Mike Bloomfield, an oft-unheralded icon of blues guitar, was born on this day, 1943. To celebrate, we thought we'd dig out an amazing clip of Bloomfield performing "Drinkin' Wine" with The Electric Flag at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
The clip - which represents Bloomfield's debut gig with his new high-energy band - is from the documentary, Sweet Blues: A Film About Michael Bloomfield, which combines vintage audio interviews and live performance footage with interviews with Bloomfield’s friends.
The film, in turn, is part of From His Head to His Heart to His Hands, a career-spanning 2014 box set.
Although he often is overshadowed by Eric Clapton and Peter Green, Bloomfield - with his Sunburst 1959 Gibson Les Paul - set the pace for the disruptive fervor of the 1960s youth revolution with his greasy mix of Chicago blues and freak-out frenzy.
The box set, which includes three CDs and one DVD, includes previously unreleased recordings, such as Bloomfield’s first demos, which were recorded for John Hammond in 1964.
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