THE 'SOUL OF A MAN'
RARE AND WELL DONE
By Mark T. Gould
When it’s all said and done, Dave Alvin probably summed up Al Kooper’s amazing career the best way.
Among the outpouring of accolades to the longtime legendary musician/composer/producer /teacher contained in the just released double disc retrospective “Rare and Well Done,” guitarist Alvin says “he’s a little bit of everything…he is sort of the walking history of rock and roll.”
Indeed, and it remains one of the many crimes of the rock music industry that he isn’t in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. However, with the release of “Rare and Well Done,” (see review elsewhere in this issue) focusing on a wide variety of unreleased tracks back to his earliest recordings in 1964, through a healthy dose of his released work with Michael Bloomfield, Stephen Stills, the original Blood, Sweat & Tears (which many music fans probably don’t know that he started), Shuggie Otis and his own solo work, it’s just possible that the evidence truly supporting his inclusion is right there.
As it always has been.
“SONY (records) informed me that they wanted to do a box set and asked if I wanted to participate,” the 57 year old Kooper said in a recent interview with Sound Waves. “They welcomed me as the control freak that I am, and let me take over the CD as if I were releasing it myself. I was allowed to participate in the song selection, artwork and mastering and mixing.
“The ‘Rare” side took two years to put together, as there are many unreleased tracks in the Kooper and Sony vaults,” he added. “I tried to pick a cross section of music from the various decades. The ‘Well Done’ side was a no-brainer. It’s kind of like a greatest hits, for the fans.”
Kooper started what has arguably been one of the best, no holds barred, sophisticated assaults on the music industry at a very early age, talking himself into studio and live work at the Brill Building in New York City, the early Tin Pan Alley that was the precursor of popular music in the Sixties. Yet, his exposure to music began much earlier than that, from his parents, to whom he dedicates “Rare and Well Done.”
“My father had great Bessie Smith 78 RPM records that he played for me, almost from my birth,” Kooper said.”My mom played the radio constantly, and that kept me informed with pop music, from 1944 on.”
It was a chance stop at a Bob Dylan session in 1965 that really thrust Kooper into the popular eye, at least for those who follow such lore. Legend has it that he talked his way into a Dylan session, and ended up, in the spot, creating the memorable organ line to the classic “Like a Rolling Stone,” all on an instrument that he had barely had played before the session. He has maintained his musical companionship with Dylan over the years, most recently backing him on tours both here and abroad in the 90s.
“Bob and I have been friends since 1965,” he said.”It’s one of my longest enduring friendships, and one that I treasure.”
Following his early work with Dylan, and his on-again, off-again work with the seminal Blues Project, Kooper became a producer with Columbia Records, Dylan’s label, and created and nurtured the initial “Super Session” project, which was, arguably, the finest presentation, on record, of the mercurial blues guitarist Michael Bloomfield.
In the liner notes to “Rare and Well Done,” Kooper said that he didn’t think anyone had caught Bloomfield’s “full playing intensity” on record before “Super Session.” Kooper certainly did, even though Bloomfield only played on the first side of the record, it’s one of the most remarkable sides of the blues produced at that time, showcasing Bloomfield’s incredibly clean and clear playing. In delving into the vaults for this release, Kooper found an unreleased performance with Bloomfield and him from the Fillmore East in 1968, which is tentatively planned for a late 2002 release, and there’s also discussion for a remastered “Super Session,” re-release, all of which Kooper hopes will further interest in Bloomfield’s playing.
“I hope this draws more attention to his talents,” Kooper said.”He’s one of the greatest blues guitarists that ever lived.It was a privilege to have played with him and to have been his friend.”
Following his session work with Columbia, Kooper then turned his talents toward a merger of big band jazz arrangements with rock music, creating Blood, Sweat & Tears, and its masterwork, “Child is Father to the Man, a record that still, over 30 years later, sounds ahead of its time. However, personnel issues forced Kooper from a band that he, arguably, started. Or, did he?
“First off, if anyone interviews (guitarist) Steve Katz or (drummer)Bobby Colomby, they claim to have started the band, and asked me to join and then asked me to leave,” Kooper said.”Perhaps one should ask them about it. I didn’t enjoy the direction the band took after I left. It probably would not have been as commercial if I had been allowed to remain and serve Katz & Colomby. So, you see, they were right.
“I’m glad that ‘Child is Father to the Man,’ their masterpiece, is still in print,” he added.”I’m not glad that some people think I was involved with ‘Spinning Wheel.’”
Many, many other artists can claim the privilege of working with Kooper in the Seventies and Eighties, as he produced a number of top records for Lynyrd Skynyrd, Nils Lofgren and the Tubes, among others. In the 90s, he managed time to update and rewrite his memoirs, the exquisitely titled “Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards,” in which his clever, direct approach to music comes out in prose. He has also continued to perform live, with his band, The Rekooperators, which features guitarist Jimmy Vivino, whom Kooper thinks is the rightful heir to Bloomfield’s legacy.
“Jimmy Vivino is unquestionably the heir to Bloomfield’s throne,” Kooper said.”It is equa-thrilling to play with him, as it was with Bloomfield. Everytime we get together to play, he has moved up another notch.”
In 1997, after some years of semi-retirement, Kooper started in another direction, teaching at the prestigious Berklee School of Music in Boston. Following that stint, he was awarded a Doctorate of Music from the school.
“A friend of mine began teaching in the music department at Middle Tennessee State and suggested I might enjoy teaching at that level,” Kooper said.”I thought about it and decided to give it a try at Berklee because the students there would probably ‘get’ what I was saying. It’s very rewarding to give something back in one’s later years.
Don’t let that talk of “later years” make you think Kooper plans to hang it up anytime soon. Despite suffering an irreparable partial vision loss two years ago, which prevents him from teaching or driving, it doesn’t seem he’s ready to pack it in just yet.
“I have lost about ¾ of my sight from a condition whose name I can never recall, but it involves the impairment of the flow of blood to the optic nerve,” he said.”It is irreversable, but will not get worse. It has not affected my musical habits, and I think it has improved my hearing a couple of notches.
So, does he keep going, building on an already remarkable career?
“I believe the brass ring can be recaptured at our age,” he said. “It has happened to Bonnie Raitt, with no compromises, and to Carlos Santana, with a few. I think it’s just a spin of the wheel.
“I feel that I am far from burning out,” Kooper said.”All my skills seem to be still growing now, and I think I could create the best album I ever made, if I was able to find a champion at a major label. However, I treat that thought as a fantasy, and go about my real life on an everyday basis.”