I was only 16 when I left Tulsa, so it was real hard to get into clubs. Well, that вЂњlittle olderвЂќ was significant. Before you got the scholarship and moved to Chicago, were you exposed to the music scene in Tulsa much? Tulsa musicians like Leon Russell and J.J. King to MississippiвЂ™s Homemade Jamz Blues Band.ДЇor nearly 35 years, Bishop has lived in the hills of Marin County, his home flanked by an impressive garden (where he grows all manner of herbs, fruits, and vegetables) and his recording studio, home of the trademark Gibson ES-345 he calls вЂњRed Dog.вЂќ Drinking homemade apple juice in his studio, he spoke with Vintage Guitar about the National Merit Scholarship that brought him to Chicago, his blues apprenticeship there, the search for another Red Dog, and the concept behind the new CD вЂ“ passing the blues tradition down to future generations the way the legends of Chicago blues passed it down to him. Following the murder of his daughter, Groove (Blind Pig) was a catharsis вЂ“ with the angry вЂњWhat The Hell is Going On,вЂќ a slide instrumental treatment of the country hit вЂњSweet Dreams,вЂќ and a stark solo performance titled вЂњCome On Blues.вЂќДЇor The Blues Rolls On (Delta Groove), Bishop surrounded himself with peers, mentors, and the newest generation of blues players вЂ“ from George Thorogood to Derek Trucks, from B.B. But his three most recent albums are among his strongest вЂ“ GettinвЂ™ My Groove Back, the live Booty BumpinвЂ™, and especially 2008вЂ™s The Blues Rolls On. It was not that big of a stretch, thanks to BishopвЂ™s Oklahoma roots, and he scored hits with вЂњTravelinвЂ™ Shoes,вЂќ вЂњStruttinвЂ™ My Stuff,вЂќ and the #3 вЂњFooled Around And Fell In Love.вЂќДЄfter a 10-year hiatus from the record bins, he returned to his blues roots with 1988вЂ™s Big Fun (on Alligator). Its first three albums (now available on the two-CD Acadia compilation Party Till The Cows Come Home) show the good-time band to be as much R&B and rock as blues.Д«ut in 1974 Bishop was signed to the home of the so-called Southern rock movement (acts like the Allman Brothers Band, Wet Willie, and the Marshall Tucker Band), Capricorn Records. It, too, became a fixture of the Fillmore and Bay Area club scene, and in fact was signed to Fillmore Records. With BloomfieldвЂ™s departure to form the Electric Flag, Bishop took a more prominent role on 1967вЂ™s Resurrection Of Pigboy Crabshaw, but would stay with Butterfield for only one more album before moving to San Francisco and starting his own band. The only debate among converts was which album was more pivotal вЂ“ the visceral, undiluted debut or the adventurous followup, East-West, a year later.

It really makes me feel good.вЂќДЇeaturing the harmonica and vocals of its bandleader alongside the dual guitars of Bishop and the kinetic Mike Bloomfield, the band became a mainstay of the Fillmore scene and underground radio of the day, after years of seven-sets-a-night gigging in Chicago clubs. вЂњA whole lot of people have told me that,вЂќ the guitarist acknowledges. For the raised-on-rock generation that credits 1965вЂ™s Paul Butterfield Blues Band for introducing it to the blues, the album was monumental вЂ“ the audio equivalent of the scene in The Wizard Of Oz when the film shifts from black-and-white to color вЂ“ and there was no going back. The first album Elvin Bishop played on wasnвЂ™t a chart-topper вЂ“ it was a life-changer.

Bishop rig