By
Ray Shasho
-Interviewed
July 2nd 2014
Singer, songwriter, producer,
and multi-instrumentalist AL KOOPER continues to relish an incredible life of music. Although these
days it’s mostly through his weekly online column for The Morton Report
entitled ‘New Music for Old People’
Kooper reveals…
“This
column is like the title says - its intention is to fill the gap for those of
us who were satiated musically in the '60s and then searched desperately as we
aged for music we could relate to and get the same buzz from nowadays. iTunes
was the answer for me in 2003 and I have been following the new releases every
Tuesday ever since I realized there was an endless stream of music I could
enjoy there. The reason I am writing this column is to make sure others don't
miss this. These are not top ten items; but they SHOULD be!”
Kooper is also excited about
the re-release of the classic ‘Super
Session’ album featuring Al Kooper-Mike Bloomfield-Stephen
Stills. The album is re-mastered with
the latest (Hybrid Multichannel SACD) technology. The package includes new
liner notes written by Al Kooper that tells the story of
the Super Session album and the new 5.1 Multichannel mix. The 5.1 mix by Al Kooper with
mastering by Bob Ludwig was never released and yet it has
acquired some fame from industry insiders familiar with the Multichannel mix
with comments like "excellent" and "it deserves to be
heard."The new mastering of the Stereo tracks for new SACD Stereo and CD Stereo
audio are by mastering engineer Steve Hoffman. -The official release of ‘Super Session’ on amazon.com is -September 9th.
AL
KOOPER: had a life changing undertaking
technologically and musically after receiving a Webcor reel to reel tape
recorder as a Bat Mitzvah gift in 1957.Born in Brooklyn and growing up in
Queens, New York … Kooper began his incredible music career as a fourteen year
old guitarist with The Royal Teens (“Short Shorts” #3
U.S. Hit in 1958).
In 1960, Kooper joined the
songwriting team of Bob Brass and Irwin Levine and wrote “This Diamond Ring” (#1 U.S. Hit in 1965) for Gary Lewis & the Playboys. At 21, Kooper moved to Greenwich Village and began a momentous
relationship with Bob
Dylan. He performed and recorded
with Dylan including adding his classic Hammond organ riffs on “Like a Rolling Stone”(#2 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Hit in 1965). During those recording
sessions, Kooper met Michael
Bloomfield.
In 1967, Al Kooper joined The Blues Project as their keyboardist. He left the band before the group was to
appear at the infamous Monterey Pop Festival, and instead, along with bandmate
Steve Katz, formed the jazz/rock/psychedelic/ R&B/ group …Blood, Sweat
& Tears.
Kooper left Blood, Sweat &
Tears after their critically-acclaimed debut release … ‘Child Is Father to the Man’ (1968). The album spawned the classic rock mainstays … “I Love You More Than You’ll
Ever Know” (Penned by Kooper) and “I Can’t Quit Her” (Written by Kooper/Levine).
Al
Kooper recorded a jazz inspired jam entitled ‘Super Session’ in 1968 with Michael Bloomfield and Stephen Stills. The album
spawned an incredible cover of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch” and my favorite track “His Holy Modal Majesty” (Written by Kooper and Bloomfield). The album peaked at #12 on the
Billboard 200 and was certified gold.
It was Al Kooper who called
Judy Collins in the middle of the night and put Joni Mitchell on the phone to
sing “Both Sides Now” which eventually became a huge hit for Collins in 1968.
Throughout the years …Kooper
became a mainstay in the recording studio performing with The Rolling Stones,
The Who, B.B. King, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Cream, Alice Cooper, Peter,
Paul & Mary, Joe Cocker, Tom Petty, and Roger McGuinn to name just a few.
Kooper discovered Lynyrd
Skynyrd in 1972 after watching several
of their appearances at a frequented club in Atlanta. Al moved to Atlanta and
signed the band to his new record label ‘Sounds of the South.’ (He would
eventually sell the label to MCA Records). Al Kooper produced and performed on
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s first (3) albums… (‘Pronounced ‘Lĕh-‘nérd
‘Skin-‘nérd, Second Helping, and Nuthin’Fancy). Also on the singles “Sweet Home Alabama,” “Free Bird,” and “Saturday Night Special.”
Al Kooper produced The Tubes,
David Essex, Nils Lofgren, Rick Nelson, Ray Charles, The Staple Singers, Bob
Dylan, and Lynyrd Skynyrd … to name just a few. He also played and arranged
three tracks on George Harrison’s ‘Somewhere in England’ album and performed with the remaining Beatles … George Harrison,
Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr, on Harrison’s Hit single “All Those Years Ago” (U.S. #2 Billboard Hot 100 Hit in 1981). Kooper has also written
and composed on countless albums and scores for television and motion pictures.
And let’s not forget an
incredible SOLO CAREER … I Stand Alone (1969), You Never Know Who Your Friends
Are (1969), Easy Does It (1970), New York City (You’re A Women)(1971), Possible Projection of the
Future/ Childhood’s End (1972), Naked Songs (1973), Act Like Nothing’s Wrong (1977), Championship Wrestling (1982), Rekooperation (1994), Soul of a Man (Live album 1995), Black Coffee (2005), and White Chocolate (2008).
Al Kooper published his well-
received memoir entitled … Backstage Passes and
Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Survivor. The first edition was released in 1977 with subsequent editions
released in 1998 and 2008. (The 2008 edition being the best of the three).
I had the rare opportunity of
chatting with Al Kooper about the remastered classic
‘Super Session’ album on 5.1 Multichannel mix … Al’s column ‘New Music for Old
People’ … The Music industry today … Discovering Lynyrd Skynyrd … My infamous
‘Field of Dreams’ question… And much-much more!
Here’s my interview with
founding member of The Blues Project, Blood Sweat & Tears, Collaborator
with artists such as Bob Dylan, Michael Bloomfield, Stephen Stills, The Rolling
Stones, George Harrison, and many-many other legendary artists! Co-writer of the
hit single… “This Diamond Ring,” Producer for numerous bands including Lynyrd
Skynyrd & The Tubes …
Singer/Songwriter/Producer/Multi-instrumentalist/Columnist/Author/ …AL
KOOPER. ...(WHEW!)
Ray
Shasho: Al, thank you so much for being on the call today.
Al
Kooper: “You weren’t just talking with David
Clayton-Thomas were you?”
Ray
Shasho: (Laughing) No, haven’t gotten around to
chatting with David yet. I did chat with Judy Collins recently and she told me
it was you that introduced her to Joni Mitchell.
Al
Kooper: “Yes. I was actually living in her apartment for awhile.”
Ray
Shasho: Judy had great things to say about you.
Al
Kooper: “Well, that’s why we pay her. (All laughing)”
Ray
Shasho: Let’s chat about the re-release of the classic ‘Super Session’
album. The package includes new liner notes written by you that tells
the story of the Super Session album and a new 5.1 Multichannel mix.
Al
Kooper: “There was a time when Sony the label that owns it had a whole
SACD, 5.1 department and they called and asked me if I’d be interested in doing
some 5.1 remixes of stuff that I have worked on. So I said sure, they wanted me
to do ‘Super Session’ and ‘Child is Father to the Man.’ I didn’t produce ‘Child
is Father to the Man’ and so I called the producer and asked him if he was
interested … and he said you should do it. So I said are you sure, because
you’re the first choice in my book? He said no, I’m not interested and you are.
So I did the first one in a week and the second a week after. I’ve only done
those two and haven’t done anything else in 5.1.”
Ray
Shasho: What will be the main difference in sound using 5.1?
Al
Kooper: “You’ve got a great more space to deal with, it’s more of like a
totally three dimensional space, so that helps tremendously and gives you more
room to spread the instruments out … and vocals etc. I thought it was great
that we could do that because when someone found the sweet spot where you need
to sit, they could hear everything clearly, which is much tougher to do in a
stereo situation.”
Ray
Shasho: I thought the sound quality for the original ‘Super Session’
recording was incomparable for 1968.
Al
Kooper: “Well it’s an eight-track tape, which means we only had eight
tracks to put stuff on, so it’s really a credit to the engineer that it sounds
the way it sounds, even more of a credit because we were just making everything
up as we were playing it. We weren’t playing some preconceived tune, it was a
jam session. With a preconceived tune you can say …well, at this point this is
going to happen, and you say watch out for this and like that. But everyone was
flying by the seat of their pants, so for him to do such a great job is very
rare in a situation like that.”
Ray
Shasho: I chatted with Billy Cobham who told me that the ‘Spectrum’ album
was also a fly by the seat of your pants jam session. I think many of
those jam sessions were much better recordings than the over produced ones.
Al
Kooper: “We were sort of modeling that album after jazz recordings … but
we weren’t playing jazz though.”
Ray
Shasho: The ‘Super Session’ album includes so many great jams …“His Holy
Modal Majesty” and an incredible version of Donovan’s “Season of the Witch”
have always been my favorite tracks. I consider that album as one of those
timeless and inspiring recordings … much of the same way I feel about the
second John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers release.
Al
Kooper: “You mean the one with Clapton on it …or
as we call it the Beano album.”
Ray
Shasho: I covered John Mayall’s 80th Birthday show here in Sarasota and he
looked and sounded fantastic, he was even setting up his own equipment.
Al
Kooper: “Well that’s because he can’t afford a roadie”
(All Laughing) I played with him about six or seven years ago… I opened for him
and hadn’t seen him for a long time …it was very nice.”
Ray
Shasho: Were there any thoughts of you, Michael
Bloomfield, and Stephen Stills continuing as sort of a supergroup while touring
as a band together?
Al
Kooper: “We did do that and played a handful of gigs
and two of them are albums. One is called ‘The Live Adventures of Mike
Bloomfield and Al Kooper’ and the other one is called ‘The Lost Concert Tapes’
because they were lost for about four years.”
Ray
Shasho: So how were they lost?
Al
Kooper: “Sony Records. When they found them, they
called me; I came in and made an album out of multi-track tapes. So there are
actually three situations where Bloomfield and I made albums together that were
pretty much jam session albums.”
Ray
Shasho: How about some of the other players on the
album ... like bassist Harvey Brooks (Electric Flag), did you continue to play
with those guys?
Al
Kooper: “Harvey and I grew up together and played
quite a bit prior to that … way back to when we were little kids. I was born in
Brooklyn and actually grew up in Queens.”
Ray
Shasho: Al, we’re definitely looking forward to
the re-release of the classic ‘Super Session’ album (Hybrid Multichannel SACD)
which will be available on amazon.com - September 9th. Al, what else do
you have going on these days?
Al
Kooper: “I have a weekly column
that I write called ‘New Music for Old People’… and that’s what it is. Its
music that just came out that would appeal to someone in my age range. So it’s
new releases by anybody, but has to pass my test. If I like it then it goes in
the column. I started doing this when iTunes first came out and I discovered
all these amazing bands that nobody ever heard of, but they were great, I mean
it was music that I really liked as anything else I’ve heard in my life. It all
started towards the end of 2003 when iTunes started. I found a place where they
had all the new releases every week which was exactly what I was looking to
find. So I went through everything every week and I’d find bands that killed me
and it was just great. I started buying them and setting up playlists and it
changed my life. It took the place of radio. Radio is over. I haven’t listened
to mainstream radio in maybe thirty years. Satellite radio is different because
they’re trying to do what I’m trying to do. It’s easier for me to get an
audience online. I’m a critic, but a critic by omission as well. I never write
anything bad about anybody. Not only do I write about it but it’s streamed as
well, you can also hear it, which is a nice touch. I think you’ll get a kick
out of the column. I’m in my third year now, so I guess I’m getting good at it
now.”
Ray
Shasho: You also have a memoir out entitled ‘Backstage Passes &
Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Survivor.’
Al
Kooper: “I talk about what happened to me because it
was such a bizarre story, and that’s why I wrote it. I had the most bizarre
life. There are three editions of it out there and the latest edition is the
best one. Backbeat Books is the publisher.”
Ray
Shasho: You were also an A&R man for Columbia
Records… a job I’ve always wanted to do. Is the A&R position important
today as it was back in the 60s or 70’s?
Al
Kooper: “The record companies are nothing what it used to be … especially
the majors. I don’t feel like I belong there anymore. I don’t understand what
those people are doing up there. Consequently, I think it’s just really tough
for new bands as a result. But somehow all this great music is reaching me. The
column that came out on Friday is called ‘What the Folk Is All This?’ And it’s
about bizarre folk music. So it has some old stuff in it that was strange for
the time it came out and then stuff from today that is also strange for the
time it came out. There is also an artist that killed me, just knocked me out
and nothing happened to it. I thought this guy was like the equivalent of Neil
Young. And it just came and went, I couldn’t believe it.”
Ray
Shasho: I chatted with Arthur Brown recently, a true rock pioneer, he was
so grateful that I thought of him for an interview for my column.
Al
Kooper: “Oh I love Arthur Brown. We played on the bill several times
together. I thought he was unbelievable. I was also a little bit influenced by
his organ player Vincent Crane and he was fabulous.”
Ray
Shasho: My fondest memory of Lynyrd Skynrd was in 1975 …I was actually
working at the Capital Centre arena in Maryland and watched the band rehearse
their new song “Saturday Night Special” with maybe three other guys looking on.
I hung out with Skynyrd a bit and then watched the concert later that evening.
How did you first discover
Lynyrd Skynyrd?
Al
Kooper: “I heard them in a bar. It was in Atlanta and
I was there producing a record, I used to work from about midnight to 8pm every
day and then me and this band I was producing would go out to this bar and get
crazy. In those days, this was 1972, when you played a club you played for six
nights. It wasn’t like one-nighters. So we had sat through one band already,
and now a new week had started and a new band came in. The first band was okay,
they weren’t great or anything, just background noise. So we went in and I saw
the marquee and said…What is this … Ly-Nard Sky- Nard …what is this? (All
laughing) They were a four-piece when I saw them … not counting the singer.
Their songs and arrangements were incredible and I just thought they were
amazing, and I got to hear them every night. I had favorites already and by the
end of their engagement I offered to sign them. They became the reason why I
started my record label (‘Sounds of the South’). I had found another band as
well and thought… why am I giving this away, I should just start my own label,
and then I moved to Atlanta. As a matter of fact I didn’t even go home from
Atlanta. I had my roadies pack up my apartment and I never went home. (Then
eventually sold the label to MCA Records)”
“I just love music … that’s
what it’s all about.”
Ray
Shasho: Al, here’s a question that I ask everyone that I interview …
Al
Kooper: “About eight inches! (All laughing)”
Ray
Shasho: No, that’s not it … If you had a ‘Field of
Dreams’ wish like the movie, to play, sing or collaborate with anyone from the
past or present, who would that be?
Al
Kooper: “Well my favorite band of
all-time was ‘FREE.’ I would have loved to play with that band. And my favorite
track is “The Stealer.”
Ray
Shasho: Al, thank you for being on the call today but more importantly for
all the incredible music you’ve given us and continue to bring. Keep in touch!
Al
Kooper: “I will, thank you Ray!”
Pre-order
now … ‘Super Session’ (Hybrid
Multichannel SACD) –Al Kooper-Mike Bloomfield-Stephen Stills - Official release date September
9th on amazon.com. The package includes new liner notes written
by Al Kooper that tells the story of the Super Session
album and the new 5.1 Multichannel mix. The 5.1 mix
by Al Kooper with mastering by Bob Ludwig was
never released and yet it has acquired some fame from industry insiders
familiar with the Multichannel mix with comments like "excellent" and
"it deserves to be heard."The new mastering of the Stereo tracks for
new SACD Stereo and CD Stereo audio are by mastering engineer Steve Hoffman.
Also
purchase … ‘From His Head to His Heart to
His Hands’ (3 CD/ 1 DVD) by Michael Bloomfield (2014) - Box
set An Audio-Visual Scrapbook (2014); a Columbia Legacy career
retrospective, produced by Al Kooper. Previously unissued live performances and
a DVD that includes the documentary film Sweet Blues: A Film about Mike Bloomfield,
the film premiered at the Mill Valley Film Festival in October, 2013. –Available now on amazon.com
Purchase Al Kooper’s incredible memoir entitled … ‘Backstage Passes &
Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Survivor on amazon.com.
Read Al Kooper’s excellent
column ‘New Music for Old People’ on The Morton Report … Read Al’s column [HERE]
COMING
UP NEXT … Keyboard extraordinaire Patrick Moraz (YES/The Moody Blues)… … Legendary keyboardist Keith Emerson (The Nice, Emerson, Lake &
Palmer) … Don Wilsonguitarist, pioneer, and
co-founder of ‘The Ventures.’ … Country Music’s shining new star -19 year old Mary Sarah … And Folk/Rock singer &
songwriter Jonathan Edwards (“Sunshine”).
Contact music journalist Ray Shasho at rockraymond.shasho@gmail.com
Purchase Ray’s very special
memoir called ‘Check the Gs’ -The True Story of an Eclectic American Family and Their Wacky
Family Business … You’ll LIVE IT! Also available for download on NOOK or KINDLE
edition for JUST .99 CENTS at amazon.com orbarnesandnoble.com
- Please support Ray by purchasing his book so he can continue to bring you
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