 1950's, The Radio Would Sometimes Be Able To Capture The Legendary RB Programming Of 1510 / WLAC From Nashville.
With two latest CD releases "Red Dog Speaks" and "Elvin Bishop's Raisin' Hell Revue," as well as a Grammy designation for his 2008 disc "The Blues Rolls On," Elvin Bishop, who turned 69 years-old in October, has absolutely re-energized his career, a job that began in the early 1960's and is going robust more than 5 decades later on.
Born in Glendale, California, Elvin grew up on an Iowa farm. When he was ten his family moved to Tulsa. He had little exposure to onstage music, but his family did have a radio, and in between the pop hits of the day and some country music that dominated the airwaves of the 1950's, the radio would often be able to capture the mythical RB programming of 1510 / WLAC from Nashville. The station introduced Elvin to the classic records of Jimmy Reed, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters and so many others, and once his ears had been hooked, there wasn't any turning back. He shortly got his first guitar and on his very own began scratching out the basic outlines of the blues, RB and rock & roll that had caught his imagination.
He attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, winning a full grant to the College of Chicago us a Nationwide Merit Scholar finalist. On graduation, he moved to Chicago to attend college where he specialized in physics. The Varsity of Chicago was located on the city's South side, ground zero for a lot of the urban blues Elvin has been studying from a distance. In 1963 he met harmonica player Paul Butterfield and joined Butterfield's band, remaining for 5 years. The band's 3rd album, "The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw," takes its name from Bishop's nickname. His long time publishing company is known as Crabshaw Music.
In 1968 Elvin left the Butterfield Blues Band and formed the Elvin Bishop Group, signing with Bill Graham's Fillmore Records. He played on the album "The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper," and recorded three albums for the Fillmore label. In 1971 his band and the Allman Bros Band played a collection of concerts at the Fillmore East in New York, when the Allman's recorded their legendary live album, "At Fillmore East." Elvin joined the Allmans onstage for a rendition of his very own song, "Drunken Hearted Boy" during each show. Over time, Elvin has recorded with many other blues artists including Clifton Chenier, John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley and B.B. King.
Elvin signed with Capricorn Records in 1974 and The Elvin Bishop Band released 6 albums, getting massive airplay on the album-oriented rock radio stations of the day. In 1976, the band released the single, "Fooled Around and Slid in Love," which sold 1,000,000 copies and topped at No. 3 on the Poster advertisement charts. The tune was written by Elvin but sung by Mickey Thomas, the band's lead singer. The record was so big, the group even made an appearance on Dick Clark's "American Bandstand." Signing with Capricorn, the band was instantly piled into the Southern Rock genus and toured constantly with the Allmans, the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and the rest.
With the demise of Capricorn in 1980, Elvin was left searching for a new label home, and returned to his blues roots of his Chicago days and began playing more bare bones, tum bucket blues.
"I went thru a dry spell on the recording side, but I usually kept a good band," Elvin claimed by phone this week from his home in Lagunitas.
He found a pro home in 2008 when he recorded "The Blues Rolls On" for Delta Groove Music, a label based in Southern California. That release received his Grammy nomination, and Elvin attended the awards ceremony in Los Angeles "Pinetop Perkins was also nominated in that category," Elvin recollects, "and since we were staying at the same hotel, we decided to go to the awards show in a limo. On the way to the show, Pinetop decides he requires a burger, so we whip into the nearest McDonalds, and he gets out and comes back with a bag of burgers. It was a great night."
Nonetheless neither of them won the award. "It went to one of the typical suspects," Elvin claimed, "Either B.B. Or Buddy Guy, I can't remember, but we still had a good time."
The Legendary Blues Cruises are an entertaining course of action, according to Elvin. "You are on the ship for a week and all you need to do is three shows, and it is such a way to get to know other musicians," he asserts. "On the road, you are just passing one or two hours at a gig or on the road, but on the ship, you get to hang together for a week, and it really is a whole lot of fun."
His disc from the Blues Cruise, "Elvin Bishop's Raisin' Hell Revue" includes some Bishop classics like "Callin' All Cows," "The Night Time Is The Right Time," "What The Hell Is Goin' On," "Rock My Soul," "It Hurts Me Too" and his huge hit, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love."
Those songs and more will be performed on Saturday night at the Uptown Theatre in Napa. Tickets are $35 and you may be sure Elvin Bishop and his crack band will definitely rock your soul, writes tagza.com.
US $9.99
