Horn from the Heart: The Paul Butterfield Story [DVD]

I can honestly say that the Paul Butterfield Blues Band changed my life. My parents were both musicians, but they were mainly into classical music and older jazz. Growing up, at our house I never heard more recent jazz like bebop, and certainly not blues. No rock either. Eventually, I discovered rock music on the radio, and immediately dug it. The PIVOTAL MOMENT, however, was when I was in 8th grade, and one of my classmates said, "Hey man, did you ever hear of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band?" I had not. I had no idea what "blues" was. Anyway, I went over to his house to check it out. My head pretty much exploded. I'd never heard anything like this before-- the raw power and energy of this music was incredible, like nothing I had ever experienced before. I was instantly hooked!The first album I bought from the Butterfield band was their groundbreaking album "East-West". The music was deeply steeped in the Chicago blues tradition, but they took it to an even higher level; they then went into jazz territory with The Work Song, and finally blew the roof off the sucker with the innovative title track East-West-- an epic thirteen-minute piece of improvisational music that ranged from a bluesy sound into what would later be known as fusion jazz... lead guitarist Michael Bloomfield in particular took it WAY outside with his use of modal scales and general improvisational genius. This album marked the high point of this band, in my opinion.By the next album, "The Resurrection of Pigboy Crabshaw", Bloomfield had left the band to pursue his own interests, forming the Electric Flag, along with the great Buddy Miles on drums and vocals. Their album "A Long Time Coming" was another masterpiece of 60s blues/R&B/Americana/fusion jazz.... but I digress.... Pigboy Crabshaw was another great album, even without Bloomfield-- with Elvin Bishop turning in a solid performance on guitar, and the addition of a horn section, giving a new flavor to the band. I really enjoyed that album a lot, but I DID miss Bloomfield."Butter" as he was often known, went on to produce a couple more decent albums, but after that, for a variety of reasons, his career went downhill. Much of it had to do with the changing music scene, and the changing American culture at large, but much of it also had to do with his heavy use of alcohol and hard drugs, which ultimately led to his early death. Tragically, Michael Bloomfield had similar demons and also died way too soon.The Paul Butterfield Blues Band turned me on to blues, which then led me to pursue the "original" blues musicians. As a guitar player myself, I was of course drawn to the Kings-- BB, Albert, and Freddie.... but also people like Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, and then on and on. The Butterfield band ALSO really got me going on extended improvisational music as well. This soon led to my discovering and embracing music like the album "Bitches Brew" by Miles Davis, John Coltrane, the Tony Williams band, Sun Ra, and much, much more.So, it was really the Paul Butterfield Blues Band that opened the door for me. I mean, I dug the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and many other bands-- soon to include in particular Cream and The Jimi Hendrix Experience-- but "Butter" was what really lit me up and set my path. 50-plus years later, I play a range of styles on guitar, but it is all ultimately blues-based; and I owe much of who I am as a musician not only to the great Michael Bloomfield on guitar, but to the whole Butterfield band-- for their "in your face" style of playing-- their relentless groove, their incredibly soulful playing and singing by Paul, and the their uncompromising commitment to the music.Watching this film documentary, "Horn From the Heart", was for me by turns interesting, fascinating, exhilarating, sad, and ultimately tragic. There are some great photos of Paul and the guys in the early days when they were hanging out in the blues clubs in Chicago, some good video clips, and comments from many of the musicians who were there with Paul throughout his career, as well as family members. I particularly enjoyed hearing the great blues drummer Sam Lay talk about being in Paul's first band.I HIGHLY recommend this movie, not only for blues fans, but also for all fans of great American music.

My wife and I are big Blues and Jazz fans. I honestly didn't know much about Paul before watching this movie, and while I now feel more enlightened, I feel there is more to his story. This is a decent documentary, but not a great one. It focused more on the music and less on the musician. For us, the best part was the final quarter of the movie that made things more human and personal. The majority of this documentary is enjoyable but forgettable. I think I'm better for having seen Horn from the Heart but think it could have been refined and more focused. The music is amazing, and it is worth watching if you have any interest in the Blues.~ Kort

Loved Paul Butterfield. Documentary had great commentary for an amazingly talented guy. Worth 5 stars for the music alone.

Excellent Biography of a Great Bluesman. If you're a fan of his music, you will dig this film about him.

This documentary shows what a great harp player and dedicated musician Paul was, it has a lot of great live tunes in it and tells his story from when he was young up until his death and does not pull any punches but it concentrates on his music and the bands he started and the musicians he played with. Paul's life was kind of sad as time went on as his addictions became worse and it does show that but does not dwell on it. The main thing you will get out of this documentary if you're not real familiar with Paul is his dedication to his music and just what a GREAT harp player and band leader he was. He had a big fat tone that sounded almost like a horn, he played the biggest harp ever heard, if you love blues or love Paul Butterfield you will love this documentary, he was a giant and probably did more to bring blues to a white audience than anyone else. Mike Bloomfield, the great blues guitarist was a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band for several years when he first started out and his part of the story is also included, he played with just about everyone in that scene over the years, this documentary is very enjoyable, has a lot of live music in it and I highly recommended it.

I was completely unfamiliar with Paul Butterfield and his music, but I love documentaries about musicians and decided to check this one out. So glad I did. From the first minute to the last I was thoroughly engrossed.It wasn't really a biography: The focus was on his development as an artist and his interactions with and influence on other musicians. The last decade or so of his life was given a cursory treatment, and it seemed like the film's director would have preferred not to even deal with Butterfield's decline. I understand that, I guess, but if you're going to tell about the trajectory of his life and career you really ought to make the reasons for the descent as understandable as the those for the ascent.Still, regardless whether you love the blues or - like me - haven't ever spent much time listening to it, I think you'll find this a captivating documentary. Hearing the music Paul Butterfield made was great, but seeing him and his bandmates perform it on stage brought it to life and gave me a fuller appreciation of his brilliance. I'm glad this was available on Amazon Prime, because otherwise I probably never would have seen it.

After seeing this on TV, I had to have my own copy being a Paul Butterfield fan. Lots of good info.

I'm a harmonica player, and longtime Butterfield fan. My problem with this doc is, not enough of his music here, it keeps repeating the same song as background to the narration! I heard from an inside source, that this was because the producers didn't want to pay the proper licensing fees to use his music in the film! This was stupid penny pinching on their part, what could of been a great documentary, instead turned out mediocre!

Great motion picture!

Great Document and essential Rock device about one of the best Blues and Rock musician

Paul Butterfield, the renown Blues harmonica player and leader of the legendary Paul Butterfield Biues Band, Butterfield Blues Band & Better Days, introduced to the world some of America's greatest players to the music audiences. From Elvin Bishop, Buzzy Feiten, David Sanborn & legendary Mike Bloomfield to name just a few, with these musicians he crafted musical landscapes from Chicago Blues to Indian raga influenced jazz rock. Paul Butterfield had an incredible influence on many of his associates and this documentary highlights the impact he had.Dave Ray

A little bit of rock history and one we should all know about. I first saw Paul Butterfield on the LAST WALTZ and was curious. I was not let down. All of these people were interesting in the late '60s rock scene.

For Butterfield fans