Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's
Life in the Blues

By Da vid Dann

736 pages | University of Texas Press | $39.95

NAMED ONE OF the world’s great blues-rock guitarists by Rolling Stone, Mike Bloomfield (1943–1981) remains beloved by fans nearly forty years after his untimely death. Taking readers backstage, onstage, and into the recording studio with this legendary virtuoso, 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 the Super Session album with Al Kooper and Stephen Stills, Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, and soundtrack work with Peter Fonda and Jack Nicholson.

David DannIn vivid chapters drawn from meticulous research, including more than seventy interviews with the musician’s friends, relatives, and band members, music historian David 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 music, this is the story of a life lived at full volume.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING about Guitar King: Michael Bloomfield's Life in the Blues:

"I love this book. It's the best thing I've read about Mike Bloomfield and about the whole era."

– Charlie Musselwhite, Grammy Award-winning blues harp player and band leader

"Guitar Player is a must-read book for all guitar players and music fans alike. It should be the final word on Michael Bloomfield's journey and his legacy."

– Jimmy Vivino, music director on Conan, leader of Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band

"David Dann has restored bluesman Michael Bloomfield's premier place in the pantheon as the very first American rock guitar god."

– Michael Simmons, contributor to MOJO, author of liner notes for Michael Bloomfield: From His Head to His Heart to His Hands

"An important and compelling book about an important and compelling artist ... this biography is long overdue."

– Elijah Wald, author of Escaping the Delta and Dylan Goes Electric

"Guitar King is what old-timers in the book trade call a doorstop or widowmaker, and it’s packed with enough info to make a blues nerd giddy with joy."

– Wall Street Journal

"[Guitar King] is a biography that puts Bloomfield back into his rightful place on the roster of rock and blues greats. The result is a tremendous and magnificent work."

– CounterPunch

"In this exhaustive, detailed doorstopper of a tome, Dann tells the troubled player’s story through research and more than 70 interviews with friends, relatives and band mates, but explores seemingly every nook and cranny of his music."

– Houston Press