AL KOOPER Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt in February 5, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York) got his first break when he joined The Royal Teens. They had had a hit Short Shorts (58) before his participation. After that Al got more breaks as a studio musician (guitar) and a song-writer, but the releases didnt do well. Between 60 and 65, Kooper joined forces with Bob Brass and Irwin Levine. Results began to show, culminating in early 65 with This Diamong Ring - a number one hit for Gary Lewis & The Playboys. Some state Als most important role in rock music history was to weasel himself in the studio at the right time, to arrange and play the Hammond part in Bob Dylans Like A Rolling Stone in 65. He played on stage with Bob that year too. Al joined The Blues Project which recorded some well-respected albums in 66 - 68. The man kept himself busy. He formed Blood, Sweat & Tears in 67, only to be kicked out after the first album. He participated Super Session album with Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills in 68. He also managed to play on Jimi Hendrix great double album Electric Ladyland in 68, and on Let It Bleed (69) by The Rolling Stones Besides his visible solo career, Al continued to play on famous albums and produce some them as well. He discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd, produced and performed on their early albums. Kooper has played with Ringo, George and Paul on All Those Years Ago (released in 81). Kooper has been performing live and recording all the way up till today. “That’s my kind of love” by Anastasia is a melodic semi rocker. The chord progression has some nice changes. With a better quality recording this could have been a small hit. The backing has some future members of Jay & The Americans. Here is the original version from 1960: https://youtube/watch?v=_uLoeESp4HQ 1963: Tommy Sands singing a pop song A side “A young man’ fancy”, written by Kooper-Levine-Brass: https://youtube/watch?v=MBLTaUfg2VA Gary Criss recorded this novelty pop “Little Joe” as B side, written by Kooper-Levine-Brass: https://youtube/watch?v=K6ZQLBGj3W0 “It’s raining outside”, an A side written by Al Kooper, sung by Pat Lundy, with a nice Motown groove: https://youtube/watch?v=rpcv9MpwS4E 1964: The original version of “This diamond ring” by Sammy Ambrose: https://youtube/watch?v=C0f_Q88v4j8 And the hit version by Gary Lewis & The Playboys (with Wrecking Crew), arranged by Leon Russell: https://youtube/watch?v=QvNPNIuFl1g “Hawaii” a 1964 B side, sang by Gene Pitney, written by Kooper-Levine-Brass team: https://youtube/watch?v=_6DzFD0wa8Q 1965: Freddy Cannon B side “The old rag man”, co written by Kooper and Levine: https://youtube/watch?v=AoJzE_Lu7Jw The Fenmen (with the help of London session musicians, including Jimmy Page) singing a Kooper-Levine song “I’ve got everything you need” as a Decca label A side: https://youtube/watch?v=_vBUAG6kykE 1966: Al Kooper doing a guitar instrumental (also as an arranger) on a Phil Ochs song “Changes” in 1966: discogs/Al-Kooper-Changes/release/4889748 Kooper playing keyboards on this 1966 A side by Simon & Garfunkel, “I am a rock”: https://youtube/watch?v=JKlSVNxLB-A The Blues Project singing “I can’t keep from crying” in 1966, Kooper playing keyboards and arranging on this A side: https://youtube/watch?v=DWByXh0hAoQ 1967: The Who released as B side to “I can see for miles”, this song, “Mary Anne with the shaky hands”, this is the US version which has Al Kooper playing organ: https://youtube/watch?v=drR0dTdwEac 1968: “Something goin’ on”, written and sang by Al Kooper, done with Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1968 on their first album: https://youtube/watch?v=RER7v5XqDWQ “Long haired boy”, written and performed by Tim Rose, produced by Kooper: https://youtube/watch?v=5l7Wv7MuDJM 1969: Al Kooper playing piano, horns and organ on “You can’t always get what you want”, a classic Rolling Stones B side: https://youtube/watch?v=XIX0ZDqDljA 1973: From the first album by Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Mississippi kid”, written by Kooper-Robert Burns-Ron Van Zant, Kooper plays mandolin and drums : https://youtube/watch?v=v_jMBh7GCYo 1981: George Harrison released his John Lennon tribute song “All those years ago”, with the help of Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and Al Kooper on electric piano: https://youtube/watch?v=85Smw33PKJA 1989: Kooper played organ on “In the real world”, one of the many great songs in the Roy Orbison album “Mystery girl”: https://youtube/watch?v=rlxAHAm6zJ4 Sorry, no links to Bob Dylan classics, since it seems YouTube has been cleaned out of the Dylan originals.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 07:31:09 +0000
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