Born 84 Years Ago Today In California, The Guitarist Whose Biggest Hit Was A Song He Didn't Sing

Elvin Bishop was born in Southern California on October 21, 1942. While a renowned modern blues guitarist, Bishop is technically a '70s one-hit wonder, responsible for just one Top 40 hit, the 1976 soft rocker "Fooled Around and Fell in Love." And while Bishop's name is the only one listed on the single, he's not its only prominent performer — a musician who factored into the history of Jefferson Starship actually provided lead vocals.

Raised in Iowa and Oklahoma, Bishop attended college in Chicago, where he absorbed the city's explosive blues culture. He only took up the guitar in earnest as a young adult, but within a couple of years he was a crucial member of the influential Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He embarked on a career as a bandleader and solo artist, landing a few entries low on the Hot 100 in the mid-'70s, such as "Travelin' Shoes" and "Sure Feels Good." But then his 1975 LP "Struttin' My Stuff" debuted Bishop's most radio-friendly single to date, the smooth, romantic, and guitar-showcasing "Fooled Around and Fell in Love." It hit No. 3 on the pop chart in 1976 and was Bishop's biggest success, as well as a launchpad for the future success of the song's singer, Mickey Thomas.

Built around a passionate, lyrical blues riff mixed with soft pop and country elements, Elvin Bishop's "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" is about a weary womanizer who accidentally finds himself in the first real romantic relationship of his life. While Bishop helped oversee the recording of the track alongside Bill Szymczyk, a producer with the most Billboard hits of the '70s, he wrote the song alone. His guitar work is all over the song, but not his voice. 

Bishop wasn't averse to singing — he recorded vocals often, even elsewhere on the "Struttin' My Stuff" album — but he shied away from the microphone for what would become his biggest hit. "My voice is very plain. It's better suited for blues," Bishop told Songfacts. "And that tune, I gave it a try." Displeased with his own efforts, Bishop turned to Mickey Thomas.

"Fooled Around and Fell in Love" was also offered to the Osmonds, but being very religious, the brothers objected to some of Bishop's more suggestive lyrics and rejected it. In the end, Thomas got to show off his voice on the song, cut with Bishop. "He can sing a page out of the phone book and move people," Bishop said of the singer, a go-to collaborator on multiple Elvin Bishop Group releases. Within three years of "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" reaching the Top 5 and getting Thomas some exposure, he joined hard rock's Jefferson Starship and remained in the band after its transition to the poppier Starship.