Ed Ward
Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero
Published by Chicago Review Press
Oct 07, 2016 Web Exclusive
Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero was published briefly in 1983 before going out of print. Now, finally, the definitive Bloomfield biography is back, in a revised and expanded edition.
Ed Ward digs deep for The Rise and Fall. The book is based largely on extensive interviews with the late Bloomfield himself, along with interviews of many of the players surrounding Bloomfield at the time, from the Chicago blues legends he came up with to the band members he played with in the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and Electric Flag. As such, The Rise and Fall provides an in-depth look at what made Bloomfield tick and what ultimately led to his untimely demise in 1981 at the age of 37.
As was Bloomfield’s life and recording career, The Rise and Fall is short. The text proper runs a meager 146 pages, followed then by an epilogue of reminiscences from his friends and colleagues, an extended interview with Rolling Stone‘s Jann Wenner from 1968, and an extensive discography.
Despite its brevity, The Rise and Fall does not suffer from any lack of detail. Bloomfield’s story might be a short one, but his guitar genius was anything but. The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero sets the record straight.
Author rating: 7.5/10
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