When blues guitarist Elvin Bishop moved to Chicago from Oklahoma in 1960, the cover story given his parents was that he was going to the Windy City to go to college. In reality, Bishop had a different sort of education in mind, and with guitar in hand he frequently haunted the city's south-and-west side blues clubs in search of the blues.
A veteran Chicago bluesman by the name of "Little" Smokey Smothers took notice of the young white guitarist from out west and eventually took him under his wing. Smothers taught Bishop the ins-and-outs of blues guitar so that when Bishop and his harmonica-playing friend Paul Butterfield formed their legendary multi-racial blues band in the mid-1960s, Bishop had developed a jagged, effective, and recognizable blues style of his own.
Bishop and Smothers have shared the stage more than once since those early days. The two guitarists enjoyed a memorable performance together at the 1993 Chicago Blues Festival, and in 2000 they recorded their That's My Partner album live in San Francisco. In 2006 they performed together for the video cameras at the Ground Zero club in Clarksdale, Mississippi. In recent years, however, Smothers has experienced declining health, and lost both of his legs due to diabetes.
To help his friend and mentor, Bishop has compiled a benefit CD titled Chicago Blues Buddies. The eleven-track album is a mix of studio and live tracks from Smothers, many of them featuring Bishop in a supporting role and several are previously unreleased (or long out-of-print). There is also an interview with the two musicians, taken after the 1993 Chicago blues festival, that highlights their friendship and musical chemistry.
Proceeds from Chicago Blues Buddies go to help Smothers with his medical bills and other needs, and Bishop himself put up the cash to produce and manufacture the CD for his friend. Chicago Blues Buddies is available through Bishop's website, or from CD Baby.
