Customer Reviews

Tribute to Paul Butterfield

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When Patrick Ford decided that he wanted to do a tribute album to Paul Butterfield, he called his family, Robben, Mark and Gabriel together with harpist Andy Just, Bassist Dewayne Pate and various other musicians and began sifting through Butterfields first six releases to find songs to cover. The 12 songs selected, some better known than others, are said to best demonstrate both the style and diversity of Butterfield and his band. I suppose to Butterfield fans that may well be a subject for debate. Some may ask, for example, where is "Born in Chicago" or "Two Trains Running".

Notwithstanding the eventual selection of songs, the Fords pull off what they set out to achieve. An original sounding CD that recalls Butterfield in his heyday and the Ford bands performance is nothing short of excellent. Listen to the harp playing in "Screamin" and "Everything's Gonna Be Alright", and the harp, guitar and piano solo's on "Work Song". They're enough to send chills down your spine and "Mary Mary" is dead on. If there is a short coming, it is, oddly enough, in one of the most covered blues numbers, "Good Morning Little School Girl". Perhaps it's been covered so many times that it has lost all sense of originality. Otherwise, it's a solid effort from a family that knows how to play the blues.

This is the album/cd that Robben was born to make. If you like the blues, blues-rock, Robben, or hell if you just like music, YOU MUST HAVE this cd. It includes plenty of Robben's trademark amazing guitar work, as well as, all around great musicianship and vocals. Upbeat, toe-tappin', goodtime, rockin' blues (Screamin', One More Heartache, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, No Amount of Loving, Mary Mary, Work Song, Buddy's Advice, All These Blues, Everything's Gonna Be Alright) mixed in with just enough slow, tear-your-heart-out blues (Last Hopes Gone, In My Own Dream, Tollin' Bells) to keep it real. Get this cd, you won't be disappointed!...

I can't think of a more qualified band playing today to lay down a tribute to probably the best white blues band in history. The Ford Blues Band is probably the most talented and underappreciated blues band out there. They really poured their musical skills into this, with the most popular of the Ford brothers, Robben leading the way. The song selection isn't bad here either. With 2 of my favorites off their classic East-West album "Mary Mary", and a scorching 6 minute version of the instrumental "Work Song", where harp, piano, and guitar all meet and get their tasty licks in. A couple other favorites here is "One More Heartache", which has one of the best grooves on the album, that builds up to a fired up horn blast that's flat out funky. This is one of Butterfield's alltime best songs. And they do a very respectable version of "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", a great blues song I never tire of. What I particularly like about this cd is the democratic playing, where everybody gets equal time soloing. This is a top rate tribute all the way, that comes highly recommended.

I run an online radio station playing all blues harp music, so my interest began with the harp player, Andy Just. These songs are really, really good. Sure, they're not Butterfield exactly, who could ever completely duplicate the great Paul Butterfield, but the Ford Blues Band totally rocks. Rather than being just a rock band, as somebody said above, they tend more toward jazz, if you ask me. This is a tribute to Butterfield just like Stevie Ray Vauhgn playing Hendrix's Little Wing - not totally Hendrix, but stamped with Stevie Ray's own style, of course, The Ford Blues Band is really excellent in these recordings, which I am listening to as I write this, and because of the uniqueness of the CD, I am able to put up both Butterfield and cuts from the Ford CD in the same program. Different, but both excellent. Why not buy both the Butterfield CD AND this CD? Sorry to repeat myself, but this CD rocks!!!

I have long been a fan of the Robben Ford school of guitar playing which to my ears has the funkiness of the blues with more extended harmonies. My taste for his great guitar playing led me to his Charles Ford band work which is a band built around Robben, his brothers and some stellar musicians. I must add that Mark Ford is one of my favorite blues harp players and deserves to be heard. Check out the The Charles Ford band reunion if you need convincing. This is a really nice collection of tunes that covers a lot of the different styles of the Paul Butterfield band which is no small feat as Butterfield was versatile if nothing else. Also, there is plenty of soulfulness and the reverence in which the Ford brothers hold Paul Butterfield's music is evident. The harmonica work is amazing, the guitar playing is as always stellar. On the off side, they do not really have a really good singer in the bunch so the vocals are not quite up to the excellent level but then again I never thought these guys were going to sound as vocally strong as Howlin Wolf or Muddy. They are functional singers at best but the musicianship is first rate and a must have for any serious Butterfield fan.

As other reviewers note, these Butterfield covers don't have the freshness and ferocity of the originals. But this is still a good listenable blues album with the Robben Ford sound. Not his best album, and not as good as the best of Paul Butterfield or Best of Mike Bloomfield cds.

I bought this album along with the Ford band's tribute to M. Bloomfield. Both are excellent, but I like the Butterfield one more based on the strength of the material. Butterfield was a stronger writer and arranger than Bloomfield.

I was given the opportunity to see the band that recorded these two albums, including Chris Cain and the horn section, once in Santa Cruz and once in S.F. What a great experience. Al Cooper joined them at the S.F Blues Festival. These cats LOVE the blues and more-so, understand the contribution that B& B made to the genre. I also saw Butterfield and Bloomfield live at the Fillmore and Winterland respectively (Butterfield Blues Band without Bloomfield (but had Bishop!) and the Electric Flag) so I know what the real deal was.

Of course, the original material by the BBBB is "better" in some ways (I rate "East-West" as one of the best albums ever made and cannot understand how Rolling Stone magazine's panel left it off of the "Greatest 500 Albums" list they just published), but why not own them both! The Ford Band pays homage to the original AND I like to hear the songs done slightly differently. Kind of like hearing the Beatles Anthology (I heard the originals so many times, the "new" versions were a real ear-opener).

I was intrigued when I saw this was available. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band was one of the best blues/rock bands bar none when Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop were in the band. Robben Ford is the highlight of this disk. His playing is slightly more rock oriented than the playing of either Bloomfield or Bishop but is still interesting. The disk is split between straight blues material and later more R&B based material (with horn sections) from the albums after Bloomfield left the band. While the vocals and harmonica are not as strong as Butterfield's own, the disk none the less catches fire due to Ford. My favorite cuts include "Screamin'", "Work Song", "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" and the moody "Last Hopes Gone". The takes on "Mary Mary" and "All These Blues" are also effective. On the down side, takes on a number of Butterfield's signature cuts like "Born In Chicago", "East-West" and "Loving Cup" were not included for some reason. While not as good as the original versions, Ford brings enough skill and energy to make this tribute enjoyable. If you like this tribute pick up the double disk Paul Butterfield Blues Band Anthology: The Elektra Years, the original versions of most of the tracks on this tribute disk are included on that compilation.

This cd is a great tribute to one of the the best harp players I have ever heard. Paul would enjoy this one!!!!!!!!

When the Butterfield Blues came out with one of the greatest, ahead of its time, blues album, "EAST WEST", even with the "caveman" type recording equipment they had available, compared to today, it sounded way better than this! I happen to own an original vinyl album, and it still sounds better than this. If you're hungry for "Paul Butterfield and the Butterfield Blues", don't buy this, there are digitally re-mastered greatest hits CD's available, and Shaq, "The King Of The World Blues Reviewer", will be reviewing it in the coming weeks. I've always wondered, why someone re-does something, if it isn't as good or better than the original? Like "Oceans Eleven" the movie. If you were going to rebuild the "STATUE OF LIBERTY", you wouldn't use Popsicle sticks, you'd use gold!