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April 18: Rothchild, the Doors, and the Butterfield Blues Band

lawrencebush
April 17, 2015

[caption id=“attachment_36294” align=“alignright” width=“300”]photo: Clark J. Pierson photo: Clark J. Pierson[/caption]

Paul A. Rothchild, a record producer who discovered the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and recorded The Doors’ most influential records, was born in Brooklyn on this date in 1935. As a producer for Jac Holtzman’s Elektra Records, Rothchild signed Butterfield in 1964, helped convince Mike Bloomfield to join the band, and was producer on East-West, the band’s highly acclaimed, raga-influenced blues album. Rothchild also produced Janis Joplin’s second studio album, Pearl, and the demo record for Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and worked as producer for Tim Buckley, John Sebastian, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Tom Paxton, Fred Neil, Tom Rush, Love, and others. He died at 59 in 1995. To hear Paul Butterfield working out in 1978, look below.

“Things were wonderful in the Sixties, because it was an era of intense experimentation. Everyone was trying to out-hip each other.” —Paul Rothchild