Michael Bloomfield performing at the Rivoli Theater, Indianopolis, in 1973. Photo courtesy Steve Rusin
BLOOMFIELD HISTORY
Biography
Career chronology
Recordings
Guitars
Extras
Videos
CELEBRATING A
GREAT AMERICAN
GUITARIST
This site is dedicated to the life and work of the pioneering blues and rock guitarist Michael Bloomfield. It began in 2007 as an expanded discography of Bloomfield's many recording projects, but quickly evolved to include many other aspects of Bloomfield's remarkable career. With the publishing of Guitar King: Michael
Bloomfield's Life in the Blues by David Dann, the site has been reconfigured to serve as an appendix to that extensive biography of the legendary guitarist. A more complete history of the life, music and artistry of Michael Bloomfield can be found in the book, which is now available from independent bookstores and online retailers.
SITE MISSION
Bloomfield and bassist John Kahn perfrom at San Jose State University in 1970. Wayne Salvatore photo
THE BOOK
GUITAR KING: MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD'S LIFE IN THE BLUES
By David Dann
University of Texas Press | $39.95
the Super Session album with Al Kooper and Stephen Stills, Bob Dylan’s "Highway 61 
David DannRevisited," 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 music, this is the story of a life lived at full volume.
WHAT THEY'RE SAYING about Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues:
"I love this book. It's the best thing I've read about Mike Bloomfield and about the whole era."
– Charlie Musselwhite, Grammy Award-winning blues harp player and band leader
"Guitar Player 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."
– Jimmy Vivino, music director on Conan, leader of Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band
"David Dann has restored bluesman Michael Bloomfield's premier place in the pantheon as the very first American rock guitar god."
– Michael Simmons, contributor to MOJO, author of liner notes for Michael Bloomfield: From His Head to His Heart to His Hands
"An important and compelling book about an important and compelling artist ... this biography is long overdue."
– Elijah Wald, author of Escaping the Delta and Dylan Goes Electric
"Guitar King is what old-timers in the book trade call a doorstop or widowmaker, and it’s packed with enough info to make a blues nerd giddy with joy."
– Wall Street Journal
"[Guitar King] is a biography that puts Bloomfield back into his rightful place on the roster of rock and blues greats. The result is a tremendous and magnificent work."
– CounterPunch
"In this exhaustive, detailed doorstopper of a tome, Dann tells the troubled player’s story through research and more than 70 interviews with friends, relatives and band mates, but explores seemingly every nook and cranny of his music."
– Houston Press
MICHAEL BLOOMFIELD | AN AMERICAN GUITARIST
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