Elvin Bishop
Elvin Bishop | |
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Background information | |
Also known as |
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Born | Glendale, California, U.S. | October 21, 1942
Origin | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1963–present |
Labels | |
Formerly of | The Paul Butterfield Blues Band |
Website | www |
Elvin Bishop (born October 21, 1942)[1] is an American blues and rock music singer, guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 2015, and in the Blues Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2016.
Early life and education
Bishop was born in Glendale, California, the son of Mylda (Kleege) and Elvin Bishop Sr.[2] He grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was 10. There he attended Will Rogers High School, winning a full scholarship to the University of Chicago as a National Merit Scholar. He moved to Chicago in 1960 to attend the university, where he majored in physics.
Career
In 1963, Bishop met harmonica player Paul Butterfield in the neighborhood of Hyde Park, joined Butterfield's blues band, and remained with them for five years. Bishop was originally Butterfield's only guitarist, but was later joined by Mike Bloomfield, who largely assumed the lead guitar role for the band's classic first two albums. After Bloomfield departed, the Butterfield Band's third album, The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw, took its name from Bishop's nickname and his renewed role as lead guitarist.[1] Bishop recorded a fourth album, In My Own Dream, with Butterfield, his last with the band, in 1968.[3]
During his time with the Butterfield Blues Band, Bishop met blues guitarist Louis Myers at a show. Bishop persuaded Myers to trade his Gibson ES-345 for Bishop's Telecaster. Bishop liked the Gibson so much he never gave it back and has used it throughout his career. Bishop has nicknamed his Gibson ES-345 "Red Dog," a name he got from a roadie for the Allman Brothers Band.[4]
In 1968, he went solo and formed the Elvin Bishop Group, also performing with Bloomfield and Al Kooper on their album titled The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper. The group signed with Fillmore Records, which was owned by Bill Graham, who also owned the Fillmore music venues.[5]
Bishop sat in with the Grateful Dead on June 8, 1969, at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. He opened the second set with the lengthy blues jam "Turn on Your Lovelight" without Pigpen or Jerry. He played two more songs with the Dead, "The Things I Used to Do" and "Who's Lovin' You Tonight."[6]
In March 1971, The Elvin Bishop Group and
Bishop made an impression on
During the 1960s and 1970s he recorded for the Fillmore, Epic and Capricorn labels.[3]
Bishop appeared at the 1984 Long Beach Blues Festival. In 1988, he signed with Alligator Records and released Big Fun featuring Whit Lehnberg & The Carptones, 1991's Don't Let the Bossman Get You Down!, 1995's Ace in the Hole, 1998's The Skin I'm In and That's My Partner (2000), on which he paired with an early Chicago blues teacher, Little Smokey Smothers. He later revisited Smothers in the studio, where the two recorded another album in 2009, Little Smokey Smothers & Elvin Bishop: Chicago Blues Buddies.
Bishop was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998.
In 2005, Bishop released his first new solo CD in seven years, Gettin' My Groove Back.[8] In 2008, Bishop released The Blues Rolls On, on September 23, 2008, switching labels to Delta Groove Music. He was supported by Tommy Castro, James Cotton, Warren Haynes, B.B. King, Derek Trucks, George Thorogood, Kim Wilson, John Németh and Angela Strehli. The album was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. In 2010, Bishop released Red Dog Speaks.
His first live concert DVD, That's My Thing: Elvin Bishop Live in Concert, was recorded live at the Club Fox in
In April 2015, Bishop was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as an original member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
In November 2017, his album Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. The Grammy was won by The Rolling Stones for Blue and Lonesome.[11]
In November 2021, his album with Charlie Musselwhite, 100 Years of Blues, received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. Bishop lost to Cedric Burnside for his album I Be Trying.[12]
Personal life
Bishop's daughter Selina and ex-wife Jennifer Villarin were murdered along with three other victims in an August 2000 crime spree.
In popular culture
Charlie Daniels mentions Bishop in his 1975 song "The South's Gonna Do It", with the lyric, "Elvin Bishop sittin' on a bale of hay; he ain't good lookin', but he sure can play." Bishop, on his 1974 album Let it Flow, had previously mentioned Charlie Daniels. Molly Hatchet also references Bishop in their 1978 song "Gator Country", with the lyrics, "Elvin Bishop out struttin' his stuff with little Miss Slick Titty Boom, I'm goin' back to the Gator Country and get me some elbow room."
"Fooled Around and Fell in Love" was included in the soundtrack album for
Discography
Studio albums
Year | Album | US[16]
|
CA[17] | Label |
---|---|---|---|---|
1969 | The Elvin Bishop Group | — | — | Fillmore |
1970 | Feel It! | — | — | |
1972 | Rock My Soul | — | — | Epic |
1974 | Let It Flow | 100 | — | Capricorn |
1975 | Juke Joint Jump | 46 | 53 | |
1975 | Struttin' My Stuff | 18 | 22 | |
1976 | Hometown Boy Makes Good! | 70 | — | |
1978 | Hog Heaven | — | — | |
1981 | Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby | — | — | Line |
1988 | Big Fun | — | — | Alligator |
1991 | Don't Let the Bossman Get You Down! | — | — | |
1995 | Ace in the Hole | — | — | |
1998 | The Skin I'm In | — | — | |
2005 | Gettin' My Groove Back | — | Blind Pig | |
2008 | The Blues Rolls On | — | Delta Groove | |
2009 | Chicago Blues Buddies (with Little Smokey Smothers) | — | Blackderby | |
2010 | Red Dog Speaks | — | Delta Groove | |
2012 | She Puts Me In The Mood | — | Blues Boulevard | |
2014 | Can't Even Do Wrong Right | — | Alligator | |
2017 | Elvin Bishop's Big Fun Trio | — | ||
2018 | Something Smells Funky 'Round Here | — | ||
2020 | 100 Years of Blues (with Charlie Musselwhite)[18] | — |
Live albums
Year | Album | US[16]
|
CA[17] | Label |
---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Raisin' Hell | 38 | 62 | Capricorn |
2000 | That’s My Partner! (with Little Smokey Smothers) | — | — | Alligator |
2001 | King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents in Concert | — | — | |
2007 | Booty Bumpin | — | — | Blind Pig |
2011 | Elvin Bishop's Raisin' Hell Revue | — | — | Delta Groove |
Compilation albums
- The Best of Elvin Bishop: Crabshaw Rising (1975)
- Sure Feels Good: The Best of Elvin Bishop (1992)
- The Best of Elvin Bishop: Tulsa Shuffle (1994)
- Party Till the Cows Come Home (Arcadia, 2004)
Chart singles
Year | Single | US[19] | UK[20] |
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1974 | "Travelin' Shoes" | 61 | — |
1975 | "Sure Feels Good" | 83 | — |
1976 | "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" | 3 | 34 |
"Struttin' My Stuff" | 68 | — | |
"Spend Some Time" | 93 | — |
See also
- List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States
References
- ^ a b c Michael Erlewine. "Elvin Bishop – Biography – AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "Bishop, Elvin | Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture". Okhistory.org. October 21, 1942. Retrieved November 3, 2015.
- ^ ISBN 1-85227-745-9.
- ^ Calvin Powers (October 6, 2014). "Ep#214 Elvin Bishop isn't playing football – Interview and music". Americana Music Show Podcast. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "Fillmore Records". Rock and Roll Road Map. Archived from the original on October 16, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2011.
- ^ "Grateful Dead Live at Fillmore West on 1969-06-08 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive". Archive.org. June 8, 1969. Retrieved February 18, 2013.
- ^ "Elvin Bishop". Answers.com. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "Elvin Bishop". Blind Pig Records. Retrieved March 19, 2017.
- ^ "The Blues Foundation". Blues.org. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ "2015 Blues Music Awards Winners". Americanbluesscene.com. Archived from the original on May 19, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
- ^ "Winners & Nominees 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards (2017)". Grammy.com. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
- ^ "2022 GRAMMYs Awards Show: Complete Winners & Nominations List". Grammy.com. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
- ^ "Elvin Bishop's Daughter, Ex-wife Murdered". VH1 News. August 10, 2000. Archived from the original on August 28, 2012. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ^ Gale, Ivan (August 7, 2003). "Selina Bishop Murderer Admits She's Guilty". Point Reyes Light. Archived from the original on January 5, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2015.
- ISBN 978-0425219744.
- ^ a b "Elvin Bishop". Billboard. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ^ a b Canada, Library and Archives (July 17, 2013). "Results: RPM Weekly". Bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ 100 Years of Blues - Elvin Bishop, Charlie Musselwhite | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic, retrieved April 7, 2022
- ^ "Elvin Bishop - Billboard". Billboard.com.
- ^ "Elvin Bishop - full Official Chart History". Officialcharts.com.
Further reading
- Westhoven, William, "Interview: Elvin Bishop and his “Red Dog” Gibson ES-345 — Together Almost 50 Years", Guitar World, July 10, 2011