This page is devoted to some of the "even more special than the rest of our very special" concerts" -- ones for which we want provide you even more information, hoping you'll decide to join us for them

We've had some big name performers in the short life of our concert series, and AL KOOPER is the newest one in that special group.

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FROM: AllMusic.com

Al Kooper, by rights, should be regarded as one of the giants of '60s rock, not far behind the likes of Bob Dylan and Paul Simon in importance. In addition to co-writing one classic mid-'60s pop-rock song, "This Diamond Ring" (though it was written as an R&B number), he was a very audible sessionman on some of the most important records of mid-decade, including Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone." Kooper also joined and led, and then lost two major groups, the Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears. He played on two classic blues-rock albums in conjunction with his friend Mike Bloomfield. As a producer at Columbia, he signed the British invasion act the Zombies just in time for them to complete the best LP in their entire history; and still later, Kooper discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd and produced their best work. Instead, in terms of public recognition, Kooper has been relegated to second-rank status, somewhere midway between John Mayall and Steve Winwood. Apart from the fact that he's made, and continues to make great music, it's the public's loss that he's not better respected outside the ranks of his fellow musicians.

Kooper turned professional in 1959, joining the line-up of the Royal Teens ("Short Shorts," "Believe Me") as a guitarist. By the early '60s, he'd begun writing songs, and among his early efforts was "I Must Be Seeing Things," which was a hit for Gene Pitney.

Kooper's biggest hit as a songwriter came in late 1964, with a song that he co-authored with Bob Brass and Irwin Levine called "This Diamond Ring" -- they'd written it with the Drifters in mind, but the legendary R&B group passed, and it ended up in the hands of Liberty Records producer Snuff Garrett. He made it the first song to be cut by a new group called Gary Lewis & the Playboys. The record entered the charts late in 1964 and spent the early weeks of 1965 in the number one spot. The recording, although not to Kooper's liking compared to what he'd visualized for the Drifters, started a string of almost unbelievably fortuitous events in his life and career. In those days, he was trying to make a big part of his living as a session guitarist, and when a friend, producer Tom Wilson, invited him to observe at a Bob Dylan recording session that spring, he brought his instrument along with him in the hope that something might happen. When they needed a second keyboard player for the organ on "Like a Rolling Stone," Kooper bluffed his way to the spot. Dylan loved the part that Kooper improvised and boosted it in the mix.

Kooper later played as part of the band that backed Dylan when he introduced electric music to the Newport Folk Festival in 1965, and was on the Blonde on Blonde album as well. That same year, Kooper was invited by Wilson to sit in on keyboards for an audition tape by a newly-formed New York blues-rock outfit called the Blues Project, and was asked to join the group. He eventually became one of the lead singers, and three massively important and critically acclaimed albums coincided with his year-long stay. By the time he'd exited the Blues Project, Kooper was ready to start a band with a jazz and R&B sound that he had in mind -- one with a serious horn section -- and the result was Blood, Sweat & Tears. Signed to Columbia Records in late 1967, they cut a debut album that was made up almost entirely of Al Kooper songs, and which set the music pages and their authors afire with enthusiasm -- The Child Is Father to the Man, as their debut record was titled, was one of the most important and daring albums of the '60s, as essential as any long-player ever cut by the Beatles or the Rolling Stones.

Unfortunately, Blood, Sweat & Tears generated more press than sales -- although that debut album did ride the low reaches of the charts for almost a year -- and tensions within the group and pressure from the record company, which wanted a more commercial sound that would sell more records, led to Kooper's exit from the band. Now out of his second successful group in two years, Kooper returned to playing sessions and turned up on records by Jimi Hendrix, the Who, and the Rolling Stones ("You Can't Always Get What You Want"). He also got a job at Columbia Records -- a runner-up prize for having been forced out of Blood, Sweat & Tears (which, by then, was making a fortune for the label with a retooled sound and line-up) -- as a producer. He engineered a concert recording by Simon & Garfunkel that could have been their first official live album. More important was a pair of albums that Kooper cut with his longtime friend, guitarist Michael Bloomfield. Those records, Super Session, cut with Stephen Stills, and The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper were among Columbia's best-selling LPs of the period; they were the kind of albums that, coupled with The Child Is Father to the Man, helped put Columbia Records on the cutting edge of popular music.

Kooper's other major contribution during his tenure at Columbia was signing the Zombies, a British Invasion-era band that hadn't charted a single in two years, for one album. The group seemed to be on their last legs and were, in fact, about to break up, but Columbia got one classic album (Odessey & Oracle) and a monster hit single ("Time of the Season") from the deal. The least prominent of Kooper's projects during this era, ironically enough, was his solo album I Stand Alone, on which he cut new versions of songs he'd written or been associated with over the previous decade. He spread himself too thin in making the record, and the album failed to sell in serious numbers. A follow up record, Kooper Session, was similarly ignored despite the presence of blues guitar prodigy Shuggie Otis, but Kooper remained one of the most successful names in rock music.

During the early '70s, Kooper had his own label, Sounds of the South, set up through MCA -- his big discovery was Lynyrd Skynyrd. He produced their first three albums, whose sales eventually numbered in the millions. Kooper also produced records by the Tubes, B.B. King, Nils Lofgren, and Joe Ely, among many others, during the '70s, and he found time during that decade to write what remains the best book ever written about rock & roll from an insider's perspective, Backstage Passes. Kooper's recording activity slackened off in the 1980s, although he performed with Dylan, Tom Petty, and Joe Walsh, and did some soundtrack work in television and films. During the 1990s, after a more-than-20-year hiatus, he returned to recording his own sound with ReKooperation, an instrumental album released by the MusicMasters label, a company much more closely associated with jazz and classical than rock.

Equally important were a handful of live gigs by principal members of the original Blood, Sweat & Tears, their first shows in 25 years. These performances led to a series of birthday shows at New York's Bottom Line in 1994, which yielded the double-CD concert recording Soul of a Man. Kooper covered most of his own music history with the key members of the original Blood, Sweat & Tears and the definitive Blues Project line-up (who had gotten back together every so often, beginning in the early '70s). Kooper pulled together a unified sound, built around soul, jazz, and gospel influences, despite the varied personnel involved, in his most accomplished solo project ever. Anyone counting the records on which Al Kooper has played a key role -- as songwriter, singer, keyboardman, guitarist, or producer -- would come up with tens of millions of albums and singles sold, and a lot of radio airtime. His career recalls that of Steve Winwood in some respects, though he's never had a solo hit. Even in the '90s, however, Kooper remains a formidable performing talent, and one of the most inspired and intelligent people in rock music.


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If you've listened to ANY radio in the past 45 years, you've heard a lot more of Al Kooper than you realize. Sit back and follow the amazing career of the man who will perform in solo concert his first San Diego appearance in over 30 years on January 14 for AcousticMusicSanDiego.com.

To whet your interest, let me mention but a few of the highlights:
· The organ - arguably the signature sound on this song - on Dylans Like A Rolling Stone was Kooper;
· Founder, primary song writer and lead vocalist for the first album by Blood, Sweat & Tears
· Discovered and produced Lynyrd Skynyrd

OK, now for some of the details.

A professional musician since his early teens, Al Kooper joined The Royal Teens, who had a Top 5 hit with the tune novelty "Short Shorts" (Who wears short shorts?) in 1958. From that point on, he was playing guitar on an untold number of New York City recording sessions, which inspired him to learn how to read and write music. In addition to session work, he apprenticed as an audio engineer. Kooper also made his first foray into songwriting, co-writing "This Diamond Ring". Written as a soul ballad and intended for The Drifters, it instead became the vehicle which launched the musical career of one of Jerry's Kids - one of his BIRTH kids - Gary Lewis, and his band The Playboys.

Not long afterward, Al was invited to watch a Bob Dylan recording session. By the end of the afternoon, Kooper had found his way to the organ in the studio and played the signature riff on the song that, arguably, took Dylan from Folk icon to ROCK GOD status.

In addition to numerous session with Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and many others, the mid-60s saw Kooper join The Blues Project and then found BS&T. Super Session, with Steve Stills and Mike Bloomfield, soon followed, as did sessions with Hendrix (Electric Ladyland), The Rolling Stones (You Can't Always Get What You Want), The Who (Who Sell Out) and others as well as solo albums.

In the early 70s, Kooper discovered Lynyrd Skynyrd and formed his own label to put out their records, the first three of which he produced. His career continued in ways that would suggest that Mr. Kooper has more angels on his shoulder than any pin head could ever hold! He wrote an autobiography, Backstage Passes, that was revised 20 years later and retitled "Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards". In the interim, he continued producing, playing and arranging, including projects with George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

In 1980, he produced a record with country rocker Joe Ely, and then the next year toured with Dylan and the reunited Blues Project, as well as releasing a new solo album.

As the West Coast Director of A&R for PolyGram Records, he was instrumental in signing Richard Thompson. He also met producer/director Michael Mann (Miami Vice), who hired Kooper to score his Crime Story TV series. Kooper wrote original music and chose source music for each episode from his vast record collection, giving the show it's 60s noir feel. He also did music for the Emmy Award-winning miniseries, The Drug Wars, as well as producing some of the soundtrack for the John Waters film "Cry Baby".

In the latter part of the 80's, Kooper took a vacation from the music business, but returned in 1991, playing keyboards & guitar as a member of Joe Walsh's Ordinary Average Guy tour. That fall, he was the musical director for the Ray Charles 50th Anniversary TV special. In 1992, he became music director for the Rock Bottom Remainders, a touring musical assembly of authors, including Dave Barry, Stephen King, Dave Marsh, Amy Tan, Barbara Kingsolver, Matt Groening and others.

"It was hilarious and wonderful," he laughs. "They are terrific people. It was great to meet them and I've become close friends with many of them. We ended up putting on a very entertaining show. I think it was a nice change of pace for them, too."

The 90s included the Bob Dylan 30th Anniversary Tribute at Madison Square Garden, as well as him joining Dylan in England in the summer of '96 at the Prince's Trust concert in Hyde Park. Kooper also played organ for the Sunday morning Gospel set at Woodstock II. Ironically, he was asked to appear at the original Woodstock, but blew it off.

In early 1994, Kooper gathered musicians from his various albums of the previous 30 years together for a series of concerts held over three consecutive nights, to celebrate his 50th birthday. The recordings from these shows resulted in a magnificant double CD, Soul Of A Man, a live career retrospective.

Seemingly as tireless as the Energizer bunny, Kooper even answers all his fan e-mail from his website. "It's great to be one-on-one with my supporters and answer any questions they may have on a daily basis!," he says. A Kooper hologram also appeared on the Bob Dylan CD-ROM, "Highway 61 Interactive," explaining how the two met and recorded "Like A Rolling Stone."

In an issue devoted to The 500 Greatest Recordings of All Time, Rolling Stone magazine included 12 albums with significant particiption by Al Kooper. He scores films and works almost daily in his home studio. He relocated to Boston in the fall of '97 to teach at the Berklee School Of Music, which has subsequently bestowed upon him a Doctorate of Music.

His teaching was cut short prematurely in 2001, when a debilitating condition permanently robbed him of two-thirds of his sight. With concerts and lecture appearances, Al is "finally getting to do a whole bunch of things I always wanted to do, but never actually got around to."

What brings him to San Diego after all these years? The simple fact that someone contacted him and asked if he'd consider, on his next trip to the West Coast, playing a gig here. The timing was impeccable: Kooper comes west once a year, in January, and was actually working on his travel schedule at the time he was contacted by Carey Driscoll, who figured he had nothing to lose by asking Al if he'd consider playing for his series, AcousticMusicSanDiego.com

A deal was struck, and Kooper's January 14 concert will be the first of the year for the series that, since its late 2003 beginnings, has presented well over 60 concerts, including by such well-known performers as John McEuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band), David Wilcox, Eric Andersen, and Billy Joe Shaver - as well as equally talented but lesser known musicians. Among the 2005 bookings for the series is mandolin wizard Mike Marshall, with his group Choro Famoso (January 22), guitar masters Beppe Gambetta & Dan Crary (February 13) and the return engagement of many performers from the first 18 months.