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Farfisa organ on three tracks. Those who have heard the Farfisa organ will understand
that the sound it produces is hardly suitable for a blues session!
When the time came for the package to return to the US, Eddie, who had made many
friends on this side of the Atlantic, decided to stay, at least for a while. With a number
of blues artistes living in Paris, including Memphis Slim and Mickey ‘Guitar’ Baker,
Eddie joined them, prior to moving to The Netherlands for around a year, where he
recorded his second LP, backed by members of the Dutch blues band Cuby and The
Blizzards. The album was recorded in March 1967, and released on the Dutch Phillips
label.
Five days after recording that album he was back in London, in the studio with John
Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (featuring Peter Green, John McVie and Aynsley Dunbar), and
also featuring guitarist Tony McPhee, of the Groundhogs. Mayall and Eddie had met
in 1965, and stayed in touch, and the
former was happy to work with one of his
blues heroes. The LP, “Eddie Boyd & His
Blues Band”, reworking some of finest
songs, was released on Decca, in
September 1967, and a short tour with the
band supported it, with the result that it
sold reasonably well.
When Vernon, and his brother Richard, set
up Blue Horizon Records, they decided to
release two tracks left off the Decca LP -
‘Empty Arms’ and ‘So Miserable To Be
Alone’. I have no idea why these superb
tracks were deemed unsuitable for the
Decca release.
As the Decca deal was for a single LP, Eddie went back into the studios in Switzerland
just three weeks later, to record for the Storyville label. That was three complete
albums recorded in 5 weeks, for 3 different labels!
Towards the end of 1967 Eddie returned to Chicago, with a mind to wind up his affairs
there, and move permanently to Europe. He still had an apartment at 7936 South
Rhodes. Mike Vernon kept in touch by mail, explained that he had set up his own blues
label, and asked Eddie to record with him again when/if he returned to the UK. Having
eventually decided to make Europe his permanent home, he confirmed that he was
happy to go ahead, and Fleetwood Mac were invited to record as his backing band,
and to support him on a short tour, mostly in the London area. Messrs Green and
McVie had enjoyed working with him previously, and were keen to do so again.
And so, the excellent album “7936 South Rhodes” was recorded in one day in January
1968. The process was rather hurried, due to the busy diaries of both Mac and Eddie,
and the fact that the CBS Studios in New Bond Street were heavily booked. However,