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Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues
Named one of the world’s great blues-rock guitarists by Rolling Stone , Mike Bloomfield (1943–1981) remains beloved by fans forty years after his untimely death. Taking readers 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 on 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 seventy 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 solos, this is the story of a life lived at full volume.
776 pages, Hardcover
Published October 15, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
January 19, 2020
In the late summer of 1968, I received the album "Mike Bloomfield/Al Kooper: Super Session" for my birthday. By this time, I was already an Eric Clapton fanatic having discovered Cream several months earlier with my purchase of "Fresh Cream". After dropping the needle on the Super Session album and from the first notes of "Albert's Shuffle", I was hooked. "This guy's as good as Clapton!". Later, in early 1969, the "Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper was released. The record rarely left my turntable for the next several weeks. Then, the "Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West" album. Amazing guitar playing, and the sweetest and saltiest blues licks I'd ever heard. Subsequently bought everything with Bloomfield on it. Electric Flag, Moby Grape ("Grape Jam" where he plays piano!), Paul Butterfield, and so on. Michael was truly one of my guitar heroes, and one who greatly influenced my own guitar playing. I, admittedly, lost a little bit of interest in Bloomfield when he withdrew from the superstardom/public view, and began recording mostly acoustic and older legacy blues, instead of Chicago style electric blues. Tastes change; mine have, and today I am just as likely to play "Between The Hard Place and The Ground" as I am "Super Session".
On page 539 of the hardcover edition, David Dann writes:
"At the end of May [1973], Bloomfield arranged ...to go on a ten-day concert tour of his own. Beginning on May 31, the [Bloomfield And] Friends quartet flew to Vancouver, and then on to Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville. The trip concluded with a five-day stint in Milwaukee at a storefront club [the club itself was in the basement] on East Locust Street called Humpin' Hannah's."
I was sitting, festival style, on the floor at the lip of the stage at Humpin' Hannah's on the first night of this five-day run. The stage was bare, with Mark Naftalin set up stage left but off the stage altogether. The show started over an hour late. Mike came on, more than a little shakily, had several false starts for his first number, and as soon as he played a few notes, broke a string. More waiting while re-stringing his Les Paul Sunburst. I then did something I've never done before or since. I walked out and went home.
I often think about this - I often wonder how that show came out.
David Dann has written THE definitive Bloomfield biography, and has written it well. Highly recommended!
On page 539 of the hardcover edition, David Dann writes:
"At the end of May [1973], Bloomfield arranged ...to go on a ten-day concert tour of his own. Beginning on May 31, the [Bloomfield And] Friends quartet flew to Vancouver, and then on to Chicago, Indianapolis, and Louisville. The trip concluded with a five-day stint in Milwaukee at a storefront club [the club itself was in the basement] on East Locust Street called Humpin' Hannah's."
I was sitting, festival style, on the floor at the lip of the stage at Humpin' Hannah's on the first night of this five-day run. The stage was bare, with Mark Naftalin set up stage left but off the stage altogether. The show started over an hour late. Mike came on, more than a little shakily, had several false starts for his first number, and as soon as he played a few notes, broke a string. More waiting while re-stringing his Les Paul Sunburst. I then did something I've never done before or since. I walked out and went home.
I often think about this - I often wonder how that show came out.
David Dann has written THE definitive Bloomfield biography, and has written it well. Highly recommended!
January 17, 2025
Learning Dylan approached Bloomfield to play on Blood On the Tracks rocked my world.
One of the singular best biographies I have ever read, which is only fitting because Bloomfield is a man who deserves all the praise in the world. This is one of those very, very rare biographies where you come out of it with a strange feeling of almost knowing the subject personally. Dann’s biography is so thorough, so comprehensive, so thoughtful that it is a truly enlightening, intimate character study leaving one with the sense of having encountered this incredible spirit themselves. Rest easy, Mike. Thanks for the music.
One of the singular best biographies I have ever read, which is only fitting because Bloomfield is a man who deserves all the praise in the world. This is one of those very, very rare biographies where you come out of it with a strange feeling of almost knowing the subject personally. Dann’s biography is so thorough, so comprehensive, so thoughtful that it is a truly enlightening, intimate character study leaving one with the sense of having encountered this incredible spirit themselves. Rest easy, Mike. Thanks for the music.
November 8, 2019
They say you shouldn’t read books about your heroes because you’ll find out they are assholes. Not with this book! Mike Bloomfields story has been told before but never in such detail. A truly great biography!
December 11, 2019
David Dann doesn't want anything unreasonable. He doesn't need you to praise Michael Bloomfield's solo albums as undiscovered classics. He doesn't think you need to believe the guitarist was better than this, that, or the other legendary axe-wielder. He just asks, when you're making a list of rock's great performers on that instrument, before you get to, say, Lou Reed or Gram Parsons, spare a thought for Mike Bloomfield.
In his new biography, Dann makes a case for Bloomfield as the first real guitar god in American blues-rock. There's a lot of competition in that race, but Bloomfield certainly belongs on any shortlist. I reviewed Guitar King for The Current.
In his new biography, Dann makes a case for Bloomfield as the first real guitar god in American blues-rock. There's a lot of competition in that race, but Bloomfield certainly belongs on any shortlist. I reviewed Guitar King for The Current.
November 27, 2019
A very good read about one of my favorite guitarists. Some new insights into a troubled life.
Read
February 14, 2020The original guitar god was, like his heirs, a tortured soul. David Dann performed exhaustive research into the consequential events in Bloomfield's life. He gives the most colorful and robust report of Dylan's legendary electric set at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, and how pivotal Bloomfield was in making that happen, and in taking Dylan's music in a more rock-focused direction. Dann also chronicles the important role Bloomfield played in bringing Chicago blues stalwarts like Muddy Waters and BB King to white audiences. If you want to find out who paved the way for guitar gods like Hendrix, Clapton and Duane Allman, read this.
January 19, 2020
Everything anyone would ever want to know about the greatest white Jewish blues guitarist of all time, and then some. Exhaustive, definitive, and, despite excessive use of the word "ebullient," quite enjoyable.
November 11, 2022
When I was in the 8th grade or thereabouts, I had an assignment to write a book report of about 3-4 pages in length. In my case, the book was a biography of the quarterback Johnny Unitas, and I was so taken by the bio that my report was 14 pages long. My teacher gave me a good grade and, commenting on the length of my report, described it as a "labor of love." Well, that's much nicer than saying it was way too long.
"Guitar King," a labor of love for sure, is way too long.
Inside this 700+ page monster there is a crisp, effective 400 page book trying to escape, and that's what the 4 stars are for. Oh my goodness, does Author Dann need an editor! His writing is pleasant, readable, occasionally pedestrian, but for a music bio it's certainly good enough. The problem is that Dann has pulled together a staggering amount of information about Mike Bloomfield, and he loves his subject so much that he simply can't leave any of it out. Every cut of every album, every take of a recording session, every scrap of film or video, every song in every concert - if Dann has it, he writes about it, often from a musician's viewpoint - which, let us remember, is not the same as a biographer's viewpoint.
Bloomfield, who grew up in an upperclass suburb of Chicago, was a unique talent, but he had no interest in being a blues star or a rock star. (Like Lou Reed, another famous Jewish musician, Bloomfield was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital by his parents.) Mike was genuinely an anti-materialist. He loved guitars, he was an autodidact and a musicologist, and he did not do well with fame. A lifelong sufferer from insomnia, Bloomfield was at various times dependent on heroin, Placidyl, or alcohol. He was unable to deal with his addictions, and he became more remote and lonely as his friends, his lovers, weary of his undependability, began to bail out on him. The exact circumstances of his death are not known. He was found in his parked and locked 1965 Chevrolet dead from a fatal overdose at age 37. It was probably an accident. Author Dann dreams up a detailed story of how that "might" have happened, and he presents it as "probably" fact. Maybe. It doesn't play well.
There's a lot of fantastic information in this book about Bloomfield and Dylan, Bloomfield and Kooper, and Bloomfield and Muddy Waters. The discography is helpful and appreciated.
So "Guitar King" is a LOT of work, but if you can hang in there and skim over Dann's excesses, you'll learn a lot about Mike Bloomfield, one of the great guitar players of the 20th Century.
"Guitar King," a labor of love for sure, is way too long.
Inside this 700+ page monster there is a crisp, effective 400 page book trying to escape, and that's what the 4 stars are for. Oh my goodness, does Author Dann need an editor! His writing is pleasant, readable, occasionally pedestrian, but for a music bio it's certainly good enough. The problem is that Dann has pulled together a staggering amount of information about Mike Bloomfield, and he loves his subject so much that he simply can't leave any of it out. Every cut of every album, every take of a recording session, every scrap of film or video, every song in every concert - if Dann has it, he writes about it, often from a musician's viewpoint - which, let us remember, is not the same as a biographer's viewpoint.
Bloomfield, who grew up in an upperclass suburb of Chicago, was a unique talent, but he had no interest in being a blues star or a rock star. (Like Lou Reed, another famous Jewish musician, Bloomfield was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital by his parents.) Mike was genuinely an anti-materialist. He loved guitars, he was an autodidact and a musicologist, and he did not do well with fame. A lifelong sufferer from insomnia, Bloomfield was at various times dependent on heroin, Placidyl, or alcohol. He was unable to deal with his addictions, and he became more remote and lonely as his friends, his lovers, weary of his undependability, began to bail out on him. The exact circumstances of his death are not known. He was found in his parked and locked 1965 Chevrolet dead from a fatal overdose at age 37. It was probably an accident. Author Dann dreams up a detailed story of how that "might" have happened, and he presents it as "probably" fact. Maybe. It doesn't play well.
There's a lot of fantastic information in this book about Bloomfield and Dylan, Bloomfield and Kooper, and Bloomfield and Muddy Waters. The discography is helpful and appreciated.
So "Guitar King" is a LOT of work, but if you can hang in there and skim over Dann's excesses, you'll learn a lot about Mike Bloomfield, one of the great guitar players of the 20th Century.
February 20, 2021
My rating is "My" rating. I loved this book because I identify with and have met a couple times Mike Bloomfield. I play guitar, and he's been a hero to me since the early 70s when I was in high school. Putting my long-time admiration of Bloomfield aside, I'd still rate the book highly. If you love the blues, if you love how American pop music developed through the 60s and 70s, if "The Blues Brothers" is one of your favorite movies, or if you've fantasized about being a musician, this book has much wisdom, humor, and tragedy, because that's what Mike's life encompassed. It's a huge book, and a reader might lose focus during Mike's years when he was more or less stoned and drifting, but even then you'll be looking for redemption down the road, hoping his genius overcomes his demons. As a primer, there's a short story that you can read in one sitting, "Me and Big Joe". You can find the text of this free online. Mike Bloomfield wrote (or dictated) this adventure of his in ebullient style; as a bonus, it has illustrations by R. Crumb.
November 17, 2022
every kid and their dad in my neighborhood had that super session record growing up. i really did not know a ton about mike bloomfield. this bio is pretty damn thorough. i really enjoyed learning about all the early aspects of his life, and knew a little about his involvement in bob dylan's transition to electric folk rock. interesting how he struggled with record labels, bands, and with substance abuse. somehow i had no idea he was in electric flag. my impression of that band was that it was strictly a buddy guy thing, and after reading this i see how i came away with that impression. sad how bloomfield passed, and really enjoyed this book. my one criticism is the authors attempt to describe performances in almost annoying detail. lol. he gets into it. other than that, great bio.
April 19, 2022
Mike Bloomfield was a big influence on my own musical tastes and guitar style in the late 1960s and early 1970s, so I enjoyed this book. But it will probably be unpalatable for a more casual reader, unless they are a blues fan or a Chicago native. The book is VERY long and filled with minutiae of performance dates and album credits that will likely make anyone else's eyes glaze over.
April 13, 2025
What a great read. I was able to fill in my format years and able to understand how I came to be who I now am...Shortly after finishing this book I was able to watch the Dylan Biopic, "A Complete Unknown," and got to see parts of this book in action. Bloomfield was indeed a gifted artist with problems of his own to deal with.
February 12, 2023
About time !
So much I caught from this book. I found Mike with The Electric Flag when the Album first came out. I still play it go this day. Along with as much of his work I can find. YES he should be up there with all the rest and most definitely in the Top 10 !!!
So much I caught from this book. I found Mike with The Electric Flag when the Album first came out. I still play it go this day. Along with as much of his work I can find. YES he should be up there with all the rest and most definitely in the Top 10 !!!
January 28, 2020
Very in-depth biography of Mike Bloomfield. Well researched and interesting read.
July 7, 2020
I knew Mike Bloomfield’s story and even had the privilege to have seen him live. Despite that, this book digs deep into where and how it went wrong, if it actually did go wrong. He was “the best” but turned his back on fame. The post Butterfield years into Electric Flag were the moments of greatest interest to me, I have finally been enlightened in what the “Flag” went down. Look up a clip of Electric Flag at Monterey Pop performing Wine, then read this book. I am sure you will then dig deeper.
July 14, 2020
4.5 stars. Excellent biography.
May 16, 2022
Exhaustive and sometimes exhausting, detailed examination of the musical genius. Too much blow-by-blow detail for me of many recording and performance situations, but a full source of information.
June 3, 2022
Essential for fans, guitar players, and anyone curious about the seeming pop music explosion of the mid-‘60s.
June 14, 2023
This is a good, honest look at Bloomfield's troubled life.
January 8, 2026
Long book but a lot of good info!
January 4, 2025
excellent!
Such a well written, informative book. Very inspiring. And sad as well.
I wish I could have seen him perform
Such a well written, informative book. Very inspiring. And sad as well.
I wish I could have seen him perform
November 2, 2020
Great book with a lot of information I was unaware of, though I'm a major Bloomfield fan. The only predictable downer was the ending, which I knew of in advance. Died too young.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews