Electric Flag
Carousel Ballroom
San Fransisco
18 May 1968    might possibly be the 19th

This is a very good SB, though it takes awhile for the sound guys to get their act together. FYI, the Carousel Ballroom became the Fillmore West about 6 weeks after this recording.  

Early Show 1. Soul Searchin' 2. Tuning 3. Milk Cow Blues 4. Tuning 5. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water 6. Groovin' Is Easy Michael Bloomfield, guitar Harvey Brooks, bass Buddy Miles, drums, screams 2, vocals 3,6 Barry Goldberg, organ, vocals 4? Peter Strazza, tenor sax Marcus Doubleday, trumpet Nick Gravenites, vocals 5,7,8 percussion Herbie Rich, baritone sax

Late Show   1. Instrumental   2. Instrumental   3. Texas   4. Hey Joe   5. It Takes Time   6. Tuning   7. I've Been Loving You   8. Another Country//   9. //Ain't No Doctor 10. Tuning 11. Don't You Lie To Me 12. Tuning 13. Soul Searchin'

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This three day run at The Carousel Ballroom was a feast for horn section fans, featuring Pacific Gas & Electric, Electric Flag and Don Ellis and His Orchestra. Due to popular demand, a matinee show was added. Although Electric Flag was the headliner for these shows, they opted to go on second to allow Don Ellis and His Orchestra to close the shows.

These sets feature the original lineup, toward the end of founder, Michael Bloomfield's, involvement. He would depart shortly thereafter, leaving the band to struggle onward for several months before disbanding. However, at this point the band was full of fire and highly influential. Their unique blend of soul, rock and blues, punctuated by horns, didn't go unnoticed. Later that year, Al Kooper would create a similar band, Blood Sweat and Tears, and Chicago Transit Authority would also use this formula, both achieving far greater commercial success. However, it was Electric Flag that created the template and who were the most diverse musically. The incendiary guitar playing by Bloomfield during this time period set a level that few (if any) other white guitar players could match.

The evening show is one of the best Electric Flag performances ever captured on tape and includes a wealth of material that was never commercially released. Prior to the band's introduction, some wacky stage insanity is heard that may be a clue to the band's altered state of mind. Following the introduction, they kick things off with a few quick warm. up exercises. The first is a swinging instrumental which sounds like a big band tune from the 1940's, followed by a second instrumental along the lines of Booker T & The MG's "Green Onions" that veers off into a nice little jam.

Buddy Miles takes vocal duties on their popular first album track, "Texas." This song would soon be covered by many other blues artists, including Texas natives Johnny Winter and Janis Joplin, whose slightly rearranged duet version with Gravenites ("Ego Rock") was posthumously released on the Janis Joplin In Concert album. Next up is Electric Flag's take on "Hey Joe," with Buddy Miles taking lead vocal duties. Taken at a slightly slower pace, but with an obvious nod to the Jimi Hendrix Experience arrangement, this features some searing guitar work from Bloomfield with the entire band playing extremely well.

Gravenites steps back up to the microphone for another track from their album, "It Takes Time." This is a great shuffle and thankfully, about two minutes in, the final adjustments are made to the tape mix and it sounds wonderful. Bloomfield's guitar is cranked up in the mix, the horns are balanced and this seriously smokes! It's no wonder that this song would be one of very few Flag originals that would remain in Gravenites and Bloomfield's repertoire far beyond the life of the band. Of particular note is Bloomfield's laid back solo approximately three minutes in. The band drops way down low, allowing him to play in a delicate manner with an extraordinarily sweet tone. Following a minute or so of tuning, the group tackles Otis Redding's classic "I've Been Loving You Too Long." Buddy Miles does a respectable job on the soulful vocals and the band takes their time exploring the nuances of this great song for almost eight minutes. At its conclusion, they immediately begin their most adventurous original, "Another Country." Much to the dismay of anyone into the Flag, the master reel ran out two minutes in, just as they are beginning the psychedelic meltdown section. Ouch! It's a shame, but the reel change was not attended to immediately and approximately 10 minutes of the show was not recorded. When the recording resumes, we find the next song already in progress. The second reel continues as the band is tearing it up on "Ain't No Doctor," another smoking blues tune that never made it on a Flag album. The band is firing on all cylinders by this point, and Bloomfield's guitar playing is rapidly reaching incendiary level. One of the great highlights of this performance is next and it's no surprise it's another blues tune. This time, it's a fantastic cover of Albert King's "Don't Lie To Me." This cooks from beginning to end and deserves official release. Barry Goldberg takes a rare lead vocal and he and Bloomfield's love for this song is obvious and infectious. Although the group scored well on the album charts and pleased rock audiences, neither Bloomfield nor Goldberg lost their love for the blues and this is a prime example. By the end, Bloomfield is absolutely shredding on guitar.

Following a brief discussion of how much time they have left, they decide to give "Soul Searchin'" another workout (the only song repeated from the early show, when Bloomfield hadn't arrived yet). With Bloomfield included, the difference between this and the matinee version is like night and day. The band really sinks their teeth into this funky boogaloo (as Bloomfield describes it). Unlike the matinee version which focused on the sax leading the way, Bloomfield takes this to radically different places. Buddy Miles gets a brief solo that showcases his incredible footwork and by the end, Bloomfield is tapped into another realm and is seriously burning up the frets.

The Flag wouldn't be able to contain so much talent in one band for much longer. Bloomfield would soon depart and without his leadership, the group would fall apart. The following year a similar situation would develop after Blood Sweat & Tears released their first album, and founder Al Kooper and Bloomfield would begin working together. Gravenites and the horn players would be recruited to help Janis Joplin build her first post. Big Brother Band. Goldberg would begin a solo career. Harvey Brooks would go on to play with Miles Davis on his groundbreaking Bitches Brew album and Buddy Miles would hook up with Jimi Hendrix. Much amazing music would follow, but for a brief time, they were all together in The Electric Flag and this captures that brief period of time quite well.


From Rene Aagard's excellent Bloomfield discography:

This is the ultimate Electric Flag live. recording. True soundboard, but unfortunately there are some faint periods for the vocal, the guitar and so on, but nevertheless the best circulating live recording.

After a few distorted screams as microphone test, and a very short but fitting introduction "Here's the incredible Electric Flag", the band starts with a beautiful sounding short opening instrumental, that's even in stereo! You almost canít believe itís them, so good does they sound. And when you have listened to the audience recordings of Electric Flag live, this is almost too much.

MB is smoking, no, burning! .  on (track 2) but this is unfortunately one of the two tracks where the guitar is too distant to really enjoy. "Texas" comes on fine with good vocals from Buddy Miles and good playing through out. The guitar is still a little too faint, but itís fine to hear the hornsection play in tune and time! Midway through the track MB's guitar is turned up and we can really enjoy a fine experience.

Hey Joe is apparently difficult to get started. The band doodles for a couple of minutes. Could it be Barry Goldberg singing? It does not sound like any of the other vocalists. MB plays at his best, low, soft and bluesy and high and hard. Buddy Miles is hammering away with all his might. A great track.

With (track 5) "It Takes Time", we're back to the classic Flag repertoire. MB starts wailing on the guitar and Gravenites follows with a top vocal performance (a little faint in the recording. Midway the organ suddenly appears. Somebody must have had a busy time twistin' the knobs). The guitar solo is great and it appears to be a "real" solo performance as you can't hear any other instrument but Buddy's whiskers and bass drum. Ah, that's what we like to hear, MB grabbing the audience and the players, so they forget to play.

Again the band doodles, strums and discuss before they start (track 6). It has some fine interplay between the vocal and the guitar at the end. "Another Country" has as always a fine vocal from Gravenites and unfortunately the track is cut after only two minutes. The first part of (track 7) is also missing, but still itís a gem (the title is a guess).

More doodling and then a beautiful version of "Don't You Lie To Me" with MB singing and playing at his very best. Before the next track the band is discussing what to play! MB is yelling for "Brad, where's Brad? A few more minute and he wants to play "You Donít Realize" (we all know the parts to that) but Gravenites is firm: Soul Searching! Maybe they should have played like MB wanted because it sounds like the band is falling apart here and there. MB delivers a fine solo anyway and he is yelling: "Funky boogaloo time!all the way and he certainly is in charge of the playing. 

That's it, The Electric Flag! End of proceedings. Great show