From the East to the West with the Butterfield Blues Band

Photograph by William S. Harvey.

Paul Butterfield met guitarist Elvin Bishop at the University of Chicago, they began playing local gigs and eventually hired Howlin’ Wolf’s bassist and drummer Jerome Arnold and drummer Sam Lay away from his touring band to start The Butterfield Blues Band. Playing regularly Chicago club Big John’s, they met up with guitarist Mike Bloomfield, who joined the lineup at the advice of the future Doors producer Paul Rothchild, who helped A&R their recording contract with Elektra Records. East-West recorded in July 1966 and released in August, is the second studio album by the band and represents — not only a pinnacle of achievement for the band — but a turning point in the history of electric blues and rock.

East West Original Album Cover. The album was recorded at Chess Studios on 2120 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago. East West was the second album by The Butterfield Blues Band and it was released in 1966 on Elektra Records. The cover was photographed and designed by William S. Harvey.

While the album contains a mix of traditional blues songs — the title and last track runs for over thirteen minutes, which the band would play onstage for over an hour. Mike Bloomfield is quoted as saying: “ Pre-East-West I was listening to a lot of Coltrane, a lot of Ravi Shankar, and guys that played modal music. The idea wasn’t to see how far you could go harmonically, but to see how far you could go melodically or modally. And that’s what I was doing in East-West and I think…