Named one of the world’s great blues-rock guitarists by Rolling Stone, Mike Bloomfield (1943-1981) remains beloved by fans forty years after his untimely death. Taking readers backstage, onstage, and into the recording studio with this legendary virtuoso, David Dann tells the riveting stories behind Bloomfield’s work in the seminal Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the mesmerizing Electric Flag, as well as on the Super Session album with Al Kooper and Stephen Stills, Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, and soundtrack work with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson.
In vivid chapters drawn from meticulous research, including more than seventy interviews with the musician’s friends, relatives, and band members, music historian David Dann brings to life Bloomfield’s worlds, from his comfortable upbringing in a Jewish family on Chicago’s North Shore to the gritty taverns and raucous nightclubs where this self-taught guitarist helped transform the sound of contemporary blues and rock music. With scenes that are as electrifying as Bloomfield’s solos, this is the story of a life lived at full volume.
David Dann is a commercial artist, music historian, writer, and amateur musician who worked for many years in the news industry, including serving as copublisher of an award-winning Catskills weekly. Most recently, he was editor of Artenol, a radical art journal described by the New York Times as “a cross between The New Republic and Mad Magazine.” He has produced radio and video documentaries of Michael Bloomfield and served as a consultant to Sony/Legacy on their recent Bloomfield box set.
An important and compelling book about an important and compelling artist. Bloomfield’s peers—Hendrix, Clapton, Joplin, the Rolling Stones, and of course Dylan—have had their lives chronicled in exhaustive detail, and this biography is long overdue. Dann's research is excellent, and the writing strong and engaging, tracing Bloomfield's journey and telling his story with skill and understanding.
Charlie Musselwhite
I love this book. It’s the best thing I’ve read about Mike Bloomfield and about the whole era.
Jimmy Vivino
Michael Bloomfield was a heart-to-hand guitar player who was able to take everything he learned from B. B. King, Hubert Sumlin, and everyone else he ever encountered—including the piano style of Little Brother Montgomery—and turn it all inside out and make it his own. He is still the well I draw from for inspiration in the blues, and I drink from it daily. Written from heart to hand just like Bloomfield played his music, Guitar King is a must-read book for all guitar players and music fans alike. It should be the final word on Michael Bloomfield’s journey and his legacy.
Michael Simmons
David Dann has restored bluesman Michael Bloomfield’s premier place in the pantheon as the very first American rock guitar god. The author brings the excitement of Michael’s searing licks to the written word and paints a poignant portrait of a man who was unequipped for and uninterested in playing the games that the entertainment-industrial complex demands of artists. This soulful bio reminds us of one man’s dedication to excellence at the expense of fame and fortune.
