Other Info and Reviews

With over 45 years of playing music under his belt Elvin Bishop may be starting to look a little long-in-the-tooth, but man can he still play that guitar of his. The title of his latest release isn’t lying when it says that, ‘Red Dog Speaks’. Red Dog is Elvin’s cherry red 1959 Gibson ES-345 guitar that’s pictured on the release’s cover.

The saying goes that after awhile people start looking like their animals, especially dogs. I think Elvin and his guitar share a lot of similarities and if he could be reincarnated as Red Dog I think that he would be a very happy man.

‘Red Dog Speaks’ is a combination of 5 original great story telling style songs from Elvin plus several songs from other greats like, Jimmy Cliff, Otis Spamm, and Leroy Carr.

The first track found on the album is also the releases title track, “Red Dog Speaks”. On the song Elvin talks lovingly about his guitar as if it was his child or best friend- probably both of which are true in his mind. And the fact that no matter where he went or what he did he always had ‘Red Dog’ at his side and still does today.

For me the title track, “Red Dog Speaks” alone makes this release worth buying but there’s so much more great music also found on it including, “Neighbor Neighbor”, an up tempo track about a nosey neighbor, “Fat & Sassy”, that offers up some nice horn work. Want some boogie in your music then get shaking to the instrumental track, “Barbecue Boogie”.

The track, “Blues Cruise”, brings one of my favorite styles of music to the party, Zydeco with special guest, Buckwheat Zydeco’s lively accordion playing. Also joining Elvin on the song are guitarist, Tommy Castro and Ronnie Baker Brooks. In the mood for some 50's Doo-Wop? Then give the track, “Doo-Wop Medley” a listen. “Clean Livin’”, is a nice story telling track.

Awhile back there was a popular country song with the line, ‘bad dog, no biscuit,’ Well Elvin’s ‘Red Dog’ deserves a whole truckload of biscuits for all of its ‘good dog’ playing found on this release.

Over the years Elvin Bishop has become a true American treasure with his many years spent performing great music and he shows no sign of letting up with the great guitar work and blues based music that’s found on his latest release, ‘Red Dog Speaks’.

C.W. Ross http://writercwross.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/elvin-bishop-red-dog-speaks/

Guitar master Elvin Bishop's new album 'Red Dog Speaks, ' celebrating his slide work, is out June 15 on Delta Groove Music. 'Red Dog Speaks' follows 2008's 'The Blues Rolls On, ' which earned him a GRAMMY nomination and four 2009 Blues Music Award nominations. 'Red Dog Speaks' features five new Bishop originals plus songs by Jimmy Cliff, Otis Spann, Leroy Carr, and others.

The title track tells the story of his '59 Gibson Stereo ES 345 guitar, nicknamed "Red Dog." The album proves full of hooks and humor as well, such as on Bishop's "Fat And Sassy." Buckwheat Zydeco lends his accordion to "Blues Cruise" which also features excellent guitar work by Tommy Castro and Ronnie Baker Brooks; the track was recorded live on the high seas. The traditional gospel tune "His Eye Is On The Sparrow" gets the Bishop slide treatment. He plays solo on "Clean Livin', " a reflection on his younger lifestyle and a highlight of the album.

Bishop is a slide guitar great with 45-years of blues under his belt. Rolling Stone has praised his "careening slide and razor-edged bursts, all delivered with unflagging enthusiasm and wit." He is a founding member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and recorded three groundbreaking albums with the group. After launching a solo career, Bishop's 1976 single "Fooled Around and Fell In Love, " still in heavy rotation on classic rock radio, reached number three on Billboard's Pop Singles chart, pushing the album 'Struttin' My Stuff' to number 18 on the Pop Albums chart. He has performed on recordings by John Lee Hooker, Bo Diddley, and The Allman Brothers Band, among many others. On stage, he's wielded his guitar to accompany the likes of John Lee Hooker, Jimi Hendrix, Big Joe Williams, Little Walter, Junior Wells, Albert Collins, Derek Trucks, Warren Haynes and many others. Blues Revue has called Bishop "head and shoulders - and slide guitar - above the rest."

Jazz News http://home.nestor.minsk.by/jazz/news/2010/04/1703.html

Tracklist

1. Red Dog Speaks 4:47
2. Neighbor Neighbor 3:07 
3. Fat & Sassy 4:34
4. Barbecue Boogie 2:45
5. Many Rivers to Cross 3:50
6. Blues Cruise 3:24
7. Doo-Wop Medley 3:59
8. Get Your Hand Out of My Pocket 2:55
9. His Eye Is on the Sparrow 3:29
10. Clean Livin' 2:42
11. Midnight Hour Blues 4:17

Listen To Samples Here

About Elvin Bishop

Remembered by many these days as a founding member of the groundbreaking Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Elvin Bishop has also tasted pop success with his 1976 smash hit “Fooled Around and Fell In Love.”  Bishop’s long and varied career has included other musical stops along the way as well, from deep down gutbucket blues played in smoky South Side Chicago taverns, to raucous roadhouse R&B, to rollicking good time rock & roll.  And at every stage along the way, he’s imbued all of his music with deep passion, a uniquely creative spirit, and more than a little bit of sly humor.

Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Elvin Bishop didn’t have much exposure to live music as a youngster.But his family had a radio, and in between the pop schmaltz and the C&W that ruled the airwaves in the 1950s, that radio could sometimes catch the legendary R&B programming beamed throughout the southern part of the U.S. at night by Nashville radio station WLAC.  That station introduced Bishop to the classic records of Jimmy Reed, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, and once his  ears had been hooked, there was no turning back for young Elvin.  He soon got his first guitar and on his own began scratching out the basic outlines of the blues, R&B and rock & roll that had captured his imagination.

By the time he was preparing to go to college in the late 1950s, Bishop had earned a National Merit Scholarship, allowing him to go to almost any school he chose – and there was only one choice on Elvin’s mind, the prestigious University of Chicago, which just happened to be located on Chicago’s South side, ground zero for much of the urban blues Elvin had been studying only from a distance. 

He arrived in Chicago in 1959, and before long crossed paths with a kindred spirit in Paul Butterfield.  Together, they explored the ghetto blues clubs in the black neighborhoods surrounding the university campus at a time when blues giants like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Howlin’ Wolf could be found playing in neighborhood joints on a weeknight.  Elvin soaked it all up, gaining impromptu lessons and invaluable stage time in front of discerning audiences, and forging a fluid yet powerful guitar style of his own.

By 1963, Bishop and Butterfield were ready to graduate – not necessarily from the university, but certainly from their apprenticeship under Chicago’s blues elders.  Recruiting Howlin’ Wolf’s former rhythm section of Sam Lay on drums and Jerome Arnold on bass, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was born.  In 1965, after adding Mike Bloomfield and Mark Naftalin to the lineup, their revolutionary debut LP was released, kicking open the door for virtually all the young white blues bands that followed.

Bishop remained in the fold for three albums with the Butterfield band, including their innovative “East-West” release (on which Bishop and Bloomfield’s intertwining guitars helped set the stage for the Allman Brothers Band among many others who followed), before venturing out on his own.  Elvin released four well-received albums on Epic Records in the early ‘70s, before joining Capricorn Records for a couple of LPs and experiencing his biggest pop success, the national hit “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” from his 1976 LP “Struttin’ My Stuff”.

As popular musical trends evolved, the recording projects tapered off, but road work kept Elvin busy through the ‘80s, and by the time he hooked up with Alligator in 1988, he was returning to his bluesy roots.  And that fertile territory has been his focus ever since.

Delta Groove Productions president Randy Chortkoff has been a fan and follower of Elvin’s music through all the many phases of his career, beginning with Butterfield Blues Band in the mid 1960s, so when the opportunity arose to bring Elvin into the Delta Groove fold, Chortkoff jumped at the opportunity.  The result was Elvin’s Grammy-nominated 2008 CD “The Blues Rolls On”, a project supported by an all-star cast of blues royalty featuring B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, George Thorogood, James Cotton, Kim Wilson, Tommy Castro, John Németh, Angela Strehli, plus many more.

Elvin’s brand new release “Red Dog Speaks”, his second on Delta Groove Music, is the exciting next step in his blues journey. Right out of the gate, Bishop leaves no doubt where his heart is, cleverly introducing his long-time cohort - a 1959 Gibson ES-345 that lovingly answers to the name of “Red Dog”, with a gritty slow blues calculated to set the pace for what’s to come. Along the way he smoothly steers the way from strutting blues and R&B, to a good dose of good-time rock & roll, and even an occasional detour through doo-wop, zydeco and gospel.  Elvin has made plenty of talented friends over the years, and many of them jumped at the chance to help out including John Nemeth, Buckwheat Zydeco, Roy Gaines, Tommy Castro, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Kid Andersen who all make guest appearances.  And all of it adds up to an amalgam that can only be called “Elvin Bishop music.”

Elvin Bishop sits in with John Nemeth and his band to celebrate the release of Mr. Nemeth's new album Love Me Tonight.

http://www.elvinbishopmusic.com/

http://www.myspace.com/elvinbishopmusic