Elvin Bishop - Feel It (1970)

The Elvin Bishop Group's second album saw the band tilt the balance more away from blues-rock, and toward soul-rock and R&B-influenced rock, than had been the case on their debut. The result was more consistent than the patchy The Elvin Bishop Group, but still not an optimum distillation of Bishop's talents. Jo Baker took over much of the lead vocal duties, and while that was a plus inasmuch as Bishop himself didn't have many singing chops to speak of, Baker was only an adequate soul singer. Again the program was split between blues-R&B-soul covers and originals, but the covers weren't remarkable interpretations, and the group-generated compositions were just so-so. Bishop's guitar prowess is rather subdued on much of the material, a highlight being the Santana-like instrumental "Hogbottom," which indeed features Chepito Areas and Mike Carabello of Santana on percussion. The 2002 CD reissue on Sundazed adds a bonus track from an Epic 45, "Stealin' Watermelons." AMG.

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