Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 150 Location: Ibaraki, Japan
Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2006 4:49 pm Post subject:
JohnnyZ wrote:
Hey Saltman, glad you were next in line for this book. I should've thought of this before, but everyone receiving this particular book should sign it. Ten years from now, the book may be a bit ratty, but having dozens of signatures would be very awesome. And, in order to do that, we need to get in back in the hands of the original owner, Bluerunner, then me and Blobby...
Enjoy reading, and pass it along!
I didn't realise it was originally Bluerunner's book. Thanks very much for putting this book in circulation, so to speak, Bluerunner. Would you like me to write your name in the book? JZ's & Blobby's are already in there.
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 150 Location: Ibaraki, Japan
Posted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 6:52 pm Post subject: Who's Next?
I finally finished this book. Only took me 4 months. Sorry. I'm a slow reader. Anyway, who's interested in reading it next? Let me know.
To be quite honest, while I enjoyed it, I found it a very depressing read. Bloomers' tale seems to be one of potential squandered more than anything else, finally ending in pathetic self-destruction. Very sad. Seems to me he functioned best when forced to focus by someone else, such as Butterfield in the early days or Kooper on Super Session, but foundered when left to his own devices.
Inevitably, I have a few unanswered questions. What was Bloomfield's relationship with Hendrix, Beck and Clapton, if any? And did Robben ever meet Bloomfield or, more tantalisingly, jam with him?
Once again, thanks to Blue Runner, JZ and Blobbie for passing on the book.
Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 886 Location: SF Bay Area
Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 12:28 am Post subject:
I'd love to read this. That first Butterfield album did me in in the late sixties. And when I heard Robben in the 90's I heard something familar but fully realized. When I found out that Mike was a big part of Robben's early influences, I understood part of why Robben's playing spoke to me so much. _________________ There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com
Joined: 04 Nov 2003 Posts: 886 Location: SF Bay Area
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:20 am Post subject:
What an amazing book. Thank you folks. I'm going to get my own copy to put next to the Bird, Miles and BB biographies on the bookshelf.
I had no idea the breadth of Mike's musical background. It reminded me of someone like Paul McCartney, who learned all the old standards and knew much more music and much more about music that folks listening to his songs might presume. The bluegrass and fingerpicking rags, plus the Grant Green dance band rhythms. This was a complete musician that chose to express himself in the blues.
The other thing that was really illuminating is what a musicoligist Mike was. This seems to be a common thread. Robben also didn't stop when he heard Mike, he searched out all of Mike's influences, and then their influences, and so on, until he had a complete picture of where the music had come from, how it had evolved, and found a personal vision of where he could take it.
Reading about the migration to and times in San Francisco was really interesting to me. I grew up 25 miles south of SF. I was playing j-teen dances and such when I was 12-13. What was on the radio was early Cream, Jimi, and the early SF psycedellic scene. I had no idea that Mike was right there, influencing those folks. It took a couple of years to filter down to us. I think is was 68 or 69 when an older guitar player showed up at our rehersal with the first BBB album and put it on my dad's stereo. I just stopped playing what I was playing right there and was stunned at what I was hearing. It was really interesting hearing folks like Sam Andrews talk about being in Big Brother, playing the Filmore, and then hearing Mike. What a revalation. It must have been like when Bird landed on 52nd street. Nobody had ever considered that the instrument could be played like that. To my 12 year old ears, it just fit. I didn't realize just how special Mike was. It just sounded like he was someone who could really play the guitar. And make music with it the same way accomplished singers, or the classical pianists my parents listened to, do. Not limited by the difficulties of playing the instrument. I just thought that if I learned to play sucessfully, that was what it would sound like.
I've often wondered what would have happened if my family hadn't moved away right at that time. Here was someone who make the guitar speak to me, 25 miles away. I might have been able to see him in person, hear the evolution that he took the music, hear some of those great spontaneous excursions that never got recorded.
I hadn't realized that Mike was still around in the 70's. Now I wonder, after hearing that first record as a teenager, if Robben ever got to hear, meet or play with his inspiration. He did play with Charlie and Muddy and folks that Mike had brought to San Francisco during that time. And possibly what Mike thought of this young guy from up north who was taking his music in new directions, evolving and extending the legacy of electric blues.
Now I know why when I first heard Robben in the early 90's it was not so much a matter of being knocked out by something I'd never heard before, as much as the return of an old friend. Ahh, yes. That is how a guitar is supposed to be played. There is someone out there doing it right. Robben had started where Mike left off and kept going, but kept the essential musicality and emphatic singing quality.
So now it's my turn to pass this on to someone else. Thanks to Blue and everyone else along the way, we can share in the story of this man's search for the music, and the road he traveled while producing it.
Who's next? _________________ There are no such things as wrong notes, there's only the look on your face.
My Stuff: www.stevekirbymusic.com
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 10:39 am Post subject: AMEN
[quote="Aeolian"]What an amazing book. .. . Now I know why when I first heard Robben in the early 90's it was not so much a matter of being knocked out by something I'd never heard before, as much as the return of an old friend. Ahh, yes. That is how a guitar is supposed to be played. There is someone out there doing it right. Robben had started where Mike left off and kept going, but kept the essential musicality and emphatic singing quality. [quote]
Very very good. Aeolia you think a lot but you are doing well. Thanks to sum up some feelings i've got hard to Xpress with words.......
Joined: 19 Sep 2003 Posts: 646 Location: City of Trees, USA
Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:52 pm Post subject:
Wow. You mean I didn't put my name in it when I passed it on to Johnny Z? By all means, put my in as your write-in selection.
This is exactly what I hoped would happen when I passed it on. A very sad and frustrating tale in some ways (especially when you look at some of the survivors who've had to get past ever worse tragedies, like Elvin Bishop), uplifting in others.
As BB raps in "Ridin' with the King," "... and I'm gonna' play this thing until the day I die." Wish that Bloomfield could have used that guitar to fight back against whatever demons were torturing him, and was still around to fight today. _________________ - BlueRunner
Joined: 17 Jul 2003 Posts: 69 Location: San Jose, CA
Posted: Fri Jun 30, 2006 8:17 am Post subject: great review!
Aeolian,
Thanks for the great review. Like you, I grew up in the Bay Area and was lucky enough to hear Michael Bloomfield perform a few times in the early seventies. He was a reluctant guitar hero and complex character. He influenced Bill Graham's bookings at the Fillmore and yet did not seek (nor did he want) the adulation of his fans.
After the Beatles, I dug the Animals and the Yardbirds. Then I heard John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (the Beano album) and Paul Butterfield Blues Band. They had "blues" right in their name! Anyway, that was my introduction to Bloomfield and I was smitten with the blues, an affliction that continues to this day.
The book is bittersweet, maybe more bitter than sweet. It is nice to hear MB get his props these days.
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Wow. You mean I didn't put my name in it when I passed it on to Johnny Z? By all means, put my in as your write-in selection.
