Elvin Bishop - Juke Joint Jump 1975

Elvin Bishop's Macon Takeover continued on his second Capricorn album, which had a slightly less country feel than Let It Flow but continued to be dominated by twin guitar playing (courtesy of Bishop and Johnny "V" Vernazza) and honky tonk piano playing (from Phil Aaberg). The song quality wasn't quite as consistent this time, but "Sure Feels Good" became Bishop's second singles chart entry. AMG.

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Elvin Bishop - Let It Flow 1974

For his fourth album, Elvin Bishop organized a new backup group and switched to Capricorn Records. Capricorn was known as the standard bearer of the Southern rock movement--the Allman Brothers Band, The Marshall Tucker Band, etc.--and Bishop was able to emphasize the country/blues aspects of his persona and his music in the move from Marin County, California, to Macon, Georgia. The guest artists included the Allmans' Dickey Betts, Marshall Tucker's Toy Caldwell, Charlie Daniels, and Sly Stone, and Bishop turned in one of his best sets of songs, including "Travelin' Shoes" (with its Allmans-like twin lead guitar work), which became his first charting single, just as the album was his first to make the Top 100 LPs. AMG.

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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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