Electric Flag
The brief career of the much vaunted Electric Flag was begun in 1967 by the late Mike Bloomfield, following his departure from the influential Paul Butterfield Blues Band. The original group comprised of Bloomfield (b. 28 July 1944, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 15 February 1981; guitar), Buddy Miles (drums/vocals), Nick Gravenites (b. Chicago, Illinois, USA; vocals), Barry Goldberg (keyboards), Harvey Brooks (bass), Peter Strazza (tenor saxophone), Marcus Doubleday (trumpet) and Herbie Rich (baritone saxophone). All members were well-seasoned professionals coming from a variety of musical backgrounds. Their debut at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival was a noble start. Their excellent A LONG TIME COMIN’ was released in 1968 with additional members Stemziel (Stemsy) Hunter and Mike Fonfara and was a significant hit in the USA. The tight brassy-tinged blues numbers were laced with Bloomfield's sparse but bitingly crisp Fender Stratocaster guitar. Tracks such as Killing Floor were perfect examples of vintage Flag. The band was unable to follow this release, and immediately began to fall apart, with founder Bloomfield being the first to go. Buddy Miles attempted to hold the band together but the second album was a pale shadow of their debut, with only See To Your Neighbour showing signs of a unified performance. Miles then left to form the Buddy Miles Express, while Gravenites became a songwriting legend in San Francisco. Harvey Brooks, following years of session work, including the Bloomfield/ Kooper/ Stills SUPER SESSION, turned up as a member of Sky. An abortive Flag reunion produced the lacklustre and inappropriately titled THE BAND KEPT PLAYING.