Customer Reviews

If You Love These Blues / Play 'Em As You Please

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This CD is a collection of two Mike Bloomfield albums that include an instructional album done for Guitar Player magazine in the 70's and the hard to get Bloomfield/Harris. You can forget about the hard charging sounds of Butterfield Blues/Electric Flag/Super Session. This is stripped down accoustic blues and gospel played by one of the greatest guitar players of all time.
The first 22 tracks are the instructional album "If you love those blues play 'em as you please", accoustic blues with a very interesting narrative by Mr. Bloomfield himself before each song. The remaining tracks are accoustic gospel with Woody Harris and Mike Bloomfield. The sound mix is excellent.

I have the record for "If You Love these..." so my comments are related only to that parts of the CD from that record.

Anyway, I rate this very highly but for hardcore blues fans only. Bloomfield does a great job re-creating the feel/style for each song using the style of the original artist/time period. My favorites are Mama Lion, WDIA, and Hey Foreman.

This is not your Bloomfield guitar slinger album, rather a serious study in the diverse styles of the blues. He shows why he was so great.

Mike Bloomfield's trademark style was a foundation of BB King riffs with jazzy noodleing and raga-like easternisms in the spaces where King would simply not have played at all. When MB first hit the scene, this style shook every young guitarist up; it was no longer ok to just learn the tunes, you had to learn how to -play-. His ahead-of-the-barlines phrasing, and melodic fearlessness conveyed a sense of constant exploration. As time has passed, the original blues artists' simplicity has come to be appreciated by a mass audience, and Mike's busy style has become less in vogue. On that basis, this may be the best place to start your Bloomfield collection: because he is referencing the styles that influenced him, more than performing, the performance itself is more rooted and bluesy than much of his other work.

ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED MUSICIANS OF ALL TIME--A GREAT LOSS TO THE MUSIC WORLD...-FROM SOULFUL, SEARING ELECTRIC BLUES GITAR, TO COUNTRY, BLUES AND RAGTIME ACOUSTIC GITAR, MIKE BLOOMFIELD DOES IT ALL---AND FINE VOCALS, TOO!--HE EVEN GIVES PLAYING TIPS ON THIS ALBUM TO PASS ON HIS KNOWLEDGE TO OTHERS--

It's too bad that the booklet which accompanied the original vinyl version never made it into general circulation. This is one of the most important Blues guitar recordings ever. If you love these Blues...GET IT!!!

What's not to like? This guy displays his virtuosity on the guitar by playing every known blues style under the sun (acoustic and electric). And he plays it clean! There is very little in the way of electronic effects. It's pure, unadulterated Michael Bloomfield doing what he loved to do. You don't even have to be a fan to enjoy this.

When I first listened to this CD, I said to myself "This is so much better than Super Session. I can't believe that critics point people towards Super Session when something this good is available.". Super Session was good too, but it was rather hodge-podge (some of it sounds like cheesy, porno music), and only half of it is Bloomfield on guitar, the other half is Steven Stills. If you want to know what Bloomfield was all about, this is the CD to own. It is raw, personal, and 100% authentic.

After listening to this, I am proud to say that I'm from Chicago, and I think that it is truly a tragedy that this artist died so young. He clearly had more to give. And there is no question in my mind that he was in the same league with Eric Clapton, maybe even better in some ways.

This is not only Michael Bloomfield's best two albums conveniently bound together on one disc, this is practically the whole history of American Blues on display, courtesy of a master. Bloomfield was an amazing guitarist, to be sure, and was adept in a wide array of styles of playing the blues, whether he drew from the electric guitar-playing of B.B. King and T-Bone Walker, or the acoustic rural blues of countless Delta-bluesmen from the last century. But he was no mere copycat; you felt the passion Bloomfield invested in anything he played, regardless of the type of music. Also included are several guitar duets with Woody Harris on old gospel hymns, including a stirring rendition of "I Will Overcome," the hymn from which the civil rights anthem "We Shall Overcome" is derived.

Michael Bloomfield's life was ended far too soon by drugs, and this great collection stands as a fitting example of what a talented musician he was.

this is an awsome cd.straight blues no frills.some really great playing.but dont expect super session.some cool acoustic stuff too.

Of all the Bloomfield available (much of it badly recorded or remixed), this stands second only to the early Butterfield tracks. It's a terrific cross-section of a variety of blues styles, expertly performed and well recorded. Bloomfield's name doesn't crop up often enough when great guitarists are discussed and that's a shame. His playing on Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited and the first 2 Butterfield discs has seldom been surpassed for a combination of technique, touch, fire and raw soul. I saw the Butterfield band twice in the 60s and was so disappointed to learn that Bloomfield had already left the group. Unlike Clapton, who was able to rise above his addictions and thrive into his 60s, Bloomfield fell by the wayside. As another reviewer has suggested, he blew the minds of North American kids when he burst upon the scene. Michael ranks right up there with Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughn, in my estimation, and this is one of his best efforts. Well worth picking up. . .

Many readers are likely guitar players and search out this album in an effort to hear Bloomfield's instructional segment, "If You Love These Blues", originally released in conjunction with Guitar Player Magazine. If this is what brought you to this link, purchase the CD. You'll need to play these Blues, if you please, strictly by ear. There is no explanation of technique, no tablature, no Amazing Slow Downer and little explicit instruction at all. It's more as though your buddy is a great Blues guitarist who just cleaned up from a bender and he invites you over to check it out as he gives up the goods.

The second section of the disc is relaxing, as Michael plays slide over lovely comping, and it gives a person a chance to catch their breath before playing through the first section of the disc again. I deduct one star.

Like many, I was drawn to the CD because I wanted to hear Michael's purist Blues guitar playing without the restraints of any commercial expectations. What I got was a revelation as to the power of Bloomfield's commitment to Blues. The axe work is fantastic, but merely an equal component to the spectacular vocals as Bloomfield reveals his innermost passion within this soulful expression of American music. Yes, Nick Gravenites has a "better" voice, as featured on the track, "Mama Lion", but Bloomfield lays all to waste as he digs down deep to get to the heart of the matter with acoustic tracks like "Death Cell Rounder Blues" and electric gems like "City Girl" and "Death in my Family". This record continues to move me and it will likely remain in my car's disc changer until I give up the ride.

As is the case in many genres of art, often the most troubled soul offers the most brilliant work. That is certainly the case here. This is the Blues, uplifting but inherently melancholic. It's a unique recording.