Album: Michael Bloomfield, Don't Say That I Ain't Your Man! - Essential Blues 1964-1969 (SPV Blue)

Mike Bloomfield was to a certain extent the American Eric Clapton – a skinny white kid whose grasp of the blues feeling and technique suggested a deep emotional connection with the form.

His reputation was sealed by his appearance as part of Dylan’s backing band at the pivotal 1965 Newport Festival show.

This 2CD compilation fills in the rest of his Sixties career, from his earliest solo recordings through to the Super Session work with which he and Al Kooper parlayed the cachet of their Dylan association into careers of their own.

It’s a varied set, with occasional longueurs pierced by lightning-bolts such as the version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “Killing Floor” recorded by his rock’n’soul band The Electric Flag.

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