Significant Others - Other Notable Collaborations etc.

This section is for those recordings in which Kooper was involved but are not solo albums. The list is not exhaustive. Look in Microsoft's Music Central Web site and you'll find a very long list of albums in which he had a hand. Most of them I'll never hear. No, this list is of those projects that I've heard and would recommend to you. It doesn't include any albums which I think are not worthy to have had the Kooper name on them (So no David Essex and no Koopersession then). The list is in in no particular order.

1 Supersession

Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills No review of Kooper's recorded output could be complete without a mention of this album. The very first of a genre, it has influenced Kooper's career ever since.

In 1966 exiles from three major bands, The Electric Flag, Blood Sweat & Tears and Buffalo Springfield went into a recording studio with the intention of jamming to see what came out. What came out was some of the best electric blues of the late '60s. It wasn't just blues of course, there was soul, brass and some rock but the lasting impression was/is Bloomfield's soaring guitar. In my opinion, he never recorded a better album than this. His playing is superb and the interplay with Kooper's keyboards so sublime that they just had to go and do it again.

2 The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper

So they went to the Fillmore for three nights in 1968, (though Bloomfield only made it for the first two) and the result was this double album. Typically for Kooper, this 'live' album includes overdubbing (by Paul Simon on '59th Street Bridge Song' and "Roosevelt Gook" - who may or may not be Bob Dylan). It also includes Mike Bloomfield singing for the first time (and not badly either!) Side 3 (The first half of CD2) can be skipped as it was recorded on the third night when Bloomfield didn't show.Various guest guitarists stepped in and the album includes tracks featuring Elvin Bishop and Carlos Santana. The remainder is a wonderful set that followed on beautifully from 'Supersession'. It includes many standards like 'Green Onions' and 'The Weight'.
The album has recently been released on a double CD set, which, for me was a slight disappointment. Each CD plays for only about 40 minutes and I had expected some extra tracks - outtakes, maybe some of the other guitarists who stepped in on the third night (like Stevie 'Guitar' Miller). The album was reissued on Sony's Legacy imprint who did a wonderful job with the reissues of Moby Grape and the Electric Flag. But no. Just a straight reissue. I asked Kooper why this was and he explained, quite rightly, that they were outtakes for one reason and one reason only - they weren't good enough to go on the album. He proved his point by directing me to the 'gold' CD of 'Supersession' which does include an outtake - an early version of 'Albert's Shuffle' - however, he's right. That extra track should have been thrown into the dustbin many years ago! It does nothing for the album or the musicians..

(I don't necessarily agree with Kooper that all outtakes are rubbish. For instance, those outtakes on Dylan's Bootleg Series are often better than what was left in - but I guess that only proves Bob's perverseness!)

3 Child is Father to the Man

Blood Sweat and Tears

4 Do What Now

Jimmy Vivino and the Rekooperators

5 For The Love of Harry - Everybody Sings Nilsson

Various Artists After Sinatra, Harry Nilsson was, imho, the next best singer of popular music of the second half of the century. When he was in the mood, his performances were perfect in their phrasing and timing and his voice was able to reflect the humour that the song writer intended but is missing in so many other performers renditions. Listen to 'A Little Touch of Schmillson in the night' and you'll know what I mean - Sheer unadulterated bliss! On a bad day however, my dog could sing better than Nilsson - his throwaway delivery sometimes left me wondering why he bothered at all. Most Nilsson albums were a mixture of the two - opposite poles. Although he was a great (and well-respected) songwriter, he never achieved commercial success with his own songs. Fortunately, like Kooper, he was a great interpreter of other songwriters and his performances of Fred Neils's 'Everybody's Talkin' and Badfinger's 'Without You' are true classics. Just before his death, Kooper and Kaplan had decided to produce one of those tribute albums, where star performers sing one artistes songs. His death partway through the recording adds a poignancy to the album. All the songs are written by Nilsson and the acts include old friends and colleagues like Ringo Starr and Randy Newman along with The Roches, Joe Ely and Adrian Belew Kooper plays on several tracks and his own track is 'Salmon Falls'. This was never a song of Nilssons that I was very fond of so I was surprised that Kooper had recorded it but his performance is superb and he puts something into the song that I'd not noticed in Nilssons rendition.

6 The Landlord

Original Soundtrack

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