Paul Butterfield Blues Band
at Woodstock 1969

Paul Butterfield's Chicago blues harmonica work opened the final day of Woodstock, helping pioneer the white blues revival movement.

Paul Butterfield Blues Band — Woodstock 1969

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band opened Day 4 (Monday) of Woodstock, providing a blues foundation for the final sessions of the festival. Led by Paul Butterfield's virtuosic harmonica playing, the band had been one of the most important groups in the American blues revival since forming in Chicago in 1963.

Butterfield's band was unusual for its time in being an integrated group — Black and white musicians playing Chicago blues together — and for featuring some of the finest blues musicians of the era, including guitarists Mike Bloomfield (who had left by Woodstock) and Elvin Bishop.

At Woodstock, Butterfield led a group that included Michael Bloomfield replacement Mark Naftalin on keyboards and guitarist Elvin Bishop. Their set opened the final day with blues standards and originals that recalled the smoky Chicago clubs where the music was born.

Paul Butterfield was widely considered the finest white harmonica player of his generation, bringing a technical mastery and emotional depth to the instrument that matched the great Black blues players he idolized. His work helped open rock audiences to the blues tradition.

Butterfield struggled with substance abuse throughout his career and died of a drug overdose on May 4, 1987. His influence on blues harmonica and on the integration of the blues into rock music is incalculable.

Paul Butterfield Blues Band Woodstock Setlist

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