Bloomfield's solo attack is out of this world. His playing is fantastic, classy, melodic, tasteful... but he has the FIRE. What a MASTER. And... Buddy Miles... BUDDY MILES! The GROOVE!!!
Buddy was such an underappreciated drummer. He was more than just a drummer - he was a complete performer who could pretty much do it all. His arrangement of Neil Young's "Down By The River" is incredible.
For many of the major names playing Monterey, the debut of the Electric Flag was the highlight of the show. If Hendrix hadn't set his Strat alight and Pete Townshend hadn't smashed up his, maybe the editors of the movie would have found more time for this tremendous band, itself a group of comparatively lesser known players who could - and did - play circles around most of the rest. Though we've only ever seen 'Wine' and 'Over Loving You', hopefully there is some other footage locked away in a vault that will reveal itself while those of us who remember and care are still of this earth.
The Flag was the main reason I went to Monterrey. It was their first public performance and it blew me (and a bunch of other folks) away. I'd seen Bloomfield with Butterfield, Brooks with Dylan, but never seen Buddy Miles before.... who was this guy who just knocked us out? What a privilege!
The enthusiasm of the band is amazing. I smile from ear-to-ear every time I watch this video... Started following Mike after hearing him back Dylan and thinking, "Man, that cat can really play."
I saw these guys in the Spring of 1968, at Filmore West in San Francisco. The band was so charged, the lead singer so in touch with all of us. All with an amazing light show. When it ended, and everyone filed out at 2 am, my buddy & I slowly walked down Haight Street, looking in the windows of head shops, trying to re-assemble our blown psyches. It was a whole new chapter in this boy's life... 😊
This is funny. 1) One'd have thought that the sound-man could have been bothered to switch on the microphone for Bloomfield's & the bass-player's backing vocals... 2) Bloomfield is growing his hair to be like an "afro" - sort-of. Instead, Buddy Miles has his hair processed to be more... "white". 3) The song's actually called Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee, of course. 4) The upside down guy in the audience with his legs up in the air... wouldn't you like to find him beside you next time you go to a gig? Lol!
For me 66 - 67 Mike Bloomfield is the peak of blues guitar, even if those years probably burnt him out his fire roared so great in this period it's almost worth sacrificing career longevity
Bloomfield was such a great guitarist. Often overshadowed by his contemporaries Clapton, Page, Hendrix etc.. However Mike playing is exciting he's very rooted in blues but plays like a Jazz musician. He was unbeatable live.
SAW BUDDY WITH HIS BAND AT FILLMORE WEST 1970 WITH ALBERT COLLINS AND FLEETWOOD MAC BEFORE MAC WENT POP, ALL BLUES JAM FOR 2 BUCKS. THOSE WERE THE DAYS.
No joking! On December 7th. I will be 30 years Sober. I will send this to all my Friends in Recovery! Michael Still Lives. Pass that Bottle (of Water, please!)
On Michaels Les Paul, a guitar pick is visible at 0.07 & 2.20, stuck in the strings at the first fret on the bass side. Looks like he wasn't interested in using any open strings on the bass side.
As a young man listening to this for the first time my first thought was holy shit! who is this guitar player!? That was my introduction to mr Bloomfield
I just realized that I've owned this album for 50 years. What an amazing thing it was playing it for the first time loud on my stepmothers "hi-fi".I made all my friends listen to it but I think it meant the most to me. I still love it. My all-time favorite along with Pet Sounds.
Judging from the Audience I'd say The Flag WON them over BIG time.. No need to mention the 2 Big Names but what a force to be reckoned with had they stayed together..
Saw the writing credits on the internet attributed to "Traditional-Mike Bloomfield". Pretty much heard the exact song done by a 1949-ish R&B Jump Band. Probably one of those songs that just was out there for general use.
Absolutely. They are both so talented and I think there is something to learn from every guitar player. Personally I find Michael is a more technical blues player with obvious jazz influences. He knew so much about tone as you can hear him using the dominant and octaves very frequently. I might as well ask since I haven't found it, but does anyone have a tab of this song?
Damon Bell it's just (Really fast) blues in A no tab needed. For the chords he uses the highest 4 strings and turns the tone down on the neck Pickup. For the solo he uses E,D and A pentatonics with "jazz notes" mixed in sparaticlly. For the solo just turn the the neck pickup all the way to 10. The ending is just bloomfield soloing in high A (17th fret) and ending on an A6. Keep in mind his string gauge is weird, he uses normal 10's on the highest 3 strings and then brings the gauge down considerably on thicker Strings, This makes it kind of hard to pick out his licks. Hope this helped.
Yes Electric Flag is great and too often overlooked. That point has been made, but what has not been commented on is the larger scene in which they were part of. In particular, at 1:27, the dude on his head walking. I have to wonder just how long that lasted and in LSD25 was involved.
tradicional upravený a aranžovaný Bloomfieldom predstavuje zaverečnú skladbu debutového albumu skupiny. Žial už traja bývalí členovia skupiny nie sú medzi živými. Ako prvý Bloomfield od 15. februara 1981, Herbie Rich od 12. mája 2004 a Miles od 26. februara 2008.
Yes, most likely. I play jazz and on some of my guitars, I experience feedback on the low E and A strings when these strings aren't picked. I use a pick to dampen these strings so they don't vibrate and feedback. Bloomfield played really loud, and I think he most likely had feedback problems. He also plays certain chords high up on the neck and using the bottom 3 or bottom 4 strings. These could easily cause vibration and feedback of the top 2 or 3 strings.
This music festival, took place very few months after I graduated from High School at age 17. Summer of 1967. He (Michael Bloomfield) was my first guitar 'hero', and he was with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band shortly before this. Too bad he committed suicide years later...
