Mike Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Their exuberant, electric Chicago blues inspired a generation of white bluesmen, with Bloomelds work on
the bands self-titled debut, and the subsequent record
East-West, bringing wide acclaim to the young guitarist.
Especially popular was East-Wests thirteen-minute title track, an instrumental combining elements of blues,
jazz, psychedelic rock, and the classical Indian raga.
Bloomelds innovative solos were at the forefront of the
ground-breaking piece. He had been inspired to create
East-West after an all-night LSD trip according to one
legend, but a subsequent anthology of the Buttereld band
1 Early years
included a booklet saying Bloomeld had also been inuenced by John Coltrane and other blues-friendly freeBloomeld was born into a wealthy Jewish-American style jazz musicians, plus traditional Indian and Eastern
music in creating the piece. (The original title for the
family on the North Side of Chicago but preferred music to the family catering equipment business, becom- piece was The Raga.)
ing a blues devotee as a teenager and spending time at Bloomeld was also a session musician, gaining wide
Chicagos South Side blues clubs, playing guitar with recognition for his work with Bob Dylan during his rst
some black bluesmen (Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, explorations into electric music. Bloomelds sound was
Little Brother Montgomery). Bloomelds family eventu- a major part of Dylans change of style, especially on
ally moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where Bloom- Highway 61 Revisited; his guitar style melded the blues ineld attended New Trier High School for two years before uence with rock and folk. Al Kooper has since revealed
being expelled. He attended Cornwall Academy in Mas- in the booklet accompanying the posthumous Don't Say
sachusetts for one year before returning to Chicago where That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 19641969 that
he spent his last year at the local YMCA school.[3]
Dylan had invited Bloomeld to play with him permaThe young guitarists talent was instantly obvious to his nently but that Bloomeld rejected the invitation in order
mentors, wrote Al Kooper, Bloomelds later collabora- to continue playing the blues with the Buttereld band.
tor and close friend, in a 2001 article. They knew this But Bloomeld and fellow Buttereld members Jerome
was not just another white boy; this was someone who Arnold and Sam Lay appeared at the Newport Folk Festruly understood what the blues were all about.[4] Among tival in 1965, backing Dylan for his controversial rst live
his early supporters were B. B. King, Muddy Waters, Bob electric performance.
Dylan and Buddy Guy. Michael used to say, 'Its a natural. Black people suer externally in this country. Jewish
people suer internally. The suerings the mutual fulcrum for the blues.[4]
Rock critic Dave Marsh, in Rock and Roll Soul: The 1001
Greatest Singles of All Time, claimed Bloomeld to have
been the lead guitarist for Mitch Ryder's hit Devil with
the Blue Dress. However, Marshs claim is disputed by
1
Bloomeld collaborator Barry Goldberg, who played keyboards on that track. For the online bio, The Bloomeld
Notes (#6), Barry states that Mike played on the following recording after Devil, and Sock it to Me, another
track mistakenly credited to Bloomeld.
The result was Super Session, a jam album that spotlighted Bloomelds guitar skills on one side; Bloomelds
chronic insomnia caused him to repair to his San Francisco home, prompting Kooper to invite Stephen Stills to
complete the album. It received excellent reviews and
3 The Electric Flag
became the best-selling album of Bloomelds career; its
success led to a live sequel, The Live Adventures of Mike
Bloomeld tired of the Buttereld Bands rigorous tourBloomeld and Al Kooper, recorded over three nights at
ing schedule and, relocating to San Francisco, sought to
Fillmore West in September 1968.
create his own group. Bloomeld left to form the shortlived Electric Flag in 1967 with two longtime Chicago cohorts, organist Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Graven4.1 Solo work
ites. The band was intended to feature American music, a hybrid of blues, soul music, country, rock, and
Bloomeld continued with solo, session and back-up
folk, and incorporated an expanded lineup complete with
work from 1969 to 1980, releasing his rst solo work Its
a horn section. The inclusion of drummer Buddy Miles,
Not Killing Me in 1969. He recorded an album called Try
whom he hired away from Wilson Pickett's touring band,
It Before You Buy It which Columbia declined to release
gave Bloomeld license to explore soul and R&B. The
a year later. Bloomeld also helped Janis Joplin put her
Electric Flag debuted at the 1967 Monterey Pop Festival
Kozmic Blues Band (for the album of the same name)
and issued an album, A Long Time Comin', in April 1968
together in 1969, co-wrote Work Me, Lord for the alon Columbia Records. Critics complimented the groups
bum, and played the guitar solo on Joplins blues compodistinctive, intriguing sound but found the record itself
sition One Good Man. Columbia also released another
somewhat uneven. By that time, however, the band was
1969 album, a live concert jam, Live at Bill Grahams Fillalready disintegrating; rivalries between members, shortmore West, including former Buttereld bandmate Mark
sighted management, and heroin abuse all took their toll.
Naftalin, former Electric Flag bandmates Marcus DouShortly after the release of that album, Bloomeld left his
bleday and Snooky Flowers, and a guest appearance by
own band, with Gravenites, Goldberg, and bassist Harvey
Taj Mahal; and, re-uniting with former bandmates Paul
Brooks following.
Buttereld and Sam Lay for the Chess Records all-star
Released in 2002, Groovin' Is Easy, contains the set, Fathers and Sons, featuring Muddy Waters and Otis
following 9 songs; Spotlight, I Was Robbed Last Spann, also the same year. Bloomeld also composed
Night, I Found Out, Never Be Lonely Again,"Losing and recorded the soundtrack for the lm, Medium Cool
Game, My Baby Wants To Test Me,"I Should Have by his cousin, Haskell Wexler set during the Democratic
Left Her,"You Don't Realize and Groovin' Is Easy.
Convention in Chicago in 1968.
3
Kennedy, and had a bluesy, darker feel, along with
Ray Kennedys original cocaine related lyrics. Through
the 1970s, Bloomeld seemed satised to play in local San Francisco Bay Area clubs, sitting in with other
bands. During 19791981 Bloomeld performed often
with the King Perko Band, often introducing them as
his own Michael Bloomeld and Friends outt. Bloomeld recorded Hustlin' Queen, written by John Isabeau
and Perko in 1979. Bloomeld had planned a tour to
Sweden to complete an album of his favorites, including
Hustlin' Queen. Aside from a triumphant return to the
stage sitting in with Bob Dylan at the Wareld in 1980
his rock star days were behind him.
Death
Style
7 SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY
The Band Kept Playing (1974)
Groovin' Is Easy (Released 2002)
7.3
Solo
7.4
Collaborations
Medium Cool (1969) Original Film Soundtrack featuring Bloomeld and others
Steelyard Blues (1973) Original Film Soundtrack
with Nick Gravenites and others
Mill Valley Bunch Casting Pearls (1973), with Bill
Vitt, Nick Gravenites and others
Triumvirate (1973), with John Hammond and Dr.
John
KGB (1976) Ray Kennedy Vocals, Barry Goldberg Keyboards, Mike Bloomeld Guitar, Ric
Grech Bass, Carmine Appice Drums
Two Jews Blues (1969), with Barry Goldberg; uncredited due to contractual constraints.
Posthumous releases
Living in the Fast Lane (1981)
Bloomeld: A Retrospective (1983)
I'm With You Always (Live recordings from McCabes Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, CA; 1977)
Between The Hard Place and the Ground (Dierent
to the original 70s LP containing further selections
from McCabes Guitar Shop)
5
Barry Goldberg & Friends Live (Features Mike on
guitar on most tracks)
Michael Bloomeld, Harvey Mandel, Barry Goldberg & Friends (with Eddie Hoh on drums) Solid
Blues, ed . 1995 (St.Clair Entertainment Group
Inc.)
The Holy Kingdom: Music Of The Gospel 1998 Mike
Bloomeld Performed 2 songs; Wings Of An Angel and You Must Have Seen Jesus. Other Artists
on the Album included The Five Blind Boys Of Alabama, The Cavaliers and The Swan Silvertones.
If You Love These Blues by Wolkin & Keenom
(Miller Freeman Books, 2000)contains a CD of
early recordings made by Norman Dayron
From His Head to His Heart to His Hands: An AudioVisual Scrapbook (2014); a Columbia Legacy career retrospective, produced by Al Kooper, including tapes from Bloomelds original audition for
John Hammond at Columbia Records in 1964, previously unissued live performances, and a DVD that
includes the documentary lm Sweet Blues: A Film
About Mike Bloomeld, directed by Bob Sarles and
produced and edited by Bob Sarles and Christina
Keating. The lm premiered at the Mill Valley Film
Festival in October 2013.[9]
References
9 Sources
Michael Bloomeld Me and Big Joe, Re/Search
Publications, 1st edition 1980, ISBN 0-940642-00X. Last d. V/Search, December 1999, ISBN 1889307-05-X EAN 978-1889307053
Michael Bloomeld' If You Love These Blues:
An Oral History Backbeat Books, 1st edition
September 2000 ISBN 978-0-87930-617-5 (with
CD of unreleased music early recordings made by
Norman Dayron )
Ken Brooks The Adventures of Mike Bloomeld
and Al Kooper with Paul Buttereld and David Clayton Thomas Agenda Ltd, February 1999, ISBN 1899882-90-1 ISBN 978-1-899882-90-8
Al Kooper Backstage Passes: Rock 'N' Roll Life in
the Sixties Stein & Day Pub (1st edition February
1977) ISBN 0-8128-2171-8 ISBN 978-0-81282171-0
Al Kooper Backstage Passes and Backstabbing
Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor Billboard Books (Updated Edition September 1998)
ISBN 0-8230-8257-1 ISBN 978-0-8230-8257-5
Al Kooper Backstage Passes and Backstabbing
Bastards Hal Leonard Corporation, new edition
February 2008, ISBN 0-87930-922-9 ISBN 978-087930-922-0
Ed Ward Michael Bloomeld, The rise and fall
of an American guitar hero, Cherry Lane Books
(1983), ISBN 0-89524-157-9 ISBN 978-0-89524157-3
Rolling
10 External links
Ocial Mike Bloomeld Site
Michael Bloomeld.
September 30, 2006).
Allmusic.com (accessed
11
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