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Dirty-South Blues Harp forum: wail on! > Horn from the Heart
Horn from the Heart
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SuperBee
6067 posts
Jul 16, 2019
5:33 PM
I heard last night that our local independent cinema is bringing Horn from the Heart to town in August.
Great! I’ve been hanging out to see it but hadn’t imagined I’d have the opportunity to see it on a cinema screen.

The catch is that they want someone to introduce the film, speak about Paul Butterfield and why he is such an important character in the story of modern popular music and culture.
Guess who is nominated for that job?

I want to prepare a snappy little speech, maybe 2 or 3 minutes. I’m sure I’ve read some great insightful stuff about PB, some of it related directly to the movie, and probably right here on this page.

What do you see as the important things to say about Paul Butterfield?
DanP
418 posts
Jul 16, 2019
5:45 PM
He was a major part of turning the rock audiences on to the blues. He also formed the first racially mixed blues band.
Fil
439 posts
Jul 16, 2019
7:02 PM
The movie almost speaks for itself. In any case, I’m not sure about the “first racially mixed blues band” part, but he took Chicago blues out of Chicago and introduced it, as DanP says, to rock audiences, a wider audience. He had his own sound, harp and voice, not a copy. Roots in Chicago, fo sure, but he made it his own. You’re going to love the movie.
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Phil Pennington
Sundancer
292 posts
Jul 16, 2019
8:23 PM
Hey Super Bb. You might start by checking on YouTube for the speech Peter Wolf gave when the BBB got inducted into the Rock n’ Roll HOF.
Thievin' Heathen
1150 posts
Jul 16, 2019
8:50 PM
I saw the movie Sunday night at The Texas Theater in Dallas. It was pretty well done. There was not much to work with, especially from the early days. A few snap shots, and interviews with PB music playing in the back ground. Plus dates & places.
Old Hickory
94 posts
Jul 17, 2019
6:17 AM
This guy has the most complete Butterfield blogs I’ve ever come across. Tons of good info that might help you.

Paul Butterfield blog

Last Edited by Old Hickory on Jul 17, 2019 6:17 AM
Harp2swing
290 posts
Jul 17, 2019
3:06 PM
Here's an abridged version of an article written about Paul by Tom Ellis. http://www.bluesaccess.com/No_25/butter.html
SuperBee
6072 posts
Jul 17, 2019
9:19 PM
Thanks for these suggestions. This will be very helpful I appreciate you all.
Mirco
620 posts
Jul 19, 2019
12:01 PM
Do you have David Barrett's "History of the Blues Harmonica" CD? Kinya Pollard plays a tribute to Butterfield and speaks a little about his life. It's a good album. If you only are interested in the Butterfield stuff, you can download just those tracks....
https://www.amazon.com/Tribute-to-Paul-Butterfield/dp/B003DPJBHM

https://www.amazon.com/Tribute-to-Paul-Butterfield-Intro/dp/B003DPDW0Y

In any case, I would imagine that most people there are familiar with Paul and his music already. Maybe you just talk about your connection with Paul or why you enjoy his playing..
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Marc Graci
YouTube Channel

Last Edited by Mirco on Jul 19, 2019 12:02 PM
tomaxe
163 posts
Jul 19, 2019
1:33 PM
allmusic.com has a good bio of Butterfield, written by a Steve Huey. The opening paragraph is a nice succinct summation of Butterfield:

"Paul Butterfield was the first white harmonica player to develop a style original and powerful enough to place him in the pantheon of true blues greats. It's impossible to overestimate the importance of the doors Butterfield opened: before he came to prominence, white American musicians treated the blues with cautious respect, afraid of coming off as inauthentic. Not only did Butterfield clear the way for white musicians to build upon blues tradition (instead of merely replicating it), but his storming sound was a major catalyst in bringing electric Chicago blues to white audiences who'd previously considered acoustic Delta blues the only really genuine article. His initial recordings from the mid-'60s -- featuring the legendary, racially integrated first edition of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band -- were eclectic, groundbreaking offerings that fused electric blues with rock & roll, psychedelia, jazz, and even (on the classic East-West) Indian classical music".

That's a pretty good summary of Butterfield's importance...one may quibble with certain aspects of it but it kinda nails it very succinctly, in my opinion, and a good place to start for some ideas of what to say....
Good luck and have fun. I have to see this movie, hope it's streaming somewhere soon, as it seems to have limited theatrical release.
SuperBee
6093 posts
Aug 02, 2019
1:19 AM
I just realized this will be the first time the film has been shown outside the USA!
Martin
1578 posts
Aug 02, 2019
2:38 PM
There is a guy who has a blog of sorts on PB. If you´re interested, try searching, and if you don´t find it I can look it up. He appears very knowledgeable and not one of those tiresome fans who thinks everything PB did is just great. (It is painfully obvious that it isn´t, and it is interesting to know the reasons behind some of his miserable stuff from later years.)
groyster1
3416 posts
Aug 16, 2019
4:21 AM
never heard butterfield play miserable stuff
Martin
1587 posts
Aug 16, 2019
5:00 AM
@groyster1: Have you listened to the albums fromm his later period?
sonvolt13
180 posts
Aug 16, 2019
7:31 AM
The later albums are indeed really bad. However, any harp played on those albums is still great for the most part. His playing never deteriorated, even near the end.
groyster1
3417 posts
Aug 16, 2019
7:55 AM
no never heard butterfield play miserable harp as I said......one of greatest blues harp players …..ever


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