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The Paul Butterfield Blues Band
The Paul Butterfield Blues Band · 1965 · Track 8
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The story behind
The first time you listen to Our Love Is Drifting, what stands out most is that sense of urgency in the guitar from the very first measure. It's not a song that drags or waits for the drums to set the rhythm: it kicks off with a phrasing that seems to escape, as if the musician couldn't contain what they felt in that moment. The way the bass and harmonica intertwine with those broken chords gives it a weight rarely seen in the blues of the era, where everything often sounds more static. There's something in the blend of these instruments that feels like a live conversation, as if each note responded to the previous one without time to think twice.
Recorded in 1965 in Chicago, this track emerged at a time when the band didn’t yet have a fixed name but already knew their sound didn’t fit the molds of the day. Mike Bloomfield, the guitarist, had been discovered by Paul Rothchild —the producer who would later work with The Doors— thanks to a recommendation from Joe Boyd, an up-and-coming producer scouting bands with something different. Rothchild traveled from New York just to see them play, and according to accounts, he was so impressed that he didn’t hesitate to take them to Elektra Records the very next day. The recording session was quick, almost improvised, and the result ended up on that debut album, which decades later, Rolling Stone magazine would include among the 500 most important in history. They weren’t seeking fame, but that particular track ended up being one of those moments where chance and talent collide head-on.