Published on Nov 17, 1998
One of the sad legacies of the blues is that many of its finest
players’ names are forgotten due to the passage of time. Few
recordings may exist of these artists, and less attention is paid
to the body of recordings they do have as the years after their
deaths pass.
Up until now, one of those names was Mike Bloomfield. Some may
remember him for his appearances with Bob Dylan, others may recall
his stints with such bands as the Paul Butterfield Blues Band or
the Electric Flag. Regrettably, most people would probably respond,
“Mike who?”
Pulled from the vaults, the latest posthumous release from
Bloomfield (who died in 1981),
Live At The Old Waldorf puts Bloomfield in his natural
setting – on stage, in front of a hometown audience during a
six-month residence. The natural, unpressured setting seemed to be
what unlocked the genie from the bottle for Bloomfield, as this
disc contains some great blues work, even if the guitar work isn’t
always on fire as I would have expected.
Most of the selections contained on this disc came from
Bloomfield’s 1976-1977 appearances at The Waldorf, the only
exception being the opening track “Sweet Little Angel / Jelly
Jelly,” which was recorded in 1974 for a radio broadcast.
Ironically, this song is perhaps the best way to open this
collection, as Bloomfield and his band (featuring bassist Roger
“Jelly Roll” Troy on lead vocals) are firing on all cylinders,
bringing a refreshingly modern feel to the classic blues groove.
Bloomfields’s guitar playing could well be at its best on this
medley – by no means a damning of his work through the rest of the
album, but a tough measuring stick to live up to.
The remainder of
Live At The Old Waldorf features numerous songs written by
rhythm guitarist and occasional lead vocalist Nick Gravenites. Of
these originals, “Buried Alive In The Blues” stands out as one I
would have sworn came from an earlier time period, it’s that close
to the bone groove-wise. Other Gravenites originals like “Bad Luck
Baby” and “Dancin’ Fool” (predating Frank Zappa’s classic of the
same name) are good, but I’d be hard-pressed to say that they’re in
the same league as “Buried Alive In The Blues”.
There are occasional throwbacks to some of the legends of the
scene that Bloomfield and crew tackle, such as a moving version of
Elmore James’s “The Sky Is Cryin'”. The funny thing is that no
matter if Bloomfield is taking on a “new” song (for 1977’s
standards) or giving life to an old classic, he is able to merge a
respect for the “old school” of blues with a tone that let you know
this was blues for the modern day. This is why Bloomfield was
successful in his time, and why he is primed for rediscovery today,
17 years after his death.
My biggest complaint of this disc is its overall brevity.
Producer Norman Dayron said he chose those performances that stood
out among all others from the residency at The Waldorf; this being
said, I find it difficult to believe that only eight quality songs
from that time period were worthy of release, and that the album
had to be fleshed out with a stellar 1974 performance. I would have
liked to have heard much more from these sessions, even if it might
not have been the most magical – so long as it wasn’t sloppy,
haphazard playing.
And while these performances are quite good, I do kind of wish
that Bloomfield had shed all abandon and just ripped into his Les
Paul or Telecaster. Sure, that might not have been keeping with the
old feeling of the blues (and would have tipped the hat to the
early days of bands like Led Zeppelin), but there is a nagging
feeling telling me that Bloomfield was even a better guitarist than
these nine songs hint at.
Live At The Old Waldorf is a solid collection of tracks from
one of America’s forgotten blues artists, and is a fine place to
start one’s education of Bloomfield and his guitar work. There is
another retrospective of Bloomfield presently out on the market;
anyone who wants to get more of a general taste of Bloomfield would
be wise to check this set out as well.