Electric Flag

Biography

When guitarist Mike Bloomfield remaining the Paul Butterfield Blues Music group in 1967, he wished to form a music group that combined blues, rock and roll, spirit, psychedelia, and jazz into something fresh. The ambitious concept didn’t arrive off, despite some interesting occasions; maybe it had been too ambitious to carry all that excess weight. Bloomfield knew for certain that he wished a horn section within the music group, which he started forming with several close friends, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Gravenites. Even though three had been all veterans from the Chicago music picture, the group structured itself within the San Francisco region. Bloomfield, Goldberg, and Gravenites had been subsequently bolstered by way of a rhythm portion of bassist Harvey Brooks (who acquired played on a few of Bob Dylan’s middle-’60s information) and drummer Pal Miles; together with them emerged a horn section. Oddly, before also playing any live concerts, Electric powered Flag documented the soundtrack for the 1967 psychedelic exploitation film The Trip, which afforded them the chance to test out a few of their tips without very much pressure. Their live debut was at the 1967 Monterey Pop Celebration (although they didn’t ensure it is in to the documentary film of the function; they actually come in the reward footage over the Dvd movie edition), but their first genuine studio record didn’t turn out until the springtime of 1968. QUITE A WHILE Comin’ was an erratic affair, predating Bloodstream, Perspiration & Tears and Chicago as sort of attempt at a big-band rock and roll sound. Contacting it an early on jazz-rock outing isn’t exactly accurate; it had been more like past due-’60s soul-rock-psychedelia that occasionally (however, not generally) utilized prominent horns. Certainly, it occasionally didn’t generally sound like the task of the same music group — or, a minimum of, you could state that it appeared torn between blues-rock, soul-rock, and California psychedelic affects. The album’s achievement is also harder to guage in light of the reality that Gravenites actually wasn’t a top-notch vocalist, and that the bandmembers’ instrumental abilities outshone their songwriting types. There was more than enough promise over the record to merit additional exploration, nonetheless it acquired barely been released prior to the Flag begun to droop. Goldberg still left, followed quickly by Bloomfield, the main element of the group’s eyesight. A fragmented music group recorded a substandard follow-up, but by 1969 Electric powered Flag got split. They do reunite (with Bloomfield) in 1974 to get a Jerry Wexler-produced recording that got small notice.

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