Forgotten Fretmasters #3 - Mike Bloomfield

[@LynnDavidNewton]

Mike Bloomfield was in my high school freshman English class at New Trier (BTW pronounced TREE-er, not TRY-er) high school in Winnetka, Illinois in 1957-58, and I was at the one performance where he played at school. It was certainly a surprise and most kids liked it, but this is the first I have ever heard that he was expelled for playing rock and roll. I suppose it was possible because it was a conservative area. I don't remember the song they played (only one), though I've always thought it was Wipeout. But that song may not have existed yet. (This was in about 1958.) It was definitely one of those twangy hits of the day. The occasion was a school sock hop or some such thing for underclass students only where there was entertainment in the auditorium followed by music and refreshments in the basement. BTW, I became a musician myself - including six years of music school, followed by leaving graduate school to pursue a rock and roll band I'd founded. The only other time I ever heard Mike Bloomfield live was what was then claimed to be the very last performance of Electric Flag, at the Filmore East in New York. Although Bloomfield was there and certainly played well, it was drummer and singer Barry Miles who dominated the performance.

[@TheGuitarHistorian]

Thank you for filling in that amazing detail! Multiple sources said he was expelled from New Trier and then spent a year in a Massachusetts boarding school. I really looked at multiple sources on that because I was trying to find the song. I’m sure by today’s standards, it would be hilarious that he was expelled for it. Probably “Rebel Rouser” or something like that.

[@LynnDavidNewton]

@@TheGuitarHistorian Quite possibly so on both points. I was barely conscious of Mike Bloomfield in high school after that English class. (I remembered him mainly as a kid who borrowed my only ball point pen from me in class and then ran off with it.) The reality is that he wasn't actually at school that often. He was already skipping a lot in order to go with a buddy to prowl around the South Side of Chicago. He soon disappeared from my consciousness until I suddenly saw him on a Paul Butterfield album and confirmed it was the same guy. That was much later, when I was in college. And yes, it could very well have been Duane Eddy's "Rebel Rouser" that he played. My own background in music is deeply classical (my father was a prominent Chicago violist and conductor, assistant principal violist in the Chicago Symphony for many years), and we paid little or no attention to popular music or blues. I was very interested in jazz in high school but did not play it. It took the Beatles to change my world and move me in that direction. When that happened, it literally changed my life. BTW, I also have an album by Woody Hermann and his band that features Michael Bloomfield, which I thought at the time was an interesting combination. Incidentally, your video mentions Dan Erlewine, who now lives out here, in Athens, Ohio, barely an hour's pleasant drive south from my house, I have a 1967 ES-335 that is in need of some expert attention and have been waiting for the pandemic to pass before possibly approaching Dan to see if he would be interested in doing the work. He came to my attention through a musician friend who lives in Athens, and the first look at him I got was a KZbin video of him looking closely at Mike Bloomfield's old Telecaster. Small world.

[@bobjones9600]

@Gibson Lionel you two nitwits. This is real stuff this guy has compiled. Most of it real.

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

Mike played at a Christmas season talent showcase for students on December 13th, 1958. They were only allowed to play ONE song, and were especially warned NOT to play any Rock and Roll. They had to audition for the show, and Mike and his band(which included Marshall Chess, the son of Leonard and the nephew of Phil Chess - who owned Chess Records) played a Chet Atkins number that Mike knew. The band was named the Hurricanes, after an instrumental song Mike had written. The younger Chess had arranged for the band to record a 45 RPM record of it and Mike(always the self-promoter) had even got the school cafeteria to play his song during lunch period. At the talent show, everything went well, until they finished the Chet Atkins song and the students began screaming and stomping their feet, shouting, "More! MORE!" The guys in the group didn't know what to do; the curtain had descended. But then lightning struck; someone backstage raised the curtain, and their drummer shouted, "Let's play "Hurricane!" The kids in the audience recognized the tune they'd been hearing in the lunch room for weeks, and responded instantly and enthusiastically. The cast of the talent show rushed out from the wings and joined the clapping, dancing crowd. Mike was thrilled. The school authorities were enraged, and Mike got an official reprimand. But he wasn't expelled. He was only a sophomore. But the next spring, Mike got his driver's license, and so he could play clubs, which he did, quite regularly. But he was a pro musician now, and his attitude at school suffered. He was disruptive, and one day in November 1959 he stood up in class, said something bad, and he walked out. He just couldn't stand it there any longer. The school told his mother that the feeling was mutual. His father sent him to a prep school in Connecticut. This and everything else you'd like to know about the great Mike Bloomfield is in a book called "Guitar King" by David Dann. It has an impossibly great rare photo of Bloomfield and Dylan - with Al Kooper and his Jazzmaster, thinking maybe he'd get to play(!) - during the recording of "Highway 61 Revisited," maybe even "Like A Rolling Stone." EVERY American guitar player should read this book; while it's a couple of inches thick, it's chock-full of information about the whole era, and explains Mike's mental and drugs situations - and his awful accidental overdose at such a young age. I remember it very well, as he was really getting his life back together again; it was such a shame. These are a couple of great channels, and they have a lot of cool stuff and tasty tid-bits. I just HAD to add my 2 cents.

[@TheGuitarHistorian]

@@DavidSmith-ss1cg wonderful color to the story man! I’ll have to pick up that book.

[@SumNumber]

Bloomfield should not be forgotten . He was way ahead of his time on blues runs , I saw him at Monterey Pop and he was great . Night time show and his " fro " was light up with a black light so you could just see the outline and he was wailin ! :O)

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Strangely, Bloomfield was intimidated by Jimi Hendrix!...He said that after witnessing Hendrix do his thing, he did not touch his own guitar for weeks!

[@rheinhardtgrafvonthiesenha4869]

Bloomfield is absolutely sick. He’s not forgotten amongst guitarist but for sure to the mainstream.

[@jennifersman7990]

Another great story about Bloomfield In the early 70’s Bloomfield and Al Kooper toured together and Mike had a habit of arriving very late at shows or not showing up at all. At a show in Boston, it was getting close to showtime and there was no sign of Mike. Mike’s brother happened to be there so Al handed him Mike’s Les Paul sunburst and told him to walk out onstage with Al. Al’s plan was to tell the audience Mike was sick and couldn’t perform. Just as they were about to step onstage, Mike bursts through the stage door, takes one look at his brother, who’s holding Mike’s prized guitar, and says “What’re you, fuckin’ nuts? GIMME THAT!!” and goes onstage with Al.

[@keithwelch9351]

Bloomfield is the only guitarist who blows me away no matter how many times I've heard the version that I'm listening to at the time.

[@dennismason3740]

The guy holding the camera on the cover of Highway 61 is BLOOMIE!

[@bobterwilliger1310]

Mike Bloomfield is one of the all time great bluesmen. God bless Mike!! He plays his instrument in the way its spos’sed to be played!!

[@freddylopez7536]

Love your channel my friend. Brilliant. I grew up in that era. I'm 75 and still playin. Love this. Thank you.

[@yobyob9369]

Bloomfield inspires me every time listen

[@FarmerSlideJoeBob]

1st I was listening was the super session album bloomfield, kooper, stills which completly blewed my mind. And on the 2nd time I know him from the paul butterfield blues band project and his wonderful slide guitar playing on his tele, on the track mystery train😃

[@adashofabsurd3343]

thanks for remembering MIKE B. He was the tops in 65 and 66 before getting lost in cream and later lead..but not before helping crack open the door for the overdue recognition of the Real bluesmen of the American South and Chicago. The original standout white blues lead guitar player ..and generous too..I saw him with Al Kooper introduce a pre record contracted Johnny Winter in NYC, TRADING RIFFS AND THEN BOWING to JW's Heat. AND THEN LEAVING THE STAGE FOR JOHNNY TO BLOW THE COLLECTIVE fillmore east crowd's mind.. Surreal... and beautiful. LONG MISSED.. So glad to find you on youtube.

[@discernment8963]

I've heard the same thing myself. No shame, seeing Johnny back then for the 1st time had a similar awe inspiring effect on people as seeing Jimi for the 1st time.

[@marileemaraugha6864]

You Are So Correct Sir ❤️‍🔥✌🏼😎

[@thomasburnett4712]

I was a huge Mike Bloomfield fan back in the day. Thank you for providing additional context I was missing though your video.

[@davidzimmerli489]

The Paul Butterfield Blues Band played some of the most incredible Blues music ever. The interplay between Bloomfield's stinging guitar licks and Butterfield's emotional harmonica playing had a lot to do with this. Those recordings still sound great today .....

[@neilangus4401]

Just another Just like TS McPhee, Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore, Roy Buchanan, buddy Guy, Peter Green, Alvin Lee,etc etc

[@dailydoseofblues7708]

@@neilangus4401 na man none of them took it as far as bloom. if you dont believe me, listen to his playing on East West around the 2:45 mark. that was 1966. nobody would do shit like that until way later in time man. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hKe6p4KtgaiKfck

[@RobHollanderMusic]

Guitarists haven't forgotten him. Thanks for posting. My little Bloomfield story happened while the Boarding House in San Francisco was still open. I was fortunate to have seen Bloomfield and Kooper at the Fillmore East when I was practically a kid. But this Boarding House gig was about a decade later; Mike did an acoustic set that night, not electric, and many in the audience were making their displeasure known in various ways. It was a really good set though, playing traditionals and covering little known songwriters on both guitar and piano. At the end of the set most of the crowd withheld applause but I gave him a standing ovation and I was the lone person that did that. In the next moment Mike jumped off the stage, approached our table, squeezed my shoulder and said very sincerely, "Thanks, man" and continued straightway to the hallway to exit the club by the front door. Maybe within a year I saw the obituary in the Chronicle and my heart broke, but I will always remember that moment.

[@bobjones9600]

Rob Thank you. Have heard similiar from this time period. Mike wanted to play acoustic. And he did. I wish I coulda been there. I wish I had seen one of his acoustic sets. Just started investigating Burt Janesch(sp?) and Tom Ball etc. Lots of good stories. 18 years old in 1969. Song Anji. Investigate prior to contempt. Folk crowd in 65, 66. Bob Dylan changed the World. W/ little help from Beatle s Kinks? Friends.

[@bobjones9600]

Jonesing.

[@zenzen1916]

I knew Mike very well, he was the sweetest man I ever met. TAKEN from us way too soon.

[@RobHollanderMusic]

Bless you for covering Mike's story. One of my favorite all-time guitar players; an unassuming prodigy, up there with Hendrix and Garcia.

[@johnpandolfino8663]

Old Chinese proverb.... Confucius say.... Hey Wang can you make a shoe smell...... Great job mate..... I have copies of all the records Mike made you mention here ....Mike was a master.....and the first guitar hero of my time listening to music..... I'm that old

[@blondbowler8776]

We've never forgotten Mike. Not once.

[@OPETHIAN666OPETHIAN]

I am of the belief that Michael's tone and playing is some of the finest of all time. Thanks for the video

[@JohnPakalenka]

Super Session album was my introduction to Bloomfield back in 67. Excellent video on Mike! The most info I've seen on him! Thanks!

[@ralphridgeway7034]

I was home to Chicago for a break from Evansville College where I led a cover band for the local dance scene. My best friend says to me, " You have got to here this band at Big Johns" so off we went fake ID's in hand. When we arrived the band was on break and I remember sitting in front of the stage in that small smoke filled joint and thinking, these guys can't be any good, look at their equipment. There was a Fender Melody Maker with Mike carved sloppily in the top plugged to a cigarette burned old Fender amp. When the Butterfield Blues Band walked in and started playing, I was totally blown away. Bloomfield watched my eyes and between songs he said " you play man" I nodded and he invited me to sit in. I politely declined. At that moment in history he was likely the best blues guitarist on the planet. I went back to college realizing that I had better find another way to make a living. No one has ever matched his style. You did nice job with the history. RIP Michael

[@Johngonefishin]

Gibson Melody Maker ??

[@ralphridgeway7034]

@@Johngonefishin Yep? Oh right Gibson of course lol. At least that's what I remember. It wasn't a tele or a Les Paul. It had Mike carved in by the pick guard very roughly with like 2 inch letters.

[@DavidSmith-ss1cg]

@@ralphridgeway7034 - it was an old Fender Duo-sonic - a stripped-down, student grade guitar that Mike had bought at his uncle's pawn shop. To Mike, guitars were a tool, and he wasn't caught up in the guitar one-up man ship that he helped start after he got Dan Erlewine's pretty Sunburst Les Paul.

[@ralphridgeway7034]

@@DavidSmith-ss1cg David, Thanks for sending that information, that's why I remembered it as a Fender cuz it was one lol. It was a very humbling experience for me as I was very caught up in the cool equipment thing.

[@JillandKevin]

Not really forgotten by any respectable blues players, but definitely an amazing musician!! I actually played with Mike once many many years ago! He was a genius, without any doubt!

[@zenzen1916]

Loved Mike. Miss him. It's an ugly world.

[@calstongroup]

Had a chat with him between sets at the Pipeline in Seattle 1976. He was a real sweet guy, extremely approachable. He talked to me like we were buddies. I completely forgot he was Michael EFFING Bloomfield.

[@MarsGuitarOfficial]

He’s Right up there with my all time favorite Peter Green. Magic touch those guys ! Great video!!!

[@alexgramm5170]

Ya! Alright! Great to hear that. Love Mr. Green. Bloomers and Green my teachers!

[@davebeck359]

I'm glad to see that The Green Gid has not been forgotten. It drives me crazy when both Bloomfield and Green get left off the lists of top guitarists. RIP Mike and Peter.

[@Gallagherfreak100]

@@davebeck359 : Roy Buchanan too.

[@bobjones9600]

@@Gallagherfreak100 Duane Eddy Chet Atkins Segovia Los Tres Indios Etc.

[@tomp.6239]

Pete disciple longtime here!

[@Synthetrix]

His work on Super Session is some of the greatest electric guitar ever recorded.

[@jamescox8402]

I was in high school when I saw Butterfield's band. I was never the same. Every time they came to the Golden Bear in Huntington Beach, I was there. The Beatles and the Stones began the playing journey but Butterfield's band and especially Mike taught me you gotta reach down deep and pull that shit out of you. The whole band were mentors. They did a good job cause I'm still pulling that shit out me. Nice post mate, thank you.

[@billiam8270]

You, me and thousands of others heard the PBBB first album and East-West and it changed our musical ears for good.

[@ramblinmattbluesshack]

Mike, along with Peter Green, Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton are the real stuff that dreams are made of :) but the 4 of them had very tragic stories, I guess that real talent comes to a big price...

[@curbozerboomer1773]

All four were White dudes...could it be that Black bluesmen are better suited to sustaining a career inside the Blues?

[@ramblinmattbluesshack]

@@curbozerboomer1773 its a fact that the real deal and tough stories happened to the original black bluesmen, without them these guys I mentioned probably wouldnt have existed. Bloomfield came from a very wealthy family in Chicago, being a jew kid he learned the Blues directly from the greats; Gatton and Buchanan weren't bluesmen, I was more talking about their guitar playing skills. Regards from Spain!

[@markvincent522]

The album If You Love These Blues is incredible, if you can find it. It's basically an album of blues songs in the style of other artists, all played by Bloomfield. In between some of the tracks, he gives an explanation of the guitar he's using, the amp and how loud it is, as well as the key the upcoming song is in, as well as who inspired the style. "City Blues" is a song in the style of T-Bone Walker, for example. I think the album may have been a companion to an article series in a guitar publication in the late 70s or something. Regaredless, it's priceless because it provides an insight into Mike's technique and influences. Walter Rimler (I think that is his name), whose channel is here on KZbin, also has a long, detailed interview with Mike Bloomfield that seems to have been recorded at his Mill Valley home sometime in the mid to late 70s. The series of videos that comprise the interview are here on KZbin, and they are also priceless. He talks about everything from doing film scores for B-movies, to touring as a teenager, to using heroin with Janis Joplin and discussing how he felt about her death. It also provides a fairly detailed look into how he started playing guitar, as well as his relationships with Bob Dylan and Paul Butterfield. If you're a Bloomfield fan, they'll blow your mind.

[@JE-western-rider]

The album mentionmed above, If You Love These Blues , was offered by Guitar Player Magazine for mail order.

[@davidhealy7743]

Thanks much for this. I was fortunate to see him play with the Electric Flag at San Francisco state and with Dylan at the Masonic temple in San Francisco.. He was authentically one of my greatest early influences on the electric guitar.. thanks again.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Marcus Doubleday was a horn player in Electric Flag...he arranged the horn sections, and had been a member of a seminal horn-oriented R&B Rock group in Seattle, called the Dynamics. Heroin took over Marcus for many years, but he did manage to live to the age of 60 or so. Early on, he had married a gal I had a secret crush on in Seattle, in the early 1960s. Her name was Vicki Francisco...a super-cute blonde! I was amazed to find out that she had married one of my favorite Seattle-area musicians!

[@FuriousMess]

Mike is still one of the greatest of all time

[@coreymihailiuk5189]

Thanks for covering Bloomfield. His tone and attack was unreal, especially when playing his fabled Burst.

[@jon-nolanacousticsingerson9920]

Very well done sir, I always loved Mike Bloomfield's work. It was a sad day when we lost him. Keep up the great work!

[@brucemason8390]

No way Bloomfield should be on a list like this! He is always in the top 5 players among those who know. Yes, I mean you!

[@TheGuitarHistorian]

I made this list thinking more of the general public and not guitarists. Mick ronson, Robin Trower and Mike Bloomfield are all well known among us. But if you asked 10 random people on the street, would they know who they are? That’s the criteria I used. You say “Eric Clapton,” everybody’s like, “Oh, yeah, of course.” Jimi Hendrix... but Mike Bloomfield? I’m telling you very few people know who he is outside of musicians. I’m just trying to let THEM know who they are.

[@jimlabos]

@@TheGuitarHistorian I agree. He was a musician's musician. The general public only knows artists that have hits. Bloomfield played on hits but never had one under his name. He's in the top 5 for me as well, but who's counting. There are so many great musicians out there living or dead. All to be appreciated. Bloomfield was one of the last ones to mould a style of his own. Even though like all of us he borrowed from everyone he still managed to sound unique. One or 2 notes form him and you instantly knew it was him. Not many do that today especially in the Blues styles. Saw him live in a small club once but that's a story for another time. Cheers.

[@lamper2]

@@TheGuitarHistorian I agree with that "if you stopped 10 people" approach. I use it often to argue a point similar to the one you made here.

[@chrisoldcorbettsntstuff6136]

@@TheGuitarHistorian I am a non musician from Australia. I discovered the PBBB in 1967 and have been an admirer of Mike Bloomfield ever since. I must not be one of your ten random people. I still enjoy all his work, my post PBBB favourite is "Winter Moon."

[@pharmerdavid1432]

This is an old thread, so my comment will likely languish in cyber purgatory forever, but here goes.... I never forgot about Bloomfield, but did rediscover him again in recent years, his work available on youtube now. Even on his last recording, 'Boom still sounded wonderful, playing REAL blues from his soul. The one time I saw him play live, at UCLA Royce Hall, I was disappointed - he was making all his usual facial grimaces while playing his 'burst, but his playing didn't sound good at the time, probably because of drugs and burn-out syndrome..? It was a concert featuring some musicians who used to be famous, but hadn't done much in recent years - John Sebastian from the Lovin' Spoonful, and a couple others I can't remember. Because I have access to most of Mike's music now, and many videos about his life - like this one, I appreciate his playing more than ever. His death was suspicious, because there was also cocaine (or was it methamphetamine - I forget?) in his blood too, and he hated them being a hyperactive insomniac, friends claiming he never touched them. Maybe he got more heroin fronted than he could pay for, or something? And for those who didn't know, he recorded a song about another favorite guitar player of mine: "Jimi the Fox" (I never heard anyone else call Hendrix "The Fox", but it fits): kzbin.info/www/bejne/oJqnlZx3rr6sh8k

[@tomp.6239]

Love "Jimi the Fox," little known masterpiece!

[@gaynor505]

I knew Mike back in the mid-70s when I was living in Mill Valley. We were both associated with a music school in Sausalito called The Family Light School of Music founded by Jan Tangen..... Someone needs to write a history of it, with the Impressive range of different musicians that converged there The way Jan hired me to be a faculty member.... just after I had moved from Silicon Valley to Mill Valley...... was we sat down together in his office and jammed together..... He hired me on the spot, telling me they were 50 other guitarists ahead of me that he had jammed with and decided to hire me. Easily the most interesting and engaging job interview I've ever had. Mike and I never played together but had a number of conversations with one another. The last time we spoke together was outside of a record store.... whose name I forget..... that was on East Throckmorton in Mill Valley.... It was one of the Premier record stores in the Bay Area and a magnet with its clientele of many well-known and lesser-known musicians. Thank you for your dedication. I'm looking forward to watching the Robin Trower episode. His work with Procol Harum has stood the test of time for the emotional quality that he brought to his work with them..... a stellar example of doing more with less.

[@TheGuitarHistorian]

SUPER Love this comment, brother. Thanks so much sharing. I love how my videos stir up the memories

[@AFaceintheCrowd01]

@Spike Elwood It was an astounding record store and its owner -- John Goddard -- was a genuine historian of American music.

[@gaynor505]

@Spike Elwood Thanks, Spike.......

[@andyteitelman9447]

@@gaynor505 check out his biography it’s available at Amazon!

[@ronmclean309]

I went to the Family Light School of Music, working off some of my tuition working in the office. Walter Rappaport was my teacher in Sound Reinforcement. Walter later gained some notoriety playing the Golden Gate Bridge as a string instrument. Michael Bloomfield was the Advanced Guitar teacher. Norton Buffalo taught harmonica. Running into Norton in Sonoma Valley years later he told me the School gigs were what he remembered as the best. I saw one at a local high school gym and it was exemplary. Michael kicked ass, of course, but all were there to lay it down. I saw him shortly before his death at the Belly Up Tavern offering a solo acoustic set. He received such a warm reception that he told us he'd be back and do it electric. RIP, brother.

[@raymondglidewell5481]

Man...You are introducing me to music I didn’t know and giving me a new appreciation for some I did know. Nicely done! Thank you and keep them coming.

[@rocketpost1]

Very well researched Jason. So many tremendously gifted players gone before their time. Thinking particularly of Danny Gatton and Terry Kath.

[@TheGuitarHistorian]

Terry Kath will be in the first 10 episodes of this series for sure.

[@jacklynsher6046]

Definitely Danny Gatton.

[@rickcourier8451]

I didn't see any mention of Mike's instructional album "If you love these blues play them ask you please" Received a Grammy award.

[@ronnieguitar99]

I wouldn't call Mike Bloomfield a forgotten fretmasters, he is very well known among blues and guitar fans. I'm a forgotten fretmaster, I was never known. Just an amateur but I've got a few videos on KZbin but much more forgotten that Bloomfeld.

[@neilphelan145]

You must listen to the album Super Session with Bloomfield, Al Cooper, and Steven Stills. The tracks Stop and Season of the Witch stand out for me. I promise that you wont be disappointed.

[@HAL9007]

"Stop" is great and that is Bloomfield. But Bloomfield did not play on Season of the Witch. Bloomfield played on side one, Stills on side two.

[@marcocaruso4777]

Stop is one of my all time favorite Guitar songs

[@chrisoldcorbettsntstuff6136]

It takes a lot to laugh.......................

[@philclogger4562]

Changed my life!

[@mitchgawlik1175]

@@chrisoldcorbettsntstuff6136 But, sadly, it takes a train to cry.

[@jonnygonehawking380]

He also did an album with Guitar Player magazine in the mid 70s called If You Love these Blues Play them as You Please some of the songs are finger style acoustic blues guitar. it is on you tube. Each song is an example of older blues guitar players. on the album He talks about each song, and who played it originally.Its a really rare record , nice its on you tube.

[@ericellquist7007]

Every time I hear the Butterfield's Shake Your Money Maker guitar solo, the hair stands at attention, and the grin is ear to ear! Love that album...

[@visualthings]

Articulate, well researched and without hype: Your videos are a fantastic way to dig into the music of all these names that we have sometimes heard but often passed by. Thank you for your work and passion.

[@sundial6919]

Thank you so very much for your research , efforts and perspective . Youve done a great job in presentation as well . Thanks again

[@mariocuellar9060]

I knew about Mike Bloomfield from the time I was about 13yrs old&from the beginning I was hooked!He,I don't think,received the recognition he deserved!From Paul Butterfield to Electric Flag to the Live Adventures!God bless u,Mike Bloomfield!

[@tim2468]

Outstanding episode!

[@Guitarplayer724]

You’re doing us a great service with these videos. I truly appreciate hearing the back stories of these amazing guitarists. Thanks much!

[@user-uo8yh9tb8g]

Like your series on "forgotten fretmasters". A couple guys names I'd throw in are Sonny Greenwich (whom Bloomfield was acutely aware of and a great admirer of, in fact), and the great but hardly ever mentioned Ollie Halsall of Patto who predated all modern "shredders" with crazy technical ability and a very advanced harmonic sensibility brought about from his background as a vibraphonist, yet also had that old-time rock and roll sensibility... anyway keep up the great work

[@MrMojabo]

Last time I saw Bloomfield he was playing piano in a club on upper Grant called the Coffe Gallery . He was sitting behind the piano facing the door looking into the sun wearing sunglasses and singing and playing the blues on the piano... it was free. A few weeks later he had died,,, I also saw him play the Fillmore and Winterland, but that sunny day on upper Grant in the Coffee Gallery is what I will remember.

[@telebob5983]

A very well done and well considered appreciation of a player who I've heard of for ages but have not heard nearly enough of. As another commenter noted, Bloomfield was the first white guitarist -- virtually concurrent with the young Eric Clapton but even a bit before -- who announced to the world that they "got it" when it came to playing the blues and caught fire, spreading the gospel of the delta and Chicago, influencing legions of followers and prompting even more people everywhere to explore the roots. Now I need to go to my local library to take out and devour the biography "Guitar King" which, incidentally is authored by David Dann, a fellow resident of the Catskills who also volunteers as mentor to a newspaper put out by high school students in the same community where I live.

[@ACOUSTIC_4LOVE]

Great Documentary 👍Bloomfield was pretty amazing in those early years

[@richardbayles3120]

Superb work! I took a chance on buying an album by some odd looking guys called The Paul Butterfield Blues Band for two reasons: 1) one of the local bands kept playing "Born In Chicago", which I had never heard on the radio and 2) the label was Elektra (a folk label) but the liner notes recommended playing it as loud as possible. A whole world opened up to me! For note, don't forget "If you love these blues, play them as you please." Put out by Guitar Player magazine it never achieved wide distribution. Bloomfield demonstrated a range beyond the Chicago Blues. The Holy Grail of collectors in the mid 70s. Again thank you!

[@cusab69]

Mike's last performance with the Butterfield Blues Band was at Clark University in February 1967 as I recall. That concert got me involved in producing concerts at Clark the next 3 years. He was fabulous, a star.

[@haupper]

The Butterfield Band's "East-West" title track was one of the most radical recordings of its time. "Eight Miles High" from March '66 pointed the way forward to the free form modal jamming of the '66-69 psychedelic era, but "East-West" from a few months later was the blueprint (both were adapting Coltrane). Listen and you can hear the DNA of "Interstellar Overdrive", "Dark Star", "Third Stone from the Sun", "Black to Comm", "Sister Ray", all the way forward to "Marquee Moon" by Television which almost replicates it at one point. I suspect when people talk about Dylan's electric appearance at Newport, the folkies in the crowd were blown back by Mike's scalding Telecaster lines as much as anything Bob was doing. Thank you, Mike Bloomfield, for raising everyone's game.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

I agree that East-West is just astonish, original, and ahead of it's time. Bishop never played so avanet-gard again!

[@bluesdawg8014]

Mike Bloomfield was the artist that launched me into the Blues 55 years ago. Bloomfield was great. Another was Hollywood Fats. Los Angeles Blues musician 72 years old and still playing

[@rwm48]

First it was Freddie King for me then Michael Bloomfield came along and hooked me good. Yep...Michael Mann "Hollywood Fats" was a tragedy when he passed and would have been huge if had stayed around. Fats just had the touch. Saw Fats when playing with The James Harmon Band and they were loud and just killing it. To this day I totally regret not going down to the Golden Bear to see The Paul Butterfield Blues Band just after East West came out. My friends to this day say it was still one of the best live bands they witnessed. Though did see Bloomfield and the Electric Flag at the Bear later and they blew the roof off. Like you Blues Dawg am 72 years old and playing everyday and will to the end.

[@SteveBurchfield]

I was engaged shortly to Betsy Bloomfield after Mike died. She really loved him and never had anything bad to say about him.

[@jensenbell]

I can tell this one meant a lot to you. You just intensified my interest in hearing much more of Mike now.

[@BUNKERJR53]

I bought the "Super Session" LP when it was first released and still own it today. I learned some of my early guitar lead work from Bloomfield as well as Alvin Bishop. Those two could play some mean guitar. RIP Mike...........you are truly missed.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Elvin Bishop is another Blues expert that time has forgotten...Partly his fault, as he seemed to lose that Blues focus in the mid-1970s.

[@brianhardy5926]

This is the second Forgotten Fretmasters that I've seen, and I've got to open this comment with a sincere compliment to your work. Incredibly well researched and presented. I have now seen Mick Ronson and Mike Bloomfield, two guitarists that I am familiar with and felt that I was in a special class of people, because I knew and admired who they were. I was introduced to Mike when I was a student at UCLA. My friend downstairs worked in a record store in Westwood and had a killer stereo system at the time. He would bring records home to play. One night, while I was down there overimbibing on beer, he put on East West. I heard the song East West and was blown away, and here I am, 78 years old, and I still think it's one of the greatest things ever done. His death was certainly tragic.

[@WV591]

You nailed it with Bloomfield but don't forget amazing Elvin Bishop and while you're on American guitar masters, you have to cover Bob Welch. man o man

[@tomyanno972]

Nicely done video. Bloomfield was a very special guitarist who could translate his emotions into his amazing solos that were clean, tasteful and impassioned. I got to see him once live circa 1973 during the short-lived redux of Electric Flag.

[@jennifersman7990]

Mike’s introduction speech on Live Adventures has to be heard to be believed Some other details on his live albums with Al Kooper; when recording Live Adventures, Mike walked out after the first night of recording, one of the other guitarists Al grabbed to fill in for Mike was Elvin Bishop. And the cover painting for the album was done by Norman Rockwell (For years, Al has been trying to track down the paintings whereabouts). The second live album was recorded about 6 months later at the Fillmore East in NYC and went unreleased for over 30 years. Bloomfield stayed healthy for that show and as a bonus brought up a new guitarist from Texas to make his NYC debut, Johnny Winter. Winter got his first record deal not long after.

[@patrickcoughlin3564]

Guitar player mag, produced a Album in the 80s (if you love these blues,play'um as you please) a fine studio recording and studies of his blues mentors , I remember when we lost him, hit me like a arrow.

[@Barflew1]

Liked and Subbed.1st album I bought with paper route money was Hiway 61 revisited.Saw MB at a small bar in the mountains, North of Santa Cruz.1973.We were FLOORED. Thanks for the video....

[@jdwond3673]

Just that short solo he plays on Another Country with the EF still thrills me.

[@noelbrooks4320]

Damn staight! Starts off with a soft Spanish lilt, then blasts off to Mach 9. One of my favorite Bloomer solos along with His Holy Modal Majesty.

[@frankfrank7921]

Excellent! Bloomfield was underrated even while he was active. Two suggestions (one I've already mentioned): Eddie Hazel and Rory Gallagher.

[@TheGuitarHistorian]

Check back soon for Rory

[@ericweitzmann3890]

@@TheGuitarHistorian, excellent job on Bloomfield. I'm looking forward to your story and look at Rory Gallagher. Saw him twice, and wish that I'd seen him more. You don't forget the great ones! Keep up the good work!

[@AFaceintheCrowd01]

Bloomfield -- when he was at the top of his game -- sold out concert halls all over the country. When he lost interest in playing electric blues, didn't wish to travel and focused on solo acoustic blues shows in the Bay Area, he was reduced to playing small clubs. He was never "underrated" when he was alive.

[@frankfrank7921]

@@AFaceintheCrowd01 By "underrated" I mean he wasn't placed, in his day, in the same tier as Clapton. Beck, Page or even Alvin Lee and he should have been. Also, yes, I was around back then so I suggest you stick your face back in the crowd.

[@willbarrow8271]

@@frankfrank7921 Were talking "Opinion, So Check yours at the door because "face in the crowds" carries more Weight.

[@berthut8096]

The live version of Glamour girl is great, so much emotion!

[@TheBEEFBOY]

Amazing channel mate. Can’t wait to see what other ones you have on here

[@bpastorb]

Not sure if you missed it or I just missed you mentioning it but he also played guitar on Nick Gravenites's album in 1969 'My Labors'. In my opinion it is/was his very best work and my favorite to listen to, both incredible guitar playing and I am pretty sure he is the one putting down some great blues vocals as well (could be wrong, hard to find info). I think people often miss this particular album since it's credited to Nick Gravenites as a solo album although Bloomfield played guitar throughout. The songs 'Killing my Love', 'Holy Moly', and 'Moon Tune' are all criminally underappreciated and deserve way more recognition, attention and just people knowing about it in general. I think those songs are up there with many of the other classic songs that get way more airtime

[@alandalaku719]

WAAAAAAY underrated indeed. I dig your shirt of Indiana Jones finding Han Solo.

[@EmilioConesa]

At the age of 15 I learned every lick on Albert's Shuffle from the album Super Session. I shaped the rest of my life.

[@jamesnash7262]

...i have three pictures on my bookcase, my mother, Robert Johnson and Michael Bloomfield...this was a great tribute with details i was unaware of...and while much of Mikes’ post Butterfield/Dylan/Electric Flag/Kooper work is frustrating, his early work on those seminal records, live and studio, is a bible of 20th century electric guitar...a man, a hero, one sweet guitar player...

[@TheGuitarHistorian]

Thank you man. Great comment. I don’t know why the beginning made me think of kiefer Sutherland in A Few Good Men... “Lieutenant I keep two books on my bedside table, one is the marine corps code of conduct, the other is the King James Bible...”

[@Joseph_Greco]

Great vid 👍 .. there's a good book about him called "Michael Bloomfield, The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero" by Ed Ward....highly recommended.

[@steelerspittsburgh875]

Super Sessions just knocked me out. Someone gave it to me and l was floored. RIP Mike

[@JE-western-rider]

We should also mention The Live Adventures double album that came out later.

[@ernestsauter8093]

A delightful surprise! I would also like to see you tackle the dynamic duo of Steve Hunter and Richard Wagner; and possibly Tommy Bolin?

[@skipklauber1162]

Three great suggestions. Bolin got some well deserved attention when DP had its RRHOF induction

[@gerggbergr8976]

Imagine, you feel so strongly about your music and what you want to accomplish that you turn down one of the biggest stars" Bob Dylan" That says everything you need to know about Mike Bloomfield. The way he moved around on the fretboard was, Is ,sick. When I hear the first few notes from his Telecaster there's no question who I'm listening to. There's no one better and more recognizable on the Tele. Pure genius. Fantastic pick sir!

[@golds04]

Very well done. Thank you.

[@jamesvincentguitar1]

Mike and I became friends while we are all in Chicago doing an album on Mercury records called Dick Campbell sings where It's at. It must have been around 1966 or so. along with Paul Butterfield Sam Lay Pete cetera Marti Grebb and a few others. We stayed in touch. I moved to Marin County a few years later and we hooked up out there and deepen our friendship. It was a sad day when I heard he had died. we had just spoke a few days earlier. Paul Butterfield's early death was also tragic.

[@mickchilly1112]

Mike bloomfeild was the greatest electric blues player to ever inhabit. America that's the truth..

[@duderino1950]

Super Session was good. For my money, East West was the pinnacle of guitar mastery throughout the past five decades.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Two underrated guitarists, in their youthful prime, for sure!

[@russelljohn5258]

Always thought Mike the best - better than Clapton and Peter Green. His style was personal, not a copy of BB or Otis Rush or Freddie or Albert King. I loved to watch him trading lines with Paul and Elvin. Listen to him blast off on East-West, and listen to his accompanying skill and deep feeling on Got A MInd to Give Up Living on the same album. Thanks for this informative video, its sad that Mike never found a cure for his sleepless issues and perhaps related obvious drug problem. - he was a one of a kind, a creative high energy powerhouse. Rest In Peace Mike and thanks for the musical thrills you brought to so many.

[@Bluesharp1896]

Reading comments here I can't believe it took this long for someone to shout out 'Got A MInd to Give Up Living', the most original and mindbending slow blues solo ever. At 16, I was completely into the 1st Butterfield album and What's Shakin' when I first heard Clapton's contribution to that album. 'One More Mile' torches the fretboard...by way of comparison, EC is more measured, tasteful and composed. The Brits made some great blues music, but there was only one Mike Bloomfield.

[@thomasespositio3139]

@@Bluesharp1896 that solo on a I got a mind is just about perfection, love Green,Love Clapton, but when Mike was on NO ONE was better

[@mjt5576]

I don't know why it took me song long to discover your channel! Nice piece on Mike Bloomfield ,who was a killer. Okay, so I'm in...

[@williamschletzer4516]

Nice job and the story is accurate. What I would like to see is a musical story of Michael Bloomfield going through various great musical moments, describing them and playing bits of them. Think about things like Screamin and shake your money maker from the first Butterfield album or I got a mind to give up living and two trains running from the second album. Those are my favorites but I know everybody would want to hear a little bit from East West and work Song and may be something like our love is drifting and many other great moments from those albums. How about great moments from the band with Nick Gravenites at the Fillmore East I believe. Some great moments there that’s surpass the live adventures of Bloomfield and Cooper. How about the cut with Woody Herman and the one with Janis Joplin and some of his various good moments in his later years. Killing floor from the electric flag which is probably the first time I heard Bloomfield play A Gibson. And how about some of that acoustic fingerpicking ragtime speed demon fancy acoustic playing he could do. People hear the story and all the big moments and bands he was involved in but more important or those great moments of improvisation that surprised and excited and thrilled.

[@stevekeyser2085]

I managed Mike's backup band Chicago Blues Power during the last few months of Mike's life. Got to know him pretty well. I spent Mike's last New Years Eve with Mike at his Mill Valley California home. A very nice person, and a very sad addict.

[@Goatchild90]

RIP to one of the early guitar gods

[@cityman1111]

Blues on the Westside is beyond belief. Work Song, unbelievable, Wine.........Texas.........................................Nobody played like Bloomers

[@Barnekkid]

I saw him play with the Flag. He was using a Twin Reverb and I was sort of disappointed he didn't use something larger. But it went over pretty well.

[@lgude]

I saw him with Butterfield in the village some time around the time Dylan's Highway 61 came out. He was the friend of a friend and he came over to our apartment on 4th street before the show to hang out. I remember Butterfield's blues harp, and Bloomfield's guitar which struck me as on another level. I had not heard much Chicago blues much less electric blues. His playing was ay up there in energy and virtuosity. But he was just a guy I met one night and always wondered what became of him.

[@andyteitelman9447]

Probably at The Cafe Au Go Go on Bleeker st.

[@groverbaker6404]

The greatest blues guitarist in American history!

[@TheGuitarHistorian]

And hardly anyone outside the hardcore guitar community knows who he is. Tragedy.

[@TheHumbuckerboy]

Roy Buchanan is another great player IMO

[@carlritchie7139]

Fresno, CA 1972, Rainbow Ballroom presented MB. To my surprise he played only the piano. Like listening to Pinetop Perkins. MB and his time not on the guitar. RIP and may the heaven hear you play.

[@mooseymoose]

B.B., Freddie and Albert have left the chat.

[@neilnoble1771]

Brilliant episode. And this host is very cool. So articulate. 👍

[@frederickjames5851]

Hi, another great show, about another great guitarist, wonderful, Thanks.🎸👍✌️

[@mojo5763]

Just found this channel. Easily my new favorite.

[@Ian-bq7gp]

One of the alltime white blues guitarists with johnny Winter, Rory, SRV, Clapton and others. Mike was one of the earliest but the world has a huge debt of thanks to BB King, Albert King, Buddy Guy and those great guuygs like Howling Wolf. This blues are like wine, gets better. What a legacy Mike has and with Dylan, Butterfield and others he is legendary.

[@Tonetwisters]

That describes many performers, for sure. The first old Paul I ever saw, was a picture of Bloomfield holding it ...

[@spokes28]

I really enjoy your histories of guitar players, so well researched and presented. If you ever have the time, you might consider Roy Buchanan and Stanley Jordan. Thank you.

[@alanmatthew5713]

VERY underrated indeed. Here are a couple of ideas: Forgotten Fretmasters: Uli Jon Roth, Forgotten Bands: April Wine

[@theguitarprofessionals8584]

Great Channel Great Content... I used to go to the beach in Glenco at night...fantastic

[@enorbet2]

While I guess technically it is a studio performance, "Blues for Barry and.." off the "Two Jews Blues" LP is one of the most masterfully lyrical lead guitar work of all time in my book, and I'm pretty sure it is simply recorded in a studio but still a one take live jam. Not to be missed.

[@frankdardano3182]

Most gentle man , one of a kind.RIP. thanks for the video.at his best he has no equal,we must remember him. John Cippolina,of quicksilver messenger sevice is another underrated master ,and a nice guy.he did some fine playing.

[@curbozerboomer1773]

Yes to both!

[@ryanwilliams8420]

How about one of these on GE Smith?

[@bodywise007]

What a great review. What a sad loss. Super Session is one of the greatest forgotten records of all times. Nearly as good as the original Buffalo Springfield. Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield -- they don't make them like that any longer. Keep it up. Your reviews are gold.