One of the seminal live albums of the late '60s, Live Adventures of Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield was a natural, organic offshoot of the hugely successful Super Session album from 1968, which contained performances by both of these groundbreaking musicians, as well as Stephen Stills.
The idea of musical spontaneity both in live performance and in the recording studio had reached a certain apex in 1968, and spontaneous excursions by musicians such as Jimi Hendrix, Steve Winwood, and the Southern California musical covenant that eventually became Crosby, Stills, Nash 'n' Young, as well as a host of others, were indeed a sign of the times. But it was the union of Bloomfield and Kooper that can truly claim an origination of the phenomenon, and this album takes it to another level entirely.
Utilizing a fine and tight rhythm section of John Kahn and Skip Prokop, the two musicians duel and embrace each other on such cuts as the accurately named "Her Holy Modal Highness" and a great, revamped rock/soul re-working of Paul Simon's "Feelin' Groovy," which is buttressed by a guest studio vocal overdub by the author himself. The album's high point may be Bloomfield's rendering of Albert King's epic "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong," which may indeed also be one of his finest career recordings.
Like the Super Session album, history repeated itself, as Bloomfield's chronic insomnia caught up with him by the morning of the second night of the two-night gig, rendering him unavailable. Kooper enlisted the help of Steve Miller and a practically unknown Carlos Santana (himself a Bloomfield devotee) for several tracks, particularly a loose and free version of "Dear Mr. Fantasy," which sort of embodies the whole affair and era. Undoubtedly a necessity from the period, the record has been remastered for CD, and the results are truly glorious, and do this legendary album justice.
by Matthew Greenwald
Tracks
Disc One
1. Opening Speech (Mike Bloomfield) - 1:30
2. The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) (Paul Simon) - 5:38
3. I Wonder Who (Ray Charles) - 6:04
4. Her Holy Modal Highness (Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield) - 9:08
5. The Weight (Robbie Robertson) - 4:00
6. Mary Ann (Ray Charles) - 5:19
7. Together 'Til The End Of Time (Frank Wilson) - 4:15
8. That's All Right (Arthur Crudup) - 3:28
9. Green Onions (Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Al Jackson, Jr., Lewie Steinberg) - 5:26
Disc Two
1. Opening Speech (Al Kooper) - 1:28
2. Sonny Boy Williamson (Jack Bruce, Paul Jones) - 6:04
3. No More Lonely Nights (Sonny Boy Williamson) - 12:27
4. Dear Mr. Fantasy (Jim Capaldi, Stevie Winwood, Chris Wood) - 8:04
5. Don't Throw Your Love On Me So Strong (Albert King) - 10:56
6. Finale-Refugee (Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield) - 2:04
Musicians
*Al Kooper - Organ, Piano, Vocals
*Mike Bloomfield - Guitar, Vocals
*John Kahn - Bass Guitar
*Skip Prokop - Drums
*Carlos Santana - Guitar
*Elvin Bishop - Guitar
Steve Miller and Dave Brown had also volunteered their services but if they performed, their contributions do not appear (at least credited) on the album
Mike Bloomfield
1966-68 Strawberry Jam (with Paul Butterfield's Blues Band)
1969 Live At Bill Graham's Fillmore West
1976 Live at the Old Waldorf
1976 KGB
Al Kooper
1970 Easy Does It
1973 Naked Songs
with Blues Project
1966 Live At The Cafe Au Go Go
1966 Projections
1967 Live At Town Hall
1973 Reunion In Central Park
with Blood, Sweat And Tears
1968 Child Is Father To The Man
with Shuggie Otis
1969 The Kooper Sessions
Free Text
In the wake of the success of their seminal 1968 Super Session album, blues-steeped guitar hero Mike Bloomfield (formerly of the Butterfield Blues Band and the Electric Flag) and multi-talented keyboardist/singer Al Kooper (ex-Blues Project and Blood, Sweat and Tears) teamed up again for a historic series of joint performances at San Francisco’s legendary Fillmore West, which are documented on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.
ReplyDeleteTwo-disc edition of "Live Adventures" is a natural extension of the cult, the legendary recognized as the best in the history of music, multi-instrumentalist Al Kooper, Session and guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Steve Stills "Super Session". This time it appeared only Bloomfield and Kooper, lacking Steve Stills. Guest star for this excellent session project supported Carlos Santana and Elvin Bishop. Excellent concert was recorded at Bill Graham's Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco USA 26,27,28 September 1968 was recorded culled from three nights and released in 1969, is a powerful testament to the formidable musical chemistry of these two rock legends, whose collaboration began when they played on Bob Dylan’s classic Highway 61 Revisited. The Fillmore performances bring out the best in both musicians, who stretch out on an assortment of tunes, including the Kooper/Bloomfield original “Her Holy Modal Highness,” Paul Simon’s “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)” (with Simon adding vocal harmonies), the Elvis Presley standard “That’s All Right,” The Band’s “The Weight,” Booker T. and the MGs’ “Green Onions” and Albert King’s “Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong,” which features a rare Bloomfield vocal.
Thx Marios!
Thank you very much friend for this fantastic post. Very very good.
ReplyDeleteA big one !
ReplyDeleteBig thx from Paris
Another nice album from Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper, thx Marios!
ReplyDeleteformidable performance...thank you...
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ReplyDelete:-)
..and finally,
ReplyDelete...I had to learn that these files have a DRM protection (no burning possible)