Elvin Bishop

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bishop and Grammy-winning harmonica great Musselwhite join forces for a fun and historic collaboration of front porch blues. Among the most famous bluesmen in the world, with over five decades each of recording and performing, Elvin and Charlie have scanned over 600,000 units combined, despite over two dozen of their releases coming before the advent of Soundscan. Elvin and Charlie are joined by guitar and piano master Bob Welsh (of Elvin's Big Fun Trio) for an infectious set of warm, funky, down-home blues. The relaxed, spontaneous nature of the recordings reveals a unique musical chemistry on nine originals and three well-chosen covers, as the two trade licks and vocals on one of the finest, most memorable recordings of either artist's career.

Legendary blues guitarist/songwriter/vocalist Elvin Bishop returns to Alligator Records with CAN'T EVEN DO WRONG RIGHT. With his ''so-loose-they're-tight'' road band behind him, along with friends Charlie Musselwhite and Mickey Thomas, Bishop has created one of the best albums of his career. CAN'T EVEN DO WRONG RIGHT finds Bishop playing, writing and singing some of the most spirited and distinctive blues and roots music today. The CD proves that Bishop is as vital and creative an artist now as he was when he first hit the national scene in 1965 with The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He is as slyly good-humored and instantly crowd-pleasing as he was when he was scoring Southern rock-styled hits during the 1970s. For five decades, he has never stopped touring or releasing instantly recognizable music featuring his groundbreaking playing, easygoing vocals, witty lyrics and good-time humor.

Elvin keeps the cornpone good-ole-boy schtick down to an acceptable level on this, perhaps his most serious solo album to date. Although Bishop's good-time approach is still evident on tunes like "I'm Gone," "Right Now Is the Hour," the acoustic "Radio Boogie" (with a guest shot from Charlie Musselwhite) and "Country Blues," the playing and lyrics get much deeper and more serious with "Shady Lane," "The Skin They're In," "Middle Aged Man" and "Long Shadows." Perhaps the most cohesive album he's made to date, revealing an artist coming to grips with his muse, his age and his art, all at once.

Veteran guitarist/vocalist Elvin Bishop has always been – at heart – a blues man, but more known for his pop tunes ("Fooled Around & Fell In Love") and associations as an accompanist. Though he's put out many recordings as a leader, this could be the crown jewel in a long and perhaps sometimes frustrating career. It's his second for the Delta Groove label, accentuating Bishop's deft, meaty slide guitar work, featuring five of his originals, and covers of great standards written by Leroy Carr, Huey Meaux and others. In addition, Bishop is teamed with many heavy friends (including guitarist Tommy Castro, R.C Carrier on rub board, pianist Bob Welsh, and ex-Charles Brown electric bassist Ruth Davies) who also know a great deal about the Chicago-based electric urban music they grew up with and still adore. John Nemeth adds his soulful and gritty vocals to three songs, including a cover of Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to Cross" and a classic read of Otis Spann's New Orleans-flavored "Get Your Hand Out of My Pocket".

On Don't Let the Bossman Get You Down, Bishop projects a good-natured, humorous persona in the extended spoken-word sections of his songs, but still finds time to play a lot of tasty blues guitar.

When Bishop played guitar with Paul Butterfield in the 1960s he fancied himself a countrified hippie named Pig Boy Cranshaw. His sense of humor remains intact decades later, evidenced on a relaxed blues-oriented rock program shot through with a smart sort of bumpkin levity. He never could sing (it was Mickey Thomas on his 1970s smash "Fooled Around and Fell in Love"), but his guitar rides roughshod over those of many a better-known blues artist.