:Super Session

Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield had worked together on the sessions for Bob Dylan's ground-breaking classic Highway 61 Revisited, and played in the backing band for his controversial performance with electric instruments at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1965. Kooper had recently left Blood, Sweat & Tears after they recorded their debut album, and was now working as an A&R man for Columbia Records. Bloomfield was about to leave the Electric Flag, and at a loose end. Kooper telephoned Bloomfield to see if he was free to come down to the studio and jam; Bloomfield agreed, leaving Kooper to handle the arrangements.{{Cite web |title=Biography: part 2 |url= https://mikebloomfieldamericanmusic.com/biography-2.html |website=Michael Bloomfield: An American Guitarist |access-date=May 24, 2021}}

Kooper booked two days of studio time at CBS Columbia Square in Los Angeles in May 1968, and recruited keyboardist Barry Goldberg and bassist Harvey Brooks, both members of the Electric Flag, along with well-known session drummer "Fast" Eddie Hoh. On the first day, the quintet recorded a group of mostly blues-based instrumental tracks. It included the modal excursion "His Holy Modal Majesty", which was a tribute to modal jazz musician John Coltrane, who had died the previous year, and was also reminiscent of "East-West" from the second Butterfield Blues Band album. On the second day, with the tapes ready to roll, Bloomfield returned to his home in Mill Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area, saying he had been unable to sleep.

Needing to have something to show for the second day of booked studio time, Kooper hastily called upon Stephen Stills, who was in the process of leaving his band, Buffalo Springfield, to replace Bloomfield. Regrouping behind Stills, Kooper's session men cut mostly vocal tracks, including "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" from Highway 61 and a lengthy and atmospheric take of "Season of the Witch" by Donovan.{{Cite web |url= http://www.mikebloomfield.com/supersession2003.htm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060328083250/http://www.mikebloomfield.com/supersession2003.htm |url-status=dead |title=MikeBloomfield.com |archive-date=28 March 2006|access-date=May 24, 2021}} Although Harvey Brooks's closing "Harvey's Tune" includes overdubbed horns added in New York City while the album was being mixed, the album only cost $13,000 to complete.

The success of the album opened the door for the "supergroup" concept of the late 1960s and 1970s, as exemplified by the likes of Blind Faith and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Despite the fact that Bloomfield left the recording session after the first day, he and Kooper made several concert appearances after the album was released. The results of one of those became the album The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper.[http://www.suitelorraine.com/suitelorraine/Pages/supersession.html SuiteLorraine.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051204013507/http://www.suitelorraine.com/suitelorraine/Pages/supersession.html |date=December 4, 2005 }}

Along with the stereo version, Super Session was released as a 4-channel quadraphonic version in the 1970s. The quadraphonic version was released on SQ matrix encoded vinyl and discrete 8-track cartridge tape. On April 8, 2003, Legacy Records reissued the album on compact disc with four bonus tracks, including both an outtake and a live track with Bloomfield, and two with the horn overdubs mixed out.

In the early 2000s, it was intended that it would be remixed for the new 5.1 channel version to be released on SACD. But in late 2004, Al Kooper commented:

{{quote|To the best of my knowledge, based on an unnamed source, the new head of SONY/BMG shut down the 5.1 SACD department and let everyone go. A year and a half ago I remixed Super Session and Child Is Father to the Man for them in 5.1 SACD. They both came out incredible and so I mastered them with Bob Ludwig. Now it seems they will languish on the shelves under the current administration of SONY/BMG{{nbsp}}...Typical, in soooo many ways."{{Cite web|url=http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/12/29/092727.php|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060625145337/http://blogcritics.org/archives/2004/12/29/092727.php|url-status=dead|title=Blogcritics.org (PDF)|archive-date=25 June 2006|access-date=May 24, 2021}}}}

Both 5.1 remixed SACDs were released in 2014 by Audio Fidelity. The original quadraphonic mix of Super Session was released on Hybrid SACD by Sony Records Int'l in 2023.

{{Track listing

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Albert's Shuffle

| writer1 = Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield

| length1 = 6:43

| title2 = Stop

| writer2 = Jerry Ragovoy, Mort Shuman

| length2 = 4:23

| title3 = Man's Temptation

| writer3 = Curtis Mayfield

| length3 = 3:25

| title4 = His Holy Modal Majesty

| writer4 = Kooper, Bloomfield

| length4 = 9:13

| title5 = Really

| writer5 = Kooper, Bloomfield

| length5 = 5:29

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry

| writer1 = Bob Dylan

| length1 = 3:30

| title2 = Season of the Witch

| writer2 = Donovan Leitch

| length2 = 11:07

| title3 = You Don't Love Me

| writer3 = Willie Cobbs

| length3 = 4:12

| title4 = Harvey's Tune

| writer4 = Harvey Brooks

| length4 = 2:09

| total_length = 50:11

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = 2003 reissue bonus tracks

| title10 = Albert's Shuffle

| note10 = 2002 remix without horns

| writer10 = Kooper, Bloomfield

| length10 = 6:58

| title11 = Season of the Witch

| note11 = 2002 remix without horns

| writer11 = Donovan Leitch

| length11 = 11:07

| title12 = Blues for Nothing

| note12 = outtake

| writer12 = Kooper

| length12 = 4:15

| title13 = Fat Grey Cloud

| note13 = in concert at the Fillmore West, 1968

| writer13 = Kooper, Bloomfield

| length13 = 4:38

}}

• Al Kooper{{snd}}vocals, piano, Hammond organ, Ondioline, electric guitar, twelve-string guitar
• Mike Bloomfield{{snd}}electric guitar on side one, reissue tracks 10, 12, 13
• Stephen Stills{{snd}}electric guitar on side two, reissue track 11
• Barry Goldberg{{snd}}electric piano on "Albert's Shuffle" and "Stop"
• Harvey Brooks{{snd}}bass guitar
• Eddie Hoh{{snd}}drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Horn section{{snd}}unknown session players; arranged by Al Kooper and Joe Scott
• Fred Catero, Roy Halee{{snd}}engineering
• Martin Greenblatt{{snd}}digital mastering

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=album|artist=BLOOMFIELD / KOOPER / STILLS|title=SUPER SESSION|multidisc=1|award=Gold|certyear=1970|access-date=June 9, 2016}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Al Kooper}}

{{Stephen Stills}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:1968 debut albums

Category:Al Kooper albums

Category:Mike Bloomfield albums

Category:Stephen Stills albums

Category:Columbia Records albums

Category:Albums produced by Al Kooper