The Electric Flag was an American soul rock band, led by guitarist Mike Bloomfield, keyboardist Barry Goldberg and drummer Buddy Miles, and featuring other musicians such as vocalist Nick Gravenites
and bassist Harvey Brooks. Bloomfield formed the Electric Flag in 1967, following his stint with the Butterfield Blues Band. The band reached its peak with the 1968 release, A Long Time Comin', a fusion of rock, jazz, and R&B styles that charted well in the Billboard Pop Albums chart. Their initial recording was a soundtrack for The Trip, a movie about an LSD experience by Peter Fonda, written by Jack Nicholson and directed by Roger Corman.
With his appreciation for blues, soul and R&B, Bloomfield wanted to create a group of his own that
would feature what he called "American music." He was inspired not only by the big band blues of B.B. King, T-Bone Walker, and Guitar Slim (Eddie Jones), but also by the contemporary soul sounds of Otis Redding, Steve Cropper, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, and other Stax recording artists. He also drew inspiration from traditional country, gospel, and blues forms.
Initially called the American Music Band, Bloomfield organized the band that would become known as
The Electric Flag in the spring of 1967, not long after he produced a session with Chicago blues harmonica player James Cotton that featured a horn section. Bloomfield decided that his new band would also have horns and would play an amalgam of the American music he loved.
Their live debut was at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival (although they didn't make it into the documentary film of the event; they do appear in the bonus footage on the DVD version), but their first proper studio album didn't come out until the spring of 1968.
A Long Time Comin' was an erratic affair, predating Blood, Sweat & Tears and Chicago as a sort of attempt at a big-band rock sound. Calling it an early jazz-rock outing is not exactly accurate; it was
more like late-'60s soul-rock-psychedelia that sometimes (but not always) employed prominent horns. Indeed, it sometimes didn't always sound like the work of the same band -- or, at least, you could say that it seemed torn between blues-rock, soul-rock, and California psychedelic influences. The album's success is even harder to judge in light of the facts that Gravenites really wasn't a top-notch vocalist, and that the bandmembers' instrumental skills outshone their songwriting ones.
There was enough promise on the album to merit further exploration, but it had hardly been released
| NICK GRAVENITES |
before the Flag began to droop. Goldberg left, followed shortly by Bloomfield, the most important component of the group's vision. A fragmented band recorded an inferior follow-up, but by 1969 Electric Flag had split up. They did reunite (with Bloomfield) in 1974 for a Jerry Wexler-produced album that got little notice.
| MIKE BLOOMFIELD |
A reunion took place in 1974, with the Electric Flag releasing The Band Kept Playing, but the recording was not a commercial or critical success and the band quickly disbanded after several months of sporadic gigs. This lineup of the band featured Bloomfield, Goldberg, Miles, and Gravenites, along with new member Roger Troy on bass and vocals.
MEMBERS
Mike Bloomfield — lead guitars, vocals (1967–1968, 1974; died 1981)
Barry Goldberg — keyboards (1967, 1974, 2007)
Harvey Brooks — bass (1967–1969)
Buddy Miles — drums, vocals (1967–1969, 1974; died 2008)
Nick Gravenites — rhythm guitars, vocals (1967–1969, 1974, 2007)
Peter Strazza — saxophone (1967–1969)
Marcus Doubleday — trumpet (1967–1969)
Michael Fonfara — keyboards (1967; died 2021)
Herbie Rich — keyboards, saxophone (1967–1969; died 2004)
Stemsy Hunter - saxophone (1968–1969, 2007)
John Simon - keyboards, arranger (1969)
Roger Troy — bass, vocals (1974)
Electric Flag – Old Glory: The Best Of Electric Flag
Label: Legacy – CK 57629, Columbia – CK 57629
Series: Rock Artifacts From The Vaults Of Columbia/Epic Records
Format: CD, Compilation
Country: US
Released: 1995
Genre: Rock, Blues
Style: Blues Rock
TRACKS
01. Killing Floor 4:11
Written-By – C. Burnett
02. Groovin' Is Easy 3:06
Written-By – R. Polte
03. She Should Have Just 5:03
Written-By – R. Polte
04. Goin' Down Slow 4:45
Written-By – J. Oden
05. Texas 4:47
Written-By – B. Miles, M. Bloomfield
06. Sittin' In Circles 4:16
Written-By – B. Goldberg
07. You Don't Realize 4:58
Written-By – M. Bloomfield
08. Movie Music-Improvisation 3:55
Written-By – J.Simon, Electric Flag
09. Another Country 4:04
Written-By – R. Polte
10. Easy Rider 5:32
Written-By – M. Bloomfield
11. Soul Searchin' 2:57
Written-By – B. Miles
12. See To Your Neighbor 2:42
Written-By – N. Gravenites
13. With Time There Is Change 3:15
Written-By – H. Brooks
14. Nothing To Do 4:19
Written-By – H. Brooks, N. Gravenites
15. Hey Little Girl 2:36
Written-By – N. Gravenites
16. Drinkin' Wine 2:28
Arranged By – M. Bloomfield/Written-By – Trad.
17. The Night Time Is The Right Time 5:26
Written-By – L. Carr
NOTES
Tracks 1, 5, 9, 10: Recorded Jan. 1968 A Long Time Comin' (CS 9597)
Track 2: Recorded July 1967 A Long Time Comin' (CS 9597)
Tracks 3, 7: Recorded Sept. 1967 A Long Time Comin' (CS 9597)
Track 4: Recorded Sept. 1967 Bonus track on CD release of A Long Time Comin' (CK 9597)
Track 6: Recorded Sept. 1967
Track 8: Recorded Dec. 1967
Tracks 11, 13, 15: Recorded June 1968 An American Music Band (CS 9714)
Track 12: Recorded Aug. 1968
Track 14: Recorded Aug. 1968 An American Music Band (CS 9714)
Tracks 16 & 17: Recorded live at The Monterey Pop Festival, Saturday afternoon, June 17, 1967
MP3 @ 320 Size: 159 MB
Flac Size: 417 MB
THE TRIP - ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK
One of the greatest exploitation movies of all time, The Trip was the "vision" of Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson (who wrote the original script). The finished film didn't turn out exactly the way Fonda and Nicholson wanted it to, but it certainly had it's moments...all in Psychedelic Color. This, the soundtrack, was pretty cool, too. It contains the first studio recordings of the Electric Flag, Michael Bloomfield's swaggering soul/jazz/rock ensemble.
Writing and performing trippy music was a bit removed from this fine ensemble's area (they were, in fact, a serious and funky band), but they succeeded admirably. Considering that it came out on Mike Curb's Sidewalk Records (a Capitol subsidiary) and it was an American International film, one wonders if the Flag saw any dough from this? No matter, as some of the music is excellent.
"Fine Jug Thing" and "Peter Gets Off" are wild, jazzy rockers, which perfectly score Fonda's Sunset Strip/trip adventures. The album's closer, "Gettin' Hard," is a variation on "Hoochie Coochie Man" and closes the album out in funky style. Also, there are a few early efforts from synthesizer pioneer Paul Beaver, such as "Synesthesia," which is quite similar to David Bowie's work on the Man Who Fell to Earth/Low projects -- eight years later.
(By Matthew Greenwald)
The Electric Flag – The Trip (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Label: Reel Time – RTCD1002
Format: CD, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Unofficial Release
Country: US
Released: 2011
Genre: Rock, Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack, Blues Rock
TRACKS
01. Peter's Trip 2:32
02. Joint Passing 1:04
03. Psyche Soap 0:52
04. M-23 1:12
05. Synesthesia 1:45
06. A Little Head 1:44
07. Hobbit 1:08
08. Inner Pocket 3:35
09. Fewghh 0:58
10. Green And Gold 2:45
11. The Other Ed Norton 2:51
12. Flash, Bam, Pow 1:26
13. Home Room 0:52
14. Peter Gets Off 2:23
15. Practive Music 1:25
16. Fine Jung Thing 7:25
17. Senior Citizen 2:56
18. Gettin' Hard 4:02
MP3 @ 320 Size: 99 MB
Flac Size: 219 MB