This guy is Jason Ritchie to bed they didn't pay him tribute during the introductions he is definitely one of a very small handful of incredible harp players! In my opinion only Kim Wilson and Steve Geiger are in his class!
JR - you OWNED that shit! Those other guys were bar band average, but you were SRV level. I remember when this aired I came off the couch and said WHO IS THAT!?! Had to come check it out again, still a GREAT solo and amazing stage presence.
I saw your Dad with Jim Cippolina and Billy Kreutzman of the dead around 1987 at the saloon in San Fran I was too young to realize I was watching legends it was a great show
@@thomasmills339 no offense to the guitarists but a thousand guitar players could lay down the same stuff as them. Show me more than a handful of harp players who could replicate Jason Riccis chops? If anything, he should’ve been given MORE time to shine. After all, the signature sound of Paul Butterfield was a blazing, ‘in your face’, electrified harmonica . It wasn’t about shredding guitars.
@@billkammerzell9082go see one of his shows and tell me you still think that. There's actually nobody even in Jason's League. I just did a two-day harmonica camp with him and it blew my mind. And I'm a pretty good harp player...
For a tribute to a Great Harmonica player. They needed to give more breaks to another great Harp player. They stole parts in the song that were originally harp parts and made them guitar solos.
It's always about the guitar players!!! Geez, incredible they didn't even introduce Jason Ricci, playing Harp himself, AS Paul Butterfield - as only he could do! Great event for Jason, but amazingly sad, that he practically had to fight to get in there.... Good thing is he knows how to do that!! What an awesome, superb talent Jason Ricci was for this Butterfield Induction, and continues to be to this day - unmatched by anyone in his generation.
I was 14 when I heard Born in Chicago. Butterfield came to San Francisco and We went to see him at the Fillmore on Friday and returned to see his show at Winterland on Saturday. We were thunderstruck! He completely changed my life. I immediately learned most of Mike Bloomfields signature licks and my friend Jim learned the harp parts. We did a duo on Butterfield and Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcgee songs in Golden Gate park most weekends for enough money to eat and occasionally get a room. I'm 68 now and a working jazz musician, and I still love the whole Butterfield era, especially when he was with Bloomfield. Changed my life! Thank you so much Paul!!
I've watched this 50 times, and it never fails to piss me off. Jason paid homage to Butter in s an elegant, but ferocious manner. Those other imposters had no business being anywhere near that stage. There are 100 other authentic blues musicians who earned the right to perform in his honor. That's why the RRHOF is a commercial farce. Keep on keepin on JR
Thanks, Dennis, for writing what I was thinking. To Morello and Brown this was nothing more than a chance to show off. Jason Ricci really has his act together and often amazes me.
@@mitchgawlik1175 it was incredibly sad to me. Almost hurtful to watch after all of the inspiration Bloomfield’s music (and by extension, Butter’s) gave me. Then again, I could have been over-reacting. It just felt like with the guitar players in particular, Michael’s memory deserved better
@@SeanWeaver I agree. This should not have been a battle of notes between Morello and Brown but a heart felt tribute to one of the most important blues bands and group of players in history. Plus. people neglect Jerome Arnold. He was in the middle of that fray.
@@SeanWeaver Not over-reacting at all.......they butchered this classic song. The harp & vocals were on point but the rest (especially Tom Morello's guitar and he should know better) was just a guitar fest, that steamrolled any dynamics or nuance.
Love revisiting this performance. Have had the privilege of being fellow musicians and friends with Jason for some time, and he never fails to impress.
Massive respect to JASON RICCI here, One of the Greatest harp players of our time. Also a very humble guy, who generously shares his talent to others who want to learn the instrument. The guy also knows how to play outside of the generic first position blues scale.. unlike one of these guitar players.. just saying 😆
Hahahahahha!!!! I love Jason....what a great guy. The Morello and Brown didn't even look at him and he spanked 'em and sent them home. The guitar playing was just pedestrian (yawn)...Lots of wanking...I can hear just as good at the local watering hole. Both Nick's song and Butter himself deserved better. Well done JR....well done.
First thing that hit me was they did not announce Jason...nice job of the end of the song inclusion...would have been fun to have them do a short 3 piece duel instead of just the guitars although Jason would win that no problem...nice exposure though for one of the best harp players ever...you want to be blown away go to one of his shows...
Jason was just getting warmed up. They should have given him an extended harp solo. Friggin guitar players hogging the entire set. Ricci is without a doubt the best harp player in the world. End of story...
These guys aced it but Sam Lay, Mark Naftalin, and Elvin Bishop of the Original Band and Nick Gravenites the songwriter, are still performing and it would have been appropriate for them to be on stage with Zac , Tom and Jason (Paul was smiling in Heaven, I'm sure !)
Except for Jason on harp (when you could hear him over the guitars) and the vocals, to me this rendition sounded not better than any average Monday night guitar fest blues jam........basically, mostly due to Tom Morello's overplaying, the butchered such a great song.
Upsetting that, in a tribute to a man who inspired a generation of future harmonica players, the introduction didn't include the harmonica player...my friend, the great JASON RICCI!!! P.S. I love that he ended on the "Magic Dick Note"...required curriculum for harp players...from the intro on Whammer Jammer!
@@BlueVooch 10 Hole Blow Bend! Similar technique; slightly different physics. Overblows cause the pitch to go _up._ Blow and draw bends cause the pitch to go down (as heard in the video). The really weird thing is that the overblow creates an air stream that actually _mutes_ the blow reed and bends the _draw_ reed upward. Some crazy physics, and Jason is a master of it all! Technically the 10 hole _can't_ overblow, but it _could_ hypothetically _overdraw._
@@OmniphonProductions yes, indeed, an overbend, you’re correct. I should’ve noticed the typo in my post. Been playing for 45 years, you think I’d get it right by now, WITHOUT having to proofread 😂😂
@@BlueVooch HAHAHA!!! I _do_ proofread my posts, and I _still_ often end up having to edit them after posting...because invariably I see what I _meant_ to write rather that what I _actually_ wrote. LOL! Nice to meet you, by the way.
I am posting this attached to my name, not because anyone else will care (I’m not famous), but because I care. Willie Weeks is one of the greatest bass players who ever lived and should be treated as royalty. Otherwise the only reason I took the time to write any of this at all (let alone on the Internet where I am bound to be flamed for it) is that Bloomfield was one of my greatest inspirations. I have been a guitar player for virtually all of my life - professionally for more or less the past 20 years. First, as for any objections to my fierce defense of Michael in this note on the ground that, “this was a tribute to The Butterfield Band, not Michael,” let’s remember Paul Rothchild’s own words, having been to Big John’s to hear Butterfield for the first time. The following evening he (along with Joe Boyd) went to see Bloomfield on his gig in Evanston; they went with Butterfield, who proceeded to join Michael onstage for a Freddie King instrumental. “Paul and I exchanged looks. This was the magic dialectic, Butterfield and Bloomfield. It sounded like a firm of accountants but we were convinced it was the key to fame and fortune for the band and for us.” (Paul Rothchild). That’s where the deal was drawn up. Kind of a big deal. Musically, there are issues with this performance. Several of those issues raise valid questions about how much any of this was a sincere tribute at all. First, Born In Chicago is not a minor blues. I’ve taught students who have commented and asked about the minor/major blur in the blues but when you listen to this, definite minor chords are played. That’s just not how the song goes. If I played When Johnny Comes Marching Home in the parallel major key would you chalk it up to interpretation or would you say I played it wrong (answer: I would have just played it wrong). At the end of the Butterfield recording you hear Bloomfield slide from the 6th down to dominant 9th chord (in English, he just does the stock rhythm guitar blues move sliding the same shape down by two frets. Put a Mel Bay D7 shape [triangle] on the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings. Slide that sucker back two frets. So now you have 7th fret 4th string, 6th fret 3rd string, 7th fret 2nd string --> then slide it back down to 5th fret, 4th fret, 5th fret. It’s such a stock rhythm guitar move. SRV does it on Empty Arms too. Nowhere in a minor blues would that take place. Just because the melody CAN work (sort of, but not really, more on this in a moment) with a minor 1,4,5 progression doesn’t turn the whole thing into a minor blues. In doing so this was not a tribute at all but a reharmonization instead. Furthermore there are only 3 chords. It’s like George Harrison said about GNR playing Knocking On Heaven’s Door wrong (“there's only 3 chords in it and they managed to get one of them wrong”). Point 1B, the melody is wrong. Towards those ends, if you listen to the original melody and "feel it" if you don't know any theory or have any real-ear training to quantify it, you still can't miss it. Zac Brown is singing the melody wrong. But melody always walks hand in hand with harmony, even on Chicken Fried. Since the harmony was botched from the top, why not the melody too... Now I did hear a live Butterfield recording where he sang a variation, but it was after stating the main melody and although Nick Gravenitis wrote the tune, still, it was essentially Butter's to do with as he pleased (certainly so far as an association goes). In cold scientific terms, Butterfield begins the melody on the b7 and also melds the blue note/minor 3rd into a major 3rd over the word "forty" and numerous places in other verses. Zac Brown doesn't. Second, the feel is wrong. Where’s the upbeat of two? The tune, recording, and legacy of that song involves Bloomfield doubling the riff with Butterfield, and Sam Lay’s snare which hits on 2, again on the and of 2, and beat 4. Also, Sam Lay was playing 8ths (not a quarter note based rock groove) on the hi-hat. I get that it’s not as simple as this paragraph makes it out to be, that the kick here hits the and of 2 instead of the snare (so there is a pulse), and that there are grace notes on the hi hat, and that the time is great, but for a great player, the whole thing could probably be solved by spending not even that much time with close listening of the legacy recording. Where the accents are and how it grooves feels wrong even if the time and playing are great. It’s no different than a guitar player playing the right notes but not selling the part, which brings us to… The third and the most painful issue for me (because Michael meant so much to me as a young player myself, and I felt like it was a great disrespect to Michael, considering all of the possible alternatives and the authenticity, or lack thereof, in this tribute which might as well have been The Wreck Of The Old 97), the guitar players. I’ve never ever done this before. Usually I concur that making a living as a musician at any level is hard enough with all of the pressure, expectations, judgments, and collateral damage of the business but this is too important and so I’m putting myself out on the line to just come right out and say it. I am a guitar player, have given decades of my life to the instrument, and many of those to this particular music upon that instrument. None of this is intended to be unkind although I’ve got to bust a few chops here simply to communicate the depth of my disappointment. Michael once compared the blues to a sex act. This was a flaccid chicken fried phallus that only raged at the penis pump machine. Tom Morello attempting to play the blues (and I’m being kind to limit that statement to playing the blues) and Zac Brown --- as blues guitar players, if we are narrowing the statement to a very specific subject in order to honor the subject and be as kind as possible given the outcome --- could not have been selected for any compelling musical reason aside from name recognition. That is, unless the tribute was supposed to be Michael’s own cynicism of the business itself: “Basically what it was, it was selling a product by its name, not really by the content. It was a huckster’s idea that worked.” (Bloomfield) "ELLIOT MAN, you have no idea what I DO as a musician or entertainer, and it's plenty weird. I was wrong to take the money. I was wrong to not walk out of your office the first or second time I met you..." (Bloomfield, 1976 letter). If Tom Morello didn’t trust teachers, and didn’t trust politicians, and didn’t trust the institutions, but you only trusted music, then does that extend to trusting your ears, because if so, perhaps those ears need to listen to a little more blues guitar. Where were the blue notes at all? Bloomfield loved the b5. Where was were the sweet major BB King notes that Michael liked? Dude, where’s the vibrato at all? “Well, when I’m playing blues guitar real well - that’s when I’m not fooling around but I’m really into something - it’s a lot like B.B. King. But I don’t know, it’s my own thing when there are major notes and sweet runs. You know I like sweet blues. The English cats play very hard funky blues. Like Aretha sings is how they play guitar. I play sweet blues. I can’t explain it. I want to be signing.” (Bloomfield) Not gonna get there with straight minor pentatonic runs (Tom, Zac....the minor pentatonic is AC/DC not Albert King....have you ever used the actual blues scale? Do your ears hear it? You know like when B.B. releases the bend down a 1/2 step to hang on the b5 on Worry Worry in Live At The Regal) crossed with a few Dorian notes. The Whammy pedal just won’t do that. It would be great if it could but the thing just won’t do that. So there's something to play the Digitech blues about. The thing just won't wobble a string like Otis Rush. And if I’m just taking this too seriously and am a curmudgeon jerk, that’s fine, I have to live with that interpretation of my little rant. All I respectfully ask then is one parting question: were Carlos Santana and Terry Haggerty taking it too seriously too when they visited Michael at his house on Carmelita Avenue in Mill Valley around 1970?: “And they told me, ‘Man, you ought to be ashamed of yourself to charge admission at the door to see you, because you’re a fucking joke, you’re a laughingstock. We used to learn from you….you’re a fraud. You can’t even hold a guitar anymore.’ And I just said, ‘Hey, I’m not into that anymore. I’m into watching the Tonight Show and shooting dope. I’m into stoned leisure.’ But they wouldn’t let up. They sat down, and they said, ‘Now listen to us play.’ And they played. Hag started playing and, oh, my God, he was was better than I ever was. It was unbelievable. From then on, I vowed, never again. If you’re going to get up in front of people, God knows you better be good. That those guys would do that, to come over, to come down on me so hard, to get the balls to do that….it so moved me that these people wanted to see me playing again…it affected my heart tremendously….They got me back into guitar.” Michael deserved better. A LOT better. "And I came to love him as I had loved Mike Bloomfield, these were my sons, these were the children who'd not only learned my craft, but improved upon it. I still miss Stevie - and miss Mike - and wish both boys could have lived long, prosperous lives. They deserved kinder fates.” (B.B. King) It would not have been difficult to honor one of BB’s sons with a little kinder treatment. Robben Ford immediately springs to mind. Even Carlos, if only for the relationship they shared. I didn’t say it - Bloomfield did: From then on, I vowed, never again. If you’re going to get up in front of people, God knows you better be good.
Should've highlighted Jason Ricci on this tune. He looked the part and came out ferocious, but was quickly sidelined by poor renditions of Bloomfield and Bishop. Good God Tom, at least emulate THE TONE before you play simple and unaffected blues licks. Spot on vox though.
There are so many better more qualified players that should've played instead of Tom Morello. Why wasn't Kid Anderson invited? So many better choices. Jason Ricci was great, and is the evolution of the Butterfield style of Blues Harp.
i was just about to note that those 2 guitarists don't even add up to 1 bloomfield at blues pickin', and just then they finally kicked it in with some impressive non blues scale stuff at around a minute to go.
They got arguably the best harp player in the world with Jason Ricci, honoring a harp player, they give most of the spotlight to Morello and company ripping off some whack ass local bar blues solo nonsense. Unforgivable.
Miss Michael Bloomfield's playing in any of the covers of this great tune....harmonica guy's got it, but slightly different than Paul's. They are tight, and they sell the tune.
A great classic originally introduced and performed by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. There will never be any group who can play this number like the original. This group was okay but they played it a tad too fast and not bluesey enough
Elvin Bishop who was in the band was there and still releases cd's... he should have played. Zac Brown and Tom Morello are not right in this... too many BLUES players available
god what a waste..... Ricci KILLIN it and then Morello? That guy couldn't play a car radio let alone a guitar. WHY did they not get someone worthy of trading licks with Jason??
Everywhere Tom Morello goes, his insecurity tells him to take over. Take away the wha-wha paddle, and he is just another guitar player. Seriously. Anyone disagrees? If yes, tell me why.
@@jawtek82 one doesn't need to understand that when you are celebrating someone known for his harmonica playing, don't freaking bring in your whaah whaah paddle to shit all over the song. This was about the harmonica and not about his wha-wha. Look at me, look at me....
No he isn’t a psychiatrist he’s someone who knows music. Listen to Morello at 1:14. My deaf one eyed broke dick dog coulda played a better fill and with something that wasn’t as twangy and tinny Listen to his solo are ya kidding me? Actually listen to both of their solos especially when try and trade. Man it’s pitiful. I mean high school gymnasium pitiful. Wait I don’t want to did high school gymnasiums. Let’s just leave it at lame The harp player is playing a diatonic harmonica with ten holes and 20 notes in and out,not including bends and over blows. He stepped on their dicks Man I cannot believe how bad they were They didn’t suck,it was their version of how blew can you get
Was Paul Shaffer the man in charge of putting this act together for the evening? Jason Ricci was a no brainer, but why not put together a band of blues players that understand and feel the blues. Sam Lay was still alive. Who knew Butterfield's early tunes better than Mark Naftalin? Was Elvin Bishop contacted? Doubtful. Robben Ford was a logical choice. This was not a tribute to Butterfield, it was a showcase for Morello and, on a smaller scale, Zac Brown. Backed by the Paul Shaffer Hall of Fame Orchestra? Give me a major break.
How do you honor a Harmonica legend, and completely neglect the future HOF legend playing the harmonica in this tribute?!?! We see you Jason Ricci! This was a lame move on their part.
What a way to butcher a song and turn it into a Bar Band lowest common denominator blues jam guitar fest rendition.....ugh, pitiful. With all respect to Jason Ricci's Harmonica playing (he did his part in tribute to Paul Butterfield well) As someone in their 50th year of harmonica playing (was full-time pro by age 20) who has listened to Paul Butterfield Blues Band for 48 years, have opened for Elvin Bishop, etc. This rendition of a Blues Classic that with the harmonica to support the vocals and story line Tom Morello just jumped it and converted it into a hack-job.....no better than what you could find on any Monday night Blues Jam somewhere, that is the only chance some players get to really get out and interact to hone their chops. The sound mixer too.......they just freight trained over the harp and lost all the nuance, turning the song into a big bowl of mush. They could have hired a bunch of garage band head banger punk rocker kids and done better than this. If it was just a jam session the great, everybody wail away but this was supposed to be a tribute to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, who with Paul's harp, and the Bloomfield/Bishop guitar's and grooving rhythm players did so with finesse.....not this junk.
Guess I opened my mouth a lttle bit too wide there when I criticized the band that were there for the induction of Paul Butterfield. I apologize, even though it is a different person but the same guy. Actually thinking of just deleting him from for all the booze he drank and all the mistakes he made. But don't worry about my self confidence - I have miles of it.
![Paul Butterfield & Mike Bloomfield • “Last Night” • 1971 [Reelin' In The Years Archive]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/inmoebJhEzs/mqdefault.jpg)
This guy on the harmonica is a monster wow!
This guy is Jason Ritchie to bed they didn't pay him tribute during the introductions he is definitely one of a very small handful of incredible harp players!
In my opinion only Kim Wilson and Steve Geiger are in his class!
He's no Paul Butterfield.
the way he plays those fast triplet things is pretty damn good.
as great as Paul Butterfield was he's no match for Jason
Your kidding right
Thats Jason Ricci
Wowww jason ricci
The first song my Daddy ever wrote! He loves that town..................
Thanks for the comment and for representing your Father Mr.G he is a hero of mine and many!
JR - you OWNED that shit! Those other guys were bar band average, but you were SRV level. I remember when this aired I came off the couch and said WHO IS THAT!?! Had to come check it out again, still a GREAT solo and amazing stage presence.
I saw your Dad with Jim Cippolina and Billy Kreutzman of the dead around 1987 at the saloon in San Fran I was too young to realize I was watching legends it was a great show
Electric Flag! "Grooving Is Easy ", one of the greatest songs and arrangements EVER. Nick was a giant talent.
4:07 Jason Ricci breaking through the soundwall!!! Man, that might be THE most awesome solo, I have ever heard. He SMOKED those guys!
He was mediocre. Dressed obnoxiously and was the low point of the song.
@@thomasmills339 no offense to the guitarists but a thousand guitar players could lay down the same stuff as them. Show me more than a handful of harp players who could replicate Jason Riccis chops? If anything, he should’ve been given MORE time to shine. After all, the signature sound of Paul Butterfield was a blazing, ‘in your face’, electrified harmonica . It wasn’t about shredding guitars.
@@thomasmills339 what the hell you smoked, boy....????
@@thomasmills339 My impression also. He couldn't touch Paul Butterfield when Butter was having a bad day.
@@billkammerzell9082go see one of his shows and tell me you still think that. There's actually nobody even in Jason's League. I just did a two-day harmonica camp with him and it blew my mind. And I'm a pretty good harp player...
Glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks Jason Ricci should've gotten more acknowledgement, such a talent!
For sure ! It WAS a Paul Butterfield tribute. What did Paul play ? One of the greatest harmonica performances, ever ! IMO.
They didnt even say his name in the beginning
For a tribute to a Great Harmonica player. They needed to give more breaks to another great Harp player. They stole parts in the song that were originally harp parts and made them guitar solos.
Ricci is killin it thanks man
It's always about the guitar players!!! Geez, incredible they didn't even introduce Jason Ricci, playing Harp himself, AS Paul Butterfield - as only he could do! Great event for Jason, but amazingly sad, that he practically had to fight to get in there.... Good thing is he knows how to do that!! What an awesome, superb talent Jason Ricci was for this Butterfield Induction, and continues to be to this day - unmatched by anyone in his generation.
YEs, and Butterfield was a harp player.
This guy rivals Bloomfield even as good as he was.
Jason Ricci the most talented person on the stage! So good!
I was 14 when I heard Born in Chicago. Butterfield came to San Francisco and We went to see him at the Fillmore on Friday and returned to see his show at Winterland on Saturday. We were thunderstruck! He completely changed my life. I immediately learned most of Mike Bloomfields signature licks and my friend Jim learned the harp parts. We did a duo on Butterfield and Sonny Terry and Brownie Mcgee songs in Golden Gate park most weekends for enough money to eat and occasionally get a room. I'm 68 now and a working jazz musician, and I still love the whole Butterfield era, especially when he was with Bloomfield. Changed my life! Thank you so much Paul!!
jason ricci is a beast on the harp!
Jason Ricci is amazing!
Jason is already a legend!!!!
That cat rules
Jason Ricci, my most favorite harp player!!
Great video, but considering they were honoring a harmonica player they should have focussed on Jason Ricci.
💯
Exactly😢
Jason Ricci - astounding !
Jason Ricci is a beast with the harmonica! This this video! By FAR the best performance of any HOF inductees!
I've watched this 50 times, and it never fails to piss me off. Jason paid homage to Butter in s an elegant, but ferocious manner. Those other imposters had no business being anywhere near that stage. There are 100 other authentic blues musicians who earned the right to perform in his honor. That's why the RRHOF is a commercial farce. Keep on keepin on JR
Thanks, Dennis, for writing what I was thinking. To Morello and Brown this was nothing more than a chance to show off.
Jason Ricci really has his act together and often amazes me.
@@mitchgawlik1175 They totally missed an opportunity to honor one of the greats. Thank goodness someone had the sense to have Jason up there!
@@mitchgawlik1175 it was incredibly sad to me. Almost hurtful to watch after all of the inspiration Bloomfield’s music (and by extension, Butter’s) gave me. Then again, I could have been over-reacting. It just felt like with the guitar players in particular, Michael’s memory deserved better
@@SeanWeaver I agree. This should not have been a battle of notes between Morello and Brown but a heart felt tribute
to one of the most important blues bands and group of players in history. Plus. people neglect Jerome Arnold. He was
in the middle of that fray.
@@SeanWeaver Not over-reacting at all.......they butchered this classic song. The harp & vocals were on point but the rest (especially Tom Morello's guitar and he should know better) was just a guitar fest, that steamrolled any dynamics or nuance.
Songwriter is Nick 'The Greek' Gravenites. Great song.
Jason's the one!
Introducing Jason and those other guys!
Love revisiting this performance. Have had the privilege of being fellow musicians and friends with Jason for some time, and he never fails to impress.
I am a guitar player but in my humble opinion, Jason Ricci stole the show.
Yay Jason!!
JR is phenomenal
Yeah...I think it really sucks that they didn't introduce Ricci....the Moon Cat!! He's got that fire here catdaddy.....
Totally respectful tribute to an iconic song and band. Zac Brown even sang Nick Gravenites original lyrics accurately.
Massive respect to JASON RICCI here,
One of the Greatest harp players of our time.
Also a very humble guy, who generously shares his talent to others who want to learn the instrument.
The guy also knows how to play outside of the generic first position blues scale.. unlike one of these guitar players..
just saying 😆
Jason!
Nice to hear a cover of this song that captures some of the energy of the BBB original.
So sad that Paul was taken from us so early...real sad for his three sons.
Not enough people understand the harp enough to appreciate what a monster Jason Ricci is. This should have been focussed on him.😊
And Butter smiles down upon Jason Ricci, absolutely. Awesome!
Hahahahahha!!!! I love Jason....what a great guy. The Morello and Brown didn't even look at him and he spanked 'em and sent them home. The guitar playing was just pedestrian (yawn)...Lots of wanking...I can hear just as good at the local watering hole. Both Nick's song and Butter himself deserved better. Well done JR....well done.
they picked the right man cover butterfields harp
4'09 : this harp solo is gold
First thing that hit me was they did not announce Jason...nice job of the end of the song inclusion...would have been fun to have them do a short 3 piece duel instead of just the guitars although Jason would win that no problem...nice exposure though for one of the best harp players ever...you want to be blown away go to one of his shows...
+Wesley Carusos I second that. He is with no doubt the boss on that stage!
Funny I was talking to Jason a couple of weeks ago and I asked him why they didn't do a 3-way trade off and he just smiled and said you know why😂
My preference would have been to have Elvin up there playing...
Wow! Wicked version of this tune! Love it!!
Ricci burned it up.
It's a team effort . Let them ALL shine . 6 strings seem to dominate.
Jason was just getting warmed up. They should have given him an extended harp solo. Friggin guitar players hogging the entire set. Ricci is without a doubt the best harp player in the world. End of story...
Definitely should have let Jason cook
Great and beautiful cover version .
These guys aced it but Sam Lay, Mark Naftalin, and Elvin Bishop of the Original Band and Nick Gravenites the songwriter, are still performing and it would have been appropriate for them to be on stage with Zac , Tom and Jason (Paul was smiling in Heaven, I'm sure !)
Except for Jason on harp (when you could hear him over the guitars) and the vocals, to me this rendition sounded not better than any average Monday night guitar fest blues jam........basically, mostly due to Tom Morello's overplaying, the butchered such a great song.
Zac and Tom need to play together more often.
Somewhere far, far away.
They could of asked way better Blues musicians to be a part of this. I could name at least a dozen!
Upsetting that, in a tribute to a man who inspired a generation of future harmonica players, the introduction didn't include the harmonica player...my friend, the great JASON RICCI!!!
P.S. I love that he ended on the "Magic Dick Note"...required curriculum for harp players...from the intro on Whammer Jammer!
10 hole overblow! 😎
@@BlueVooch 10 Hole Blow Bend! Similar technique; slightly different physics. Overblows cause the pitch to go _up._ Blow and draw bends cause the pitch to go down (as heard in the video). The really weird thing is that the overblow creates an air stream that actually _mutes_ the blow reed and bends the _draw_ reed upward. Some crazy physics, and Jason is a master of it all! Technically the 10 hole _can't_ overblow, but it _could_ hypothetically _overdraw._
@@OmniphonProductions yes, indeed, an overbend, you’re correct. I should’ve noticed the typo in my post. Been playing for 45 years, you think I’d get it right by now, WITHOUT having to proofread 😂😂
@@BlueVooch HAHAHA!!! I _do_ proofread my posts, and I _still_ often end up having to edit them after posting...because invariably I see what I _meant_ to write rather that what I _actually_ wrote. LOL! Nice to meet you, by the way.
Tom and Jason tore the stage up.
I am posting this attached to my name, not because anyone else will care (I’m not famous), but because I care. Willie Weeks is one of the greatest bass players who ever lived and should be treated as royalty. Otherwise the only reason I took the time to write any of this at all (let alone on the Internet where I am bound to be flamed for it) is that Bloomfield was one of my greatest inspirations. I have been a guitar player for virtually all of my life - professionally for more or less the past 20 years.
First, as for any objections to my fierce defense of Michael in this note on the ground that, “this was a tribute to The Butterfield Band, not Michael,” let’s remember Paul Rothchild’s own words, having been to Big John’s to hear Butterfield for the first time. The following evening he (along with Joe Boyd) went to see Bloomfield on his gig in Evanston; they went with Butterfield, who proceeded to join Michael onstage for a Freddie King instrumental.
“Paul and I exchanged looks. This was the magic dialectic, Butterfield and Bloomfield. It sounded like a firm of accountants but we were convinced it was the key to fame and fortune for the band and for us.” (Paul Rothchild).
That’s where the deal was drawn up. Kind of a big deal.
Musically, there are issues with this performance. Several of those issues raise valid questions about how much any of this was a sincere tribute at all.
First, Born In Chicago is not a minor blues. I’ve taught students who have commented and asked about the minor/major blur in the blues but when you listen to this, definite minor chords are played. That’s just not how the song goes. If I played When Johnny Comes Marching Home in the parallel major key would you chalk it up to interpretation or would you say I played it wrong (answer: I would have just played it wrong). At the end of the Butterfield recording you hear Bloomfield slide from the 6th down to dominant 9th chord (in English, he just does the stock rhythm guitar blues move sliding the same shape down by two frets. Put a Mel Bay D7 shape [triangle] on the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings. Slide that sucker back two frets. So now you have 7th fret 4th string, 6th fret 3rd string, 7th fret 2nd string --> then slide it back down to 5th fret, 4th fret, 5th fret. It’s such a stock rhythm guitar move. SRV does it on Empty Arms too. Nowhere in a minor blues would that take place. Just because the melody CAN work (sort of, but not really, more on this in a moment) with a minor 1,4,5 progression doesn’t turn the whole thing into a minor blues. In doing so this was not a tribute at all but a reharmonization instead. Furthermore there are only 3 chords. It’s like George Harrison said about GNR playing Knocking On Heaven’s Door wrong (“there's only 3 chords in it and they managed to get one of them wrong”).
Point 1B, the melody is wrong. Towards those ends, if you listen to the original melody and "feel it" if you don't know any theory or have any real-ear training to quantify it, you still can't miss it. Zac Brown is singing the melody wrong. But melody always walks hand in hand with harmony, even on Chicken Fried. Since the harmony was botched from the top, why not the melody too...
Now I did hear a live Butterfield recording where he sang a variation, but it was after stating the main melody and although Nick Gravenitis wrote the tune, still, it was essentially Butter's to do with as he pleased (certainly so far as an association goes). In cold scientific terms, Butterfield begins the melody on the b7 and also melds the blue note/minor 3rd into a major 3rd over the word "forty" and numerous places in other verses. Zac Brown doesn't.
Second, the feel is wrong. Where’s the upbeat of two? The tune, recording, and legacy of that song involves Bloomfield doubling the riff with Butterfield, and Sam Lay’s snare which hits on 2, again on the and of 2, and beat 4. Also, Sam Lay was playing 8ths (not a quarter note based rock groove) on the hi-hat. I get that it’s not as simple as this paragraph makes it out to be, that the kick here hits the and of 2 instead of the snare (so there is a pulse), and that there are grace notes on the hi hat, and that the time is great, but for a great player, the whole thing could probably be solved by spending not even that much time with close listening of the legacy recording. Where the accents are and how it grooves feels wrong even if the time and playing are great. It’s no different than a guitar player playing the right notes but not selling the part, which brings us to…
The third and the most painful issue for me (because Michael meant so much to me as a young player myself, and I felt like it was a great disrespect to Michael, considering all of the possible alternatives and the authenticity, or lack thereof, in this tribute which might as well have been The Wreck Of The Old 97), the guitar players.
I’ve never ever done this before. Usually I concur that making a living as a musician at any level is hard enough with all of the pressure, expectations, judgments, and collateral damage of the business but this is too important and so I’m putting myself out on the line to just come right out and say it. I am a guitar player, have given decades of my life to the instrument, and many of those to this particular music upon that instrument. None of this is intended to be unkind although I’ve got to bust a few chops here simply to communicate the depth of my disappointment.
Michael once compared the blues to a sex act. This was a flaccid chicken fried phallus that only raged at the penis pump machine. Tom Morello attempting to play the blues (and I’m being kind to limit that statement to playing the blues) and Zac Brown --- as blues guitar players, if we are narrowing the statement to a very specific subject in order to honor the subject and be as kind as possible given the outcome --- could not have been selected for any compelling musical reason aside from name recognition. That is, unless the tribute was supposed to be Michael’s own cynicism of the business itself:
“Basically what it was, it was selling a product by its name, not really by the content. It was a huckster’s idea that worked.” (Bloomfield)
"ELLIOT MAN, you have no idea what I DO as a musician or entertainer, and it's plenty weird. I was wrong to take the money. I was wrong to not walk out of your office the first or second time I met you..." (Bloomfield, 1976 letter).
If Tom Morello didn’t trust teachers, and didn’t trust politicians, and didn’t trust the institutions, but you only trusted music, then does that extend to trusting your ears, because if so, perhaps those ears need to listen to a little more blues guitar. Where were the blue notes at all? Bloomfield loved the b5. Where was were the sweet major BB King notes that Michael liked? Dude, where’s the vibrato at all?
“Well, when I’m playing blues guitar real well - that’s when I’m not fooling around but I’m really into something - it’s a lot like B.B. King. But I don’t know, it’s my own thing when there are major notes and sweet runs. You know I like sweet blues. The English cats play very hard funky blues. Like Aretha sings is how they play guitar. I play sweet blues. I can’t explain it. I want to be signing.” (Bloomfield)
Not gonna get there with straight minor pentatonic runs (Tom, Zac....the minor pentatonic is AC/DC not Albert King....have you ever used the actual blues scale? Do your ears hear it? You know like when B.B. releases the bend down a 1/2 step to hang on the b5 on Worry Worry in Live At The Regal) crossed with a few Dorian notes. The Whammy pedal just won’t do that. It would be great if it could but the thing just won’t do that. So there's something to play the Digitech blues about. The thing just won't wobble a string like Otis Rush.
And if I’m just taking this too seriously and am a curmudgeon jerk, that’s fine, I have to live with that interpretation of my little rant. All I respectfully ask then is one parting question: were Carlos Santana and Terry Haggerty taking it too seriously too when they visited Michael at his house on Carmelita Avenue in Mill Valley around 1970?:
“And they told me, ‘Man, you ought to be ashamed of yourself to charge admission at the door to see you, because you’re a fucking joke, you’re a laughingstock. We used to learn from you….you’re a fraud. You can’t even hold a guitar anymore.’ And I just said, ‘Hey, I’m not into that anymore. I’m into watching the Tonight Show and shooting dope. I’m into stoned leisure.’ But they wouldn’t let up. They sat down, and they said, ‘Now listen to us play.’ And they played. Hag started playing and, oh, my God, he was was better than I ever was. It was unbelievable. From then on, I vowed, never again. If you’re going to get up in front of people, God knows you better be good. That those guys would do that, to come over, to come down on me so hard, to get the balls to do that….it so moved me that these people wanted to see me playing again…it affected my heart tremendously….They got me back into guitar.”
Michael deserved better. A LOT better.
"And I came to love him as I had loved Mike Bloomfield, these were my sons, these were the children who'd not only learned my craft, but improved upon it. I still miss Stevie - and miss Mike - and wish both boys could have lived long, prosperous lives. They deserved kinder fates.” (B.B. King)
It would not have been difficult to honor one of BB’s sons with a little kinder treatment. Robben Ford immediately springs to mind. Even Carlos, if only for the relationship they shared. I didn’t say it - Bloomfield did:
From then on, I vowed, never again. If you’re going to get up in front of people, God knows you better be good.
Thank God no one played like the way you write.
Paul Butterfield was a harp player and what does the announcer do? Introduces the two guitar players and ignores Jason Ricci the harp player. Typical
oh my goodness looooooove this!thanks!
Best played loud.
Lovin' that!!
Like? I fucking love it!!
Totally a killer band!
Fkkn masterpiece
great jam
Nice Nice Nice!!!
Jason Ricci is the Eddie Van Halen of the harmonica. Why not Jimi Hendrix? Because Hendrix was the Little Walter of the guitar.
I agree, more harp to honor PB needed.
Just right
Should've highlighted Jason Ricci on this tune. He looked the part and came out ferocious, but was quickly sidelined by poor renditions of Bloomfield and Bishop. Good God Tom, at least emulate THE TONE before you play simple and unaffected blues licks. Spot on vox though.
There are so many better more qualified players that should've played instead of Tom Morello. Why wasn't Kid Anderson invited? So many better choices. Jason Ricci was great, and is the evolution of the Butterfield style of Blues Harp.
Bam
Louder harp please.
i was just about to note that those 2 guitarists don't even add up to 1 bloomfield at blues pickin', and just then they finally kicked it in with some impressive non blues scale stuff at around a minute to go.
Jimmy Vivino should’ve been handling the Bloomfield part.
Zack and Tom? Why?
Tom Morello reminds me of a ball hawk in basketball. The man is talented. However, this wasn't about him. This is a norm for him
They got arguably the best harp player in the world with Jason Ricci, honoring a harp player, they give most of the spotlight to Morello and company ripping off some whack ass local bar blues solo nonsense. Unforgivable.
This version is totally made by Jason Ricci - the guitar playing is totally wooden
harp wise, no body can hold a candle to paul, even though charlie musslewhite is right there
Absolutely!
Mediocre guitar , fantastic harp, Jason smoked them
Miss Michael Bloomfield's playing in any of the covers of this great tune....harmonica guy's got it, but slightly different than Paul's. They are tight, and they sell the tune.
Other than Ricci, this line up makes no sense. Johnny Lang would have made more sense but I guess he’s not a big enough name.
The harp player had a feel. The others have a lot of nerve trying to play the blues. Practicing in public.
Who knew John Bender could play the harp?
A great classic originally introduced and performed by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. There will never be any group who can play this number like the original. This group was okay but they played it a tad too fast and not bluesey enough
This is a classic tune that shouldn't bother to be covered, let alone attempted, by anyone.
Elvin Bishop who was in the band was there and still releases cd's... he should have played. Zac Brown and Tom Morello are not right in this... too many BLUES players available
Elvin DID play after us with Billy Boy and Sam Lay Cos.
nice
@@jasonricci are there recordings?
DANG!!! I came to see a harp player not a guitar player
Tom Petty did a great version of this!!!!!
What was it tennis champ John McEnroe used to shout at line judges? Oh yeah, YOU"VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!
viktornyc idiot much?
god what a waste..... Ricci KILLIN it and then Morello? That guy couldn't play a car radio let alone a guitar. WHY did they not get someone worthy of trading licks with Jason??
Everywhere Tom Morello goes, his insecurity tells him to take over. Take away the wha-wha paddle, and he is just another guitar player.
Seriously. Anyone disagrees? If yes, tell me why.
Insecurity? Are you a psychiatrist?
@@jawtek82 one doesn't need to understand that when you are celebrating someone known for his harmonica playing, don't freaking bring in your whaah whaah paddle to shit all over the song. This was about the harmonica and not about his wha-wha.
Look at me, look at me....
No he isn’t a psychiatrist he’s someone who knows music. Listen to Morello at 1:14. My deaf one eyed broke dick dog coulda played a better fill and with something that wasn’t as twangy and tinny
Listen to his solo are ya kidding me? Actually listen to both of their solos especially when try and trade. Man it’s pitiful. I mean high school gymnasium pitiful. Wait I don’t want to did high school gymnasiums. Let’s just leave it at lame
The harp player is playing a diatonic harmonica with ten holes and 20 notes in and out,not including bends and over blows.
He stepped on their dicks
Man I cannot believe how bad they were
They didn’t suck,it was their version of how blew can you get
The guitars are great, but that's not the way to play that tune. Jason Ricci should have done it with his band.
Was Paul Shaffer the man in charge of putting this act together for the evening? Jason Ricci was a no brainer, but why not
put together a band of blues players that understand and feel the blues. Sam Lay was still alive. Who knew Butterfield's early
tunes better than Mark Naftalin? Was Elvin Bishop contacted? Doubtful. Robben Ford was a logical choice. This was not a
tribute to Butterfield, it was a showcase for Morello and, on a smaller scale, Zac Brown. Backed by the Paul Shaffer Hall of
Fame Orchestra? Give me a major break.
How do you honor a Harmonica legend, and completely neglect the future HOF legend playing the harmonica in this tribute?!?!
We see you Jason Ricci! This was a lame move on their part.
The guitars should have backed off for Ricci. Far better musician and far more appropriate tribute artist for Butter.
What a way to butcher a song and turn it into a Bar Band lowest common denominator blues jam guitar fest rendition.....ugh, pitiful. With all respect to Jason Ricci's Harmonica playing (he did his part in tribute to Paul Butterfield well) As someone in their 50th year of harmonica playing (was full-time pro by age 20) who has listened to Paul Butterfield Blues Band for 48 years, have opened for Elvin Bishop, etc. This rendition of a Blues Classic that with the harmonica to support the vocals and story line Tom Morello just jumped it and converted it into a hack-job.....no better than what you could find on any Monday night Blues Jam somewhere, that is the only chance some players get to really get out and interact to hone their chops. The sound mixer too.......they just freight trained over the harp and lost all the nuance, turning the song into a big bowl of mush. They could have hired a bunch of garage band head banger punk rocker kids and done better than this. If it was just a jam session the great, everybody wail away but this was supposed to be a tribute to the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, who with Paul's harp, and the Bloomfield/Bishop guitar's and grooving rhythm players did so with finesse.....not this junk.
Guess I opened my mouth a lttle bit too wide there when I criticized the band that were there for the induction of Paul Butterfield. I apologize, even though it is a different person but the same guy. Actually thinking of just deleting him from for all the booze he drank and all the mistakes he made.
But don't worry about my self confidence - I have miles of it.