Elvin Richard Bishop was born in Glendale, California, on October 21, 1942. Bishop grew up on a farm near Elliott, Iowa, before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when he was 10. As a teenager, he loved listening to late-night rhythm and blues radio and began listening to and collecting any blues music he could get his hands on. In 1959, at the age of 17, Bishop won a National Merit Scholarship to the University of Chicago and found himself in the middle of the city’s vibrant blues scene. After a couple of years, he dropped out of college and met Smokey Smothers, who was Howlin’ Wolf’s guitarist. Smothers taught Bishop how to play blues guitar, and in the early ’60s, Bishop joined Paul Butterfield and the Butterfield Blues Band. Bishop also helped shape the sound of Butterfield’s album The Ressurection of Pigboy Crabshaw, a title that refers to Bishop’s countrified persona.
During this time—after trading in his Fender Telecaster—that Bishop fell in love with a certain Gibson ES-345. He named that first guitar “Red Dog” and released Red Dog Speaks in 2010.
Solo Career
In 1968, Bishop left Paul Butterfield’s Band and relocated to San Francisco to pursue a solo career. He made guest appearances at the Filmore with B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and The Allman Brothers Band.
In 1974, Mickey Thomas joined the band. Mickey was a southern boy from Cairo, Georgia, with a tremendous vocal range. That same year, Bishop signed with Capricorn Records and released his first album, titled Let It Flow. The debut single from the album was “Traveling Shoes,” which became Bishop’s first charting single — just as the album was his first to make Billboard’s Top 100 albums chart. Elvin’s second Capricorn Album, Juke Joint Jump, had a slightly less country feel than Let It Flow was released in 1975. From that album, his second charting single, “Sure Feels Good,” was released
In an interview with livinglegendsmusic.com, Thomas shared the story of how he met Bishop, as well as the story behind Bishop’s biggest hit, “Fooled Around And Fell In Love.” Before Thomas met Bishop, he was a gospel singer Gideon Daniels’ band Gideon’s Power. Daniel’s friends with Bishop, and on the weekends, the three of them would jam together at area clubs and then go back to Bishop’s house and jam some more, singing gospel, blues, and rock ‘n’ roll.
Fooled Around And Fell In Love
One night, Bishop sang a few verses of a song he had been working on called “Fooled Around And Fell In Love.” Thomas loved it, and it stuck in his head. About a year and a half later, Thomas was a member of Bishop’s band, which was in Miami laying down tracks at the legendary Criteria Studios for the album to be titled Struttin My Stuff, which was produced by the legendary Bill Szymczyk (who also worked withThe Eagles, J. Geils Band, and many others).
They finished all the tracks, and Szymczyk asked, “What else you got laying around?”
“What about that ‘Fooled Around And Fell In Love’ song you played for me a while back,” Thomas asked Bishop.
“That ole thing?” Bishop replied. He played it for Szymczyk, who, like Thomas, though the song was a keeper. First, they cut the track with Bishop on vocals, but it didn’t work well with his voice. Thomas was in the control room dying to sing the song when Szymczyk looked at him and said, “Do you want to give it a shot?”Mickey stepped up to the mic and knocked it out in a single take. The third verse—with the lyrics “Free and on my own that’s the way I used to be” — was completely improvised.
1976 was a good year
The song was released as a single, and in March of 1976, it rose all the way to No. 3 on the Billboard Top 100 songs chart. Elvin Bishop finally had a big hit on his hands! The album’s title cut was released the same year and charted, climbing to No. 68.
In 1979, Thomas joined Jefferson Starship. Due to legal difficulties, the band eventually shortened it to Starship.
No signs of slowing down
Elvin Bishop has been performing for more than 60 years and shows no signs of slowing down—even in the wake of personal tragedy. Sadly, Bishop’sdaughter Selina, and her mother(Elvin’s ex-partner)Jennifer Villarin, along with three others, were murdered in August of 2000 in an elaborate plot to extort $100,000 from a wealthy retired California couple. Bishop put his career on hold while all of this was happening and refrained from speaking with the media, making it easier to heal.
Elvin Bishop has released numerous albums throughout his career, each infused with blues, rock, and country elements. By the way, “Fooled Around And Fell In Love” is featured in several films, including Guardians Of The Galaxy.