Elvin Bishop

Elvin Richard Bishop (born October 21, 1942) is an American blues and rock music singer, guitarist, bandleader, and songwriter. An original member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of that group in 2015 and the Blues Hall of Fame in his own right in 2016. Bishop feels that the limitations of his voice have helped his songwriting.

Bishop was born in Glendale, California, the son of Mylda (Kleege) and Elvin Bishop, Sr. He grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa. His family moved to Tulsa when he was 10. There he attended Will Rogers High School, winning a full scholarship to the University of Chicago as a National Merit Scholar. He moved to Chicago in 1960 to attend the university, where he majored in physics. In 1963, Bishop met harmonica player Paul Butterfield in the neighborhood of Hyde Park, joined Butterfield’s blues band, and remained with them for five years. Bishop was originally Butterfield’s only guitarist, but was later joined by Mike Bloomfield, who largely took over the lead guitar role for the band’s classic first two albums. After Bloomfield departed, the Butterfield Band’s third album, The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw, took its name from Bishop’s nickname and his renewed role as lead guitarist. Bishop recorded a fourth album, In My Own Dream, with Butterfield, his last with the band, in 1968.

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