{"id":6935,"date":"2025-04-15T12:56:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-15T11:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=6935"},"modified":"2025-04-15T12:56:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-15T11:56:38","slug":"issue-162-the-blues-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/?p=6935","title":{"rendered":"Issue #162 \u2013 The Blues Project"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>SE\u00c1N CASEY pens a two-part chronicle of AL KOOPER and MIKE BLOOMFIELD across issues #162 and #163. In this short extract, we look at Kooper&#8217;s involvement in THE BLUES PROJECT<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Blues Project - Live Television 1967 (ENHANCED VIDEO)\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JHYBso1A-pE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">Soon after Al Kooper&#8217;s infamous stroke-of-luck session with Dylan \u2013 a story recreated in James Mangold&#8217;s recent biopic <i>A Complete Unknown<\/i> and one that Kooper fervently objects to being asked about \u2013 he joined The Blues Project, who were auditioning at Columbia Records.<\/p>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">Prior to full membership, Kooper played piano on a version of Eric Andersen\u2019s timeless &#8216;Violets Of Dawn&#8217;, the B-side to their stomping debut single \u2018Back Door Man\u2019, which was issued by Verve after Columbia declined.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">Formed in Greenwich Village as The Danny Kalb Quartet in 1964, flanking the eponymous leader was a revolving roster of players \u2013 a trend reflective of the scene\u2019s churn \u2013 including bassist Andy Kulberg, drummer Roy Blumenfeld, and guitarists Steve Katz and Artie Traum. Singer Tommy Flanders joined a year later when they were rechristened The Blues Project after an Elektra compilation Kalb had contributed to.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">Rock \u2019n\u2019 roller Kooper was given a crash-course in the blues by his new bandmates: BB King, Muddy Waters, Howlin\u2019 Wolf and Blind Willie Johnson. It was an education that served him well. \u201cDanny would play me these treasures for hours on the guitar and phonograph until he was satisfied that the sound had been strummed into my head permanently.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Blues Project - Live At The Caf\u00e9 Au Go Go (1966)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLRQKT-Cu2_2SnqeXEYOW1PKngiO-MrvjH\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">They set to work creating a repertoire to pitch to the clubs and basket houses, and Kooper\u2019s first performance came in November \u201965 when they shared the stage with comedian Richard Pryor. Two weeks later they opened for Chuck Berry at The Village Theatre, and, following a week-long residency at The Caf\u00e9 Au Go Go, they amassed a cult following, embodying the polarising evolution of the Village scene from its purist (folk) roots to a more commercial, electric movement. Within itself, the band represented a tug of war for a new scene\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">After former-Columbia producer Tom Wilson signed them to Verve, his new boss Jerry Schoenbaum stuck a deal with the club\u2019s owner Howard Solomon to record a live Thanksgiving show featuring blues greats John Lee Hooker and Muddy Waters, alongside their new signing, resulting in the Project\u2019s first LP <i>Live At The Cafe Au Go Go<\/i>. \u201cThey [Verve] didn\u2019t know whether we were Paul Revere &amp; The Raiders or The Mothers Of Invention,\u201d Kooper later reflected. \u201cNeither did we.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">Though far from earth-shattering, it did enough to convince the label that the group were worthy of investment, and that winter \u2013 ahead of its release in March \u201966 \u2013 they were whisked off to perform throughout Massachusetts, Connecticut and California, before returning to New York (including a Nashville <i>sojourn<\/i> by Kooper to perform on Dylan\u2019s <i>Blonde On Blonde<\/i>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">The first of a series of line-up changes took place when Flanders quit. \u201cHe stayed in LA. He wound up in one of those Jack Nicholson teenage exploitation movies,\u201d Katz told Don Wilcock of Flanders\u2019 bit-part in \u201968\u2019s <i>Psych Out<\/i>. \u201cHe was like a co-star, which was perfect for him. I mean he just didn\u2019t fit in with the rest of us, but the problem was there was no great singer. Kooper tried, and so did Danny.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Blues Project - Projections (1966)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/videoseries?list=PLCCF5F612C7F6E73F\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">Even so, they forged ahead, recording new material in New York and LA, including an ill-fated (and unreleased) session with arranger Jack Nitzsche. The recordings formed the basis of their second album <i>Projections<\/i>, by which time Kooper had taken centre stage, shaping \u2013 along with Katz \u2013 a broader blues-blend incorporating baroque-folk, garage and jazz. They adapted arrangements by others, as well as constructing their own compositions, including Kooper\u2019s mesmeric \u2018Flute Thing\u2019 (later sampled by The Beastie Boys), \u2018Fly Away\u2019 and Katz\u2019s \u2018Steve\u2019s Song\u2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">Despite studio time being dependent on the punctuality of The Animals \u2013 another recent signing of Wilson\u2019s \u2013 it sold well, landing at #52 on the <i>Billboard<\/i> charts, boosted by relentless gigging, including a late-night jam with Bloomfield in July \u201966. With sales three times that of their debut, the band\u2019s star was ascending, and they began rubbing shoulders with heavy hitters on both sides of the Atlantic, sharing stage and screen with Cream, Canned Heat, Aretha Franklin, Jefferson Airplane and The Who. But as their reputation grew, conflict intensified over their creative direction. Specifically brass.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Blues Project - A Flute Thing - 06-18-1967 - Monterey Pop Festival - Monterey, Ca\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1oIE95Ro9Ms?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">\u201cI wanted horns, and they didn&#8217;t want horns, and it got to the point where I was bringing all this material in, and it was just being turned away. It was very frustrating. So, I left, semi-amicable, later amicably,\u201d Kooper said in \u201968.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"yiv4207155617p3\">\u201cWell, that kind of was it,\u201d Kalb concurred in 2018. \u201cExcept that I also think Al wanted full control. A horn section would have changed the music from a band that was taking chances with genres to a certain kind of Memphis horn-based band. I think Al was looking that way, and I think he thought he could get a lot more money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>To read the full article order <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverbackpublishing.rocks\/product\/shindig-162\/\">issue #162<\/a>. Actually, just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silverbackpublishing.rocks\/product\/unlock-the-world-of-shindig-subscribe-today-and-access-every-issue-ever-published\/\">subscribe<\/a>. Not only will you get the second part, you&#8217;ll be signing up for so much more.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<span class=\"synved-social-container synved-social-container-share\"><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F6935&amp;t=Issue%20%23162%20%E2%80%93%20The%20Blues%20Project&amp;s=100&amp;p[url]=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F6935&amp;p[images][0]=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2025%2F04%2FBP.jpg&amp;p[title]=Issue%20%23162%20%E2%80%93%20The%20Blues%20Project\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/share?url=https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F6935&amp;text=New%20post%20on%20our%20site\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Issue%20%23162%20%E2%80%93%20The%20Blues%20Project&amp;body=New%20post%20on%20our%20site:%20https%3A%2F%2Fshindig-magazine.com%2Findex.php%3Frest_route%3D%252Fwp%252Fv2%252Fposts%252F6935\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SE\u00c1N CASEY pens a two-part chronicle of AL KOOPER and MIKE BLOOMFIELD across issues #162 and #163. In this short extract, we look at Kooper&#8217;s involvement in THE BLUES PROJECT Soon after Al Kooper&#8217;s infamous stroke-of-luck session with Dylan \u2013 a story recreated in James Mangold&#8217;s recent biopic A Complete Unknown and one that Kooper [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6936,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1009,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-video","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","category-music-videos","post_format-post-format-video"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6935"}],"version-history":[{"count":-4,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shindig-magazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}