Yesterday in Music – 1943 – The Birth of a Blues Guitar Great – Mike Bloomfield
So yesterday would have been the 70th birthday of one of my guitar heroes, the great Michael Bloomfield. From Wikipedia: Michael Bernard “Mike” Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70. Respected for his fluid guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago’s blues legends even before he achieved his own fame, and was one of the primary influences on the mid-to-late 1960s revival of classic Chicago and other styles of blues music. In 2003 he was ranked at number 22 on Rolling Stone’s “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. Full Biography I was first introduced to the music of Mike through the band The Electric Flag and their début album A Long Time Coming . Bloomfield formed The Electric Flag, after he tired of the rigorous touring schedule of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band. He moved to San Francisco and formed The Electric Flag …. ….in 1967 with two longtime Chicago cohorts, organist Barry Goldberg and vocalist Nick Gravenites. The band was intended to feature “American music,” a hybrid of blues, soul music, country, rock, and folk, and incorporated an expanded lineup complete with a horn section. The inclusion of drummer Buddy Miles, whom he hired away from Wilson Pickett’s touring band, gave Bloomfield license to explore soul and…
