Les Paul Hero Mike Bloomfield Releases His Solo Debut
http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/flashback-1969-721/
Ted Drozdowski
07.21.2009
Michael Bloomfield was at the pinnacle of his success in 1969 when he
released his first solo album It's Not Killing Me.
After an apprenticeship sharing the stage with Chicago blues masters
like Muddy Waters, Big Joe Williams, and Buddy Guy, he'd become a
charter member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and sprayed guitar
fireworks all over the group's tracks. Bloomfield's playing on 1966's
"East-West," the 13-minute title number from the band's second album,
laid much of the foundation for psychedelic blues.
Although the late guitar wizard is primarily known for playing both a
'59 Les Paul Standard exactly like the Inspired By Mike Bloomfield
1959 Les Paul Standard debuted by Gibson Custom earlier this year,
and a Les Paul Gold Top, in 1965 he brought a white Fender Telecaster
to the sessions for Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited. His effortless
creativity had a profound effect on Dylan's sound and still echoes
across the decades via the classics "Like a Rolling Stone" and the
title cut. He was also part of Dylan's first electric band, which
debuted at the Newport Folk Festival, but opted out of the permanent
sideman gig Dylan offered to play the music in his heart blues.
It's Not Killing Me also followed two smash 1968 collaborations with
Al Kooper Super Session and The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield
and Al Kooper and a stint co-leading the Electric Flag, who played
the historic Monterey Pop Festival (see URL).
Maybe that's why the humble disc was so disappointing for
Bloomfield's fans and critics of the day. In the wake of so many
accomplishments it seems somewhat low key. Yet he plays sweetly on
many tracks, including the opening blues "If You See My Baby" and
"Far Too Many Nights." On the latter, the tone of his solos is warm,
buttery, and impeccable, and the lyrics allude to his desperate
battle with insomnia.
Even his most compelling playing on It's Not Killing Me like the
haunted slide excursion "Goofers" avoids the roaring guitar heroics
his fans had come to expect. His pentatonic licks on "Next Time You
See Me" stay right in the reverb-drenched pocket. And there were
plenty of slow numbers, including the biographical "Michael's
Lament." That country & western bawler's soloing is handled by
Orville Rhodes' pedal steel and the song is primarily driven by
organist Mark Naftalin, one of the era's blues MVPs who still
continues to make his mark on the genre.
But to dismiss It's Not Killing Me is a mistake. The 11 songs may
actually be Bloomfield's most personal musical statement ever. Even
when he strains to sing a high note there's a certain sincerity in
his voice that makes its lyrics, frequently exploring abandonment and
loneliness, sound painfully true. Especially on the heartbreaking
"The Ones I Loved Are Gone."
Obviously Bloomfield could have planted beautiful guitar landmines
all over these tracks if he'd desired. Instead, he took the spotlight
off his playing to talk to his listeners, many of who initially
turned their ears away in disappointment. Clearly he was troubled at
the time, whether by personal demons, heroin, or both. In the early
'70s he actually stopped playing for while, explaining that all he
cared about was the highly addictive opiate.
Looking back at It's Not Killing Me today, the album seems revealing
and fascinating, and earns a place in the guitar giant's canon of
important recordings.
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