With The Butterfield Blues Band , which he founded in 1965 , which u. a. Mike Bloomfield became the leading interpreter of the white Chicago blues. Using electric instruments, the band caused a scandal at the Newport Folk Festival that same year and shocked traditional folk fans . Parts of The Butterfield Blues Band also played as a backing band for Bob Dylan's appearance at the Newport Folk Festival, as Bloomfield had also assisted Dylan with the recording of Like a Rolling Stone .
Butterfield no longer only played the classic blues, he also used elements of other musical styles, such as jazz or Asian sounds. In 1972, The Butterfield Blues Band , which had long since ceased to play the blues, was renamed Better Days .
Butterfield, who now lived in Woodstock , got together with Mike Bloomfield and musicians from the Woodstock scene under the name Fathers And Sons on a project of a joint recording.
After the Better Days dissolved , Butterfield became more and more addicted to alcohol .
On 15./16. September 1978 he played with his band in the 3rd Rockpalast Night of the WDR in the Grugahalle Essen . The concert was broadcast live across Europe on radio and television.
In 1986 he moved to Los Angeles . The alcohol and drug addicted musician died on May 4, 1987, three weeks after his last appearance with BB King , Albert King and Eric Clapton in Los Angeles.
