Al Kooper

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Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt; February 5, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, record producer, and musician, known for joining and naming Blood, Sweat & Tears, although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity.^[1] Throughout much of the 1960s and 1970s he was a prolific studio musician, including playing organ on the Bob Dylan song "Like a Rolling Stone", French horn and piano on the Rolling Stones song "You Can't Always Get What You Want", and lead guitar on Rita Coolidge's "The Lady's Not for Sale". Kooper produced a number of one-off collaboration albums, such as the Super Session album that saw him work separately with guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills. In the 1970s Kooper was a successful manager and producer, recording Lynyrd Skynyrd's first three albums. He has had a successful solo career, writing music for film soundtracks, and has lectured in musical composition. Kooper was selected for induction for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.

Early life

Al Kooper was born into a Jewish family in

During the late 1980s, Kooper had his own dedicated keyboard studio room in the historic Sound Emporium recording studio in Nashville, next to Studio B.

Rock Bottom Remainders

Kooper's status as a published author enabled him to join (and act as musical director of) the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band made up of writers including Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Tan, and Matt Groening.

New Music For Old People

Kooper wrote a column called "New Music For Old People" for online publication The Morton Report from April 2014 to April 2015. This later led to a radio show by the same name, which began in October 2018, for Martha's Vineyard community radio station WVVY-LP. The first 11 editions of this can be found online.

Magazine writer

Kooper profiled

Kooperkast

Kooper has his own podcast called "Kooperkast" which started in late 2020. Hosted by webmaster Jon Sachs, Kooper discusses his various experiences in his more than 60 years in the music industry, including his solo albums, Bob Dylan, Lynyrd Skynyrd. He answers questions which can be submitted on the Kooperkast page on his website.^[11]

Honors, awards, and legacy

In May 2001, Kooper was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music in Boston.^[12] He taught songwriting and recording production there. He plays weekend concerts with his bands the ReKooperators and the Funky Faculty. In 2008, he participated in the production of the album Psalngs,^[13] the debut release of Canadian musician John Lefebvre.

Kooper was inducted into the

In 2023, Kooper was selected for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Award for Musical Excellence category.^[15]

Memoir

Kooper published a memoir, Backstage Passes: Rock 'n' Roll Life in the Sixties (1977), which was revised and published as

Discography

Solo

Studio albums

• I Stand Alone (February 1969)
• You Never Know Who Your Friends Are (October 1969)
• Easy Does It (September 1970)
• New York City (You're a Woman) (June 1971)
• A Possible Projection of the Future / Childhood's End (April 1972)
• Naked Songs (1973)
• Act Like Nothing's Wrong (January 1977)
• Championship Wrestling (featuring
  Jeff "Skunk" Baxter
  ) (1982)
• Rekooperation (June 1994)
• Black Coffee (August 2005)
• White Chocolate (2008)

Live albums

• Soul of a Man (February 1995)

Soundtracks

• The Landlord: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (with the Staple Singers and Lorraine Ellison)

Compilation albums

• Al's Big Deal - Unclaimed Freight
  (An Al Kooper Anthology) (1975)
• Rare and Well Done: The Greatest and Most Obscure Recordings 1964-2001 (2001)
• 50/50 (50 Tracks/50 Years) (2008)

Collaborations

• Super Session (with Stephen Stills and Mike Bloomfield) (1968)
• The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper (February 1969)
• Fillmore East: The Lost Concert Tapes 12/13/68 (with Mike Bloomfield, recorded 1968, issued April 2003)
• Kooper Session: Super Session Vol. 2 (with Shuggie Otis) (1969)
• Johnnie B. Live (with Johnnie Johnson) (1997)

Other appearances

Year	Artist	Album name	Role(s)
1965	Bob Dylan	Highway 61 Revisited	Piano, organ
1966		Blonde on Blonde	Organ, guitar
	Tom Rush	Take a Little Walk with Me	Electric guitar, celesta, liner notes
	The Blues Project	Live at The Cafe Au Go Go	Organ, vocals
		Projections	Keyboards, vocals
1967		The Blues Project Live at Town Hall	Keyboards
	The Who	The Who Sell Out	Organ
1968	Blood, Sweat and Tears	Child is Father to the Man	Organ, piano, vocals, ondioline
	The Jimi Hendrix Experience	Electric Ladyland	Piano
	Don Ellis	Autumn	Producer
1969		The New Don Ellis Band Goes Underground
	The Rolling Stones	Let It Bleed	piano, French horn and organ
	B.B. King	Live & Well	Piano
1970	Bob Dylan	Self Portrait	Guitar, horn, keyboards
		New Morning	Organ, piano, electric guitar, French horn
1971	The Who	Who's Next	Hammond organ
	Bo Diddley	Another Dimension	Keyboards, guitar
	Rita Coolidge	Nice Feelin'	Organ
1972		The Lady's Not for Sale	Lead guitar
1973	Betty Wright	Hard To Stop	Arranger, composer, keyboards, main personnel
	Frankie & Johnny[a]	The Sweetheart Sampler	Producer
	Atlanta Rhythm Section	Back Up Against the Wall	Synthesiser, ARP
	Lynyrd Skynyrd	Pronounced Leh-Nerd Skin-Nerd	Producer, engineer, bass, Mellotron, back-up harmony, mandolin, bass drum, organ
1974		Second Helping	Producer, backing vocals, piano
	Roger McGuinn	Peace on You	Guitar, piano, clavinet, arrangements, conductor
1975	Lynyrd Skynyrd	Nuthin' Fancy	Producer
	The Tubes	The Tubes
1979	Leo Sayer	Here	Organ, synthesizer, keyboards, performer
	4 on the Floor	4 on the Floor	Producer
1981	George Harrison	Somewhere in England	Keyboards, synthesisers
	Ringo Starr	Stop and Smell the Roses	Piano, electric guitar
1985	Bob Dylan	Empire Burlesque	Rhythm guitar
1986		Knocked Out Loaded	Keyboards
1989	Roy Orbison	Mystery Girl	Organ
1990	Bob Dylan	Under the Red Sky	Hammond organ, keyboards
1991	Dave Sharp	Hard Traveling	Guest artist
	Green On Red	Scapegoats	Producer
1996	Neil Diamond	Tennessee Moon	Hammond organ
1998	Phoebe Snow	I Can't Complain	Guest artist, Hammond organ
2000	Dan Penn	Blue Nite Lounge	Keyboards
2000	Peter Parcek	Evolution	Keyboards[17]
2003	Chris Catena	Freak Out	Guest artist, Keyboards
2010	Peter Parcek	The Mathematics of Love	Keyboards[17]

Sources

• Mike Bloomfield, Me and Big Joe, Re/Search Publications, 1999,
  ISBN 978-1-889307-05-3
  .
• Jan Mark Wolkin and Bill Keenom, Michael Bloomfield -- If You Love These Blues: An Oral History, Backbeat Books, 2000,
  ISBN 978-0-87930-617-5
  (with CD of unissued music).
• Ken Brooks, The Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper with Paul Butterfield and David Clayton Thomas, Agenda, 1999,
  ISBN 978-1-899882-90-8
  .
• Al Kooper, Backstage Passes: Rock 'n' Roll Life in the Sixties, Stein & Day, 1977,
  ISBN 978-0-8128-2171-0
  .
• Al Kooper, Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'n' Roll Survivor (updated ed.), Billboard Books, 1998,
  ISBN 978-0823082575
  .
• Al Kooper, Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards (new ed.), Hal Leonard, 2008,
  ISBN 978-0-87930-922-0
  .
• Ed Ward, Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero, Cherry Lane Books,1983,
  ISBN 978-0895241573
  .

Notes

1. ^ Al Kooper, Frank Ruby and John Paul Fetta.

References

1. ^ "Gary James' Interview With Al Kooper". www.classicbands.com. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
2. ISBN 1-84195-017-3
   .
3. ^ Wilentz, Sean (April 8, 2013). "Like a Rolling Stone: Rock legend Al Kooper opens up to Princeton's Sean Wilentz about making music with Bob Dylan, and more". Tabletmag.com. Nextbook Inc. Retrieved May 10, 2015.
4. ^ Friedman, Tyler, "Al Kooper: An Appreciation", Perfect Sound Forever, April 2007)
5. ISBN 978-1-4408-3514-8
   .
6. ^ Pennebaker, D.A. (2017). "MONTEREY POP Outtakes: Al Kooper". The Criterion Collection. New York. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
7. Reed International Books Ltd
   . p. 232. CN 5585.
8. ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 259. CN 5585.
9. ^ "Tom Rush's "Take a Little Walk with Me" Liner Notes". Richieunterberger.com. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2010.
10. ^ "Liner Notes for Appaloosa's "Appaloosa"". Richieunterberger.com. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
11. ^ "The Website of Al Kooper". alkooper.com. Retrieved October 21, 2022.
12. ^ "Elvin Jones, Al Kooper Receive Honorary Doctorates - Mixonline". Mixonline.com. October 8, 2001. Retrieved October 24, 2017.
13. ^ "The Music of John Lefebvre". Archived from the original on March 7, 2010. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
14. ^ Kreps, Daniel (October 29, 2008). "Kid Rock, Keith Richards Help Induct Crickets, Muscle Shoals into Musicians Hall of Fame". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 19, 2014.
15. ^ Graff, Gary (May 3, 2023). "Al Kooper Is 'Quite Surprised and Amused' by 2023 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction". Billboard. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
16. ^ "Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor". rowman.com.
17. ^ ^{a b} "Peter Parcek | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved April 5, 2021.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Al Kooper.

• Official Al Kooper website
• Al Kooper's Myspace page with Bio
• Extensive audio interview with Terry Gross on NPR's 'Fresh Air' program, January 3, 2004