Elvin Bishop
Encyclopedia
Elvin Bishop is an American
blues
and rock and roll
musician
and guitar
ist.
, California
, and grew up on a farm near Elliott
, Iowa
. His family moved to Tulsa
, Oklahoma
, when he was ten years old. There he attended Will Rogers High School
, winning a full scholarship to the University of Chicago
as a National Merit Scholar
finalist. Upon graduation, he moved to Chicago in 1960 to attend school, where he majored in physics
. In 1963, he met harmonica
player Paul Butterfield
in the neighborhood of Hyde Park
and joined Butterfield's blues
band
, with whom he remained for five years. Their third album
, The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw
, takes its name from Bishop's nickname. 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 music venues of the same name.
In March 1971, The Elvin Bishop Group and The Allman Brothers Band
co-billed a series of concerts at the Fillmore East
. Bishop joined The Allman Brothers Band onstage for a rendition of his own song, "Drunken Hearted Boy". Over the years, Bishop has recorded with many other blues artists including Clifton Chenier
and John Lee Hooker
. In late 1975, he played guitar for a couple of tracks on Bo Diddley
's The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll album, and in 1995, he toured with B.B. King.
Bishop made an impression on album-oriented rock
FM radio stations with "Travelin' Shoes" in 1975, but a year later, in 1976, Bishop released his most memorable single
, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love
", which peaked at #3 in the U.S.
Billboard Hot 100
chart
(and #34 in the UK charts). The recording featured vocalist Mickey Thomas and drummer
Donny Baldwin
who both later joined Jefferson Starship
. The song was featured in the films Summer of Sam
, Boogie Nights
, The Devil's Rejects
, and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
Bishop feels that the limitations of his voice have helped his songwriting.
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 2000's That's My Partner, 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's Alligator Records releases have been consistently well conceived.
In 2005, Bishop released his first new CD in five years, Gettin' My Groove Back. In 2008, Bishop released The Blues Roles On, on September 23, 2008, switching labels to Delta Groove Music
. He was supported by B. B. King, Warren Haynes
, Derek Trucks
, George Thorogood
, James Cotton
, Kim Wilson
, Tommy Castro
, John Nemeth and Angela Strehli
. The album was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album
. In 2010, Bishop released Red Dog Speaks.
, "Bishop, her mother Jenny Villarin, and a friend of Villarin, James Gamble, were murdered as part of an elaborate scheme to extort $100,000 from elderly Concord, California
residents Ivan and Annette Stineman".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
ist.
Career
Bishop was born in GlendaleGlendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and grew up on a farm near Elliott
Elliott, Iowa
Elliott is a city in Montgomery County, Iowa, United States, along the East Nishnabotna River. The population was 402 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Elliott is located at ....
, Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
. His family moved to Tulsa
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, when he was ten years old. There he attended Will Rogers High School
Will Rogers High School
Will Rogers High School, located on 3909 E. 5th Place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was built by Tulsa Public Schools in 1939 using WPA workers and designed by Joseph R. Koberling, Jr. and Leon B. Senter. It was named for the humorist Will Rogers, who died in 1935 along with Wiley Post in a plane crash...
, winning a full scholarship to the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
as a National Merit Scholar
National Merit Scholarship Program
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and college scholarships administered by National Merit Scholarship Corporation , a privately funded, not-for-profit organization. The program began in 1955...
finalist. Upon graduation, he moved to Chicago in 1960 to attend school, where he majored in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
. In 1963, he met harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
player Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield
Paul Butterfield was an American blues vocalist and harmonica player, who founded the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in the early 1960s and performed at the original Woodstock Festival...
in the neighborhood of Hyde Park
Hyde Park, Chicago
Hyde Park, located on the South Side of the City of Chicago, in Cook County, Illinois, United States and seven miles south of the Chicago Loop, is a Chicago neighborhood and one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is home to the University of Chicago, the Hyde Park Art Center, the Museum of Science...
and joined Butterfield's blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
band
Band (music)
In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...
, with whom he remained for five years. Their third album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw
The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw
The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw is a 1967 album by The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Its name refers to Elvin Bishop, whose role shifted to lead guitarist after Mike Bloomfield departed to form Electric Flag...
, takes its name from Bishop's nickname. In 1968 he went solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
and formed the Elvin Bishop Group, also performing with Bloomfield and Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
on their album titled The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper
Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper is a double album documenting performances from two of blues-rock's most notable American musicians of the late 1960s...
. The group signed with Fillmore Records, which was owned by Bill Graham
Bill Graham (promoter)
Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
, who also owned the music venues of the same name.
In March 1971, The Elvin Bishop Group and The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
co-billed a series of concerts at the Fillmore East
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the East Village neighborhood of the Manhattan borough of New York City. It was open from 1968 to 1971, and featured some of the biggest acts in rock music at the time...
. Bishop joined The Allman Brothers Band onstage for a rendition of his own song, "Drunken Hearted Boy". Over the years, Bishop has recorded with many other blues artists including Clifton Chenier
Clifton Chenier
Clifton Chenier , a Creole French-speaking native of Opelousas, Louisiana, was an eminent performer and recording artist of Zydeco, which arose from Cajun and Creole music, with R&B, jazz, and blues influences. He played the accordion and won a Grammy Award in 1983...
and John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker
John Lee Hooker was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist.Hooker began his life as the son of a sharecropper, William Hooker, and rose to prominence performing his own unique style of what was originally closest to Delta blues. He developed a 'talking blues' style that was his trademark...
. In late 1975, he played guitar for a couple of tracks on Bo Diddley
Bo Diddley
Ellas Otha Bates , known by his stage name Bo Diddley, was an American rhythm and blues vocalist, guitarist, songwriter , and inventor...
's The 20th Anniversary of Rock 'n' Roll album, and in 1995, he toured with B.B. King.
Bishop made an impression on album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock
Album-oriented rock is an American FM radio format focusing on album tracks by rock artists.-Music played:Most radio formats are based on a select, tight rotation of hit singles...
FM radio stations with "Travelin' Shoes" in 1975, but a year later, in 1976, Bishop released his most memorable single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Fooled Around and Fell in Love
Fooled Around and Fell in Love
"Fooled Around and Fell in Love" was a single by blues guitarist Elvin Bishop. It appeared on his 1975 album Struttin' My Stuff and was released as a single the following year. Bishop does not sing lead vocals on the track; feeling that his gravelly voice didn't do the song justice, he invited...
", which peaked at #3 in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
(and #34 in the UK charts). The recording featured vocalist Mickey Thomas and drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Donny Baldwin
Donny Baldwin
Donny Baldwin is an American drummer best known as a member of Jefferson Starship and its continuation Starship.Donny began his career as a drummer for Elvin Bishop during the 1970s where he worked with future Jefferson Starship bandmate Mickey Thomas...
who both later joined Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship
Jefferson Starship is an American rock band formed in the early 1970s. The group is a spin-off from the iconic 1960s psychedelic/folk group Jefferson Airplane. The band has undergone several major changes in personnel and genres through the years while retaining the same Jefferson Starship name...
. The song was featured in the films Summer of Sam
Summer of Sam
Summer of Sam is a 1999 crime-drama based around the Son of Sam serial murders. It was directed and produced by Spike Lee.-Plot:Summer of Sam is the story of a group of people in New York City in the summer of 1977, a time when the headlines were dominated by the Son of Sam serial killer...
, Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights
Boogie Nights is a 1997 drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, the script focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic films, and chronicles his rise and fall from the Golden Age of Porn of the 1970s...
, The Devil's Rejects
The Devil's Rejects
The Devil's Rejects is a 2005 American horror film written and directed by Rob Zombie, and the sequel to his 2003 film House of 1000 Corpses. The film is about the family of psychopathic killers from the previous film now on the run...
, and Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay.
Bishop feels that the limitations of his voice have helped his songwriting.
Bishop appeared at the 1984 Long Beach Blues Festival
Long Beach Blues Festival
The Long Beach Blues Festival, in Long Beach, California, was established in full in 1980, and is one of the largest Blues festivals and is the second oldest on the West Coast . It is held on Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day weekend. For many years it was held on the athletic field on the...
. In 1988, he signed with Alligator Records
Alligator Records
Alligator Records is a Chicago-based independent blues record label founded by Bruce Iglauer in 1971.Iglauer started the label with his own savings to record and produce his favorite band Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseRockers, whom his employer, Bob Koester of Delmark Records, declined to record...
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 2000's That's My Partner, on which he paired with an early Chicago blues
Chicago blues
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...
teacher, Little Smokey Smothers
Little Smokey Smothers
Little Smokey Smothers was an African American, Chicago blues guitarist and singer.His elder brother, Otis , was known as the bluesman Otis "Big Smokey" Smothers, with whom he was sometimes confused....
. He later revisited Smothers in the studio, where the two recorded another album in 2009; Little Smokey Smothers & Elvin Bishop: Chicago Blues Buddies.
Bishop's Alligator Records releases have been consistently well conceived.
In 2005, Bishop released his first new CD in five years, Gettin' My Groove Back. In 2008, Bishop released The Blues Roles On, on September 23, 2008, switching labels to Delta Groove Music
Delta Groove Productions
Delta Groove Productions is a blues record label based in Van Nuys, California. The company Delta Groove Productions, Inc. was founded by Southern California-based producer, concert promoter and harmonica player Randy Chortkoff...
. He was supported by B. B. King, Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...
, Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded The Derek Trucks Band and worked as a session musician when he was still in his early teens. Throughout those teenage years, he toured with The Allman Brothers Band primarily as a slide...
, George Thorogood
George Thorogood
George Thorogood is an American blues rock vocalist/guitarist from Wilmington, Delaware, United States, known for his hit song "Bad to the Bone" as well as for covers of blues standards such as Hank Williams' "Move It On Over" and John Lee Hooker's "House Rent Boogie/One Bourbon, One Scotch, One...
, James Cotton
James Cotton
James Cotton is an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, who has performed and recorded with many of the great blues artists of his time as well as with his own band.-Career:...
, Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson
Kim Wilson is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s; "Tuff Enuff", and "Wrap It Up."-Career:...
, Tommy Castro
Tommy Castro
Tommy Castro is an American blues, R&B and rock guitarist and singer. He has been recording since the mid 1990s. His music has taken him from local stages to national and international touring. His popularity was marked by his winning the 2008 Blues Music Award for Entertainer Of The Year...
, John Nemeth and Angela Strehli
Angela Strehli
Angela Strehli is an American electric blues singer and songwriter. She is also a Texas blues historian and impresario. Despite a sporadic recording career, Strehli spends time each year performing in Europe, the US and Canada.-Biography:In the early 1960s, Strehli learned the harmonica and bass...
. The album was nominated for Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album
Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album
The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album was awarded from 1983 to 2011. From 2001 to 2003 the award recipients included the producers and engineers as well as the artists...
. In 2010, Bishop released Red Dog Speaks.
Personal life
Bishop's daughter Selina and ex-wife Jennifer Villarin were murdered in August 2000 by Glenn Taylor Helzer, his brother Justin Helzer, and accomplice Dawn Godman. According to The Point Reyes LightThe Point Reyes Light
The Point Reyes Light is a weekly newspaper published since 1948 in western Marin County, California. The Light gained national attention in 1979 due to its reporting on a cult, Synanon, and the Pulitzer Prize awarded to the paper for this coverage...
, "Bishop, her mother Jenny Villarin, and a friend of Villarin, James Gamble, were murdered as part of an elaborate scheme to extort $100,000 from elderly Concord, California
Concord, California
Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California, USA. At the 2010 census, the city had a population of 122,067. Originally founded in 1869 as the community of Todos Santos by Salvio Pacheco, the name was changed to Concord within months...
residents Ivan and Annette Stineman".
Studio albums
- The Elvin Bishop Group (1969)
- Feel It! (1970)
- Rock My Soul (1972)
- Let It Flow (1974)
- Juke Joint Jump (1975)
- Struttin' My Stuff (1975)
- Hometown Boy Makes Good! (1976)
- Hog Heaven (1978)
- Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby (1981)
- Big Fun (1988)
- Don't Let the Bossman Get You Down! (1991)
- Ace in the Hole (1995)
- The Skin I'm In (1998)
- Party Till the Cows Come Home (2004)
- Gettin' My Groove Back (2005)
- The Blues Rolls On (2008)
- Little Smokey Smothers & Elvin Bishop: Chicago Blues Buddies (2009)
- Red Dog Speaks (2010)
Live albums
- Raisin' Hell (1977)
- That's My Partner! (2000)
- King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents in Concert (2001)
- Booty Bumpin (2007)
- Raisin' Hell Revue (2011)