In 1964, Elektra Records produced a compilation album of various artists entitled The Blues Project which featured several white musicians from the Greenwich Village area who played acoustic blues music in the style of black musicians. One of the featured artists on the album was a young guitarist named Danny Kalb, who was paid $75 for his two songs. Not long after the album's release, however, Kalb gave up his acoustic guitar for an electric one. The Beatles' arrival in America earlier in the year signified the end of the folk and acoustic blues movement that had swept young America in the early 1960s. The ensuing British Invasion was the nail in the coffin. Seeing the writing on the wall, Kalb gave up acoustic blues and switched to rock and roll, as did many other aspiring American musicians during this period.
Danny Kalb's first rock and roll band was formed in the spring of 1965, playing under various names at first, until finally settling on the Blues Project moniker as an allusion to Kalb's first foray on record. After a brief hiatus in the summer months of 1965 during which Kalb was visiting Europe, the band reformed in September 1965 and were almost immediately a top draw in Greenwich Village. By this time, the band included Danny Kalb on guitar, Steve Katz (having recently departed the Even Dozen Jug Band) also on guitar, Andy Kulberg on bass and flute, Roy Blumenfeld on drums and Tommy Flanders on vocals.
The band's first big break came only a few weeks later when they auditioned for Columbia Records, and failed. The audition was a success, nevertheless, as it garnered them an organist in session musician Al Kooper. Kooper had begun his career as a session guitarist, but that summer, he began playing organ when he sneaked into the "Like a Rolling Stone" recording session on Bob Dylan's seminal album Highway 61 Revisited. In order to improve his musicianship on the new instrument, Kooper joined the Blues Project and began gigging with them almost immediately.
Soon thereafter, the Blues Project gained a record contract from Verve Records, and began recording their first album live at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village over the course of a week in November 1965. While the band was known for their lengthy interpretations of blues and traditional rock and roll songs (making them, along with the Grateful Dead, rock's first "jam band"), their first album saw them rein in these tendencies because of record company wariness as well as the time restrictions of the vinyl record.
Entitled simply Live at the Café Au Go Go, the album was finished with another week of live recordings at the cafe in January 1966. By that time, vocalist Tommy Flanders had left the band and was not replaced. As a result, Flanders appears on only a few of the songs on this album.
The album was a moderate success and the band toured America to promote it. While in San Francisco in April 1966, during the height of the city's Haight-Ashbury culture, the Blues Project played at the Fillmore Auditorium to rave reviews. Seemingly New York's answer to the Grateful Dead, even members of the Grateful Dead who saw them play were impressed with their improvisational abilities.
Returning to New York, the band recorded their second album and first studio album in the fall of 1966, and it was released in November. Arguably better than their first album, Projections was certainly more ambitious than their first album, boasting an eclectic set of songs that ran the gamut from blues, R&B, jazz, psychedelia, and folk-rock. The centerpiece of the album was an 11-and-a-half minute version of "Two Trains Running", which, along with other songs on the album, showed off their improvisational tendencies. One such song was the instrumental, "Flute Thing", written by Kooper and featuring Kulberg.
Soon after the album was completed, though, the band began to fall apart. Al Kooper quit the band in the spring of 1967, and the band without him completed a third album, Live At Town Hall. Despite the name, only one song was recorded live at Town Hall, while the rest was made up of live recordings from other venues, or of studio outtakes with overdubbed applause to feign a live sound.
The Blues Project's last hurrah was at the Monterey International Pop Festival held in Monterey, California, in June 1967. By this time, however, half the original line-up was gone and most of their early magic was, too. Al Kooper had formed his own band and played at the festival as well, but no sort of reunion was in the offing. Guitarist Steve Katz left soon thereafter, followed by founder Danny Kalb. A fourth album, 1968's Planned Obsolescence, featured only drummer Roy Blumenfeld and bassist Andy Kulberg from the original lineup. Upon the album's completion, the remaining members formed Seatrain.
In 1968, Al Kooper and Steve Katz joined forces once again to fulfill a desire of Al Kooper's to form a rock band with a horn section. The resulting band was Blood, Sweat & Tears. While Kooper led the band on its first album, Child Is Father to the Man, he did not stick around for any subsequent releases. Katz, on the other hand, remained with the band into the 1970s.
The Blues Project, with a modified lineup, reformed briefly in the early 1970s, releasing three further albums: 1971's Lazarus, 1972's The Blues Project, and 1973's Original Blues Project Reunion In Central Park (which featured Al Kooper but not Tommy Flanders). These albums did little to excite the public, however. Since then, the group's activity has been confined to a few sporadic reunion concerts.
You Can't Catch Me
The Blues Project Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It custom-made, 'twas a Flight De Ville
With a pow'ful motor and some hideaway wings
Push in on the button and you will get a scene
CHORUS:
Now you can't catch me, baby you can't catch me
'Cause if you get too close, you know I'm gone like a cool breeze
New Jersey Turnpike in the wee wee hours
I was rollin' slow because of drizzlin' showers
Here come a flat-top, he was movin' up with me
Then come wavin' goodbye a little' old souped-up jitney
I put my foot in my tank and I began to roll
Moanin' siren, 'twas a state patrol
So I let out my wings and then I blew my horn
Bye bye New Jersey, I'd be come and gone
(chorus)
Flyin' with my baby last Saturday night
Not a gray cloud floatin' in sight
Big full moon shinin' up above
Cuddle up honey, be my love
Sweetest little thing I've ever seen
I'm gonna name you Maybellene
Flyin' on the beam, set on flight control
Radio tuned to rock 'n' roll
Two, three hours have passed us by
I'll be 2 dropped to 5:05
Fuel consumption way too fast
Let's get on home before we run out of gas
(chorus)
The Blues Project's song "You Can't Catch Me" tells a story of a man who has a specially designed car called an "air-mobile" with powerful wings that can make it fly. The song's protagonist boasts about his vehicle's speed and how no one can catch him, hence the title of the song. The song is structured around three different experiences where the singer takes advantage of his revolutionary car to outdo and outrun anyone who dares challenge him. The first instance is him racing with a flat-top while driving on New Jersey Turnpike, and eventually outpacing him. In the second instance, he is flying with his lover under the moonlit sky while listening to rock and roll music on the radio. Lastly, he mentions driving too fast and needing to head back home before running out of gas.
The song's message is quite straightforward: technological advancement can get us out of sticky situations and help us explore new horizons. As is typical of rock and roll, it's all about the thrill of the ride and the excitement of living life on the edge. The Blues Project also cleverly juxtaposes the feeling of freedom that comes with fast transportation (in this case, the air-mobile) with societal boundaries that pretend to limit our exploration and enjoyment of life.
Line by Line Meaning
I bought a brand-new air-mobile
I purchased a new car that has the ability to fly.
It custom-made, 'twas a Flight De Ville
It was a customized model of a car that could fly.
With a pow'ful motor and some hideaway wings
The car had a strong engine and retractable wings.
Push in on the button and you will get a scene
By pressing a button, the transformation from car to airplane will occur.
Now you can't catch me, baby you can't catch me
I am too fast for you to catch me, my love.
'Cause if you get too close, you know I'm gone like a cool breeze
If you try to approach me, I'll disappear as quickly and smoothly as a cool wind.
New Jersey Turnpike in the wee wee hours
It was late at night on the New Jersey Turnpike.
I was rollin' slow because of drizzlin' showers
I had to drive slowly due to the light rain.
Here come a flat-top, he was movin' up with me
A police car was quickly approaching me from behind.
Then come wavin' goodbye a little' old souped-up jitney
A souped-up car drove past and waved goodbye to me as I continued driving.
I put my foot in my tank and I began to roll
I pressed the accelerator and started moving faster.
Moanin' siren, 'twas a state patrol
The police car started chasing after me with its siren howling.
So I let out my wings and then I blew my horn
I transformed my car into an airplane and honked my horn.
Bye bye New Jersey, I'd be come and gone
I waved goodbye to New Jersey as I flew away into the sky.
Flyin' with my baby last Saturday night
I was flying with my lover on a Saturday night.
Not a gray cloud floatin' in sight
There were no clouds in the sky.
Big full moon shinin' up above
The moon was full and bright in the sky.
Cuddle up honey, be my love
I asked my lover to cuddle with me.
Sweetest little thing I've ever seen
My partner is the sweetest person I've ever met.
I'm gonna name you Maybellene
I gave my partner a nickname, Maybellene.
Flyin' on the beam, set on flight control
I was flying straight ahead using the beam and autopilot settings.
Radio tuned to rock 'n' roll
We were listening to rock 'n' roll music on the radio.
Two, three hours have passed us by
A couple of hours have passed quickly while we were flying.
I'll be 2 dropped to 5:05
I'll descend from 2,000 feet to 500 feet in altitude.
Fuel consumption way too fast
I was using up my fuel at a rapid rate.
Let's get on home before we run out of gas
We need to get back home before we run out of fuel.
Contributed by Maya T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@richq11
One of the most underrated bands of their time!
@Bluesnowman101
The Blues Project!! Killer band!
@SeattleSoulFan
I saw these guys at the 1967 Newport Folk Festival, and they blew me away. I think they opened with "Wake Me, Shake Me." I went out and got this LP next day.
@blusmahn
They ALMOST played at our Senior Prom in 68' !
@SlimDavenport
Great cover of the Chuck Berry classic
@luminaraunduli2791
That lead tone is razor sharp!!!!
@Byrontheone
I love this I have love this album for years
@jakeslexington5941
The point is not whether the ending is sharp or whether they planned it this way. The point is that with the incredible guitars, keys, bass, vocal work, drums, the killer arrangement and a great choice of a rock song to do in urban blues style, the ending is basically insignificant. This is blues, not commercial pop standards. Timeless, killer song. I still have the vinyl record but I wore it out decades ago and have a digital version now.
@Glicksman1
So Berry-like. The BP were the real thing. Danny's Greco faux LP "Gold Top" was so bright and with a definite character of its own. Nothing like a Les Paul except in appearance, he played it with so much verve and talent. The right management, a hit single, and they'd have been a contenda.
@charlesneil2983
Bye bye New Jersey