Remembered by many these days as a founding member of the groundbreaking Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Elvin Bishop has also tasted pop success with his 1976 smash hit “Fooled Around and Fell In Love.” Bishop’s long and varied career has included other musical stops along the way as well, from deep down gutbucket blues played in smoky South Side Chicago taverns, to raucous roadhouse R&B, to rollicking good time rock & roll. And at every stage along the way, he’s imbued all of his music with deep passion, a uniquely creative spirit, and more than a little bit of sly humor.
Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Elvin Bishop didn’t have much exposure to live music as a youngster. But his family had a radio, and in between the pop schmaltz and the C&W that ruled the airwaves in the 1950s, that radio could sometimes catch the legendary R&B programming beamed throughout the southern part of the U.S. at night by Nashville radio station WLAC. That station introduced Bishop to the classic records of Jimmy Reed, Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, and once his ears had been hooked, there was no turning back for young Elvin. He soon got his first guitar and on his own began scratching out the basic outlines of the blues, R&B and rock & roll that had captured his imagination.
By the time he was preparing to go to college in the late 1950s, Bishop had earned a National Merit Scholarship, allowing him to go to almost any school he chose – and there was only one choice on Elvin’s mind, the prestigious University of Chicago, which just happened to be located on Chicago’s South side, ground zero for much of the urban blues Elvin had been studying only from a distance. He arrived in Chicago in 1959, and before long crossed paths with a kindred spirit in Paul Butterfield. Together, they explored the ghetto blues clubs in the black neighborhoods surrounding the university campus at a time when blues giants like Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Otis Rush, Magic Sam and Howlin’ Wolf could be found playing in neighborhood joints on a weeknight. Elvin soaked it all up, gaining impromptu lessons and invaluable stage time in front of discerning audiences, and forging a fluid yet powerful guitar style of his own.
By 1963, Bishop and Butterfield were ready to graduate – not necessarily from the university, but certainly from their apprenticeship under Chicago’s blues elders. Recruiting Howlin’ Wolf’s former rhythm section of Sam Lay on drums and Jerome Arnold on bass, the Paul Butterfield Blues Band was born. In 1965, after adding Mike Bloomfield and Mark Naftalin to the lineup, their revolutionary debut LP was released, kicking open the door for virtually all the young white blues bands that followed.
Bishop remained in the fold for three albums with the Butterfield band, including their innovative “East-West” release (on which Bishop and Bloomfield’s intertwining guitars helped set the stage for the Allman Brothers Band among many others who followed), before venturing out on his own. Elvin released four well-received albums on Epic Records in the early ‘70s, before joining Capricorn Records for a couple of LPs and experiencing his biggest pop success, the national hit “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” from his 1976 LP “Struttin’ My Stuff”.
As popular musical trends evolved, the recording projects tapered off, but road work kept Elvin busy through the ‘80s, and by the time he hooked up with Alligator in 1988, he was returning to his bluesy roots. And that fertile territory has been his focus ever since.
Delta Groove Productions president Randy Chortkoff has been a fan and follower of Elvin’s music through all the many phases of his career, beginning with Butterfield Blues Band in the mid 1960s, so when the opportunity arose to bring Elvin into the Delta Groove fold, Chortkoff jumped at the opportunity. The result was Elvin’s Grammy nominated 2008 CD “The Blues Rolls On”, a project supported by an all-star cast of blues royalty featuring B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, George Thorogood , James Cotton, Kim Wilson, Tommy Castro, John Németh, Angela Strehli, plus many more.
Elvin’s brand new release “Red Dog Speaks”, his second on Delta Groove Music, is the exciting next step in his blues journey. Right out of the gate, Bishop leaves no doubt where his heart is, cleverly introducing his long-time cohort - a 1959 Gibson ES-345 that lovingly answers to the name of “Red Dog”, with a gritty slow blues calculated to set the pace for what’s to come. Along the way he smoothly steers the way from strutting blues and R&B, to a good dose of good-time rock & roll, and even an occasional detour through doo-wop, zydeco and gospel. Elvin has made plenty of talented friends over the years, and many of them jumped at the chance to help out including John Nemeth, Buckwheat Zydeco, Roy Gaines, Tommy Castro, Ronnie Baker Brooks, and Kid Andersen who all make guest appearances. And all of it adds up to an amalgam that can only be called “Elvin Bishop music.”
Bishop's official website is at http://www.elvinbishopmusic.com/
My Girl
Elvin Bishop Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl)
I've got so much honey the bees envy me
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl)
Hey hey hey
Hey hey hey
Ooh
I don't need no money, fortune, or fame
I've got all the riches baby one man can claim
I guess you'd say
What can make me feel this way?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl)
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
With my girl
I've even got the month of May
With my girl
Elvin Bishop's song "My Girl" is a classic love song that expresses the deep affection the singer has for his beloved. The lyrics of the song are simple but powerful in that they convey a sense of contentment and fulfillment that comes from being with the one you love. The song opens with the singer declaring that he has "sunshine on a cloudy day" and that even when it's cold outside, he's got the joy and warmth of the month of May, a metaphor for the happiness and joy his girl brings him.
The chorus of the song repeats the phrase "My girl" several times, and the way the singer delivers the lines conveys a sense of joy and pride. He talks about how he has so much honey that even the bees envy him, and that his love for his girl is sweeter than the birds' songs in the trees. He goes on to say that he doesn't need money, fortune, or fame as he has all the riches a man can claim, thanks to his girl.
The last verse of the song reinforces the idea of how much the singer values his girl. He repeats the sentiments from the first verse, stating that he's got sunshine on a cloudy day and even the month of May, all because of his girl. Overall, the song is a celebration of love, and it highlights the sense of contentment and happiness that comes from being with the right person.
Line by Line Meaning
I've got sunshine on a cloudy day
I have something that brings light to my life even in difficult times.
When it's cold outside I've got the month of May
Even when things are tough, I have something that warms my heart and brings me joy.
I guess you'd say
I suppose this is something that most people can relate to.
What can make me feel this way?
What specific thing or person is responsible for bringing so much happiness and contentment to my life?
My girl (my girl, my girl)
The answer is obvious – it's my girl.
Talkin' 'bout my girl (my girl)
I just want to keep talking about my girl and how much she means to me.
I've got so much honey the bees envy me
My life is sweet and full of joy – so much so, that even nature itself seems jealous of it.
I've got a sweeter song than the birds in the trees
My happiness is so complete that even the natural world seems to take notice and respond to it.
Hey hey hey
I just want to express my joy and enthusiasm for life.
Ooh
I am overwhelmed with happiness and contentment.
I don't need no money, fortune, or fame
My happiness comes from something far more valuable than material possessions or worldly success.
I've got all the riches baby one man can claim
I am rich in the love and affection of my girl, which is worth more to me than anything else in the world.
With my girl
All of this happiness and contentment in my life is only possible because of the presence of my girl.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Ronald White, William Robinson Jr.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Bill Slais
on Give It Up
I wrote "Give It Up" with Mickey Thomas and no site has the lyrics, apparently...so...here are the lyrics Mick and I wrote..
...I wanna lay out....I wanna stay out....Don't wanna change my ways...
...I do some drinkin' .....I do some thinkin' .....of what's goin' thru my head these days......
...So if you try to find...some kind of peace of mind...you've got to give as well as take...(oh yeh)
...If you can help it....don't be so selfish (double oh yeh)....
...There's a price you gotta pay (mid-terms??..lol)...YEH (his vocal)
CHORUS
...Everybody's gotta give it up.....repeat....Everybody's go to give it up....
..Everybody's got to give it up sometimes...
BRIDGE
Everybody.....Everybody.....in the world... If you find that...special girl (Kari Lake??..lol)
Don't be blinded....Have a good time...You might find out you could learn a lot.....(hmmm)
GUITAR SOLO
You wanna hold on.....to your freedom....you know you can't keep it all your life...(hmm)
So hears my lesson....forget your PRIDE, son..
...You got to make a sacrifice ....(oh yeh)
Everybody's got to give it up....everybody's got to give it up...
Everybody's got to give it up sometimes (even when Red Tsumani's are predicted...lol)
2nd Bridge (words repeated)
RIDE OUT....Everybody's got to give it up....Everybody's got to give it up sometimes....(even in mid-terms..lol)
Bill Slais
on Give It Up
First off.....Elvin did NOT write "Give It Up" ....Mickey (Thomas) and I wrote the song and the lyrics and I own 100 per cent of publishing and have never been paid a dime for writing it with Mick or a nickel for the publishing... and, even worse, it was re-published on the live album ....and then bought and re-re-published on CD...
Just wanted you to know... at 75 and with Vietnam bladder cancer... I gave up on ever getting paid .....it happened a again on another CD release of a Bay Area guitarist on which I wrote 3 songs and give him half writer's though he didn't write a not... I just love the music business....don't you?