Super Session Explained

Super Session
Type:studio
Artist:Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper & Stephen Stills
Cover:supersession.jpg
Recorded:May 1968
Genre:Blues, rock
Length:50:11
Label:Columbia
Producer:Al Kooper

Super Session is an album by singer and multi-instrumentalist Al Kooper, with guitarists Mike Bloomfield on the first half and Stephen Stills on the second half. Released by Columbia Records in 1968, it peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard 200 during a 37-week chart stay and was certified gold by RIAA.[1] [2]

Background

Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield had worked together on the sessions for Bob Dylan's ground-breaking classic Highway 61 Revisited, and played in the backing band for his controversial performance with electric instruments at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1965. Kooper had recently left Blood, Sweat & Tears after they recorded their debut album, and was now working as an A&R man for Columbia Records. Bloomfield was about to leave the Electric Flag, and at a loose end. Kooper telephoned Bloomfield to see if he was free to come down to the studio and jam; Bloomfield agreed, leaving Kooper to handle the arrangements.[3]

Kooper booked two days of studio time at CBS Columbia Square in Los Angeles in May 1968, and recruited keyboardist Barry Goldberg and bassist Harvey Brooks, both members of the Electric Flag, along with well-known session drummer "Fast" Eddie Hoh. On the first day, the quintet recorded a group of mostly blues-based instrumental tracks. It included the modal excursion "His Holy Modal Majesty", which was a tribute to modal jazz musician John Coltrane, who had died the previous year, and was also reminiscent of "East-West" from the second Butterfield Blues Band album. On the second day, with the tapes ready to roll, Bloomfield returned to his home in Mill Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area, saying he had been unable to sleep.[3]

Needing to have something to show for the second day of booked studio time, Kooper hastily called upon Stephen Stills, also in the process of leaving his band, Buffalo Springfield, to replace Bloomfield. Regrouping behind Stills, Kooper's session men cut mostly vocal tracks, including "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" from Highway 61 and a lengthy and atmospheric take of "Season of the Witch" by Donovan.[4] Although Harvey Brooks's closing "Harvey's Tune" includes overdubbed horns added in New York City while the album was being mixed, the album only cost $13,000 to complete.

The success of the album opened the door for the "supergroup" concept of the late 1960s and 1970s, as exemplified by the likes of Blind Faith and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Kooper forgave Bloomfield, and the two of them made several concert appearances after the album was released. The results of one of those became the album The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.[5]

Releases

Along with the stereo version, Super Session was released as a 4-channel quadraphonic version in the 1970s. The quadraphonic version was released on SQ matrix encoded vinyl and discrete 8-track cartridge tape. On April 8, 2003, Legacy Records reissued the album on compact disc with four bonus tracks, including both an outtake and a live track with Bloomfield, and two with the horn overdubs mixed out.

In the early 2000s, it was intended that it would be remixed for the new 5.1 channel version to be released on SACD. But in late 2004, Al Kooper commented:Both 5.1 remixed SACDs were finally released in 2014 by Audio Fidelity.

Personnel

Additional personnel

Charts

Chart (1968-69)! scope="col"
Peak
position
US Billboard Top LPs[6] 12
Canadian RPM 100 Albums[7] 15
Dutch Hitparade[8] 18
US Cash Box Top 100 Albums[9] 18
US Record World Album Chart[10] 14
Chart (1972)Peak
position
Spanish Album Charts[11] 25
Chart (2003)Peak
position
Italian Album Charts[12] 87

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Gold & Platinum. RIAA. May 24, 2021.
  2. Web site: Mike Bloomfield. Billboard.com. April 25, 2020.
  3. Web site: Biography: part 2 . Michael Bloomfield: An American Guitarist . May 24, 2021.
  4. Web site: MikeBloomfield.com . https://web.archive.org/web/20060328083250/http://www.mikebloomfield.com/supersession2003.htm . dead . 28 March 2006. May 24, 2021.
  5. http://www.suitelorraine.com/suitelorraine/Pages/supersession.html SuiteLorraine.com
  6. Stephen Stills. 2020-07-05. Billboard.
  7. Web site: Canada. Library and Archives. 2013-04-16. The RPM story. 2020-07-05. Bac-lac.gc.ca.
  8. Web site: Super Session . January 19, 2020. hitparade.ch.
  9. Web site: Cash Box Magazine: Music and coin machine magazine 1942 to 1996. July 7, 2020. Worldradiohistory.com.
  10. Web site: Record World Magazine: 1942 to 1982. July 5, 2020. Worldradiohistory.com.
  11. Book: Salaverri, Fernando. Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002. Fundación Autor-SGAE. 2005. 84-8048-639-2.
  12. Web site: Italian Chart Positions. Italycharts.com.