Legendary Blues Guitarist Elvin Bishop Belatedly Presented Hall of Fame Statuette

TULSA, Oklahoma (Nov. 25) – Legendary blues guitarist Elvin Bishop was presented belatedly with the symbol of his election to the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame, 12 years after his formal induction. The honor was bestowed at the end of his homecoming concert in Tulsa, produced by the nonprofit Will Rogers Stage Foundation, Sunday at the historic Will Rogers auditorium.

The presentation occurred at the end of his concert before a packed house of some 1,200 people that gave him a sustained standing ovation. “The audience was wonderfully happy and satisfied,” said former Tulsa Mayor Rodger Randle on behalf of the hall of fame. “Mr. Bishop was happy, too…more importantly, he was deeply moved by the whole thing.” He was joined in the presentation by Ron Woods.

“He received the statuette of Oklahoma’s Favorite Son and the school’s namesake, a miniature of the life-sized sculpture by Jo Davidson that sits in the U.S. Capitol rotunda and a duplicate in the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore. Will Rogers High School in Tulsa is on the National Register of Historic Places,” according to Dick Risk, concert producer, who arranged for the belated presentation.

Bishop, who graduated in 1960, was inducted—in absentia—into the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame in 2012. He had a last-minute scheduling conflict that prevented him from being honored in person, as he had planned to attend. Consequently, he had never received the symbol of his induction.

The ceremonial presentation caps his membership in five halls of fame. He was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 2015, Blues Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2016, and Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2018.

Born in Glendale, California, on October 21, 1942, while his father was stationed on the West Coast during World War II, Bishop grew up on a farm in Iowa before his family relocated to Tulsa when he was 10.

He first got hooked on the blues as a teenager, listening to late-night R&B radio stations from as far away as Chicago, whose powerful 50,000-watt AM signals would boom into Tulsa after local stations would sign off at night, and began collecting, listening to and absorbing blues music. Once Bishop realized that many of his favorite records were recorded in Chicago, he used his 1959 National Merit Scholarship as a way to get closer to his blues heroes by enrolling in the University of Chicago, whose campus was located near dozens of the South Side clubs.

Ever since he first hit the scene with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1965, he blazed his own musical trail. Whether he was playing raw, eye-popping blues, or touring the world for decades delivering his original, good-time countrified blues, Bishop has always inspired his fans with his rowdy guitar playing and witty, slice-of-life songs.

His evergreen radio hit “Fooled Around and Fell in Love” received the loudest and longest ovation on Sunday before the local crowd. It peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in May 1976. Bishop wrote the song and played lead guitar on the recording but felt that his gravelly voice would not do the song justice. He invited vocalist Mickey Thomas, who was a background singer in his band at the time, to sing it.

“Fooled around” has appeared in a number of movies. Among them: “Boogie Nights” (1997), “Big Daddy” (1999), “Summer of Sam” (1999), “The Devil’s Rejects” (2005), “Invincible” (2006), “Lovelace” (2013), and “Guardians of the Galaxy” (2014). Add to that list Tom Hanks and Robin Wright’s Forrest Gump reunion movie “Here,” which was just released in theaters on November 1.

Bishop has played alongside Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and many others in his career.

Late in 2015, he formed The Big Fun Trio, with himself on guitar and vocals, and his friends Bob Welsh on piano and guitar and Willy Jordan on cajón. Their self-titled CD released in 2017 earned a Grammy Award nomination and won Blues Music Awards for Album of The Year and Song of The Year (for the title track) from The Blues Foundation.

Bishop makes his home in Lagunitas, California.

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Here is a link to a soundbite of Rodger Randle on Elvin Bishop’s selection to the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame (Courtesy Will Rogers Stage Foundation):

Below are photos from Elvin Bishop’s concert (Courtesy Will Rogers Stage Foundation):

Ron Woods, left, and former Tulsa Mayor Rodger Randle belatedly present legendary blues guitarist Elvin Bishop, a 2012 inductee in the Will Rogers High School Hall of Fame, his symbolic statuette of the school’s namesake Sunday at Bishop’s homecoming concert before a packed auditorium. Bishop missed his induction due to a scheduling conflict.

Elvin Bishop plays an encore before the packed Will Rogers Auditorium on Sunday, with his new Hall of Fame trophy at his side.

Elvin Bishop signs autographs and visits with appreciate audience members at the Will Rogers High School auditorium following his homecoming concert Sunday. It was the first time back to his alma mater since his graduation in 1960, and the first time he ever performed on its stage.

Legendary blues guitarist and songwriter Elvin Bishop relaxes in the Will Rogers auditorium backstage with concert producer Dick Risk. The two were schoolmates at Will Rogers in the ‘50s but did not know each other then. Risk heads the nonprofit Will Rogers Stage Foundation.