Release Date: 12/12/2025

The BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND Blows Open the Doors of Possibility: Recorded at Chess Studios, East-West Sows the Seeds for Acid-Rock and Features Monster Performances from Mike Bloomfield and More Experience the 1966 Effort in Definitive Sound: Sourced from the Original Analog Master Tapes, Mobile Fidelity's Numbered-Edition 180g 33RPM Mono LP Makes the Album Available in Mono for the First Time in Nearly 60 Years The BUTTERFIELD BLUES BAND might be most famous for serving as the backing group for Bob Dylan's famous electrified show at the Newport Folk Festival, but the collective earned a spot in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame due to East-West. Though it remains a footnote in many historical narratives, the 1966 record changed the shape of popular music, sowed the seeds for acid-rock, and further demonstrated the visionary abilities and virtuosic skills of a sextet that took the blues in novel directions. Sourced from the original analog master tapes, pressed at Fidelity Record Pressing, and housed in a Stoughton jacket, Mobile Fidelity's numbered-edition 180g 33RPM LP presents East-West in definitive sound - and in the original mono mix for the first time in nearly 60 years. Featuring black backgrounds that expose critical details, dynamics, and tones, this collectible reissue exhibits elevated levels of directness, coherency, and presence. You'll experience the prized acoustics of Chicago's Chess Studios at 2120 S. Michigan Avenue, where the set was recorded. Every aspect of the album benefits. Paul Butterfield's lead vocals and signature harmonica; Elvin Bishop's fusion of gospel, R&B, and country threads; Jerome Arnold's in-the-pocket bass; Billy Davenport's bossanova-derived drumming; Mark Naftalin's illuminating piano and organ; and of course, Mike Bloomfield's zinging electric guitar. Decades later, that east-west journey is still one to be taken again and again. 1/4' / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256 to analog console to lathe Numbered 180g 33RPM Mono Vinyl LP NUMBERED SPECIAL EDITION