Named one of the world's great blues-rock guitarists by Rolling Stone, Mike Bloomfield (1943-1981) remains beloved by fans nearly 40 years after his untimely death. Taking listeners backstage, onstage, and into the recording studio with this legendary virtuoso, David Dann tells the riveting stories behind Bloomfield's work in the seminal Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the mesmerizing Electric Flag, as well as the Super Session album with Al Kooper and Stephen Stills, Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, and soundtrack work with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson.

In vivid chapters drawn from meticulous research, including more than 70 interviews with the musician's friends, relatives, and band members, music historian David Dann brings to life Bloomfield's worlds, from his comfortable upbringing in a Jewish family on Chicago's North Shore to the gritty taverns and raucous nightclubs where this self-taught guitarist helped transform the sound of contemporary blues and rock music. With scenes that are as electrifying as Bloomfield's music, this is the story of a life lived at full volume.

Listening Length

31 hours and 3 minutes
Author

David Dann
Narrator

Michael Butler Murray
Audible release date

20 October 2020
Language

English
Publisher

Tantor Audio
ASIN

B08KYNGC32
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	31 hours and 3 minutes
Author	David Dann
Narrator	Michael Butler Murray
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com.au Release Date	20 October 2020
Publisher	Tantor Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B08KYNGC32
Best Sellers Rank	128,933 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 163 in Blues Music (Books) 2,156 in Biographies of Celebrities & Entertainment Professionals

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A. P. G. Hawkey

Definitive biography - but marred by careless proofreading

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 October 2020

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This book is a stunning and definitive achievement - it's inconceivable that anyone would set out to better it. The author's years of research have really paid off, and he's seemingly interviewed every musician and associate of Bloomfield's that matters (as long as they're still alive) ... the story of this brilliant but doomed artist is revealed in vivid detail, and Dann has a happy knack of summoning up the atmosphere of the places, the venues, the studios, the gigs and Bloomfield's fractured home life, making the book a real page-turner. It's a hefty volume, for sure, but it occupied my time and my thoughts for a full week, to the exclusion of almost everything else. The author's love of the music is abundantly clear, and his clinical deconstruction of solos and performances is a joy ... I found myself revisiting albums in my collection that I hadn't listened to for decades. As an example, It's Not Killing Me was a staple element in the soundtrack to my life in late-60s London: at the time, the reasons for its oddly uneven nature rather eluded me ... I knew I loved it but didn't know why. I do now - it turns out that it was as much a cry for help as anything else.
From a quality standpoint, the book's binding is strong and allows the pages to lie open for ease of reading, its physical weight notwithstanding. Sadly, I have to award it 4 stars, not 5: the standard of proofreading is lower than one would expect of a prestigious university press: the errors and typos are not overly numerous, but they come as an accumulating irritant to the reader (well, this one, anyway). Two examples: Marianne Faithfull's name is rendered correctly, Faithfull, but then as Faithful in the adjacent paragraph; and producer Bob Crewe's name is correctly spelt, but then incorrectly elsewhere, as Crew ... even if the proofreader overlooked these howlers, they should surely have been picked up by the indexer, part of whose job should be to alert the book's editor, so that they can be rectified. And as a freelance editor/proofreader of academic books for Oxford University Press for over three decades, I do know what I'm talking about. These cavils aside, this is as good a biography of a musician as I've read.
Texas UP, should this excellent book run to a further edition/reprint, you really must appoint a more capable proofreader - it deserves it.

2 people found this helpful

Reviewer

Brilliant account of the life and times of Michael Bloomfield

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 February 2020

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Like many people, I first became aware of Michael Bloomfield through the first Paul Butterfield Blues Band album and Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited. I was instantly drawn to his style of playing which was so energetic and expressive. In an era dominated by blues-rock guitar players Bloomfield stood out as a real virtuoso and even today his playing still sounds remarkable.

Having read Ed Ward’s biography of Bloomfield I knew something of his life but was eager to learn more. David Dann’s book does not disappoint. The first thing to say is it is long at over 700 pages but the pace of the prose never flags and the chronology of Bloomfield’s life remains consistent and doesn’t get lost in detail. The form of the book is strongly narrative and we are given a real sense of the times and the momentous events that Bloomfield lived through. I especially enjoyed the evocative writing of Chicago and Maxwell Street and the famous festivals of Newport in 1965 and Monterey two years later. Dann’s account of these events is superbly mixed with Bloomfield’s experience of them and at times we really feel close to what Michael witnessed first-hand.

Bloomfield’s character emerges throughout the book and you get a real sense of how his perception of the music industry changed over time. Beginning as a self-acknowledged blues hotshot guitarist, as a white man from an affluent family he became increasingly insecure over his legitimacy to play the blues, his outward confidence hiding his sensitivity to the words of music critics. Combined with his hatred of travelling, worsening insomnia and increased drug use, these concerns had a lasting impact on Bloomfield and contributed to his withdrawal from the music industry and his growing antipathy to post-Butterfield projects such as the Electric Flag and Super Sessions.

Part of the paradox that emerges in the book is that Bloomfield liked to be the focus of attention but hated the responsibility that came with it. He wanted to be seen as an artist rather than an ‘entertainer’. Despite being involved in various bands and projects, from the 1970s onward Bloomfield’s career was fairly muted and he preferred playing smaller gigs without the fanfare (and responsibility) that came with large tours or concerts. All these themes are carefully explored with intelligence and insight. Dann is also very perceptive when it comes to the music itself and goes into a lot of detail when discussing albums and songs.

One of the most pleasing outcomes of reading this book is my increased appreciation of Bloomfield’s contribution to music. He was a genuine music scholar; not in the dry academic sense but in the sense he had extensive knowledge of American music and the ability to play in many different styles. Bringing this side of Bloomfield to the fore is a real strength of the book. The only aspect of Bloomfield’s life I’d liked to have read more on is how he learnt to play guitar. Bloomfield went beyond the usual pentatonic scales and often used modes, as in East-West, and I was hoping to learn how he acquired this knowledge. I’ve heard Bloomfield mention he had a guitar teacher but the book doesn’t shed any light on this. Bloomfield emerges at the outset of the book as a guitar player and little is said of his process of learning (there is almost nothing written about his early life before he was a teenager).

This small point doesn’t detract from what has been achieved. I’ve read many biographies of guitar players from this era and without doubt this is the most detailed and well researched. I urge any Bloomfield fan to read it. I’m sure even the most well-read fan will find plenty to expand their knowledge.

3 people found this helpful

bigbeat47

livre d'un grand guitariste

Reviewed in Canada on 27 December 2019

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Prix, bien emballé, boîte protectrice, service rapide

One person found this helpful

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Stuart Jefferson

"YOU KNOW WHY I PLAY SO LOUD? SO THEY CAN HEAR THE SUBTLETIES." MIKE BLOOMFIELD.

Reviewed in the United States on 10 November 2019

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"As you know, the music you listen to becomes the soundtrack of your life." Mike Bloomfield.

"Every time I play, you reach a point within yourself where it's you and the music. You play blues with all of you. Every bit of you is part of that music." Mike Bloomfield.

"I only want to make enough money to get out of the business." Mike Bloomfield.

"I like to have a good time playing with the musicians and communicating on that level--that's important to me, not the money." Mike Bloomfield.

The first real rock guitar hero of the late sixties, Bloomfield was a player of incredible talent and feel for the blues. That he then slipped into relative obscurity for various reasons is a sad ending to his life. This book is probably the definitive look at Bloomfield's early life from comfortable surroundings and his love of music that led him to the blues in gritty taverns in Chicago and other regions, and onto stages (like Newport, Winterland, and others) and studios with a number of notable sixties icons like Dylan, Butterfield, Kooper, Stills, Waters, and others, and into recording soundtracks for porno movies, and his various solo albums.

The author has done a meticulous job in laying out Bloomfield's life in music, both on stage and in the studio throughout his short life. The details in this book really let you see inside his life and music. From his early playing days, to playing with the Butterfield Blues Band, to the Electric Flag, to the Super Session album (and attendant live jam albums), solo or small group stuff, and his subsequent self-imposed obscurity, this book tells the whole story.

The author, through many interviews with friends, fellow musicians, and others who were there lays out a chronological look with a great amount of detail at Bloomfield's talent that brought him notoriety in the late '60s. I was lucky enough to hear Bloomfield on stage twice--once when he was really connecting with his guitar and the music--and once when he was unfocused and sloppy sounding. The difference between those two nights is telling. Bloomfield suffered from various problems (insomnia, drugs, mental issues) that together led to him spiraling downward to his ultimate end. And its all laid out in this book.

The author's writing style is clear, meticulous, and in-depth, giving us the best look into Bloomfield we'll ever read. While there's other books on Bloomfield (the oral history of Bloomfield is an interesting read), this is the one to read if you want to know the most about him and the music. With rock music just really beginning to change in the mid/late '60s, Bloomfield was the first truly great electric guitarist who gained attention in America. I still have those original vinyl Elektra label albums, and can still remember hearing the band's first album and "East- West" (neither one all that well known at that time) at a friend's house one afternoon before I went out and bought the albums. Back in those days hearing something like those tough blues songs on the first album, and those long instrumentals on the second album that combined different styles of musical influence was pretty startling. Today, the shock and wonder of hearing that music probably doesn't carry as much weight. But all these years later, hearing Bloomfield take off on a tangent and just take a sweet sounding solo somewhere else is still apparent. This book will fill in a lot of gaps and will bring you closer to both Bloomfield and that whole time period. If you've ever wanted to know more about Bloomfield along with that era of music--get this book.

There's 24 pages of b&w photos (a number of which we've all seen before). Plus there's 49 pages of Notes, and 40 pages including a Bibliography, Recordings, Acknowledgments, and an Index. There's 641 pages of actual text not counting the Prologue.

And if you're a fan of British blues, check out the just released autobiography of John Mayall--well worth reading about the "Godfather" of British blues.

26 people found this helpful

Anonymous Person

David Dann Delivers a Stellar Biography of Guitar Great Mike Bloomfield

Reviewed in the United States on 10 November 2019

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"Guitar King" is an outstanding book. It will satisfy both long-term fans and those unfamiliar with Mike Bloomfield, who was one of America's greatest musicians and musicologists. Through his connection to the blues scene in black neighborhoods of his hometown Chicago, and through the excellence of his guitar playing, Bloomfield helped introduce this musical form to a wider audience in America and worldwide.

David Dann is an engaging writer, with the narrative flowing smoothly, never getting bogged down in detail. I especially appreciate the incorporation of his own musical knowledge into describing the musicianship of Bloomfield and others. A lot of credit must be given to the University of Texas Press for allowing Dann's book to exceed 700 pages. Do not be intimidated by its length -- this book will hold your interest from front to back.

Bloomfield's career especially sparkled in the mid- to late-1960s, when a succession of albums from Highway 61 to Super Session revealed him to be perhaps the most famous guitarist in America. For all his ambition, however, Bloomfield found fame to be a heavy burden. By the time he died in 1981, Bloomfield had long faded from the commercial limelight. During this period of career decline, Bloomfield continued to produce intriguing records that generally still stand up well today, particularly compared to the popular music of the 1970s.

Overall, I strongly recommend this book. I enjoyed reading it with Bloomfield's music in the background, following along Dann's narrative. Doing so gave me a stronger appreciation of Bloomfield's enormous gifts and musical contributions.

15 people found this helpful

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