In October of1967 I had the great priviledge of opening for a week for Michael and Electric Flag in Boston. It was the "shakedown gig" for the Flag before they went on to play New York. Michael was at all times encouraging to us younger musicians. His playing was transcendant. There was just no ego in the man. A brilliant artist and a very generouse and sweet natured guy.
I read that in S.F., Santana, a devotee of Bloomfield, mouthed to MIke "I'm gonna cut you" at a performance where Mike was in the audience. Mike responded in the affirmative, like "Good, do it." I hope he has Eternal Life in the Blessed Realm. I love him and his playing. It was huge to me.
I'm from Chicago, where Mike Bloomfield is regarded as one of the great blues guitarists of all time, never ever forgotten! But still nice Bio, thanks!
A weird thing. I was in Chicago a few years ago, listening to a blues band and I thought the harp player was very Butterfield and said so. He gave me some crap about that, as if Butterfield was not one of the best blues harp players of all time. I was shocked and embarrassed that my compliment didn't fly. Ah well, there's no accounting for taste.
@@VeganWithAraygun Are you thinking of Roy Blumenfeld? I don’t think Mike Bloomfield was ever a member of The Blues Project. In 1966 Mike Bloomfield was still playing with Paul Butterfield.
Thank you so much for posting this site! This is Sperry Hunt. I was a student of Michael's in Marin County in the mid-1970s. He played on a demo of mine. I considered us friends. I have tapes of some of the lessons. I visited him many times in his Reed Street home. He was a musical genius, a very sweet man, and one of the most intelligent and truthful people I've ever met. I recently wrote a song about my experience with him which I will record next month and release early next year. Thanks again. Michael should not be forgotten. Back in the 70's NASA sent a mission satellite out into the Universe to inform other life forms about the people of Earth. On it was a gold LP, which included a Chuck Berry song. They should have sent Michael on that mission. He was the best of us.
@@sperryhunt wow what a compliment! Of course Super Session blew my mind 4 many yrs & I do like Butterfield BB but I read about a rif between Butterfield n Bloomfield. Michaels lead sounds forced like he had 30 seconds to play or something. I mite have both CDs tho
I have to tell my story about meeting Mike Bloomfield. I opening for Quicksilver Messenger Service. being Italian, John Cippolina,the guitarist for Quicksilver and I talked ravioli,relatives, and other things.He knew Mike, and said maybe l could meet him.Well I met him, only with him a short time, I was sixteen.He treated me like a equal guitarist which was funny, no one played like Mike, especially at sixteen.Complete lack of super star bullshit, which usually accompanied other famous artists I have met. I was so impressed how easy going he seemed, and we talked about pickups, telecasters. IN 1976, a friend from high school went with me to see Mike and Nick Gravenites, my friend had a extra ticket. We were up front, maybe five feet in front shouting encouragement at Mike. He was really cookin! He broke a b string, and to my amazement he handed his strat to me with a b string, and simply said change it! Meanwhile his crew thought he lost it as he was not in his best as far as health is considered . Mike remembered me for over twenty years, but could not remember my last name, and said he was sorry but he just didn't remember. This is after a short meeting twenty years years before, yet he knew my face . MIKE WAS A GENTLEMAN, AND A GOOD MAN, I MISS HIS PLAYING.
I blame record execs.They told him he was a great singer, he was not. They made quick money, the hell with Mike. His medical report said he overdosed on diazapam.RIP. Every has their blues.
The way he died turns you up;side down, the mystery curtains of life. Such a sad sad story. Thanks for posting a story every musician should view and take heed.
I ran away from home in 1965. I went to Greenwich Village and watched Michael almost every night, at the Cafe Au Go Go on Bleecker Street. He was playing with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
As a fan of his brilliant playing, I thank you for putting this together. Mike will be forgotten. We are all forgotten as a matter of the progression of time. Thus, I will only say that he was a source of inspiration musically. I tried to play like him. I couldn't get close. Thank you, Mike! RIP
I can say with Gratitude that I might have gotten close. There was a club in Chicago's Old Town, Lyke Young, where I played with my power trio on 1968. The manager told our manager that I was the fastest player he had seen since Bloomfield. I hope I had the same level of taste Mike achieved, but to have speed chops and intensity on the same side of the fence as Mike, I will welcome and thank Jesus.
Mike Bloomfield is thoroughly ingrained in the history of the electric guitar. He is in all books. He single-handedly is responsible for the legend of the Burst. Because he played one, all the English Guitar Gods wanted one.
His solo on the East-West album title cut is hands down the most mesmerizing, impossible to memorize guitar solo I've ever heard. I've heard it hundreds of times, and it just takes me into a consciousness that won't let me analyze it in any rational way.
There is 16mm footage taken at the Monterey Pop festival in 1967, of Mike watching Ravi Shankar playing. Mike looks totally absorbed, you can almost hear him going "oh, my god!" in his head. That same footage shows Jimi Hendrix in about the same state during that same performance. You can see Jimi anticipating and following the music. Mike is just zoned into it. The two guys were giving Shankar proper respect. They knew what was in front of them -- a great, great master.
I heard Dylan when he went electric and I think it's really Mike Bloomfield that put Dylan in the public mainstream of the electric phase of folk. I don't know of anyone else who could have taken the place in Dylan's band with the rifts that defined these songs.
Well done! Thank you for putting this together. Several 'greats' from the 50s, 60s, and 70s have not faired as well as they should have in the annals of music history. Bloomfield was up there with all the great guitarists of his era. I grew up in Chicago (12yrs younger than MB) and was surrounded by Chicago Blues. I remember getting the Live Adventures album before I got Supersession - both were hugely influential but I had a jones for live albums (like the Allman Bros at the Fillmore), and Michael's guitar on that album was exceptional. Later I discovered the Butterfield music, the Electric Flag, the Dylan times... Such a great talent and such a tragic story in the end. Being great is not always enough to succeed in this life.
Good Day. Excellent. I was into Mike from Electric Flag & especially Super Session when they came out. This is a good history. A sad ending. Thank You for posting this.
Bloomfield played the same guitar as Peter Green. That's not a coincidence. It's also not a coincidence that they had similar personalities and the same perspectives on the music business. Super Session forever. RIP, MB & PG.
Mike bloomfield's blues licks, and interpetpretation, of the blues ....are really bad ass , solid, and ass kicking ....we love our brother.....and miss him . GO mr. Bloomfield .... just a bad m . f.er ....!!!!! ...he was good singer !!!
I first heard him in 1966 and haven't forgotten him since. Mike and his band played at small Clark University as the first rock act booked there. In 1966 colleges were regularly booking jazz and the type of pop groups that would play Las Vegas lounges. He opened the door for this small school to eventually book, The Grateful Dead (3 times!) Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin, The Who, the Byrds, James Brown (3 hour show) and many others. Also, the first college to book Mohammed Ali as a featured speaker.
@@maccjw Actually at the time the Social Affairs fee that all students paid largely went to subsidize the music acts in a small venue and affordable tickets.
I can't imagine a 3hour James Brown show I saw him in an SF club in the early '80s, he was playing 2 1hour shows his band & MC warmed up the dance floor for at least 5minutes before James Brown came out, & he left 3or4 minutes before they finished the hour I mention those time stats becuz I was plenty used to dancing nonstop for a couple hours at various high-energy shows & James Brown & band kicked my ass & left me paralyzed with exhaustion after the 50minutes he was on stage. I'm a believer in his rep as "the hardest working man in show biz", but that's just belief I'm certain he had the hardest working dance floors in the live music biz I'm in no way disputing your stat, here, I'm more inclined to worship the miracle of it I just can't imagine anyone dancing through 3hours of James Brown live in concert what a beautiful spirit ... they had him cast in the right role in that Blues Brothers Movie
@@oughtssought1198 I think it was longer than usual because he was late getting to the venue and wanted to make up for it - even though he didn't have to. At the time there were a lot of members of his musical group that he featured - beside spending a long time onstage himself. I was tired just looking how hard he worked.
@@Snoopydad I'd forgotten that aspect of featuring individual band members to give each a moment to shine ... something most bands do but James Brown did in the more formal, emphatic way of the previous generations jazz ensembles
I just want to make a point for the ANGRY people here, who are cursing Joe Fikifiki for reporting about Mike Bloomfield being 'forgotten'. In this video, Joe is consistently respecting and praising Bloomfield as a great musician. Citing also that he was rightly held in the highest regard by so many 'greats' of the day. This video is a heartfelt REPORT about Michael Bloomfield, including the sad fact that he has been largely forgotten - by the press and by the public. It's a FACT guys, get over it!
HE IS NOT FORGOTTEN. Every guitarist who has any genuine interest in playing blues or blues rock knows who he is. Every famous guitarist knows they're not as great as he was. Somebody like Mike is not ABBA or Elton John; the people who know know and the rest, who cares?
Forgotten? I can never forget this great musician. He brought a lot to the world and to me. When I play, “I Got A Mind To Give Up Living” it’s always his licks I play. RIP Mike….the love for you is still here!
Well done. So many books and videos about Michael Bloomfield just rehash the same old stories over and over. In the process Bloomfield's musical talents take a backseat to his unconventional personality and habits. He seemed to delight in finding situations where there was a musical spark; then when that spark morphed into something that others wanted to exploit for gain, it destroyed the positive vibe for him. Some artists just can't exist in that atmosphere. Michael was one of those artists. The music business sucked the joy of music/life out of him and he couldn't cope.
Wow, a blast from the past. I never knew what happed to him since like 1975. Great informative & pleasantly under-hyped documentary on his life. Thank you!
I first heard Michael in 1968 when I got Super Session and the Live Adventures albums. I was 16 and into Cream and Hendrix and other British bands. He was unknown in Australia. A great homage to a great blues guitarist. I’ll dig out his albums to play this afternoon. I have them all. Still not a huge Electric Flag fan..
Thank you Joe. Fantastic review. I first realized that MB had amazing talent when I bought that first Butterfield band album in the $1 bin in 1969 and I learned all his riffs. I played that LP until it wore out. My guitar was single pickup Silvertone i bought used for $13. I was in a weekend trucker's bar band on US 27. He was the best. I was so sad when I heard he died.
In the Uk , in the 60s, John Peel on pirate radio and then the BBC was playing the West Coast underground, including Paul Butterfield and Electric Flag.
I still have my vinyl copy of the Electric Flag's A Long Time Coming, and it's one of those albums I'd rush in to grab if the house was on fire. I haven't always liked fusions but this seemed to work, its mixture of blues, rock, soul and a bit of psychedelia, seemed to encapsulate that wonderful time if the 60s when anything seemed possible. I still yearn for that era.
Roy Ruby was Mike's best friend growing up. After playing bass with Steve Miller, Roy moved to Mexico. I met him there. We had some great times: 1966-67. I last saw Roy in Berkeley. Mike gave us tickets to a show that became the album, The Live Adventures of Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield. I saw Mike in Seattle in the late 70s. I showed him photos of Roy in Mexico. He told me Roy had overdosed. Then a few years later Mike did the same. For years I made a point of asking people if they'd heard of Mike? Most had not. He is definitely forgotten. I've got a hilarious interview of Mike and Roy telling tales of Chicago when they were teenagers. Uncensored and hilarious.
Great documentary for one of the best blues guitar players in history, Super Session is just awesome, his run with Paul Butterfield was a remarkable time and totally an inspiration to many... Nothing but the blues! 💙 🎵🎶
I actually bought Michael’s “blonde” bassman amp from him not all that long before he passed away . I later saw him in films of him using it with Buddy Miles (Electric Flag).
Big Bloomfield fan, this playing was so fluid, filled with feeling. He gets a ton of credit for furthering blues guitar playing in the US, but he also had a big hand in psychedelic guitar playing, with that second butterfield album East/West. That song in particular, is a master class in phrasing and modal playing. For 1966, it’s way ahead if it’s time. The eastern sounding scales, tone from bell like chimes, to overdriven gain from a cranked tube amp (probably a fender combo). It’s all there, in its 13 minutes of guitar mastery. His playing with Nick gravenites was overlooked as well, I highly suggest checking out East/west from the butterflies blues band, and Nick Gravenites solo album from around 1969, after the electric flag. Great stuff
Oh, yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed this video. In ‘65 I was just 15 but music and girls were my thing. Mom moved us to Millbrook, N. Y. in ‘63. Timothy Leary’s son Jackie was in my 9th grade home room. We were the two new kids in a small school of 300 enrollment. Through fishing and hunting we both enjoyed the Hitchcock Estate. In the environment of Leary’ “salon” I heard much of the new music, Dylan, Love, Stones, Beatles, Cream, Airplane, Beach Boys, Doors, Country Joe, Fugs, Butterfield and Jazz. In ‘91 I got to hear Elvin Bishop’s band in Little Rock, Ar. I ain’t dead yet.
Passed way too early. He was one of the greatest. Listen to early Dylan. He's there. Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Steven Stills in the pantheon of towering talents.
Despite its psychedelic trappings, Electric Flag's recording of "Another Country" has one of the most beautiful guitar breaks ever recorded, imho. What a great lineup in that band; pity MB was unsatisfied with it and left.
Also, as much as I still love EF, I wonder if MB was unsatisfied with their overall 'sound,' which IMO, could have been so much cleaner and tighter in terms of recording quality, and tightness of the band as a unit. And don't get me started on Nick Gravenites.
There is a great book about Michael called "Guitar King". The author is a guitarist and gives details about some of the musical things Mike is doing. Very insightful for a player of any level of skill, although a beginner may have to re-read some of the East-West discussions. There are also anecdotes about Mike and some of the Chicago blues royalty.
In mid-70s my band, 2nd Street, opened for Mike Bloomfield @ an outdoor gig at Tamalpais High Amphitheater. His drummer borrowed my drums, & they used our amps. Percussionist Bradly Scot
Very well done and informative video. Thank you. I saw the Butterfield Blues Band at Winterland in San Francisco in the early 1970’s. Being a fan of theirs I was able to recognize their live performance that night was lacking. The extraordinary guitar work was evident from both Bishop and Bloomfield but the band was not at all cohesive. It was a loud discordant jam session and everyone was trying to play over one another.
Never forgotten here. Also never forgotten was a closing blurb of his tragic death on Bay Area evening news. Equally tragic was that I could have blinked and missed the report.
I saw Mike play a solo gig in Boulder in the late 70's. I felt I was watching and hearing a last chapter. What and how he played stays with me. Mr. Bloomfield was truly a fine bluesman.
Really liked this video a lot . Well done on presenting a brilliant biography. Sometimes rich kids get a feeling and fascination for music and become really authentic in a style. They become obsessed like many people do . Money doesn't have much to do with it except for perhaps getting a good instrument. Muddy sounds like a giving man who was also a king in his community and in the world
To John 1956, YOU did a fine deed, explaining the facts about the the management, media record companies.They told him he was a great singer, put out anything with his name, while he had a name.Mike was not a great singer, not for an entire album, it tanked, and that didnt help problems, making Mike confused and depressed. I am so gratefull for you're recognition of the damage done to such a gentle man.
Saw Mike Bloomfield in '71 at the Golden Bear at Huntington Beach...Excellent, small venue, Classic!!! Went to Huntington Beach OP Surf contest with the Armed Forces Surf Club...Cool trip...
If i hd a choice of any guitar player for a band, Bloomfield would be it. He knew how to fit. Maximizing every phrase with balance, tone, injecting everything into a note or a sequence.
Really good history. I’am a fan. Too bad that he couldn’t conquer his insomnia. Insomnia can cause a lot of suffering. Most people just take sleep for granted but sleep is no joke. I wondered if perhaps Michael was bipolar.
. . . in the early '70s, at the Bottom Line, there was an Electric Flag reunion, in the audience was Elvin Bishop, James Cotton and Rory Gallagher. That should tell you enough about Mike Bloomfield's status. After talking to each of them, I was treated to an incredible rendition of "Texas" for desert !!!!!
Stop with all the negative "forgotten or not" BS comments. MB simply wasn't mainstream. Not a household name. However his blues playing was beyond terrific. He played in a very emotional manner.....which to me, is quite difficult to do. His guitar would literally cry. In the 60s, he captured the real essence of the blues & he was as good as it gets. Sad - very sad drug ending..... RIP MB!
Yeah, it would have completed his good survey if he had included comments about the live music Michael played with Al Kooper, with an album cover painted by Norman Rockwell.
Integrity , and devotion.Devotion for& to his adopted love, The Blues.And integrity ,in fighting against the star maker machinery.Don't know bout you , but that spells "MYTHIC" to me.
Bloomfield never had the same acclaim as Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, Page etc, did. Which might be for several reasons. He never released a big selling solo album or classic rock song making him unknown to many. Anyway I liked his bluesy guitar work on the Dylan albums and other projects he did.
He’s not forgotten. Before watching this video, I know him from his work with Bob Dylan and also that legendary album with Al Kooper. Their version of _season of the witch_ is legendary, famously was sampled by The Pharcyde in 1992 for their hit _passing me by_
@@dethkon he's on side 2 because Mike had an insomnia episode and had to go home because they were out of town, so Al had to get someone's else to finish it
@@mrJimCharles You mean he doesn’t play on Side 1?! I can’t believe I never knew this. TBF, they don’t mention his name anywhere on my copy (I can’t afford the vinyl).
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In October of1967 I had the great priviledge of opening for a week for Michael and Electric Flag in Boston. It was the "shakedown gig" for the Flag before they went on to play New York. Michael was at all times encouraging to us younger musicians. His playing was transcendant. There was just no ego in the man. A brilliant artist and a very generouse and sweet natured guy.
what an incredible story🖤
Awesome, brother! That's so cool.
I read that in S.F., Santana, a devotee of Bloomfield, mouthed to MIke "I'm gonna cut you" at a performance where Mike was in the audience. Mike responded in the affirmative, like "Good, do it." I hope he has Eternal Life in the Blessed Realm. I love him and his playing. It was huge to me.
I'm from Chicago, where Mike Bloomfield is regarded as one of the great blues guitarists of all time, never ever forgotten! But still nice Bio, thanks!
A weird thing. I was in Chicago a few years ago, listening to a blues band and I thought the harp player was very Butterfield and said so. He gave me some crap about that, as if Butterfield was not one of the best blues harp players of all time. I was shocked and embarrassed that my compliment didn't fly. Ah well, there's no accounting for taste.
Forgotten? By whom? He won’t be forgotten as long as I’m alive.
Same here....
Underrated I guess? I dunno what he means
The Blues Project, 1966... I've never forgotten.🎸🛐
@@VeganWithAraygun Are you thinking of Roy Blumenfeld? I don’t think Mike Bloomfield was ever a member of The Blues Project. In 1966 Mike Bloomfield was still playing with Paul Butterfield.
Me too!
Thank you so much for posting this site! This is Sperry Hunt. I was a student of Michael's in Marin County in the mid-1970s. He played on a demo of mine. I considered us friends. I have tapes of some of the lessons. I visited him many times in his Reed Street home. He was a musical genius, a very sweet man, and one of the most intelligent and truthful people I've ever met. I recently wrote a song about my experience with him which I will record next month and release early next year. Thanks again. Michael should not be forgotten. Back in the 70's NASA sent a mission satellite out into the Universe to inform other life forms about the people of Earth. On it was a gold LP, which included a Chuck Berry song. They should have sent Michael on that mission. He was the best of us.
@sperryhunt I think Blibd Willie Johnson's song, Dark was the Night was on that flight. Did you know Lenny Trupin back then? He hung out wit Mike
@@sperryhunt wow what a compliment! Of course Super Session blew my mind 4 many yrs & I do like Butterfield BB but I read about a rif between Butterfield n Bloomfield. Michaels lead sounds forced like he had 30 seconds to play or something. I mite have both CDs tho
He’s not forgotten
I have to tell my story about meeting Mike Bloomfield. I opening for Quicksilver Messenger Service. being Italian, John Cippolina,the guitarist for Quicksilver and I talked ravioli,relatives, and other things.He knew Mike, and said maybe l could meet him.Well I met him, only with him a short time, I was sixteen.He treated me like a equal guitarist which was funny, no one played like Mike, especially at sixteen.Complete lack of super star bullshit, which usually accompanied other famous artists I have met. I was so impressed how easy going he seemed, and we talked about pickups, telecasters. IN 1976, a friend from high school went with me to see Mike and Nick Gravenites, my friend had a extra ticket. We were up front, maybe five feet in front shouting encouragement at Mike. He was really cookin! He broke a b string, and to my amazement he handed his strat to me with a b string, and simply said change it! Meanwhile his crew thought he lost it as he was not in his best as far as health is considered . Mike remembered me for over twenty years, but could not remember my last name, and said he was sorry but he just didn't remember. This is after a short meeting twenty years years before, yet he knew my face . MIKE WAS A GENTLEMAN, AND A GOOD MAN, I MISS HIS PLAYING.
Amazing story. Thanks for relaying that to us.
I meant to say remembered me for ten years, met him 1967. Sorry I am over 70, make time mistakes.Thank you j Benny ho, much appeciated.
I blame record execs.They told him he was a great singer, he was not. They made quick money, the hell with Mike. His medical report said he overdosed on diazapam.RIP. Every has their blues.
Great Story, thanks
The way he died turns you up;side down, the mystery curtains of life. Such a sad sad story. Thanks for posting a story every musician should view and take heed.
I ran away from home in 1965. I went to Greenwich Village and watched Michael almost every night, at the Cafe Au Go Go on Bleecker Street. He was playing with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band.
Wow! That's definitely a film I'd go see. What incredible memories those must be!
@@philipgreenegreene3454 if I wasn’t only 10 in 65 I may have gone with you. That’s a once in a lifetime chance.
So many greats wasted on drugs.
As a fan of his brilliant playing, I thank you for putting this together. Mike will be forgotten. We are all forgotten as a matter of the progression of time. Thus, I will only say that he was a source of inspiration musically. I tried to play like him. I couldn't get close. Thank you, Mike! RIP
@@billyddenottia6250 Have they forgotten Beethoven or Mozart? Same thing they’re not gonna forget Bloomfield.
I can say with Gratitude that I might have gotten close. There was a club in Chicago's Old Town, Lyke Young, where I played with my power trio on 1968. The manager told our manager that I was the fastest player he had seen since Bloomfield. I hope I had the same level of taste Mike achieved, but to have speed chops and intensity on the same side of the fence as Mike, I will welcome and thank Jesus.
Mike Bloomfield is thoroughly ingrained in the history of the electric guitar. He is in all books. He single-handedly is responsible for the legend of the Burst. Because he played one, all the English Guitar Gods wanted one.
His solo on the East-West album title cut is hands down the most mesmerizing, impossible to memorize guitar solo I've ever heard. I've heard it hundreds of times, and it just takes me into a consciousness that won't let me analyze it in any rational way.
See "Guitar King" book relating to that solo. Shag, you are not alone.
First heard his album.Super Session with Al Kopper.I was really mesmerized
One of my favs for 50 years.
Wow, you did a great job telling Mike's story! Thank you!
There is 16mm footage taken at the Monterey Pop festival in 1967, of Mike watching Ravi Shankar playing. Mike looks totally absorbed, you can almost hear him going "oh, my god!" in his head. That same footage shows Jimi Hendrix in about the same state during that same performance. You can see Jimi anticipating and following the music. Mike is just zoned into it. The two guys were giving Shankar proper respect. They knew what was in front of them -- a great, great master.
I got something to look forward to finding - nice history
I heard Dylan when he went electric and I think it's really Mike Bloomfield that put Dylan in the public mainstream of the electric phase of folk. I don't know of anyone else who could have taken the place in Dylan's band with the rifts that defined these songs.
and Norah Jones is his daughter. talent is inherited
Saw Ravi Shankar share the bill with George Harrison; great concert!
Well done! Thank you for putting this together. Several 'greats' from the 50s, 60s, and 70s have not faired as well as they should have in the annals of music history. Bloomfield was up there with all the great guitarists of his era. I grew up in Chicago (12yrs younger than MB) and was surrounded by Chicago Blues. I remember getting the Live Adventures album before I got Supersession - both were hugely influential but I had a jones for live albums (like the Allman Bros at the Fillmore), and Michael's guitar on that album was exceptional. Later I discovered the Butterfield music, the Electric Flag, the Dylan times... Such a great talent and such a tragic story in the end. Being great is not always enough to succeed in this life.
Good Day. Excellent. I was into Mike from Electric Flag & especially Super Session when they came out. This is a good history. A sad ending. Thank You for posting this.
Not many blues guitarists used the Les Paul at that time. That became blues/rock with more killer tones
The LP East - West still blows me away
Agreed! One of my all time favorites.
Bloomfield played the same guitar as Peter Green. That's not a coincidence.
It's also not a coincidence that they had similar personalities and the same perspectives on the music business.
Super Session forever.
RIP, MB & PG.
Mike bloomfield's blues licks, and interpetpretation, of the blues ....are really bad ass , solid, and ass kicking ....we love our brother.....and miss him . GO mr. Bloomfield .... just a bad m . f.er ....!!!!! ...he was good singer !!!
I first heard him in 1966 and haven't forgotten him since. Mike and his band played at small Clark University as the first rock act booked there. In 1966 colleges were regularly booking jazz and the type of pop groups that would play Las Vegas lounges. He opened the door for this small school to eventually book, The Grateful Dead (3 times!) Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin, The Who, the Byrds, James Brown (3 hour show) and many others. Also, the first college to book Mohammed Ali as a featured speaker.
Brilliant story thanks for posting, that is some legacy for Clark Uni, I’d go to university just for the music.
@@maccjw Actually at the time the Social Affairs fee that all students paid largely went to subsidize the music acts in a small venue and affordable tickets.
I can't imagine a 3hour James Brown show
I saw him in an SF club in the early '80s, he was playing 2 1hour shows
his band & MC warmed up the dance floor for at least 5minutes before
James Brown came out, & he left 3or4 minutes before they finished the hour
I mention those time stats becuz I was plenty used to dancing nonstop for a
couple hours at various high-energy shows & James Brown & band kicked my ass
& left me paralyzed with exhaustion after the 50minutes he was on stage.
I'm a believer in his rep as "the hardest working man in show biz", but that's just belief
I'm certain he had the hardest working dance floors in the live music biz
I'm in no way disputing your stat, here, I'm more inclined to worship the miracle of it
I just can't imagine anyone dancing through 3hours of James Brown live in concert
what a beautiful spirit ... they had him cast in the right role in that Blues Brothers Movie
@@oughtssought1198 I think it was longer than usual because he was late getting to the venue and wanted to make up for it - even though he didn't have to. At the time there were a lot of members of his musical group that he featured - beside spending a long time onstage himself. I was tired just looking how hard he worked.
@@Snoopydad I'd forgotten that aspect of featuring individual band members to give each a moment to shine ... something most bands do but James Brown did in the more formal, emphatic way of the previous generations jazz ensembles
He’s a legend in the guitar world ! Definitely not forgotten .!
I just want to make a point for the ANGRY people here, who are cursing Joe Fikifiki for reporting about Mike Bloomfield being 'forgotten'. In this video, Joe is consistently respecting and praising Bloomfield as a great musician. Citing also that he was rightly held in the highest regard by so many 'greats' of the day. This video is a heartfelt REPORT about Michael Bloomfield, including the sad fact that he has been largely forgotten - by the press and by the public. It's a FACT guys, get over it!
Thanks very much for this impressive video.
HE IS NOT FORGOTTEN. Every guitarist who has any genuine interest in playing blues or blues rock knows who he is. Every famous guitarist knows they're not as great as he was. Somebody like Mike is not ABBA or Elton John; the people who know know and the rest, who cares?
Forgotten? I can never forget this great musician. He brought a lot to the world and to me. When I play, “I Got A Mind To Give Up Living” it’s always his licks I play. RIP Mike….the love for you is still here!
One of my favorites, the solos and the fills are so beautiful.
Well done. So many books and videos about Michael Bloomfield just rehash the same old stories over and over. In the process Bloomfield's musical talents take a backseat to his unconventional personality and habits. He seemed to delight in finding situations where there was a musical spark; then when that spark morphed into something that others wanted to exploit for gain, it destroyed the positive vibe for him. Some artists just can't exist in that atmosphere. Michael was one of those artists. The music business sucked the joy of music/life out of him and he couldn't cope.
Wow, a blast from the past. I never knew what happed to him since like 1975. Great informative & pleasantly under-hyped documentary on his life. Thank you!
Thxs Mike for your exceptional "Guitar" interruptions of the "Blues" and your contributions to your time playing for Dylan...
Liked 'interruptions'! ..But Did u mean, interpretations?
I first heard Michael in 1968 when I got Super Session and the Live Adventures albums. I was 16 and into Cream and Hendrix and other British bands. He was unknown in Australia. A great homage to a great blues guitarist. I’ll dig out his albums to play this afternoon. I have them all. Still not a huge Electric Flag fan..
Thank you Joe. Fantastic review. I first realized that MB had amazing talent when I bought that first Butterfield band album in the $1 bin in 1969 and I learned all his riffs. I played that LP until it wore out. My guitar was single pickup Silvertone i bought used for $13. I was in a weekend trucker's bar band on US 27. He was the best. I was so sad when I heard he died.
In the Uk , in the 60s, John Peel on pirate radio and then the BBC was playing the West Coast underground, including Paul Butterfield and Electric Flag.
I have long loved his playing on Paul Butterfield Blues Band and on Dylan’s Highway 61 revisited. One of the true greats
I still have my vinyl copy of the Electric Flag's A Long Time Coming, and it's one of those albums I'd rush in to grab if the house was on fire. I haven't always liked fusions but this seemed to work, its mixture of blues, rock, soul and a bit of psychedelia, seemed to encapsulate that wonderful time if the 60s when anything seemed possible. I still yearn for that era.
Got to see him in Boston at Paul’s Mall in the mi-60’s with The Butterfield Blues Band. Just incredible!
Fantastic! You've really opened my eyes to a musician who was more of a name to this point for me. Thanks again!
thanks....That man could play!!!
Thank you. Nicely done. (From one who was "there" in that time and place.)
Roy Ruby was Mike's best friend growing up. After playing bass with Steve Miller, Roy moved to Mexico. I met him there. We had some great times: 1966-67. I last saw Roy in Berkeley. Mike gave us tickets to a show that became the album, The Live Adventures of Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield. I saw Mike in Seattle in the late 70s. I showed him photos of Roy in Mexico. He told me Roy had overdosed. Then a few years later Mike did the same. For years I made a point of asking people if they'd heard of Mike? Most had not. He is definitely forgotten. I've got a hilarious interview of Mike and Roy telling tales of Chicago when they were teenagers. Uncensored and hilarious.
Digitize it and offer it to us for a reasonable price!
@@amni35 I can't. It was given to me with the caveat I don't share it.
Great documentary for one of the best blues guitar players in history, Super Session is just awesome, his run with Paul Butterfield was a remarkable time and totally an inspiration to many... Nothing but the blues! 💙 🎵🎶
I actually bought Michael’s “blonde” bassman amp from him not all that long before he passed away . I later saw him in films of him using it with Buddy Miles (Electric Flag).
Big Bloomfield fan, this playing was so fluid, filled with feeling. He gets a ton of credit for furthering blues guitar playing in the US, but he also had a big hand in psychedelic guitar playing, with that second butterfield album East/West. That song in particular, is a master class in phrasing and modal playing. For 1966, it’s way ahead if it’s time. The eastern sounding scales, tone from bell like chimes, to overdriven gain from a cranked tube amp (probably a fender combo). It’s all there, in its 13 minutes of guitar mastery. His playing with Nick gravenites was overlooked as well, I highly suggest checking out East/west from the butterflies blues band, and Nick Gravenites solo album from around 1969, after the electric flag. Great stuff
Saw Nick Gravenites in 70's, a regular in BayArea also..
@@bradlyscotunes9156 oh man, totally jealous. The man had quite the voice.
Oh, yeah, I thoroughly enjoyed this video. In ‘65 I was just 15 but music and girls were my thing. Mom moved us to Millbrook, N. Y. in ‘63. Timothy Leary’s son Jackie was in my 9th grade home room. We were the two new kids in a small school of 300 enrollment. Through fishing and hunting we both enjoyed the Hitchcock Estate. In the environment of Leary’ “salon” I heard much of the new music, Dylan, Love, Stones, Beatles, Cream, Airplane, Beach Boys, Doors, Country Joe, Fugs, Butterfield and Jazz.
In ‘91 I got to hear Elvin Bishop’s band in Little Rock, Ar. I ain’t dead yet.
Saw Butterfield with Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop's band @ Fillmore West, late 60s
Passed way too early. He was one of the greatest. Listen to early Dylan. He's there. Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Steven Stills in the pantheon of towering talents.
Despite its psychedelic trappings, Electric Flag's recording of "Another Country" has one of the most beautiful guitar breaks ever recorded, imho. What a great lineup in that band; pity MB was unsatisfied with it and left.
Pure jazz.
@@larrysmac Most definitely! His perfectionism killed.
Also, as much as I still love EF, I wonder if MB was unsatisfied with their overall 'sound,' which IMO, could have been so much cleaner and tighter in terms of recording quality, and tightness of the band as a unit. And don't get me started on Nick Gravenites.
@@larrysmac Plausible. Maybe he got tired of herding cats too.
@@frankwilson2607 HA
There is a great book about Michael called "Guitar King". The author is a guitarist and gives details about some of the musical things Mike is doing. Very insightful for a player of any level of skill, although a beginner may have to re-read some of the East-West discussions. There are also anecdotes about Mike and some of the Chicago blues royalty.
In mid-70s my band, 2nd Street, opened for Mike Bloomfield @ an outdoor gig at Tamalpais High Amphitheater. His drummer borrowed my drums, & they used our amps.
Percussionist Bradly Scot
Thank you for the documentary. Great info.
Awe yes ❤ am glad you are alive,,, 😂 yes Mike Broomfield forever 😂❤
Very well done and informative video. Thank you. I saw the Butterfield Blues Band at Winterland in San Francisco in the early 1970’s. Being a fan of theirs I was able to recognize their live performance that night was lacking. The extraordinary guitar work was evident from both Bishop and Bloomfield but the band was not at all cohesive. It was a loud discordant jam session and everyone was trying to play over one another.
Thank you...
Artists are a funny lot. It's all or nothing . Thanks for posting this, I never heard of this guy , I'm 61 and British.
He was a bit b4 your time; thankful for recordings!
Never forgotten here. Also never forgotten was a closing blurb of his tragic death on Bay Area evening news. Equally tragic was that I could have blinked and missed the report.
nice collection yr putting together
well done
He is not forgotten.
Such an inspiration man.
Super Session 😎👍👍
I saw Mike play a solo gig in Boulder in the late 70's. I felt I was watching and hearing a last chapter. What and how he played stays with me. Mr. Bloomfield was truly a fine bluesman.
Really liked this video a lot . Well done on presenting a brilliant biography. Sometimes rich kids get a feeling and fascination for music and become really authentic in a style. They become obsessed like many people do . Money doesn't have much to do with it except for perhaps getting a good instrument. Muddy sounds like a giving man who was also a king in his community and in the world
Thanks for the post, Joe. The ending quote from Buddy Guy was really nice.
Aah to be young and innocent and able to think just because you've found a renowned of the past that millions of older folks not know them ♡
To John 1956, YOU did a fine deed, explaining the facts about the the management, media record companies.They told him he was a great singer, put out anything with his name, while he had a name.Mike was not a great singer, not for an entire album, it tanked, and that didnt help problems, making Mike confused and depressed. I am so gratefull for you're recognition of the damage done to such a gentle man.
Thanks for making this video.
I have heard a few of
Michael's recorded works. He was a great guitarist.
Thank you Joe, this was a very good video!
They’re playing “Screamin’” in the bg. Bought this record when I was 16-the ferocious solo made my eyes pop open!
Saw Mike Bloomfield in '71 at the Golden Bear at Huntington Beach...Excellent, small venue, Classic!!! Went to Huntington Beach OP Surf contest with the Armed Forces Surf Club...Cool trip...
Well done
Very nicely done!
Brilliant video my friend🙏
If i hd a choice of any guitar player for a band, Bloomfield would be it. He knew how to fit. Maximizing every phrase with balance, tone, injecting everything into a note or a sequence.
Unfortunately, he also injected harmful things into himself😢
@@bradlyscotunes9156 WHY?
Really good history. I’am a fan. Too bad that he couldn’t conquer his insomnia. Insomnia can cause a lot of suffering. Most people just take sleep for granted but sleep is no joke. I wondered if perhaps Michael was bipolar.
I also have bad insomnia. Sleep is more important than food. Yes people take it for granted
There is a rare disease where people can’t get any sleep at all. The lack of sleep eventually kills them. No lie.
Mike Bloomfield R.I.P.
I am resentful that the narrator keeps stating that Michael is “forgotten.” He is not.
. . . in the early '70s, at the Bottom Line, there was an Electric Flag reunion, in the audience was Elvin Bishop, James Cotton and Rory Gallagher. That should tell you enough about Mike Bloomfield's status. After talking to each of them, I was treated to an incredible rendition of "Texas" for desert !!!!!
Saw him in a small club he was doing an acoustic show. So lucky to see him
Mike Bloomfield on my car cd player everyday easy rider is my ring tone. 59 seconds of pure bliss
Good video, quite a lot in a short video, great job on consolidation of so much!
Mike could play Merle Travis’ “Walkin’ the Strings” note for note. Amazing ear and photographic memory.
Thanks
Look into Roy Buchanan live at Austin City Limits. Man was a genius with sound
Stop with all the negative "forgotten or not" BS comments. MB simply wasn't mainstream. Not a household name. However his blues playing was beyond terrific. He played in a very emotional manner.....which to me, is quite difficult to do. His guitar would literally cry. In the 60s, he captured the real essence of the blues & he was as good as it gets. Sad - very sad drug ending.....
RIP MB!
He was a household name in the Bay Area. He blew out all the later famous SF bands - Airplane, Dead, Quicksilver, Santana, etc.
@@dukingtheravenyup; saw him, shared a gig with his band..
the only forgotten is the people who put this thing together Bloomfield is FAR FROM forgotten FAR FROM IT
I`ve not forgotten him.
Yeah, it would have completed his good survey if he had included comments about the live music Michael played with Al Kooper, with an album cover painted by Norman Rockwell.
Still my favorite player,effing genius ❤
Electric Flag played at the last acid test in SF at the graduation ceremonies for the "summer of love"
Mike Bloomfield is criminally underrated
Integrity , and devotion.Devotion for& to his adopted love, The Blues.And integrity ,in fighting against the star maker machinery.Don't know bout you , but that spells "MYTHIC" to me.
Unfortunately they’ll all be forgotten at some point
Except recordings documented their great music!
Bloomfield never had the same acclaim as Hendrix, Clapton, Beck, Page etc, did. Which might be for several reasons. He never released a big selling solo album or classic rock song making him unknown to many. Anyway I liked his bluesy guitar work on the Dylan albums and other projects he did.
He’s not forgotten. Before watching this video, I know him from his work with Bob Dylan and also that legendary album with Al Kooper. Their version of _season of the witch_ is legendary, famously was sampled by The Pharcyde in 1992 for their hit _passing me by_
Season of the Witch had Stills playing on it
@@mrJimCharles Sick! I didn’t know that Stephen Stills sat in for Super Session!
@@dethkon he's on side 2 because Mike had an insomnia episode and had to go home because they were out of town, so Al had to get someone's else to finish it
@@mrJimCharles You mean he doesn’t play on Side 1?! I can’t believe I never knew this. TBF, they don’t mention his name anywhere on my copy (I can’t afford the vinyl).
@@dethkon I was wondering, because the original record clearly says Side 1 - Bloomfield and Side 2 - Stills
He was something . . .
I never forgot him
you want “forgotten guitar geniuses” try Sandy Bull or Al Wilson.
Not forgotten.
He did the music for Andy Warhol movie Bad. He was a friend of the star Tere Tereba
He was never forgotter his is already etched in guitar history...
Well done, Joe...
Thanx
It's a shame there's so little of his country blues on record,
both with guitar's' and piano (and vocals) Do you play?
"The real cats know who the real cats are."
- Branford Marsalis
Always has it been, always will it be.
Mike Bloomfield was one of Great Blues White Guitar Player in 60’s to 70's!