Evil tongues predicted the end of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band when the guitar virtuoso Mike Bloomfield left the group to form Electric Flag. However, the ensemble actually expanded, now including a horn section which added a more jazzy sound, while Chicago blues remained as a basis. Elvin Bishop took on the role of lead guitarist and his nickname was adopted as the name of the album. Butterfield himself played the harmonica and sang, while his band grew together to form one of the most cohesive formations of their time.

The raw immediacy and tight instrumental attack of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band's self-titled debut album were startling and impressive in 1965, but the following year, the group significantly upped the ante with its second LP, East-West. The debut showed that Butterfield and his bandmates could cut tough, authentic blues (not a given for an integrated band during the era in which fans were still debating if a white boy could play the blues) with the energy of rock & roll, but East-West was a far more ambitious set, with the band showing an effective command of jazz, Indian raga, and garagey proto-psychedelia as well as razor-sharp electric blues. Butterfield was the frontman, and his harp work was fierce and potent, but the core of the band was the dueling guitar work of Mike Bloomfield and Elvin Bishop, especially Bloomfield's ferocious, acrobatic solos, while Mark Naftalin's keyboards added welcome washes of melodic color…

This is a collection of the five first albums of the Paul Butterfield' group. The first two albums are classic and influenced rock music. The first album gives an electric atmosphere to blues, and was one of the influences to Bob Dylan's music to became electric…