Paul Butterfield Band — Rockpalast, Essen, 1978

Filmed live concert by the Paul Butterfield Band for WDR’s Rockpalast programme, at the Grugahalle in Essen (Germany), on 15 September 1978 — often cited as Butterfield’s first performance with his own band in Europe. A leading American blues harmonica player and a pioneer of electrified Chicago blues from the 1960s, Paul Butterfield here leads a wiry outfit with Buzzy Feiten and Peter Atanasoff on guitars, Bobby Vega on bass and Ernest Carter on drums. The set leans hard into blues and rhythm and blues: Fair Enough, One More Heartache, New Walking Blues, Goin’ Down, Born Under a Bad Sign. A carefully shot television capture, later issued on CD/DVD (Live At Rockpalast 1978). An essential document for lovers of electric blues and harmonica, catching a master of the genre in top form on a European stage. A 1970s blues full concert to rediscover. A pioneer of electrified blues, Paul Butterfield (who died in 1987) leaves with this Rockpalast capture a rare record of his harmonica playing on a European stage. An archive document to watch in full.