Notice the difference between the guitar playing on Dylan’s previous album, Bringing It All Back Home and Highway 61. Bruce Langhorne plays some nice fills on the electric side of the album, but his playing is no match for Bloomfield’s take charge licks on Highway 61. Although it may not be the guitar of the “Thin Wild Mercury Sound” Bob was searching for, it certainly was an important stop on the way to Robbie Robertson and that sound.
Raised in Chicago, Mike was exposed to the blues scene of the South Side at a very young age. He earned the respect of the established players because of his obvious and enormous talent. After his work with Butterfield and Dylan, he formed a band called the Electric Flag. They played at Monterey Pop Festival and released one pretty good album, A Long Time Comin’. In 1968, he teamed up with old friend Al Kooper for the Super Session albums. Although popular at the time, they seem a little dated and uneven to me now.
After that, Bloomfield continued to do session work and made a couple of solo albums. He lived in San Francisco and played at local clubs. Unfortunately, his heroin habit soon became a big factor. On February 15, 1981, he was found dead of an overdose in a parked car. A brilliant career cut short.
Well before Clapton became “God”. Mike Bloomfield was the best in the land. It is a shame that he gets so little recognition today. If you are not familiar with his music, add some to you playlist. Essential Mike Bloomfield:
1. The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
2. East-West, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band (1965)
3. Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan (1965)
4. A Long Time Comin’, The Electric Flag (1968)
5. Super Session, Bloomfield, Kooper and Stills (1968)
6. The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (1968)
7. Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield; The Lost Concert Tapes (1968)
Article comments
1 - David Bowling
One of my musical regrets is never seeing Mike Bloomfield perform live. Too many people have never been exposed to his work. Nice article about a forgotten master of the guitar.
2 - fucker
live at old waldorf - this is perfect show with Mike.
3 - ahzroc
We haven't forgotten "Bloomers" here in Chicago...
in fact, I can say with total certainty-
I think of him EVERY DAY-
Here in our office, we use the "Bloomfield" coffee machines...that is their family business...he was a true talent and a true bleiver in the music.
I f someone could have kept him off the stuff, the whole Music scene would be different.
I always thought Clapton got his Cream 'fro because of Bloomers...
4 - Frank Macias
Sounds like you had an almost identical experience I had. I bought the 1965, Highway 61 Album with The Bloom on lead guitar when living in the Bay Area. When I heard that '65 album I loved it. Especially, the guitar playing. I tought it was a very unusual, highly satisfying record. A friend then turned me on to the first Butterfield record. The music jumped out of the grooves at me. What a treat that was. Then I found out they were actually perfoming around the corner at the Fillmore Auditorium. I saw them many times straight as an arrow. Then later I saw the Electric Flag. My life changed. I've been playing guitar ever since. My style is very much like his. My "feel" is almost identical. When people see me play they say my my tone and feel is just like his. (I know better, of course. Bloomfield can never be copied exactly) I have played on a few CD's for other people. Presently I am working on my own CD. Hopefully, it will be completed in a month or two and people can judge for themselves. I have worked with three people that have worked with Bloomfield. Georges Rains, (Bloomfield and Friends), Jack Barber, (Doug Sahm, Bob Dylan) and Bob Arthur (Boz Scaggs, Mother Earth, Tracy Nelson). I will have Jack Barber on my CD as we are close friends. The others I will try to get them on board for the project.
Thanks,
Frank Macias
Frank Macias
5 - samir
Dont worry about bloomfield being forgotten...he's got fans in India!
I remember hearing the supersession tapes in bombay as a teenager in the '80s...I had a scratchy recording with tape drops, butthe man knocked my socks off...
Recently heard east west for the first time..talk about hard edge blues and a controlled release of madness...
6 - rsul
I Never had the pleasure of seeing Mike live but just listening to him is almost as great. Every time I play The Paul Butterfield Album East West I think Michael is still with us. His solo on "gotta mindto give up living" is if not the best ever, ranks in the top 3. His guitar is really so electrified that it seems he has to be a part of his instrument and the elements. I've seen Hendrix, Zappa, Garcia, Santana et al none left me with the feeling that Michael had truly one of the Greatest guitar players ever!~
7 - Cody
There was no finer guitar player ever. Bloomfield was simply the best. Listen to My Labors (Nick Gravenites) and hear Bloomers at his peek IMHO. His recording near the end of his life reaffirmed his decline, sadly.
8 - Alex
Living in Greece I never of course had the chance to see Mike live but his records are with me as LPs, CDs, ring tones etc.
The magic of Albert's shuffle, Stop, I have a mind to give up living, East West, Work song, You are killing my love, etc is always present and alive.
He was the greatest.
9 - lespaulfan
Bloomfield was amazing. I didn't discover him until I was about 25 years old but have made up for lost time in listening to his work non stop over the past 4 years.
10 - Clem Porterhouse
I had no idea He was White!
11 - BloomfieldisMyHero
As a 22 year old guitarist, I have the luxury in the digital age to instantly access any material I want. I've listened to them all: Santana, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Hendrix, Bo Diddley etc... But no guitarist ever hit me like Mike Bloomfield did about 3 years ago. The instant I watched him solo on a live version of "Wine" with the Electric Flag at the Monterrey Pop Festival, I was hooked. He was the reason I bought a G&L ASAT Classic (a tele style designed by Leo Fender). He is without a doubt my biggest hero and I hope to be at least half as good as he ever was.