Austin, Texas – Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield’s Life in the Blues will be published on the 15th October by the University of Texas Press.
This first comprehensive biography of the late, great Michael Bloomfield brings to life the dazzling electric-guitar virtuoso who transformed rock ’n’ roll in the 1960s and made a lasting impact on the blues genre. “Those with a passion for the music will enjoy revisiting a time when Bloomfield’s influence exceeded even Stevie Ray Vaughn’s,” says Kirkus.
Named one of the world’s greatest blues-rock guitarists by Rolling Stone, Bloomfield (1943–1981) remains beloved by fans nearly forty years after his untimely death.
Taking readers backstage, onstage, and into the recording studios with this legendary virtuoso, music historian and writer, David Dann tells the riveting stories behind Bloomfield’s work in the seminal Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the mesmerizing Electric Flag, as well as on the Super Session album with Al Kooper and Stephen Stills, Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, and soundtrack work he did with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson.
In vivid chapters drawn from meticulous research, including more than seventy interviews with the musician’s friends, relatives, and band members, Dann brings to life Bloomfield’s worlds, from his comfortable upbringing in a Jewish family on Chicago’s North Shore to the gritty taverns and raucous nightclubs where this self-taught guitarist helped transform the sound of contemporary blues and rock music.
With scenes that are as electrifying as Bloomfield’s solos, this is the story of a life lived at full volume. According to Library Journal’s starred pre-publication review, “This monumental book illuminates the legacy of a musician who has been overshadowed by other Sixties luminaries but who helped bring the vernacular of the blues to rock and whose playing influenced the course of rock and roll.”
More information about the book can be found at https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/dann-guitar-king
David Dann is a commercial artist, music historian, writer, and amateur musician who worked for many years in the news industry, including serving as copublisher of an award-winning Catskills weekly. Most recently, he was the editor of Artenol, a radical art journal described by the New York Times as “a cross between The New Republic and Mad Magazine.”
He has produced radio and video documentaries of Michael Bloomfield and served as a consultant to Sony/Legacy on their recent Bloomfield box set.
The University of Texas Press www.utexaspress.com serves knowledge seekers in an information-rich world through the publication of books and journals in a wide range of fields. Our work is a focal point where the life experiences, insights, and specialised knowledge of writers converge to be disseminated in both print and digital formats. Established in 1950, UT Press has published more than 3,000 books over six decades.
More information about the book can be found on Guitar King at University of Texas Press
A Book Review by Frank Leigh from Issue 109 of Blues Matters magazine.
