Forgotten Music Thursday: Al Kooper & Mike Bloomfield - Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68

While this show was recorded in December 1968 with the full intention of being released shortly thereafter, it instead sat long forgotten and presumed lost until 2001 when Al Kooper was going through some old tapes in his possession stumbled upon this show. He cleaned it up a bit and finally almost thirty-four years after it had originally been performed and recorded it was finally released.

Sometimes when musicians team up there’s an undeniable, unmistakable, and absolute electric chemistry between them, such was the case with Mike Bloomfield & Al Kooper. Teaming up initially for the SuperSession album, a series of concerts were scheduled on both the East and West Coasts at Bill Graham’s Fillmore East and West venues.

While that chemistry is certainly enjoyable in the studio, it’s even more tangible in a live setting. In addition to exhibiting Bloomfield’s virtuosity on guitar, Johnny Winter also guests on It’s My Own Fault. Hearing Bloomfield and Winter playing side by side is an enjoyable treat in and of itself.

The electric energy of Kooper and Bloomfield I’d argue rivals the considerably more famous Steve Winwood/Eric Clapton/Ginger Baker collaboration, Blind Faith. There’s an honesty and a respect between Bloomfield and Kooper that is evident on each song. Rather than rival egos challenging one another as was the case of many supergroups since then, Bloomfield and Kooper play homage to each other and do a tremendous service to one another’s talents—because of, not in spite of their mutual respect and apprectiation of one another.

Perhaps the weakest link on the album are Al Kooper’s vocals and the sub-amateurish drumming of Johnny Cresci. While his voice is enjoyable when he remains within his range, on 59th St. Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) Kooper attempts to sing outside of his range with less than enjoyable results. This is a minor quibble as the concert was largely instrumental and was more a display of Kooper’s talents on keyboard and Bloomfield’s undeniable abilities as a blues guitarist firmly in tune with Chicago’s brand of urban electric blues. Johnny Cresci was woefully under-talented compared to the talents of Kooper and Bloomfield whose playing was strong enough to overshadow much of Cresci’s drumming—unfortunately not quite enough to completely eclipse his sub-par playing.

Forgotten for thirty-four years this concert was well worth the wait and it’s a blessing to fans of Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield, Johnny Winter specifically and of great music in general that once found by Kooper he had the good sense to share this release with the listening public.

Related Links
Al Kooper (official site)
Mike Bloomfield (official site)
Al Kooper (wikipedia)
Mike Bloomfield (wikipedia)
Johnny Winter (wikipedia)

Al Kooper - Easy Does It (1970)

After his unceremonious ouster from Blood Sweat & Tears Al Kooper embarked on several different projects including a handful of concerts with Mike Bloomfield and a string of critically acclaimed but generally commercially unnoticed solo albums.

Easy Does It a double LP set, was Kooper's third solo endeavour. Starting with a bang on Brand New Sunshine, an upbeat uplifting track that gives glimpses of what Blood Sweat & Tears might have sounded like had Kooper not be ousted. Horn fills pepper the song and there's an infectious catchy groove that's as good as anything on Child Is Father to the Man.

The fact that this is not only a double album, but also an exceptional one without a single track that would be described as "filler" is a testament to Kooper's many talents. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and master arranger-- all hats that Kooper wore for this exceptional set.

In addition to showing of his own songwriting talents, Kooper's arrangements of Ray Charles I've Got A Woman and the blues classic Baby Please Don't Go show Kooper's talents for taking well established classics and putting his own stamp on them. Kooper's I've Got a Woman is a slower more laidback affair than the Ray Charles original. Kooper's arrangement is different enough to make the song sound fresh, but thematically similar enough that it's recognizable. Baby Please Don't Go sounds as if it could just as easily have been recorded by the Blues Project. And at nearly twelve and a half minutes long it really allows Kooper to stretch out and jam. The song is peppered with various different instrumental solos, many of which performed by Kooper, but Paul Fetta's bass solo is also quite notable.

Kooper also shows his musical adventurousness by tackling not only rock and blues but also dabbling in country on songs like Kooper's cover John Loudermilk's A Rose and a Baby Ruth and his own I Bought You the Shoes (You're Walking Away In). And Buckskin Boy, a hard driving rocker addresses the plight of Native Americans, one of the key social issues of the early seventies.

What makes this album so enjoyable is that it's so consistently interesting. It doesn't stick to any musical theme long enough to bore the listener. Where many double albums come across sounding over-indulgent and rife with sub-par filler material, Kooper bucks that trend. But with a man as talented as Kooper it can also be said that anything less than a double album would be selling him short. The man just had (and continues to have) too much talent to be limited to a single LP.

Whether you're new to Kooper or already familiar with his work, Easy Does It is an excellent album to begin your Koopucation! Along with Blood Sweat & Tears Child Is Father to the Man I'd argue that this album is equally essential to any classic rock collection.

Related Links
Al Kooper (official site)
Al Kooper (wikipedia)
Easy Does It (wikipedia)

Blood Sweat & Tears - Child Is Father to the Man (1968)

Blood Sweat & Tears are arguably a case study of a band with a brilliant debut that the band was never able to live up to again.

BS&T's was in large part the brainchild of Al Kooper. So it was quite surprising when after this debut, Kooper was given his walking papers and replaced by David Clayton-Thomas.

While Kooper is not a great singer, this listener prefers his vocals over those of his successor. Add to that that Kooper was the principal songwriter in the band the band seemingly shot themselves in the foot when they showed Kooper the door.

Commercially their second album was considerably more successful, but to my ears it lacks the inventiveness and the pure unbridled potential this album showed.

Today this album does sound a bit dated, not in a bad way. It's a delightful capsule of the late sixties. There's a fullness and lushness that's at least marginally reminiscent of the Moody Blues Days of Future Passed released the year before.

One of the reasons Kooper was let go was the band felt they could find a better singer, but listening to songs like More Than You'll Ever Know and I Can't Quit Her I honestly can't hear the need for a new singer. Kooper doesn't just sing well, he nails the vocals on most of these songs. And even if he lacked the range of "better" singers, the band would have been better served bringing in a second singer in addition to Kooper, as opposed to replacing him.

What is perhaps most remarkable about this album is that its so strong and so seamless from start to finish. There's not a bad track on it and it certainly leaves the listener wanting more. It's arguably one of the "must-have" albums for any fan and/or collector of late 60s rock.

All in all this album is both a testament and a glaring question mark to what might have been had BS&T held on to the talents of Al Kooper.

Related Links
Blood Sweat & Tears (official site)
Blood Sweat & Tears (wikipedia)
Al Kooper (official site)
Al Kooper (wikipedia)
Jim Fielder (wikipedia)
Fred Lipsius (official site)
Fred Lipsius (wikipedia)
Randy Brecker (official site)
Randy Brecker (wikipedia)
Jerry Weiss (wikipedia)
Dick Halligan (official site)
Dick Halligan (wikipedia)
Steve Katz (wikipedia)
Bobby Colomby (wikipedia)