Customer Reviews

Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man! : Essential Blues, 1964-1969

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

OK, if you want to know what the hype is all about you can start here. You get classic tracks from both of Bloomers' Butterfield studio albums (classics in their own rights), The Electric Flag (who also produced some fine music), and his work with Al Kooper (Super Session and Live Adventures...). Additionally you get some tracks that are on out of print records (as in LPs) that have a great reputation.

Ultimately you'll probably get the 2 Butterfield albums, Super Session, and then Live Adventures... But if you haven't yet and are saving your dough (or don't have a lot) this gives you some highlights. Of course it will make you want to buy the rest too... Just the way it works... There are great tracks missing of course, and the early tracks are more interesting to people who already have the albums mentioned above. But if the record companies gave us truly essential discs they wouldn't make money off the others.

Worth getting wherever you are in discovering this inspiring guitar player. Early on it's a fantastic sampler. And if you know his work it fills in some holes with some rare tracks.

Like I said it's going to be on your shopping list sooner or later.

You would probably already know that Mike Bloomfield is considered one of the best and most influential white blues guitarist ever lived. Unfortunately, due to several circumstances, and mainly to his character (apparently he was not the kind of person you would get on easily together) and his life style, his musical legacy is spread across several different albums recorded with several different bands and several different solo efforts. Due to the above, even his playing has been wonderful (most of the time) but sometime not so good either. This collection, covering 5 years of his career, includes some of his finest blues recordings, some of which previously unissued gems. If you never heard of him, I believe this is the right point to start with. Hearing him playing the blues at a so young age for sure will make you thinking about what a major star he would probably have been if his life weren't ended so tragically. This is a magnificent collection of great blues that should not be missed by any serious blues fan.

I don't give 5 stars very often, but this CD is deserving of it. From the outset I will say this is a multi-year compilation, drawn from many sources of Mike Bloomfield's catalog. If you a true blue died in the wool Bloomfield fan, you probably have all these tracks.

The CD starts out with 3-4 of Paul Butterfield's songs which featured Mike Bloomfield, the son of a rich Chicago industrial family who abandoned the wealth and dedicated his life to the blues without ever selling out to sell potato chips.

The CD then goes into a single Electric Flag song, which I think gave the band short shrift, but thats life in the compilation business.

It then moves on to 2 Super Session tracks, which will blow you away, especially Albert's Shuffle. For you purists out there, check out the Remastered version of Super Session which has this track without the annoying horns.

Then to the best part of the CD, which is Mikes work with Nick Gravenites and Mike's work at the Fillmore, previously only available in bootleg CD's albeit widely distributed. Carmelita Shuffle, It Takes Time and Don't Think About It Baby are the best tracks in the CD.

So sit back and enjoy the blues, played by one of the great masters of the genre--Mike Bloomfield.

I love Michael Bloomfield on the Paul Butterfield Blues Band albums. The PBBB, Bloomfield and John Mayall changed my whole music appreciation towards the blues. However, Bloomfield up front leaves much to be desired. His vocals [are not good], but his guitar playing remains magic. This album highlights his greatness and his limitations. The early tracks show his ability on guitar but not on vocals. The PBBB tracks show the gulf between him playing alone and playing in a tight unit where others contribute. After that, he produced some good music but never again reachs the heights of when he was with the PBBB. Check out 'I've got a mind to give up living' on East-West for his greater achievement.

The Butterfield Blues band -- of which Mike Bloomfield was an essential part -- was the band that changed my interest in music. From the first time i heard Butterfield break into "Born in Chicago", my musical focus changed. I suspect I'm not alone in that regard. That's why I hold a special place in my heart for Mike Bloomfield. I have seen this CD but didn't buy it until recently because I was afraid it would prove to be a poor recordsing. I'm pleased to say my fear has been allayed. This ia a solid collection of Bllomfield's work. Pre-Butterfield tunes are here as well as two essential Butterfield songs -- "Chicago" and "Work Song." m It covers Bloomfield's excellent Super Session work with Al Kooper and one of my favorites - "I Takes Time" with Nick Gravenites. A nice addition to a blues fan's collection.

During the mid 60's, Michael Bloomfield was THE American guitrist, and one of two men responsible for the resurrgence of interest in the Gibson Les Paul. This collection goes a long way to demonstrate why. It follows Bloomfield's carreer during this period. It includes five previously unreleased tracks recorded with blues legend, Charlie Musselwhite, some tracks, including some live tracks, with Alan Kooper, and some of Bloomfield's most energetic performances. At his best, Mike Bloomfield simply exploded accross the fingerboard, with a fat and salty tone. Blues at its best!!

if you don't have any micheal bloomfield titles in your collection, then this retrospective is a great starter! check out "don't throw your love on me so strong", and "it takes time". he is playing his a-- off! it is sad that micheal bloomfields legacy is largely ignored these days.

also recommend 1>"mike bloomfield: live at the old waldorf"

Mike Bloomfield was, no questions asked, the best white blues guitarist of the 1960s - and damn near any other era. His sleek, lyrical, tension-and-release guitar style sent young guitar wannabes scurrying to cop the lines well enough before anyone heard too widely of Eric Clapton or Jimi Hendrix, both of whom claimed him as a friend and a superior. Here is all the evidence you will ever need in one place to make the case, even if I'm tempted to take it down a peg for something which isn't even Bloomfield's fault - the omission of his single most beautiful piece of playing, "Really," from "Super Session". Disregard his early singing and the Hammond sessions are treats. So is the crack Butterfield jam version of Nat Adderley's "Work Song" (listen to the way Bloomfield sets up Paul Butterfield's harmonica solo and, later, the round-robin between himself, Butterfield, organist Mark Naftalin, and second guitarist Elvin Bishop). And if you come away from "It Takes Time" and (especially) "Carmelita Skiffle" (which alone beats Stevie Ray Vaughan hollow, great as SRV was) and not wish for a reissue of the long-lost "Live at Bill Graham's Fillmore West," you're cheating yourself terribly. Meanwhile, we ought to hold Al Kooper to his word when he wrote, in the booklet notes, that this was but the first taste of more. Never mind being in Bloomfield's league - Jonny Lang and Kenny Wayne Shepherd don't even belong in the cheap seats therein.

I recommend this to anyone who was a fan but didn't maintain a Bloomfield/Butterfield/Electric Flag collection. Bloomfield played blues with same attitude that most the young white guys then and shortly afterwards had: more notes, faster tempos, louder, racing ahead of the bar lines, and incorporating whatever other styles/scales struck him as interesting. A lot of us have settled down, and now prefer a older, more laid back style , but Mike's recordings will stand forever as a document of 'where our heads were at' in the 60's.

This is the stuff that put Mike on the map. A great collection of his early demos. His singing leaves something to be desired, and I considered knocking off a point, but that wouldn't be fair. Mike didn't pretend to be a singer. You can hear how his early playing, although not fully developed, was still way ahead of most everyone else. You can also hear how his playing grew over the years. Essential indeed. If you like guitar playing of any kind - you MUST have this!