Original subtitles

on the phone in Chicago

1941 1941

things that helped me in learning to

play the harmonica was that I realized

that I could never speak

the way any other individual

spoke on the harmonica each has their

own way of saying things so I just went

ahead and got to a point of learning the

instrument well enough that I could

speak the way I wanted to speak which is

really a nice thing about this

instrument it's such a personal

instrument it's really like a horn from

the heart

[Music]

first day I was in Chicago

I was walking around the neighborhood

you know just trying to

Chicago was a pretty big town biggest

town I'd ever seen and and I saw a guy a

white guy sitting on some steps in front

of an apartment building playing guitar

and drinking a quart of beer and he was

playing Blues I said wow this has got to

be my type of guy and I went over and

started talking to him and we you know

Butterfield he wasn't playing much

harmonica at that time

he played mostly guitar

and shortly after that he took up the

harmonica and within six months

I use a natural genius on the instrument

he just got way good in a short amount

of time

Paul seemed to start at full speed he

would go for it

absolutely and he had

tremendous courage

I mean you cannot minimize the courage

it took

to go into a blues club and sit in

I'm astonished by

itself

I'm here at Silvio's which was an

incredible Blues place and the home base

of Howlin Wolf obviously it's a field

right now

and it's been gone so long there's a

tree here

it's huge

and my father Paul Butterfield

Barry Goldberg Charlie muscle White

they all cut their teeth here Michael

Bloomfield and the way they cut their

teeth here was wolf would call these

guys up on stage to play with them and

and what an honor that must have been

and really if you think standing on the

stage with your Heroes at that time

didn't make you go home and practice

your instrument you got to be crazy

this room is definitely a part of my

father's sound

all night long

[Music]

Hyde Park Illinois the home of the

University of Chicago is a one and a

half square mile neighborhood on

Chicago's South Side until the early

1950s Hyde Park was an almost

exclusively White Community surrounded

on three sides by African-American

communities many of whose residents had

migrated from the south

beginning in the mid-1950s Hyde Park

became one of Chicago's most racially

diverse neighborhoods at a time when

other parts of the country were

struggling with race relations

things weren't too cool it was way

before

civil rights you know

and even though Chicago was better than

Oklahoma was it was rough it was

it was Hardcore segregated

and uh

Chicago was a little cooler but Hyde

Park was real cool

and in that area surrounding University

we're 50 60 70 blues bars all with a

band there was Blues being played by the

best of the players and it was there in

Hyde Park at Paul Bogger field was born

and raised

[Music]

folklore Society was the biggest

organization on campus it was there I

met Paul Butterfield it was there we

started to do a few things together I'd

play guitar

and he'd play harmonica we called

ourselves Nick and Paul butter and I

would go and play at the parties Nick

gravenitis and uh

we we didn't have any money we would do

stuff like Whittle everybody got drunk

and then go look in the freezer and

throw a bunch of steaks in the alley and

pick him up on a way home you know

[Music]

at a certain point the house band at the

twist party

became Paul and Elven and they had a

Rhythm Section known as the Wilson

Brothers a couple of black guys

the band sounded good

and it was an atypically integrated

scene racially

some black young people would come from

the neighborhood to dance and nearby

they're set a small piano

which I would feel out and play along

[Music]

this guy named Norman dayron he had a

tape recorder and I guess he was a

school teacher professor at the

University or something

and one day he told Butterfield and

cotton and me you guys want to hear what

you sound like so he got us to come to

this building that was empty it was in

the evening at the University of Chicago

and he set up his Walnut sack tape

recorder

it was me and cotton and Butterfield and

Billy boy Arnold

[Music]

the good thing about butter was he was

one of the few harmonica players you'll

ever see who wasn't totally dominated by

Little Walter their style is so

attractive that it just stops people in

their tracks and they can't think of any

other way to go you know

and Butterfield somehow he he was always

himself

[Music]

I became aware of Butterfield one night

he showed up at a place I was working

with a little smoky Smothers then

place called a blue flame

he was on the white person in the place

at the time hanging around wanted to get

a chance to sit in with the band after

he called the band back off the break

I'm going to get this white boy up in

that end play a little bit and everybody

got quiet he was his white boy going to

do

he showed him what he could do you know

he really showed him what he could do

and he kept showing it

[Music]

people got some of the whites would

start to coming in hey y'all gonna have

that white boy back up you know the

following week and it just went on and

on and it kept going and never stopped

[Music]

like all Brothers we struggle we

competed

but we also

theme old western movies always had to

do with

somebody seeking revenge for somebody

who killed their brother

so if anybody messed with Paul

I was on it and the same if they messed

with me he was on it so we were Rivals

and yet very close

I think I probably first met Paul I must

have been nine perhaps because I can

remember him I can remember walking to

school and there he was this antic

character on the other side of the

street never never just walking he was

helping or jumping or laughing and uh so

he decided to throw some Stones across

the street at me so that was really my

my introduction to Paul Butterfield he

was utterly Charming

gorgeous looking with his blue eyes and

his dark hair and who knew that 15 years

later I'd become his sister-in-law he

was for for a long time he was just

Peter's younger brother to me her

parents certainly provided both of us

with every advantage in a sense

not material things but exposure to

music the Arts things they valued

that we value

so we felt we had a very privileged

upbringing

they grew up without a TV

they grew up listening to classical

music all the time my grandmother

took uh took my dad to the symphony

orchestra in Chicago

and he picked out

a cellist I believe it was that was Out

Of Tune

and she knew right then that he had a

special

Talent his brother played the clarinet

and Paul took up flute our parents

got him a good teacher from the uh

Symphony and he played for a while

Paul and I went to high school together

at the University of Chicago laboratory

school new high the school was wonderful

in that it really tried to engage

students to be able to be the ones to

initiate the ideas it wasn't a call in

response it wasn't a now you do this and

the answer is that it was very much

conversation based and lucky for Paul he

was a good talker he could talk his way

out of just about anything so it was a

good place for him to be

he was um not entirely focused student

bring raisins to to with his lunch every

day me throwing those all around getting

a little trouble throw a chair out the

window an instigator yeah

[Music]

his energy came out in his singing as

well he was he was a member of the of

our Jimmy shanties which was the name of

our high school choir and he also was

involved in various shows but again it

wasn't that he had such a wonderful

voice it was his energy and his

personality that always carried it he

brought it to the music at an intensity

in a passion and he just worked it until

he could do it

[Music]

and he was a leader not a leader in in a

standard leader sense when you think of

somebody who's you know says I will take

charge and I will do it was more the um

the follow me along because I'm having

such a good time that kind of a leader

people wanted to be by him

After High School my brother who was

somewhat of an athletic Star first he'd

had a scholarship to Brown University in

track and field

and then he suffered an injury

and so that was kind of out the window

but he did get into University of

Illinois

but in the spring and summer before he

would go off to University of Illinois

he took his deep plunge

into the blues into the harmonica

the way Paul mastered the harmonica was

simply to virtually play it 24 7. he

used to go out to a peninsula on the

lakefront in Chicago just north of 57th

Street beach

it was called Promontory Point

I'd go and see him and I knew not to

bother him because he would be totally

absorbed in his playing

so by the time he was ready to go to

college

he went to college let's say he went on

a Monday

he stayed through Thursday

and came back to Chicago

and hung out with his friends and was on

the blue scene then after a while he

would

go on Monday and come back on Tuesday

and then after a while he wouldn't go at

all

so and nobody had a clue

that he was even in town

I remember I took him to his first Club

Smitty's Corners 35th Street muddy

waterspan and we sort of hustled our way

in the door we're both just young punks

no ID

and then we would hear things like the

police would call and somebody had

pulled a car over and there a bunch of

unsavory characters in it including

my brother

and then my father who you know was a

lawyer could go down to the station and

get them out

[Music]

Paul takes his plunge into the blues at

a time when folk music is enjoying a

Renaissance among American Youth

characterized by acoustic

instrumentation and themes of social

justice and led by artists like Bob

Dylan Joan Baez Pete Seeger and many

traditional and contemporary folk

musicians the folk boom of the early 60s

spawns thriving folk music scenes in

major metropolitan areas and college

towns throughout the U.S in Boston a

young folk he soon to make his own

musical Mark sets out on a journey

across the country in search of new

musicians and new sounds

it was 1961 when I got to Chicago and I

met Paul Butterfield and I was 21 and he

was 19. he must have liked me because we

became friends very quickly and I was

glad of it because I didn't know anybody

in Chicago and here I had this guy who

was obviously a good musician taking me

around to all these places that I never

would have been able to see I never

would have seen Muddy Waters at Pepper's

lounge or Howling Wolf if Paul hadn't

taken me there and both times we went

there we were the only white people in

the place yet they all knew Paul and

they treated him just like a friend

I got the feeling like muddy really

liked Paul a lot and that he was glad to

be able to teach him and show him and

have somebody a young person

and specifically a young white person

who could already play great blues

harmonica

both Muddy Waters and I think especially

Howling Wolf were very powerful Dynamic

performers they they were intimidating

in a certain way they were very strong

and I could see that Paul had that kind

of quality about him too even at that

young age so that later on as he formed

the blues band and and became well known

that same strong quality was in Paul

foreign

[Music]

in the early 1960s Chicago is arguably

the urban Blues capital of the world

by day it's the home of the renowned

Chess Records whose roster of stars

includes Chuck Berry Willie Dixon

Howland Wolfe and Muddy Waters

who always special I'd seen him numerous

times at chess sitting in the music

musician's waiting room

he go up I don't know I don't know he

was playing but they would let him come

you know he got to know muddy he got to

know Little Walter he got to know all

the players

at night the biggest names in the Blues

perform at over a hundred clubs in the

tough black neighborhoods on the city's

South and West sides Paul Butterfield

and Nick ravenitis are regulars on this

late night circuit listening learning

and sometimes sitting in

Nick carries a pistol for protection

live Blues doesn't arrive on the mostly

white north side of Chicago until the

summer of 1963 when a bar called Big

John's contacts Paul about putting

together a band to perform there four

nights a week

when barter first started playing Big

John's it was when he was at a

Crossroads in his life

family pressure

get a job you know get serious that's

how that band started

Paul knew what he wanted he wanted a

dynamite Rhythm Section and he got the

best Rhythm Section in Chicago howling

Wolf's Rhythm Section with Jerome Arnold

and Sam Lake

what made me go with Butterfield he

opened me 20 bucks a night and I was

only getting seven a night with the wolf

it was just four of us myself Jerome

almond Butterfield and Evan Bishop

that's the original band when I left

wolf Jerome came with me so suddenly

Paul Butterfield had howling Wolf's

Rhythm Section

instant credibility

and the people on the North side went

nuts not only on the North side across

the country

[Applause]

it was an idea whose time had come you

know I think it was kind of overdue we

were at the right place at the right

time the big beautiful body of Music the

blues the American Blues the black blues

in this huge white audience that never

to any extent met and the idea just

caught fire

there were all sorts of characters

people from Second City would come in

David Steinberg Robert Klein Ken Nordeen

the great word Jazz hipster would be

hustling pool in the back room there

would be socialites coming from the near

North Side Lakeshore Drive there would

be robbers burglars pimps [ __ ]

anything you can imagine under one flag

the Blues

[Music]

thank you

[Music]

Butterfield was a legend in Chicago and

worried about him was spreading

and Fritz Richmond told Paul Rothschild

Paul you ought to go see this guy and he

goes to Chicago and he sees Butterfield

and said to Butterfield I want to record

you and Butterfield says okay and he

said let's go on over to this other

place and they go and and they see Mike

Bloomfield playing with the Mike

Bloomfield band

and Paul asked The Logical question hey

why is Mike playing with your band he

said I've tried a number of times and I

can't get him to do it well Rothschild

could pretty much convince anybody if

anything

and he got Bloomfield to join the

Butterfield Blues Band

about the time that there was a

possibility suddenly of a recording

contract

which was something that I don't think

Paul or any of the other members of the

band ever envisioned happening

uh Paul got his draft notice the draft

notice was really a descent so that's

the way we reviewed it

I think Paul just saw this as oh my God

here I almost have it and it's being

taken away from me

I never Virginia McEwen it was a bar

made at big John's

she knew of Paul's plight and she

offered to Mary Ball to keep him out of

the draft

she could very well have saved his

career and saved his life

though it wasn't meant as a traditional

marriage

they did have a son in 1965 and they

were close but not family close although

later Paul became very involved in

Gabriel's life and it was important to

both of them I think

another thing about Paul Rothschild

is he introduced my brother to Albert

Grossman who was a well-known manager of

Bob Dylan Peter Paul and Mary and Albert

was very taken with Paul's band

and gave them a lot of exposure here and

then Nationwide

and the band went into the studio

we put them in a studio I thought it was

pretty good and we pressed up 10 000

copies because the Paul Butterfield

blues band had a track on sampler number

six and it was selling well in Chicago

and it turned out to be Butterfield

blues band track that was making it

happen

I had become a pilot I started flying

when I was 1960 and it's now

1964 and I have my own airplane and

we're flying up to visit Tom Rush's aunt

on Martha's Vineyard on a one beautiful

Saturday afternoon and Paul Rothschild

says

I hate to tell you this but I've

listened to the record again and don't

think I got it

at which point I put the plane into a

shallow dive

scaring the crap out of Rothschild and I

said you want to tell me that again and

he said I don't think I got it I think

we've got to scrap the records I said

what do you mean you don't have it he

said I it's not as good as it could be

well that's all you have to say to me

all right I'll scrap them

thank you

foreign

by 1965 young people are tuning in to

music played on electric plugged in

instruments artists with number one

records that year include the Beatles

The Supremes The Temptations The Beach

Boys the birds with Mr Tambourine Man a

Bob Dylan song and the Rolling Stones by

the summer of 65 Dylan's electrified

Like a Rolling Stone is on the radio

everywhere many in the folk scene view

this electric music as a threat to or

even a Corruption of the authentic

American Music they embrace

the Newport Folk Festival had been a

showcase for traditional folk and blues

since its founding in 1959 and Bob Dylan

is slated to be the headliner of Newport

1965.

Joe Boyd is the production manager of

the festival and attends a meeting where

board member Peter Yarrow makes a

last-minute appeal to make room on the

schedule for one more Act

at this meeting Peter Yarrow got up on

his soapbox and he made a speech about

the Butterfield band that this is what's

happening right now this is the most

important band in America today

and yarrow's argument was that with Sam

and Jerome that this was the Revival

meeting the authentic

this is where the Folk Festival has to

be in order to be relevant this is the

summer of 1965. we can't live forever in

the past this is no longer The Province

just of the folkies

oh

laughs

[Applause]

[Music]

so out on stage on this little flat

platform comes Paul Butterfield on

harmonica of course the amazing Michael

Bloomfield on guitar Elven Bishop sort

of undergirding everything with Just

Killer rhythm guitar Sam Leon drums and

Jerome Arnold on bass they just blew our

little folky Minds right right off the

charts there's photos somewhere of us

experiencing and reacting to this really

raw really vital Chicago blues sound

just full of power and energy and we

just loved it

I'm probably eight feet away from

Butterfield's Fender amplifier

and he starts in a mellow Down Easy

and I'm like the guy from the Maxell

commercial because I'm in front of

Butters amp and my scarf is like this

and I go oh look at that you know and

and we went electric the next day our

jug bands

everybody

in that time in the 60s anyone who was

at a Folk Festival already was for

integration and him playing in that

integrated band was a statement that

we're all in this together and we all

love this music and we're all going to

hang out together and we're getting rid

of segregation and you just better get

used to it

[Music]

wait wait time the first time I saw Paul

was at Newport 1965 at the workshop

where Alan Lomax introduced the band in

some very demeaning way and I know Lomax

was already muttering and grumbling

about that because he he wasn't very

positive about them and he had you know

Robert Pete Williams and Sun house and a

really great lineup of acoustic black

blues musicians and he did not

like the idea a of drums at Newport

and B of white people playing blues

music

and finally he says okay you've seen the

real thing

now here's some kids from Chicago going

to come and try

to play the blues

with the help of these amplifiers all

the select all these electric amplifiers

at which point Grossman

is so pissed off he jumps on Alan Lomax

and these two

like

panda bears and personality but grizzly

bears and physique start rolling in the

dirt Together full fisticuffs well the

band was playing throwing roundhouse

punches at each other and then they were

wrestling each other and then they were

rolling around in the dirt

and you know it was lamentable and it

was funny dust flying and these two you

know

Bears or

scuffling and that that really felt good

because that's what a manager ought to

do

[Music]

in the middle of all of this of course

was the fact that we've been told by

Grossman that morning

that Dylan was going to play with the

Butterfield Rhythm Section Sam Jerome

and Bloomfield

and Goldberg and Cooper Saturday night

we rehearsed all night

could only get three songs in that time

period And So the plan was that we were

going to go up and play the three songs

because that's all we knew

[Music]

it was a mixed reaction from the

audience and a lot of people said they

were Woos you know but there were also

chairs too there were people that did

get it but most of the booze came from

the uh the folkies you know who felt

betrayed you know that Bob had betrayed

them and and they sort of had a sense

that their movement that the folk

movement was on its way out as well

the funny thing is that he wasn't booed

off stage that was the ridiculous part

of it there was maybe two rows of people

in this entire concert which is packed

that were booing because they didn't

want to hear him do electric music they

want to hear him do nothing but folk

music

this whole purist thing that was going

on at that time I mean you know nobody

got upset when Muddy Waters plugged in

his guitar it's just a false barrier

that people who think they know about

this stuff feel they have to pontificate

about it was the Natural Evolution of of

of of of the earlier blues and it was

absolutely as valid as anything else

the Butterfield Band came up to play the

club 47 right after Newport and at that

time we charged a dollar at the door you

could squeeze 110 20 people into that

place

people like Tom Rush are the quest can

Joke Man to those people they would fill

that place and they would get 75 so I

think we were going to pay Paul's band a

hundred dollars a night three hundred

dollars for three nights this was Mike

Bloomfield Elvin Bishop the whole band

went down

21 years later of course the volume was

pretty loud not by maybe today's

standards but by that time standard the

Butterfield band had a lot of punch

this band was hitting on all cylinders

and we'd never had anything like it in

that room I was a manager and I had a

little tiny office

and he'd come back into my office and we

had an absolute policy and it was a real

policy too no smoking of dope in this

place can't have it there's no alcohol

there was no dope he'd want to have a

drink you could go across the street

there was a bar and we just couldn't

have it because if we if we get closed

down

we just couldn't have it Paul come back

into my office and he closed the door

and said hey man I just I just have to

have something before I go on I said no

Paul we can't do it he was just like a

cat that wouldn't let you go you know

just whining and

at you you know and I finally caved in

you know I okay a couple of Puffs that's

it

[Music]

I played a night with them at the cafe

Gogo

on the sidelines as I used to do at the

twist parties gazing at the kneecaps of

the band or lower

and then not long after that I went to

this session and then Paul inducted me

into the band

[Music]

it was after that first record Albert

Grossman came and gave us each a

thousand dollar bill

tremendously impressive

Paul's band that first album that really

took off that opened the market up a lot

to a lot of young white kids who hadn't

really heard the blues because once you

heard Paul you wanted to hear the other

guys muddy and wolf and you got easily

pulled into it

foreign

[Music]

[Laughter]

[Music]

came from a wealthy family and one of

his uncles had a pawn shop and I used to

not have any money so I'd get my guitar

as cheap as I could I go to the pawn

shop

and I went to one on Clark Street one

time and it was kind of smart ass

looking kid behind the counter you know

and I said can I see that guitar

he hands to me and I start playing My

Little Blues Licks a few of them you

know he said you like Blues

I said yeah he said give me that thing

he starts playing rings around the world

you know he's playing all these fancy

licks and stuff I said oh wow that's

great you know he'd get in your face and

he'd just be spitting on you while he

was talking and stuff you know he's he

he was just uh

tremendously active mind and uh

really intense about everything he did

not just the plan everything

Michael was always intimidated by Paul

his personality was so strong and you

really couldn't get you know underneath

Paul and get to know him well you know

he really didn't let people in that much

just his presence alone was a tough guy

black leather jacket a Beer Drinker he

was a complete man or the real deal

see I had never worked with Paul for a

long time because I never figured we'd

get along personality wise you know

because Paul is a very very hard guy

period just a hard individual he's very

rock hard inside his body and everything

he has completely taken that harmonica

and reworked it in my opinion

Butterfield is the finest the finest

blues harmonica player in the world and

this is the first gig I've ever worked

with Paul and I tell you man you hear

this band after this two-month tour

there won't be a blues band in the

history of the world that's going to

come near this band

I met Bloomfield on Highway 61 sessions

for uh Dylan and he told me as we got

friendly that he was in Paul's band and

that was one of the reasons why he

didn't want a tour with Dylan so he

could stay in Paul's band he said you

make all kinds of money and you know

being cover of Newsweek he said but I

just want to play the blues

says and I'm having a great time doing

it in this band

you turned down Bob Dylan to play with

Butterfield it's about as good as you

can get

Paul would appear in New York City

usually at a club called Cafe a go go we

would always get there early and we

would sit like right in the front row

and we'd do that night after night show

after show we just played you know that

was it I think that that's probably when

he was complete you know is when he was

up there eyes closed

flow on that perfect note

[Music]

and there's that Soul there that is

pouring out of everything everything

that Paul did it's not about how good or

how not good or technique or this the

thing that to me makes Paul different is

there's always this edge of Soul that's

always happening no matter whether he's

singing or playing

and another thing you know Paul played

the harmonica upside down a lot of

people didn't know that you know where

instead of the low notes on the left

they were on the right

Paul did it different that band was the

most powerful band I've ever heard

[Music]

I played another extended engagement it

was in a place called The Unicorn and

this was in Boston

Sam got sick

and that's when you got Billy Davenport

and he was quite logically as a black

man concerned about what he was going to

confront as he traveled America and he

told me

that Paul said to him

for you can't go we won't go

but he was proud of it and he it meant

something to him that he got that

guarantee and it says something about

Paul

[Music]

there was a climate in the band a

musical climate that was now opening up

musicians were taking on some of the

attributes of jazz musicians and play

more extended things and experimenting

[Music]

in 1966 America is a cauldron of social

and political change fueled in large

part by the music of the times the

Butterfield Blues band's sprawling

tapestry of an LP called East West with

its combination of Electric Blues and

psychedelic Rock puts the band at the

Forefront of the music scene clocking in

at a nearly unprecedented 13 minutes the

title track is a pioneering

cross-cultural Opus near mythical

accounts of live performances of

East-West lasting over 40 minutes and

leaving fans transfixed reverberate

throughout the international rock music

community

they started doing East-West and and

messing with different modes to play and

so that it sounds more Middle Eastern or

something like that you know the fact

that he wasn't satisfied just to be one

of the world's best blues hard players

you know he didn't lock himself in a box

he just kept taking it further

[Music]

Bloomfield used to do a fire eating

routine he'd do that he'd get one of

these things like uh

looks like the Mallet you play The

Kettle drum with you know they squirt

lighter fluid on it light it up spread

his legs out and that Groove would be

going you know behind him and he'd lean

way back and eat fire and those old

Stoned Out hippies would just lose their

minds

[Music]

so here we are in Chicago at the Museum

of Science and Industry

this is the photo shot of my father's

iconic album this is the cover of the

second album East West you had Jerome

Arnold Elvin Bishop Mark naphtalin Billy

Davenport Michael Bloomfield and Paul

Butterfield

this is a museum this is a really really

odd place for a cover of a blues album

Maybe the fact that they actually got up

here and took these photos here uh is

expressing that band as someone who

means business and saying hey baby we're

not what you think we are

oh I mean the authenticity was just

astonishing and playing through that

amplifier and the tonality and the

choices that he made were so

unconventional and so you know

Innovative I think that Paul was an

incredible creative spirit and always

kept stretching you know I mean as deep

as he would go into the roots he was

always pushing the envelope of what

Blues could be greater Ranger put

together an incredible band those guys

wouldn't play with him if he wasn't that

badass

I had lots and lots of Hard players

sitting with me and nobody could blow

like butter and I loved his singing as

much as I loved his heart plan

you know he's cute too as us girls like

to call him

Butterfield was very funny and had a

very dry sense of humor and it kind of

was smart ass wise-ass sense of humor

too I remember remarking on Sam Lay's

shoes which were kind of metallic and

they were kind of like had little glass

crystals in the shoes and Paul said

don't get too close to him he uses those

to just put his his foot and look up

your skirt

and I don't know if it was true but I

believed Paul at the time oh

oh butter could be a little bit of a

dirty dog from time to time and

Rothschild had some kind of legal

troubles involving uh weed which is

pretty serious in those days you know

and we're doing a session in New York

City

and everybody took off for lunch and

went out to get something to eat and

Rothschild stayed there and he was

fooling with the tapes you know and the

faders and he was at the console and

everything drinking a milkshake

and Butterfield came back and knocked

real loud on the doors at police

a Rothschild freaked out and Spilled his

milkshake in the console

[Music]

I will say I'm very proud

as the owner of the famous

Golden Bear

woke up this morning I looked round for

my shoes

in August of 1966 I booked them only for

one week but they stayed for two and I

enjoy it very much

that was 20 Souls 350 people

and still the place was parked this is

unbelievable George yeah he was cool

George a Greek guy I used to go fishing

at that Pier across the street from the

Golden Bear and bring it back and George

would cook it in the pizza oven you know

we fought by their feet I had

the perfect opening up

the comedian Steve Martin

[Music]

so I went to day with my

one of my college roommates we were

going up the stairs to their apartment

and Paul was coming down the stairs with

a laundry basket

and we sort of met on the staircase and

then sort of moved back down to the

sidewalk and we just started talking and

talking and talking and talking and he

had a new album he wanted me to hear and

so he went and put it on and it was the

Beatles well he kept playing me the song

called got to get you into my life

sorry it was a hint

I just had turned 21. he was only 23.

because I was on the road with them for

probably three years like

people would say how long is your tour

and I go I don't know it's been going on

for 340 days I mean we used to look at a

match box in the drawer of the hotel to

see where we were

it was like going from box to box to box

you're in an airplane you're in a car

you're in a hotel you're at the gig

you're at the hotel you're in a car

you're in an airplane you're in a train

you're just living in a box in a box in

a box in a box in a box and you're just

so disorienting you don't even know

where you are and these guys are just

working working hard every single day

foreign

Kathy and Paul and the band spent all of

1966 on the road playing at colleges

clubs and concert Halls the band has a

huge following in San Francisco thanks

to concert promoter and impresario Bill

Graham who books them into multiple

venues during each visit

and Graham's growing friendships with

Paul and Michael Bloomfield would bring

additional benefits when Michael and

Paul left Chicago went to San Francisco

they had recommended to Bill Graham to

get artists like Howling Wolf and muddy

and Little Walter James Cotton to come

to California so that even opened a

greater audience for all these artists

that gave the blues artists an

opportunity to play someplace besides

clubs

better paying gigs

Paul was really heartbroken when Michael

left

Paul was like no we've got a good thing

going let's keep up with this you know

this is really a great combo

so it was hard

I got to play more lead

I liked that and I was I was I'd say

quite a bit more ready than I would have

been you know at the beginning

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

Paul played a great set

at Monterey

that was sort of his big debut of hordes

and he had good horn players

Gene Dunwoody the tenor player and Keith

Johnson the trumpet player came in

and Bugsy mom came in

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

summer of 67 my wife and I and young

baby went out to San Francisco never

been west of the Mississippi I run into

Phillip Wilson my friend a drummer

totally by accident on the street I go

Phillip what what are you what are you

doing here and he said well I just

joined this band The Butterfield blues

band he said well we're playing at the

Fillmore

so come on now it's right I came down I

heard the band play met the guys in the

band went went the next night

and uh Philip said hey man we're going

down to La we're going to make a record

[Music]

basically hitchhike to Hollywood got to

the Sandy koufax's Tropicana Hotel you

know I'm hanging out in the studio and

Paul says hey man where's your horn I

said well it's back at the hotel he said

why don't you go get it and maybe you

can play a little bit so I'm like holy

[ __ ]

I sit in Paul likes the sound of it I

was in Show Business

[Music]

[Music]

and life people move on

everybody's band changes that's just

part of being in a band

New Life

it was all Peaceable no hard feelings

between anybody butter didn't want me to

leave but I did because

you play one or two songs you know the

the Dynamics of band getting along is

you got to give everybody a little piece

of the action you know so you get to do

one or two songs a night that are really

close to your heart you know

and then the idea starts working on you

what if I got to do all songs that are

real close to my heart you know and it

works and it works and it works and

after a while the desire to do that

overcomes the fear of leaving and there

you go

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

foreign

[Applause]

[Music]

the sound was ferocious

I mean I I have

never before or after

sound like that ever he was a force of

nature on that instrument everybody else

sounded just kind of timid it's almost

like a snarl he had he just went for it

you know and I think that was

really inspiring to me as a player it

was my introduction to the idea that

it's better to reach for something and

miss it than just to hold back and play

it safe

[Music]

I am

Paul Butterfield never played the same

thing twice nor did the band play the

same way twice the whole thing about

playing for the moment is that you could

do the same song a million times and a

million times it's going to be different

because you're not being generic about

it that's what makes an artist an artist

he lived breathed ate and spoke music

I mean English was really his second

language music was his first language

and so that's how he communicated with

the world

all aboard

Fathers and Sons

1969. we decided to do half of it in the

studio three days of studio and then

that live concert the concert was great

it was in this just restored classical

music hall in Chicago the Chicago

Auditorium this was a chance to feature

the great Muddy Waters

and it was a way to pay them back

we thought it was our duty

our job to make sure that we paid back

what we learned from these guys

that's what that Fathers and Sons was

all about being homage to Moody

saying you're the father we're the sons

you treated us good dad

was Paul's mentor and guide and he was

like a second dad to him

musically you brought him up

the concert was great it was rocking and

jumping it was really that first people

from Big John's it was all those those

thousands of people who over the months

and years had gone to Big John's they

were at that concert man every single

one of them was at that concert you know

the blues guys just loved this influx of

the White Market buying it the white

kids playing it the blues was moving on

[Music]

everybody's radar was up in that band

everybody was listening to everybody

else

it wasn't planned it was like everyone

was channeling this creative force and

Butterfield was the guy you know he was

the guy that set the tone you know he

was like we're going for it because

that's where he came from he came from

south side of Chicago where it was about

I'll kick your ass every time he stepped

up the microphone he played like it was

the last time he was ever going to play

he was a real blues guy you know he

meant it every time come on I mean if

you listen to his playing it's just pure

you know you wonder how does a guy get

that out of a little Marine band

harmonica you know I mean that's special

stuff

the horn parts were put together by just

sitting down and playing that band got

to the point when one person played a

part that was good all the other parts

fell into place immediately it was kind

of a magical band who was magical that

band was one of the first if not the

first mixed band where it was true

equality in that band there was no

racial anything we ended up in

situations that were in parts of the

country for instance when we were

Touring that didn't see it like that you

know like blacks are not accepted

everywhere and to see a mixed ban

especially guys with long hair and

hanging with black guys we were really a

threat they looked at us like Communists

there were some near physical

confrontations with Butterfield because

he would get in people's face you know

they would vibe us or they'd make a

comment you know like uh [ __ ] and all

that and he would get right in their

face and say [ __ ] let's go

outside right now come on let's go you

know and so you know we had to kind of

drag him out of a few places you know

where where it was like that so he

really stood up for what he believed in

he had gifts he had brilliant beautiful

gifts and and because of those gifts he

changed the world for many people

helping to bring that Blues out to the

rest of the world when the African

Americans weren't able to do that it

wasn't a welcoming

place

I thought I don't give a damn you played

right I don't care what color you have a

pink stripe running down down back if

you want to yeah

I am bragging on our on us but I didn't

see nobody else was better and we

happened to be black and white

[Music]

most people don't realize that Woodstock

started as an artist colony in about

1903 and

um it was established as a utopian arts

and crafts Community but around the

1960s is when it kind of came into its

own before the actual big Woodstock

festival that everybody knows about

petiero had a family house here and

through him Albert Grossman came with

his stable of artists so of course Peter

Paul and Mary and later Bob Dylan and

Paul of course was one of those people

that came along with Albert

sometimes it felt like someone just

dropped some kind of pill and watered it

and

you know a different Woodstock popped up

overnight seemingly you know and it was

very exciting especially for someone

like myself who's young and loving music

and all of a sudden you know there's

head shops there's leather shops you

know no more electric stores now it's

the the leather shop you know the

Practical kind of went out the window

and the Magical

came in

and one of the people writing that

artistic and musical way was Paul

Butterfield

Paul bought a house up the road from my

folks at a little Farmhouse and a barn

Paul was well known as a Blues musician

but he didn't have any affect about him

ever he fit in well with the local

people he was our neighbor

and it was a true neighbor we had

barbecues we had them for brunch and

breakfast we went to his place he was a

great cook by the way

he made a barbecue ribs with a mustard

sauce that was out in his world he told

me someday he would give me the recipe

he never did

I worked at night now when he saw my

light on

he would pull in the driveway and I gave

him the nickname The Moth because of

that and as a result he would come in we

had to stand up upright piano at the

time and he'd start playing right away

and I'd get some commemorative form his

favorite tequila and we'd have a little

midnight not midnight two three o'clock

in the morning session Paul came in with

his uh a big horn band with Dave Sanborn

Gene did witty uh Phillip Wilson I

believe on drums and there was a time

when Paul and that band played at the

cafe espresso and Woodstock on Wednesday

nights they sort of like did it like a

rehearsal it was just phenomenal

[Music]

Paul had an idyllic life in bearsville

in the early 70s he was a successful

performer a successful band a successful

record and everything was looking up for

him he had a beautiful wife Kathy and

they had a beautiful child Lee and he

was another happy bouncing blonde baby

boy and he had Albert the own Bears film

he found Paula's property

he had a beautiful Barn Old Red Barn was

painted beautifully

where I took those pictures of him

mowing along they belong took a lot of

work you know this is the American dream

and I've never seen him happier

the whole situation was very nice

you know when we lived in Woodstock we

had horses we had dogs we had cats we

had all this stuff we had an organic

farm we had

we had so many tomatoes we'd stand at

the back door and throw them out after I

made ketchup and tomato sauce and

everything else I could think of we had

11 and a half acres and a stream that

ran through our property you know these

beautiful horses we had this raccoon she

used to like lie in her back and Pull

and scratch her tummy and play with her

and everything was like an art project

you know one of the best memories that I

have of Paul is when he came to do a

session with us at the bearsville

studios when we put together this group

called The Woodstock mountains review

and he came up was the middle of a

snowstorm and he walked in and he went

into the studio at bearsville with John

Sebastian and the two of them pulled out

their harmonicas and it is the most

beyond belief version of Amazing Grace

with just the two of them as a harmonica

duet and I don't know if they had ever

played it together before but it was so

perfect and we were all sitting there

just completely open mouth and silenced

by this incredible thing and then it was

over

Paul got in his Jeep and went back down

the mountain

[Music]

foreign

Paul was one of the more what I call

generous musicians to play with he would

do a solo but he would also set you up

it was just like come on let's play you

know let's have a conversation together

it was Paul that first encouraged me to

let my Blues voice out and he would just

tell me don't worry about sounding

pretty or like singing Fancy Blues Licks

or anything just let your voice out and

so that was so encouraging I I to this

day I I have him to thank because now

many years later I have a blues voice

and can that's how I've always wanted to

express myself and he was the first

person to give me permission and

encouragement to do that

foreign

Paul was always a historian as well as

just a straight musician he revered the

people who came before him and that he

learned from Paul talked about the

harmonica players that he loved on a

series of instructional cassettes that

we made now on CDs hi this is Paul

Butterfield

I'd like to help bring some new insights

into the harmonica if I could

those notes can be used in so many

different ways in so many different

colors they're just beautiful colors to

that instrument

I thought it would be a nice idea to

talk about some of the influences on my

plane people that I heard in Chicago

growing up one thing that they all had

in common there was a certain urgency to

their playing

there was a certain tension to the way

they played the notes some more than

others Junior Parker was very relaxed in

his plane he sort of played like

[Music]

whereas Sonny Boy Williams had a very

Stark kind of hard way of saying things

on the harmonica

[Music]

Little Walter was very fluid kind of

lines and

foreign

[Music]

to this day that we were able to capture

that because I think it's Unique to have

some a record like that of his

musical thinking and his musical

experience for the learning player

[Music]

he influenced you know a zillion people

on harmonica certainly

and that wasn't enough then he was such

a great singer every time he sang you

could hear coming out of his soul every

song

you know I could never tell if he was

feeling good one day or feeling bad one

day he just played from his soul every

time Paul had this incredible power in

his voice and it was kind of that Irish

Tenor thing you know he had sort of an

Irish Tenor voice but there was some

kind of force behind it that came from

some other place one of the songs we

sang was play on

and it rocked it was he's just so great

you know it's just a so Soulful and he

can give you the blues and he can give

you a rock and roll he can give you the

soul you know really I thought he was

black

some of the little infections that he

does sounds like Jimi Hendrix and then

when he when he go there you know long

that's that's Ray Charles You know it's

very Soulful makes you want to move you

know he sounds great and looks great

thank you

sometimes I just feel like smiling as

Paul's seventh and final album on

Elektra with its main focus on the doors

and other more commercially successful

artists the label drops Paul

Jim Rooney now in Woodstock managing

bearsville Studios has a small office

upstairs in the bearsville complex

so I was up there one day and Paul came

in and he was on the phone to this guy

Joe Baskin at holiday travel booked all

of our travel anybody through Albert's

groups it was working every weekend with

that band I think Friday Saturday Sunday

three three dates a week and then they

come home and they'd be home during the

week which was a nice way to live so he

was looking for the tickets hadn't

gotten the tickets for the weekend

and he says what do you mean they

haven't been paid and the bills hadn't

been paid for a good long while I

Believe by this point Janice Joplin had

died

and it seems to me that the wind went

out of Albert sales a bit and the next

thing I know the Butterfield band is

dissolved

and it happened really fast

and that's a huge blow

and I never heard him say any bad word

about Albert they were good friends

in my own mind

I just don't think Paul ever recovered

from that

[Music]

standing by the highway

Paul's career is in limbo

Albert Grossman offers him a recording

contract with his Label bearsville

records which has just signed a

distribution agreement with Warner

Brothers

with no other offers on the table and

with bearsville's new state-of-the-art

recording studios less than three miles

from his house Paul accepts

1972 I think it was Albert's idea to

here's Paul you know or maybe in between

bands wondering what he's going to do

he's got this contract

Albert got a little Amos what a gorgeous

sound Amos had so now you got the three

of us

then in comes this guy Ronnie Baron the

guy was a character

had this great funky energy which Paul

made our own hybrid of that kind of

sound

and it worked perfectly

I think we got Topher next Christopher

Parker in came Bill rich and it was over

[Music]

I remember in the beginning we were

looking for drummers and bass players

and stuff for better days and he checked

bands down sometimes he'd sit in

and it wouldn't matter what band was

playing

whether it be at that joint or anywhere

else if he sat in and they were grooving

as soon as he played three notes

the groove was way better

that was his magic he just

and you're in

we made one very good album with that

band very proud of it two and a half

years

I think we had a quick burnout I don't

know how it happens you know you hear

stories about the Eagles and stuff and

then they they have a meeting and they

pull it all together and they all go

straight

you know

and they put somebody in a rehab and

then they go on for another 10 years you

know it didn't happen to us

in general the times were definitely a

changing and all the benign pot smoking

that we've done in the in the 60s and

early 70s was giving way to harder stuff

and people were now getting turned on to

Coke and using a lot of it and and I

remember that Jeffrey and Paul I just

saw them really kind of living out there

Macho rock star dreams uh and you know

playing the part by doing extra levels

of drug taking and drinking and it just

escalated and escalated and uh and then

you know started having kind of a darker

and darker side after a while

[Music]

Kathy must have been a calming Force for

Paul

you know we were partying so hard

and she was probably extremely uh

forgiving of

the Boogie Woogie you know

because we'd roll in from

closing all the bars and that was that

wasn't the end of the night at all you

know there's many Dawns were coming you

know

and there was one morning where he burst

into tears about how much he loved Kathy

to me it meant

that he felt bad about something you

know like he wasn't being as good a

man for her as he could have been but uh

I don't think anybody could ever

consider thinking about Paul sitting

there bawling weeping you know and I

probably just said hey let's have

another drink

Paul's first two bearsville releases

with better days in 1973. sell well and

receive favorable reviews the band is

constantly on the road but they break up

in 1974.

Paul uses the downtime to catch up on

requests for his Services as a session

player and guests on albums by Bonnie

Raitt and others

[Music]

he's invited to be a musical guest at

The Last Waltz a concert advertised as

the band's farewell appearance held at

Bill Graham's winterland in San

Francisco on Thanksgiving 1976 featuring

Bob Dylan Joni Mitchell Neil Young Eric

Clapton Ron Wood and Paul's old friend

Muddy Waters the event is filmed by

director Martin Scorsese and released as

a documentary in 1978.

I remember how proud he was of that I

could have shown you the the old Last

Waltz record and he said to Lee love

Daddy you know and wrote me I remember

him just being so proud

of that record you know I mean what a

great lineup right it's just unreal

Paul used to appear quite regularly with

Levon Helm and the rco All-Stars and

that was just a floating party of

amazing musicians

[Music]

foreign

[Music]

thank you foreign

[Music]

band was really a monster combination

and the shows that I saw and the ones

that we had to play with you know what I

wasn't a musician that wasn't wrapped

attention at the side of the stage

[Music]

foreign

totally unique voices on their

instruments and just as people and their

personalities they sparked each other

really well they just had the stuff you

know

[Music]

I know Paul as time went on with his

contract with bearsville records became

unhappy with the promotion that

bearsville was doing Albert was very

involved in building his restaurants and

the bearsville complex and Paul felt

that he was affected by that it was

difficult for Paul because he was all

about music

there was he didn't have that

political instinct

his decline took place over a long

period of time and it was very difficult

to see our relationship had become

somewhat distant just because

I lived in one place more or less and he

lived in lots of places

and he would call me

um

often at two or three o'clock in the

morning

and

in terms of his phone calls how

distressed he seemed

that was an important part of

of my knowing I mean I knew he was

having some difficulties but

so phone calls would say okay

I'm doing better now or okay I'm doing

worse now

after we had Lee we kind of settled down

more I mean Paul would still go on the

road and it was even it was harder for

him then

it was fragmenting

that's when he started getting really

kind of fragmented

it was uh heartbreaking you know

they were madly in love with one another

I was a young kid

people didn't have the same awareness of

how dangerous drugs and alcohol can be

and how they can completely

twist someone's mind and their

priorities and

you know where to go to get some help

with this how do we work it out and

there's no question in my mind that she

was worried my dad was not an abusive

person

he didn't hurt people he wasn't that

kind of scary

but

he was surrounded by as many Yes Men as

he felt like being surrounded by at any

given time

you know there were people wanting to

give him things just because they wanted

to hang out with him and I was a little

kid and that's lonely and hard to deal

with especially if you're raising a

child and your husband's on the road all

the time I mean I my heart goes out to

her you know and what she must have felt

I think it was around 76 that she

decided to be she had to leave Woodstock

pack the car up and we drove out west

um not long after that

my dad came to you know try to mend

things and

he would come out and and stay for

periods of time it is hard for me to

think about that time in my life because

when you're asking your parent to be

there for you and there

you know in another place all together

that's you know that's tough you know he

was still struggling and he'd known

nothing but the road since he was young

and I think he felt a bit lost

and he was still deeply in love and you

know he I know he I know how much he

loved me and we talked all the time but

you know

he would make promises that he couldn't

keep and that kept breaking my heart and

you know to make light of it my mom

would say oh yeah you know it's not that

your dad you know means to be late it's

it's Paul Butterfield time you know oh

okay what you know the tour manager

changed it from March now to June and

that's being late you know you don't

bother to call and say I'm not going to

be out there until this time you know

but

um

I learned to really cherish the times

that I get to go crash with him at the

in a hotel room and get up in the

morning and eat cold pizza and hang out

at the sound checks and go on Small

tours with him

and um you know but it was also really

tough

in 1980 Paul is living in the Woodstock

house with his girlfriend musician

Elizabeth baraclaw and collapses while

recording his north south album in

Memphis

he's diagnosed with peritonitis a

painful inflammation of the inner lining

of the abdomen typically caused by a

bacterial infection

the condition is aggravated by Paul's

heavy drinking use of cocaine and heroin

and poor diet

he receives treatment for the rest of

his life including multiple surgeries

[Music]

Jerry Lee Lewis

was diagnosed with peritonitis before

Paul was anyway he he was seen to be

wearing it as a badge of honor

he was indominable he wasn't going to be

slowed down by this at all which is why

for the really end of his career that I

could begin to see signs that things

were taking him down and his lack of

awareness I think that was more

heartbreaking than anything

[Music]

Christmas it was the early 80s he was an

emergency room at Kingston hospital is

his insides had dissolved

and Neil just about died

and I made a point of coming up here in

January

Kathy was gone by this point he was with

Elizabeth bear Clough

the house was like

empty

and I went over to see him

and by God wasn't he ate it again

and I said I so I was so pissed off

I said

I came up here I thought you were gonna

die

I said

I said I just can't believe this

you know I just can't believe it

and he did the whole cute thing you know

oh hey man it's just I'm not you know

it's just a little

taste you know

Alice kill me wow

Paul sells the Woodstock house the last

remaining symbol of his hard-earned

success in late 1981 and moves to New

York City

while he still plays the occasional gig

he has no record contract and very

little money with the popularity of

disco and other musical genres the 80s

is a tough time to be a blues musician

he spends much of his time hustling

money for Booze cocaine and heroin he

stays with friends when he can but he's

running out of friends

then opportunity arrives from an

unexpected Source when New York

investment banker Ray Godfrey offers to

finance a new album

[Music]

[Applause]

it was almost like a dream

that there he was in The Gramercy hotel

where I was living there was Paul

Butterfield

he was checking in and he stayed for a

good many months

he had a lot of demons as we all know

one of them was he couldn't eat at just

anything shooting items were off his

diet but he couldn't help himself

he loved and would shovel in the worst

fried peppers and he couldn't get enough

of them and I said to myself man that is

living the blues he he's he lives the

Blues by totally

putting himself through that on purpose

you know I think

you know whatever Muddy Waters would

have however he would have written it

Paul

lived it that much we knew he went off

into the cosmos and into Eastern scales

and experimental music but never lost

the soul of a Chicago blues Man

[Music]

Caress Me Baby

[Music]

like the wind caress the tree

[Music]

I want you to love love me baby

like a cool soft Summer Breeze

[Music]

when Albert Grossman passed away on on

Super Bowl Sunday 1986 it was a

devastating day for those musicians and

I know Paul was felt the same way no

matter what the music business was like

at the time Albert had been like a

father to those musicians and they were

deeply affected

in 1986 Paul moves to Los Angeles not

far from Kathy and Lee

while in constant pain from his

peritonitis he makes serious attempts to

conquer his alcohol and drug dependency

and regain control of his life rehab

stents are only intermittently

successful but he continues to perform

and on stage he always Rises to the

occasion

it was April 15th

1987 Paul went to Los Angeles to play on

a BB King special with Eric Clapton

Stevie Ray Vaughan Albert King

um Phil Collins

and Paul was not in good shape and his

alcoholism was worse and worse

and yet he stole the show

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[Applause]

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look at the tears

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he was just himself he was a real man

he was one of the leaders in the

harmonica business

but Paul was a young man so it's left to

you being a whole lot of others to keep

it going we would be treating him fast

we did

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after post-production it came out after

Paul died which was only less than a

month later and they posthumously

dedicated that show to him

he came to Woodstock after that because

he was going to get together with Rick

for those shows in Woodstock and a

little bit of a tour there and Rick

certainly had his own issues and he was

on those last shows with Paul including

the last show at uh graffitis a

nightclub in Pittsburgh

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[Applause]

the morning after that show

I got a call from Rick at the hotel and

he told me the ambulance had come and

picked up Paul and he was unconscious at

the hotel room

and Paul got admitted to the hospital

there in Pittsburgh

they were concerned about him enough to

hold him in the state of Pennsylvania at

the hospital and then he checked out and

went to Hollywood and he passed away I

believe it was May 4th only about a week

later

I mean he was the love of my life and

even though I had a lot of trouble with

some of the things that were going on

I loved him dearly

and he loved me

and

we had a very

private and very close Bond

um

yeah I was very very sad to lose him

I've done a lot of wrong things

in my life

that's all right

foreign

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and I've done a lot of wrong things

sure that was right

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right that's all right too

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I had fun

foreign

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just to come and keep

me company

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and when I get low

I know right where to go

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someone's that came

good care everybody

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he died the same

ages I am right now you know

and I feel young I feel like my life is

just starting I've got

such a beautiful family and so much love

to give and so much to offer

and I can't possibly imagine

my life ending now

Paul didn't happen to fit into some view

of where the Zeitgeist was at at that

particular point you know

and sometimes you just gotta lay low you

just gotta wait and then the world makes

a couple more turns and all of a sudden

you're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

my own experience with Blues men is that

something some energy inside of them I

don't want to use the word pain maybe

it's Joy something has to come out and

they discover Blues as they're out with

boy Paul was definitely one of those

guys that you put that harp to his lips

man and something from his soul

foreign

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foreign

I had the honor to be one of the

speakers at Paul's memorial service here

in Woodstock and among the things I said

was this which I think sums up my

feeling about Paul

and I'll read this to you

Paul used to say that he played only one

note but he really knew how to play it

maybe that's a little bit of an

oversimplification

but when he got in front of a microphone

with a harmonic in his hand he was

transformed

everything else was stripped away the

walls came down and raw feelings came

out

Underneath It All That's where his true

Talent was and his ability to play that

note with so much heart that it couldn't

miss going right to the heart of anyone

who listened

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and just to come and keep me company

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foreign

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of me

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[Applause]

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can I go there too

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there's one thing I will follow you I'd

rather die and live without you merry

merry where are you going

It's Not Over

wherever you go child

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until I win your love again

stand beside you welcome to this