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 most incomplete histories of music, the 1966 record changed the shape of popular music, sowed the seeds for acidrock, and further demonstrated the visionary abilities and virtuosic skills of a sextet that took the blues in novel directions. Sourced from the original master tapes, strictly limited to 2,500 numbered , and housed in a mini-LP-style gatefold package, Mobile Fidelity’s hybrid SACD presents East-West in audiophile sound — and in the original mono mix for the first time in nearly 60 years. Featuring crystal-clear clarity that exposes critical details, dynamics, and tones, this collectible reissue exhibits elevated levels of directness, coherency, and spaciousness. You’ll experience the prized acoustics and dimensions 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. Many decades later, that east-west journey is still one to be taken again and again.