The Blues Project

The Blues Project is an American band from the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City that was formed in 1965 and initially split 1967. The band reformed briefly in the early 1970s, releasing three further albums, and have played sporadically since then. While their songs drew from a wide array of musical styles, they are most remembered as one of the earliest practitioners of psychedelic rock, as well as being one of the world's first jam bands (along with the Grateful Dead) and featuring, at one point, Steve Katz (later of Blood, Sweat & Tears) and Al Kooper.

In 1964, Elektra Records produced a compilation album of various artists entitled The Blues Project which featured several white musicians from the Greenwich Village area who played acoustic blues music in the style of black musicians. One of the featured artists on the album was a young guitarist named Danny Kalb, who was paid $75 for his two songs. Not long after the album's release, however, Kalb gave up his acoustic guitar for an electric one. The Beatles' arrival in America earlier in the year signified the end of the folk and acoustic blues movement that had swept young America in the early 1960s. The ensuing British Invasion was the nail in the coffin. Seeing the writing on the wall, Kalb gave up acoustic blues and switched to rock and roll, as did many other aspiring American musicians during this period.