Al Kooper
Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt, February 5, 1944) is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity.[1] Throughout much of the 1960s and 1970s, he was a prolific studio musician, playing organ on the Bob Dylan song "Like A Rolling Stone", French horn on the Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want", and lead guitar on Rita Coolidge's "The Lady's Not for Sale", among many other appearances. He also produced a number of one-off collaboration albums, such as the Super Session album that brought together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills. In the 1970s he was a successful manager and producer, notably recording Lynyrd Skynyrd's first three albums. He has also had a successful solo career, written music for film soundtracks, and has lectured in musical composition. He continues to perform live.
Al Kooper | |
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Al Kooper during an interview in 2009 | |
Background information | |
Also known as | Roosevelt Gook |
Born | Brooklyn, New York, US | February 5, 1944
Genres | Blues, R&B, pop rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, producer |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass, Hammond organ, keyboards, percussion, mandolin |
Years active | 1958–present |
Labels | ABC Records |
Associated acts | Mike Bloomfield, The Blues Project, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Bob Dylan, The Royal Teens |
Website | alkooper |
Early life
Kooper, born in Brooklyn[2] to Sam and Natalie Kooper, grew up in a Jewish family[3] in Hollis Hills, Queens, New York.
Career
Professional debut
Kooper's first professional work was as a 14-year-old guitarist in the Royal Teens, best known for their 1958 ABC Records novelty 12-bar blues riff, "Short Shorts" (although Kooper did not play on the recording[4]). In 1960, he teamed up with songwriters Bob Brass and Irwin Levine to write and record demos for Sea-Lark Music Publishing. The trio's biggest hits were "This Diamond Ring", recorded by Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and "I Must Be Seeing Things", recorded by Gene Pitney (both 1965). When he was 21, Kooper moved to Manhattan's Greenwich Village, then teeming with artists, writers, and musicians.
With Dylan
He performed with Bob Dylan in concert in 1965, including playing Hammond organ with Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival, and in the recording studio in 1965 and 1966. Kooper also played the Hammond organ riffs on Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". It was in those recording sessions that Kooper met and befriended Mike Bloomfield, whose guitar playing he admired. He worked extensively with Bloomfield for several years. Kooper played organ once again with Dylan during his 1981 world tour.
Blues Project
Kooper joined the Blues Project as their keyboardist in 1965; he left the band shortly before their gig at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, although he did play a solo set at the famous festival, as evidenced by bootlegs of the event. He formed Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1967, leaving due to creative differences in 1968, after the release of the group's first album, Child Is Father to the Man.[5] He recorded Super Session with Bloomfield and Stills in 1968,[6] and in 1969 he collaborated with 15-year-old guitarist Shuggie Otis on the album Kooper Session. In 1975 he produced the debut album by the Tubes.
Other work
As musician
Kooper has played on hundreds of records, including ones by the Rolling Stones, B. B. King, the Who, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Alice Cooper, and Cream. On occasion, he has even overdubbed his own efforts, as on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper and other albums, under the pseudonym "Roosevelt Gook".[7]
As record producer
After moving to Atlanta in 1972, he discovered the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and produced and performed on their first three albums, including the singles "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird". In 1972 he rejoined the Blues Project at a charity concert promoted by Bruce Blakeman at Valley Stream Central High School.
TV scores
He wrote the score for the TV series Crime Story and for the film The Landlord and wrote music for several made-for-television movies. He was the musical force behind many of the pop tunes, including "You're the Lovin' End", for The Banana Splits, a children's television program.
Studio
During the late 1980s Kooper had his own dedicated keyboard studio room in the historic Sound Emporium recording studio in Nashville, next to studio B.
Rock Bottom Remainders
Kooper's status as a published author enabled him to join (and act as musical director of) the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band made up of writers, including Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan, and Matt Groening.
Honors, awards, and legacy
In May 2001, Kooper was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music.[8] Kooper is retired from teaching songwriting and recording production at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, and plays weekend concerts with his bands the ReKooperators and the Funky Faculty. In 2008, he participated in the production of the album Psalngs,[9] the debut release of Canadian musician John Lefebvre.
Kooper was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum, in Nashville, in 2008.[10]
In 2005, Martin Scorsese produced a documentary titled No Direction Home: Bob Dylan for the PBS American Masters Series in which Kooper's contributions are recognized.
Memoir
Kooper published a memoir, Backstage Passes: Rock 'n' Roll Life in the Sixties (1977), which was revised and published as Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'n' Roll Survivor (1998). The revised edition includes indictments of "manipulators" in the music industry, including his one-time business manager, Stan Polley. An updated edition, including supplementary material, was published by Backbeat Books in 2008.[11]
Discography
Solo
Studio albums
- I Stand Alone (February 1969)
- You Never Know Who Your Friends Are (October 1969)
- Easy Does It (September 1970)
- New York City (You're a Woman) (June 1971)
- A Possible Projection of the Future / Childhood's End (April 1972)
- Naked Songs (1973)
- Act Like Nothing's Wrong (January 1977)
- Championship Wrestling (featuring Jeff "Skunk" Baxter) (1982)
- Rekooperation (June 1994)
- Black Coffee (August 2005)
- White Chocolate (2008)
Live albums
- Soul of a Man (February 1995)
Soundtracks
- The Landlord: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (music by Al Kooper) (with The Staple Singers and Lorraine Ellison)
Compilation albums
- Al's Big Deal - Unclaimed Freight (An Al Kooper Anthology) (1975)
- Rare and Well Done: The Greatest and Most Obscure Recordings 1964-2001 (2001)
Collaborations
- Super Session (with Stephen Stills and Mike Bloomfield) (1968)
- The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (February 1969)
- Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (with Mike Bloomfield, recorded 1968, issued April 2003)
- Kooper Session: Super Session Vol. 2 (with Shuggie Otis) (1970)
- Johnnie B. Live (with Johnnie Johnson) (1997)
Also appears on
- Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
- Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde (1966)
- Bob Dylan - Self Portrait (1970)
- Bob Dylan - New Morning (1970)
- Bob Dylan - Dylan (1973)
- Bob Dylan - Empire Burlesque (1985)
- Bob Dylan - Knocked Out Loaded (1986)
- Bob Dylan - Under the Red Sky (1990)
- The Blues Project - Live at Café Au Go Go (1966)
- The Blues Project - Projections (1966)
- The Blues Project - The Blues Project Live at Town Hall (1967)
- The Who - The Who Sell Out (1967)
- The Who - Who's Next (bonus tracks only) (1971)
- Leo Sayer - Here (1979)
- Blood, Sweat and Tears - Child is Father to the Man (1968)
- Neil Diamond - Tennessee Moon (1996)
- George Harrison - Somewhere in England (1981)
- Phoebe Snow - I Can't Complain (1998)
- Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland (1968)
- The Rolling Stones - Let It Bleed (1969)
- B.B. King - Live & Well (1969)
- Dan Penn - Blue Nite Lounge (2000)
- Betty Wright - Hard To Stop (1973)
- Boz Scaggs - A Fool to Care (2015)
- Bo Diddley - Another Dimension (Chess, 1971)
- Roy Orbison - Mystery Girl (1989)
- Tom Rush - Take a Little Walk with Me (1966)
- Atlanta Rhythm Section - Back Up Against the Wall (1973)
- Ringo Starr - Stop and Smell the Roses (1981)
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (1973)
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - Second Helping (1974)
- Rita Coolidge - Nice Feelin' (1971)
- Rita Coolidge - The Lady's Not for Sale (1972)
- Roger McGuinn - Peace On You (1974)
Albums produced
- Don Ellis - Autumn (1968)
- Don Ellis - New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground (1969)
- Frankie & Johnny - The Sweetheart Sampler (1973)
- Lynyrd Skynyrd - Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd (1973), Second Helping (1974), Nuthin' Fancy (1975)
- The Tubes - The Tubes (1975)
- 4 on the Floor - 4 on the Floor (1979)
- Dave Sharp - Hard Traveling (1991)
- Green On Red - Scapegoats (1991)
- Chris Catena - Freak Out (2004)
Sources
- Mike Bloomfield, Me and Big Joe, Re/Search Publications, 1999, ISBN 1-889307-05-X, ISBN 978-1-889307-05-3.
- Jan Mark Wolkin and Bill Keenom, Michael Bloomfield -- If You Love These Blues: An Oral History, Backbeat Books, 2000, ISBN 978-0-87930-617-5 (with CD of uniussed music).
- Ken Brooks, The Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Paul Butterfield and David Clayton Thomas, Agenda, 1999, ISBN 1-899882-90-1, ISBN 978-1-899882-90-8.
- Al Kooper, Backstage Passes: Rock 'n' Roll Life in the Sixties, Stein & Day, 1977, ISBN 0-8128-2171-8, ISBN 978-0-8128-2171-0.
- Al Kooper, Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'n' Roll Survivor (updated ed.), Billboard Books, 1998, ISBN 0-8230-8257-1, ISBN 978-0823082575.
- Al Kooper, Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards (new ed.), Hal Leonard, 2008, ISBN 0-87930-922-9, ISBN 978-0-87930-922-0.
- Ed Ward, Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero, Cherry Lane Books,1983, ISBN 0-89524-157-9, ISBN 978-0895241573.
References
- James, Gary, "Gary James' Interview With Al Kooper" at Classicbands.com
- Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 543–544. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
- Wilentz, Sean (April 8, 2013). "Like a Rolling Stone: Rock legend Al Kooper opens up to Princeton's Sean Wilentz about making music with Bob Dylan, and more". tabletmag.com. Nextbook Inc. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
- Friedman, Tyler, "Al Kooper: An Appreciation," Perfect Sound Forever, April 2007)
- Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 232. CN 5585.
- Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 259. CN 5585.
- "Tom Rush's "Take a Little Walk with Me" Liner Notes". www.richieunterberger.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
- "Elvin Jones, Al Kooper Receive Honorary Doctorates - Mixonline". Mixonline.com. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
- Archived March 7, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- Daniel Kreps (October 29, 2008). "Kid Rock, Keith Richards Help Induct Crickets, Muscle Shoals into Musicians Hall of Fame | Music News". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
- Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards at Hal Leonard Books
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al Kooper. |