Michael Bloomfield

For the past month I've been obsessed with Michael Bloomfield. Well, much longer than that really - I first listened to him in '68 when he was working with Al Kooper. He did some solo work, and had a short lived band The Electric Flag, and played with muddy Waters and others. I didn't catch up with his earlier work with Dylan, and Paul Butterfield till '70.

Who knows why something grabs a hold of you at a particular time, but strangely enough that time is now. Like a deer in the headlights I have listened almost exclusively to just a few sessions continuously and repetitively while commuting and during lunch, and other spare moments. I was hungry for something tough to bite into and savor and this guitar went straight to the marrow and stayed there. Maybe now also because I have now gathered a mass of his music (thanks to new and reissues), which in the past has been hard to get.

Like many musicians of that era, whose genius drove him too close to and finally over the edge at a young age, he left us too young but left us just enough to call a legacy. He was more than just a blazing blues guitarist - he was a smart musician. He had big ears and knew how to play in the context of a band always knowing just where to be and what the larger presence required. He played with the obsessive passion of someone who lives of, by, and for the music. I believe he ranks with the likes of Hendrix, Allman, Garcia, and Stevie Ray to name a few. It is perhaps no coincidence that none of them are here today.

I am grateful for the contributions of Michael Bloomfiled, thankful for his passion and his legacy, and thankful that his music can continue to do for me what possibly it could not do for him.

Thank you.



Recommended Samples:

Sample 1:Maggie's Farm - W/Dylan at Newport '65

Sample 2:Drinkin' Wine-Electric Flag

Sample 3:Stop - W/Al Kooper - Super Session

Sample 4:Born In Chicago - Fillmore West '69