Table of Contents
How it Begins…..
“One-two….Uh, listen here now,here’s what….tihs is where it’s at, this is the thing of this gig and here’s…I’ll tell you ’bout it now. Uh, awhile ago my friend Alan Kooper called me on the phone and said, “Let’s make this gig, an LP in Los Angeles and we’ll sat will happen” So we went and I played, and I played for one day and I split and went back to San Francisco where I live and the other day Stephen Stills played….and they put out an album called “Super Sessions”…….Mike Bloomfield , San Francisco, September 26, 1968 9:50 PM
The above quote is the begining of a little speech given before Mike Bloomfiled and Al Kooper were introduced for their live gig based upon their album Super Session describing what the audience would be listening to. What they would be listening to would be some grerat live music recorded over three nights.
The first two were with Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper and band mates John Kahn and Skip Prokop and after Mike Bloomfield’s insomia caught up with him (he was up for five straight days and ended up in the hospital) and for the final night’s tracks recorded with Carlos Santana and Elvin Bishop filing in are included in the album which is the first album side
I listened to tonight side 2 of The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.
The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.
Side 2 of The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper opens with a great cover of The Band’s song “The Weight” and Mike and Al are both in good form on the number.
On the next three tracks Mike and Al swap lead vocals with Mike doing the vocals on a Ray Charles song “Mary Ann” and then Al on”Together ’til the End of Time” and Mike again on “That’s All Right”.
During this gig it was the first time Al had heard Mike sing! But the real reason that I listened to this album was the last track on Side 2 a great cover of Booker T’s “Green Onions” with Mike playing the part of Steve Cropper. I always loved this track and mentioned it the other day.
Overall even after uh 42 years, it’s still a great listen. I love both Mike Bloomfield guitar work and Al Kooper’s organ playing!!
Deliverin’ – Poco
The second album I listened to was released around the same time and was my introduction to another band I would be listening to for the next forty years and that would be Poco and their live album Deliverin’.
Again I listened to the second side. I guess I was always like that side a little more than the first because I really liked Jim Messina’s “You Better Think Twice” but then again I also like Richie Furay’s “A Man Like Me” and the medley which included Rusty Young’s “Grand Junction”.
So I guess I always like the whole album including side 1! Through the years my wife became a bigger fan than I was, I never like the band as much after Messina and Furay left.
In the last several years, we have seen Poco them several times live and they always put on a great show. We haven’t seen a show yet where Richie has played with them but I’m hoping we get to one!
The Use of Ashes – Pearls Before Swine
The last album that I listened to was Pearls Before Swine The Use of Ashes. Released in 1970 this is another of my favorite all time albums and one I’ve listened to frequently through the years but not for a while.
I listened tonight to Side 1 because that’s the side that has my two favorite songs “The Jeweler” and “Rocket Man” both of which are great songs with vivid imagery.
In Rocket Man the chorus when a mother and child other face a world where their husband and father could be being killed at any moment
My mother and I never went out
unless the sky was cloudy or the sun was blotted out
or to escape the pain
we only went out when it rained.
It’s a chorus that’s rambled around in my head for forty years and never fails to move me! Anyway the other songs on this side “From a Movie”, “God Save a Child” and “Song about a Rose” are less remembered but listening again tonight brought back how much I liked this whole album!
Overall, it was a better night of listening to music than it was watching Phillies baseball!
Thre Video
Here’s a video of Mike and Al’s cover of “Green Onions”
Several years go I bought this poster at Wolfgang’s Vault with a Christmas Gift Ceritifcate from my son Peter.
It wasn’t until I looked more closely at the dates on the poster that I realized it was the nights the album was recorded!
2026 Update: Weekly Music Days Are Changing
As I look back at these posts from my early blogging years, I realize that most of the artists and albums featured here were never really forgotten. They had simply gone a long time without finding their way back onto my turntable or playlist.
Because of that, I’ve decided to rename Folk Monday as Memories Monday.
This post isn’t just about three albums. It’s about spending an evening revisiting music that has been part of my life’s soundtrack for decades and discovering that it still sounds every bit as good as I remembered.
Going forward, Memories Monday will be the place where I revisit the music and memories that have shaped my journey. Some weeks that might mean rediscovering favorite albums or concerts. Other weeks it may be old playlists, first musical discoveries, reel-to-reel tapes, stories about sharing music with Andrew or Peter, memories from my college years, or even family stories and genealAfter all, music has always been more than something I’ve listened to—it has been one of the threads that connects the people, places, and moments that have made me who I am.
P.S. As part of the new weekly rhythm on A Sixties–Seventies Man, Folk Monday is moving to Folk Friday.