Al Kooper. Whose real name is Alan Peter Kuperschmidt, he is a rock and blues pianist , organist, guitarist , singer , songwriter, and record producer .
Summary
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- 1 Biographical synthesis
- 1 His childhood
- 2 His artistic career
- 2 Discography
- 1 As a leader
- 2 Collaborations
- 3 Sources
Biographical synthesis
His childhood
He was born on 5 February as as 1944 in Brooklyn , New York .
His artistic career
At thirteen he was playing piano and guitar with The Royal Teens, authors in 1958 of a small American hit entitled ‘Short shorts’. He left the band a year later and enrolled at the University of Bridgeport for a course in music composition. In 1965 he collected a third of the royalties for the composition of Gary Lewis and The Playboys ‘This diamond ring’, which had sold a million copies, and convinced producer Tom Wilson , who was working on ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ by Bob Dylan to let him play guitar on the record. Upon the news that Mike BloomfieldHe had already played that part, Al, not at all angry, persuaded Tom to let him play the organ. It was decided that Kooper’s part should sound in the background to avoid obscuring the work already done. However, when Dylan listened to the recording, he was struck by the particular sound that Kooper had been able to create with an organ abandoned in the studio. He was required to remain a keyboard player throughout the recording of the album ‘Highway 61’. Thus was born the collaboration between the two: in the same period Kooper accompanied Dylan in the disputed performance at the Newport Festival ( 1965 ); He also collaborated as a studio musician with Dylan in 1966 , for the album ‘Blonde on blonde’, and in 1970 for ‘New morning’.
Thanks to the fame he gained with Dylan, Al Kooper joined the Blues Project in 1966, leading them, in the company of Steve Katz (already with The Even Dozen Band), to be the first New York electric blues group. The band became a point of reference for all those who believed in the blues- rock. Their three concerts in New York’s Central Park (1966) contributed to their being considered the best band of the year. But there was a novelty: the Blood Sweat & Tears project. The group was trying to continue the rock unionand blues, already present in the Blues Project, mixing the most refined jazz with these two styles: it was Kooper’s task to discover musicians capable of producing jazz suitable for an audience accustomed to listening to rock. The first album, ‘Child is father to the man’ despite being, in many ways, still somewhat badass was very effective. Kooper, increasingly restless and eager for new experiences, left the band to work as a producer in Colombia . One of his early “experiments” was ‘Supersession’ ( 1968 ), an album documenting a jam session of Al with Mike Bloomfield, whom he met in 1965 during the recording session for Dylan, and with Stephen Stills .
The album quickly became one of the best sellers of the year, rapidly rising to the top of the charts. Of course, Kooper and company took advantage of the occasion to appear before the public in a series of concerts. And the following year Kooper and Bloomfield, without Stills, repeated the experience with ‘The live adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper’ ( 1969 ). A few months later Kooper’s first solo album, ‘I stand alone’ (1969), and shortly after ‘You never know who your friends …’ (1969) was released.
Al Kooper
The two albums, despite the good reputation Al maintained in his collaborations as a studio musician with The Rolling Stones for the album ‘Let it bleed’ and with Jimi Hendrix for ‘Electric ladyland’, were virtually ignored. With the beginning of the seventies, Al Kooper combined his work as an instrumentalist, for BB King and Taj Mahal, with that of producer, for The Don Ellis Band. The best album of the time is ‘Easy does it’ preceded by a few months, in 1970 , by ‘Kooper session’, which helped to introduce the public to fifteen-year-old guitarist Shuggie Otis , son of Johnny Otis . In 1971he composed ‘Landlord’, the soundtrack to Hal Ashby’s film of the same name, and released another solo album, ‘New York City (you’re a woman)’.
At the end of the year, more restless than ever, Kooper moved to Atlanta and founded a record company specializing in new southern rock groups, Sound of the South Records. Driven by this new activity, the following year he published the unbeatable ‘Naked songs’, which includes the unforgettable ‘As the years go passing by’. Kooper, regaining his confidence in himself, was beginning to resurface: in 1973 he reunited for a glorious session with the Blues Project and produced the debut of Lynyrd Skynyrd , with whom he remained for the first three albums. In these years he also worked as a counselor in the works of Mose Jones , The Atlanta Rhythm Section, and Wet Willie .
In 1975 he collaborated with Tubes on his first album and with Nils Lofgren on ‘Cry tough’, shortly after with Dylan and Eddie & The Hot Rods. Kooper, by now an esteemed producer, in 1976 published ‘Backstage Passes’, his autobiography, written with Ben Edmonds and a new solo album, ‘Act like nothing’s wrong’. Then his name fell into oblivion for about three years, until ‘4 on the floor’ was released in 1979 . With the beginning of the eighties, Kooper again to talk for a third meeting of Blue Project and for his work as an instrumentalist in Dylan’s entourage on tour 1981 – 1982 .Joe Ely , David Essex , Johnny Van Zandt and Eddie & The Hot Rods. In 1982 he recorded again, publishing ‘Championship wrestling’.
Discography
As a leader
- What’s shacking ( 1966 , Compilation) includes his song: “Can’t Keep From
- Crying Sometimes “
- I Stand Alone ( 1968 )
- You Never Know Who Your Friends Are ( 1969 )
- Easy Does It ( 1970 )
- New York City (You’re A Woman) (July 1971 )
- A Possible Projection of the Future / Childhood’s End (July 1972 )
- Naked Songs ( 1973 )
- Act Like Nothing’s Wrong (January 1977 )
- Rekooperation (June 1994 )
- Soul of a Man (February 1995 )
- Rare and Well Done (September 2001 )
- Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (with Mike Bloomfield) (April 2003 )
- Black Coffee (August 2005 )
- White Chocolate ( 2008 )
Collaborations
- Super Session (with Stephen Stills and Mike Bloomfield) (1968)
- The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper ( 1968 )
- Kooper Session (with Shuggie Otis) ( 1969 )
- Championship Wrestling (with Jeff “Skunk” Baxter) ( 1982 )
