Happy Birthday Al Kooper！ let’s listen to “Green Onions” Yeah!
Today is Al Kooper’s birthday. Al was born in 1944 and while none of his solo records or the first Blood, Sweat and Tears albums can’t be found in my collection. Super Session with Mike Bloomfield (Side 1)and Stephen Stills (side 2), The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper are there. Also there are the album he recorded with Shuggie Otis and Rekooperation.Here’s some background on Al Kooper from Wiipedia….
Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt, February 5, 1944) is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears (although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity), providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to record the Super Session album. He has had a successful solo career since then, written music for film soundtracks, and has lectured in musical composition. He continues to perform live.
…..In 1960, he joined the songwriting team of Bob Brass and Irwin Levine and wrote “This Diamond Ring”, which became a hit for Gary Lewis and the Playboys. When he was twenty-one, Kooper moved to Greenwich Village
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He performed with Bob Dylan in concert in 1965, including playing Hammond organ with Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, and in the recording studio in 1965 and 1966. Kooper also played the Hammond organ riffs on Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone”. It was in those recording sessions that Kooper met and befriended Mike Bloomfield, whose guitar playing he admired. He worked extensively with Bloomfield for several years. Kooper played organ once again with Dylan during his 1981 world tour.
Kooper joined the Blues Project as their keyboardist in 1965; he left the band shortly before their gig at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. He formed Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1967, leaving due to creative differences in 1968, after the release of the group’s first album, Child Is Father to the Man.[3] He recorded Super Session with Bloomfield and Stills in 1968,[4] and in 1969 he collaborated with 15-year-old guitarist Shuggie Otis on the album Kooper Session. In 1975 he produced the debut album by the Tubes. Read More
So Check Out Al’s Website to learn more about what’s happening with Al and also check out Super Session it’s one of my all-time favorites! And thanks Al for all the great music including the addition of the Hammond M3 on “Like Rolling Stone” !
And for me, any reason to play “Green Onions: is a good reason, so here’s Al and the Rekooperators performing the song!
