And he was about my age, and he just, that finished off my guitar career, just like that, in one afternoon.
AL KOOPER
AL KOOPER
Al Kooper on guitar
Al Kooper30 quotes“And he was about my age, and he just, that finished off my guitar career, just like that, in one afternoon.”
More from Al Kooper
Musically Bob [Dylan] is a primitive. He’s not a Gershwin, or somebody that uses eloquent music terms.
Al KooperAl Kooper I believe Irving Berlin was there, and uh, and everything just centered around there.
Al KooperAl Kooper I don’t care, turn the organ up, and that’s really how I became an organ player.
Al KooperAl Kooper The very funny thing about “Like A Rolling Stone” is it was a six minute song, there was no music to read from. And there I was playing this unfamiliar instrument.
Al KooperAl Kooper The “Highway 61” album [of Bob Dylan] was produced by Bob Johnston if I’m not incorrect. And Bob Johnston was an entirely different producer than Tom Wilson.
Al KooperAl Kooper So I would come in on the upbeat of one. I would wait until the band played the chord, and then as quickly as I could come in play the chord.
Al KooperAl Kooper I mean just out and out crooks. And the next generation had a little more finesse. But I mean those first wave of people, you know, definitely would take all your money, no doubt about it.
Al KooperAl Kooper Mike Bloomfield sat down and started playing, and I went, whoa! Because I had never heard any white person play like that before.
Al KooperAl Kooper Finally a breath of fresh words founded in hardcore, intelligent research.
Al KooperAl Kooper Producing Bob Dylan was pretty much a spectator sport.
Al KooperAl Kooper I think it was Columbia politics, Columbia Records politics that, that, Tom Wilson left [Bob Dylan] after “Like A Rolling Stone”.
Al KooperAl Kooper And a little slate that came out of the wall that you could actually write on. And a door that locked from the outside.
Al KooperAl Kooper Tom Wilson had produced jazz records and was a Harvard educated.
Al KooperAl Kooper The [Bob] Dylan sessions were very disorganized, to say the least. I mean, the “Like A Rolling Stone” session I was invited by the producer to watch.
Al KooperAl Kooper Only through sheer ambition did I end up playing on [Bob Dylan sessions] and the fact that I could do that is a testament to how disorganized it really was.
Al KooperAl Kooper My influences were mostly gospel. So I was playing my twisted Jewish equivalent of gospel music over his twisted equivalent of rock and roll music. And it was a very excellent marriage.
Al KooperAl Kooper
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More on guitar
I just managed to convince my grandmother that it was a worth while that was something to do, you know, and when I did finally get the guitar, it didn’t seem that difficult to me, to be able to make a good noise out of it.
Eric ClaptonEric Clapton There’s so much that can be done on the guitar. And that’s what is so good about the guitar – everyone can really enjoy themselves on it and have a good time, which is what it’s all about.
Jimmy PageJimmy Page Jackson plays a broken guitar because he’s in love with it, and doesn’t want to fix it, I think. It’s so broken.
Nikki ReedNikki Reed I never took guitar lessons. I took classical piano lessons from the age of six when we lived in Holland.
Eddie Van HalenEddie Van Halen From the classical guitar right through to the furthest electrical experiments and everything in-between, it’s amazing what the guitar can actually do. I mean, when one thinks about sounds.
Jimmy PageJimmy Page Every time you pick up your guitar to play, play as if it’s the last time.
Eric ClaptonEric Clapton So, my big brother was playing guitar and I figured I’d try it too.
Stevie Ray VaughanStevie Ray Vaughan Your sound is in your hands as much as anything. It’s the way you pick, and the way you hold the guitar, more than it is the amp or the guitar you use.
Stevie Ray VaughanStevie Ray Vaughan