Mike Bloomfield
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Mike Bloomfield For the astronaut, see Michael J. Bloomfield .. 2 The Butteterfieleld Band During those haunts, he met Paul Butterfield and Elvin Michael Bernard “Mike” Bloomfieldd (July 28, 1943 – Bishop, ran his own small blues club, the Fickle Pickle, February 15, 1981) was an American musician, guitarist,t, and was discovered by legendary Columbia Records pro- and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became ducer/scout John Hammond, who signed him to the label one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s at a time when the label had had no recent association to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumen- with blues. tal prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969 and 1970. Bloomfield recorded a few sessions for Columbia in 1964 Respected for his fluid guitar playing, Bloomfield knew (which weren't released until after his death), but ended and played with many of Chicago’s blues legends even upup jojoiniiningng ththee oriorigiginalnalPaul ButterfieldBlues Band,, whwhicichh before he achieved his own fame, and was one of the pri- incincludludeded Bishopop and Howlin' Wolf rhythm secsectiotionn alumnini mary influences on the mid-to-late 1960s revival of clas- Sam Lay and Jerome Arnold. sic Chicago and other styles of blues music. In 2003 he Their exuberant, electric Chicago blues inspired a gen- was ranked at number 22 on Rolling Stone's “100 Great- eration of white bluesmen, witwith Bloomfield’s work onon est Guitarists of All Time”[1] and 42nd in 2011 by the the band’s self-titled debut, and the subsequent record same magazine.[2] He was inducted in the Blues Hall of East-West , bringing wide acclaim to the young guitarist. Fame in 2012 and with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Especially popular was “East-West’s” thirteen-minute ti- in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. tle track, an instrumental combining elements of blues, jazz,, psychedelic rock, anand ththee classical Indian raga.. Bloomfield’s innovative solos were at the forefront of the ground-breaking piece. He had been inspired to create “East-West” after an all-nightht LSD trip according to one leglegend,butaa subsequentanthologyy ofof thetheButterfieldeldband 1 1 Earlrly yyearsrs included a booklet saying Bloomfield had also been in- fluenced by John Coltrane and other blues-friendly free- style jazz musicians, plus traditional Indian and Eastern Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Jewish-American music in creating the piepiece. (The original title for the family on the North Side of Chicago but preferred mu- piece was “The Raga.”) sic to the family catering equipment business, becom- ing a blues devotee as a teenager and spending time at Bloomfield was also a session musician, gaining wide Chicago’s South Side blues cluclubs, plaplaying guitar witwithh recognition for his work with Bob Dylan during his first some black bluesmen (Sleepy John Estes,, Yank Rachell,, explorations into electric music. Bloomfield’s sound was Little Brother Montgomery). Bloomfield’s familyily eventu- a major part of Dylan’s change of style, especially on ally moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois, where Bloom- Highway 61 Revisited ; hishisguitartarststylylee memeldldeded ththee blues in-in- fieldattendedd New Trier High School foforr twoyearsrs before fluence 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 sachusetettsts fforor oneyeyearar bebefforerereturturningg toto Chicacagogo whwhereree That I Ain't Your Man: Essential Blues, 1964–1969 – that he spent his last year at the local YMCA school. [3] Dylan had invited Bloomfield to play with him perma- nently but that Bloomfield rejected the invitation in order The young guitarist’s talent “was instantly obvious to his to continue playing the blues with the Butterfield band. mentors,” wrote Al Kooper, Bloomfield’s later collabora- But Bloomfield and fellow Butterfield members Jerome tor and close friend, in a 2001 article. “They knew this Arnold and Sam Lay appeared at the Newport Folk Fes- was not just another white boy; this was someone who tival in 1965, backing Dylan for his controversial first live trutrulylyunderserstoodd whatt thebluess wewerere allallababout.”.”[4] Among electric performance.. hishis earlyy supportersers wewerere B. B. King,, Muddy Waters,, Bob Dylan and Buddy Guy. Michael used to say, 'It’s a natu- Rockcriticic Dave Marsh, inin, Rockk and Roll Soul: The 1001 ral. Black people suffer externally in this country. Jewishh Greatest Singles of All Time, claimed Bloomfield to have people suffer internally. The suffering’s the mutual ful- been the lead guitarist for Mitch Ryder's hit “Devil with 2 4 WORK WITH AL KOOPER Bloomfield collaborator BarryGoldberg, who played key- reined in, compared to his incendiary live performances. boards on that track. For the online bio, “The Bloomfield Could I put him in a studio setting where he could feel Notes” (#6), Barry states that Mike played on the follow- free to just burn like he did in live performances?" ing recording after “Devil”, and “Sock it to Me”, another The result was Super Session, a jam album that spot- track mistakenly credited to Bloomfield. lightedBloomfield’sguitar skills on one side; Bloomfield’s chronic insomnia caused him to repair to his San Fran- cisco home, prompting Kooper to invite Stephen Stills to 3 The Electric Flag complete the album. It received excellent reviews and became the best-selling album of Bloomfield’s career; its success led to a live sequel, The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield tired of the Butterfield Band’s rigorous tour- Bloomfield 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. Bloomfield left to form the short- lived ElectricFlag in 1967 with two longtime Chicago co- horts, organist Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Graven- 4.1 Solo work ites. The band was intended to feature “American mu- sic,” a hybrid of blues, soul music, country, rock, and Bloomfield continued with solo, session and back-up folk, and incorporated an expanded lineup complete with work from 1969 to 1980, releasing his first solo work It’s 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 Bloomfield license to explore soul and R&B. The a year later. Bloomfield 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 al- on Columbia Records. Critics complimented the group’s bum, and played the guitar solo on Joplin’s blues compo- distinctive, 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 liveconcertjam, Live at Bill Graham’s Fill- already disintegrating; rivalries between members, short- more West , including former Butterfield bandmate Mark sighted management, and heroin abuse all took their toll. Naftalin, former Electric Flag bandmates Marcus Dou- Shortly after the release of that album, Bloomfield 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. Butterfield 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. Bloomfield also composed Night”, “I Found Out”, “NeverBe Lonely Again”,"Losing and recorded the soundtrack for the film, 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. For a time, however, Bloomfield gave up playing because of his heroin addiction: 4 Work with Al Kooper During the late 1970s, Bloomfield recorded for several smaller labels, including Takoma Records. Through Bloomfield also made an impact through his work with Guitar Player magazine he also put out an instructional Al Kooper, with whom he had played with Stephen Stills, album with a vast array of blues guitar styles, titled If on the album Super Session in 1968. The direct impetus You Love These Blues, Play 'Em as You Please. Bloom- for the record, according to Kooper, was the twosome’s field also performed with John Cale on Cale’s soundtrack having been part of Grape Jam, an improvisational ad- to the film Caged Heat in 1975. dendum to Moby Grape's earlier in the year. Wow In 1973, Bloomfield teamed with Dr. John and John “Why not do an entire jam album together?" Kooper Hammond, Jr. for an album called Triumvirate, Bloom- remembered in 1998, writing the booklet notes for the field’s final album under his Columbia contract. In 1974 Bloomfield anthology Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man: Bloomfield hooked up with a failed supergroup called Essential Blues, 1964-1969. “At the time, most jazz al- KGB, from theinitials of Ray Kennedy (co-writer of "Sail bums were made using this modus operandi: picka leader On, Sailor"), Barry Goldberg on keyboards and Bloom- or two co-leaders, hire appropriate sidemen, pick some field on guitar. The band had a rhythm section of Ric tunes, make someup and recordan entire album onthe fly Grech on bass and Carmine Appice on drums.