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In the mid-1960s Elvin Bishop was one of the guitarists in
Paul Butterfield Band, the reigning blues band on
the Chicago scene.
He wrote his first "drinking blues", Drunk Again, for
In My Own Dream (1968) and then he quit.
On his own, Bishop played blues-rock with a southern-boogie accent
and a sense of humour.
Elvin Bishop (Fillmore, 1969),
Feel It (Epic, 1970),
and Rock My Soul (Epic, 1971) were pleasant but unremarkable.
After relocating to Georgia, Let It Flow (Capricorn, 1974),
heralded a more commercial, soulful sound
(Travelin' Shoes), that peaked with
Juke Joint Jump (Capricorn, 1975) and its title-track,
and eventually yielded the hit ballad Fooled Around And Fell In Love,
from Struttin' My Stuff (Capricorn, 1976),
featuring con Mickey Thomas on vocals.
Hometown Boy Makes Good (Capricorn, 1976),
Hog Heaven (Capricorn, 1978),
Is You Is (Line, 1981)
were as laid-back and generic as the previous ones.
Big Fun (Alligator, 1988),
Don't Let the Bossman Get You Down (Alligator, 1991),
Ace in the Hole (Alligator, 1995),
Skin I'm In (Alligator, 1998)
showed a youthful Bishop returning to his sardonic blues style.
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(Translated by Ornella C. Grannis)
A meta' degli anni 60 Elvin Bishop era una delle due chitarre
della Paul Butterfield Band, la regina delle blues band sulla
scena di Chicago. Scrisse il suo primo "drinking blues", Drunk
Again, per In My Own Dream (1968), poi lascio' il gruppo. Da
solo, Bishop suonava il blues-rock con senso di umorismo e
accenni di southern-boogie. Elvin Bishop (Fillmore, 1969), Feel
It (Epic, 1970), and Rock My Soul (Epic, 1971) sono abum piacevoli
ma ordinari.
Dopo essersi trasferito nella Georgia incise Let It Flow (Capricorn,
1974), un album che annunciava un suono piu' commerciale e piu' soul
(Travelin' Shoes), che raggiunse l'apice con Juke Joint Jump (Capricorn,
1975) che contiene il brano omonimo. Struttin' My Stuff (Capricorn, 1976),
contiene la ballata di successo Fooled Around And Fell In Love cantata
da Mickey Thomas. Hometown Boy Makes Good (Capricorn, 1976), Hog Heaven
(Capricorn, 1978) e Is You Is (Line, 1981) sono album rilassati e generici
come i precedenti.
Big Fun (Alligator, 1988), Don't Let the Bossman Get You Down (Alligator,
1991), Ace in the Hole (Alligator, 1995), Skin I'm In (Alligator, 1998) ci
regalano un Bishop ringiovanito che ritorna al blues nel suo stile
sardonico.
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