Projections

Shortly after releasing its live debut album in 1966, Greenwich Village hopeful The Blues Project delivered its first studio release, Projections. Although the preceding Live at the Cafe Au-Go-Go had shown that the group could hold its own in a live setting, it was Projections that revealed The Blues Project shone brightest when the doors were closed and the tape was rolling. This stellar mono reissue lets the listener really home in on the band’s interaction and chemistry, starting with the sultry “I Can’t Keep from Crying Sometimes,” a blues-based jam trimmed in psychedelic trappings like fuzz guitar, grinding Hammond B3 organ, and mind-melting solo jams that predated those of The Grateful Dead. Another song ahead of its time was the Steve Katz–penned folk rocker “Steve’s Song,” which borrowed from medieval instrumentation. The Blues Project also blew through covers, leaving its own footprint behind. Check out its muscled rendition of Chuck Berry’s “You Can’t Catch Me” (which plays like a tougher Yardbirds) or the smoldering take on Jimmy Reed’s “Caress Me Baby.”