A surprise best-seller when it was first released, this mostly improvised pairing of singer/keyboardist/producer Al Kooper with two major guitar heroes of the day sounds fascinating all these years later precisely because of the distance of time--nobody makes records like this any more. The material runs the gamut from folk pop (covers of Donovan and Dylan), to blues ("Albert's Shuffle", "You Don't Love Me"), to heady jams ("His Holy Modal Majesty"), to big-band jazz ("Harvey's Tune").All the tunes make effective templates for the kind off-the-cuff music-making that in less capable hands might have resulted in simple noodling. In fact, although Bloomfield and Stills don't play together on any of the cuts (Bloomfield played on one side of the original LP, Stills on the other), all three principals get off lots of good licks and producer Kooper has some interesting tricks up his sleeve, as in the over-the-top phasing he lavishes on "You Don't Love Me". The only real disappointment here is that Stills, a far better singer than Kooper, never opens his mouth.
Tracks
1. Albert's Shuffle
2. Stop Album
3. Man's Temptation
4. His Holy Modal Majesty
5. Really
6. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
7. Season Of The Witch
8. You Don't Love Me
9. Harvey's Tune
LINK:
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2 comments:
a very nice record ! there is yet another session with Al Kooper, together with Shuggie Otis. What about this one ??
I've never been a big fan of Bloomfield or Kooper (Stills I liked} but I've always loved this album. I have it on vinyl but my record player is crap so thanks for this one!
Steve
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