Super Session is an album envisioned by Al Kooper and featuring the work of guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills, recorded in San Francisco and released on Columbia Records in 1968. Bloomfield and Stills do not play together on the album, with tracks including Bloomfield on side one, and those including Stills on side two. It peaked at #12 on the Billboard 200. Kooper and Bloomfield had previously worked together on the sessions for the ground-breaking classic Highway 61 Revisited album by Bob Dylan, as well as playing in support of his controversial appearance at the Newport Folk Festival in July 1965, when Dylan publicly shed his 'folk music' skin and emerged into the folk/rock style, incorporating electric back up musicians into his performance. Kooper had recently left Blood, Sweat & Tears after recording their debut album with them. Bloomfield was about to leave Electric Flag, and in May of 1968 was asked by Kooper to come down to the studio in San Francisco and jam. Kooper booked two days of studio time in May 1968, recruiting 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, including a modal excursion "His Holy Modal Majesty" reminiscent of "East-West" from the second Butterfield Blues Band album. On the second day, with the tapes ready to roll, Bloomfield did not show up. Needing to have something to show for the second day of sessions, to fill in for Bloomfield, Kooper hastily called upon Stephen Stills who was also in the process of leaving his band Buffalo Springfield. 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. Some overdubbed horns were later added while the album was being mixed, and sales worth a gold record award were garnered from an album which cost just $13,000 to make. The success of this record opened the door for the "supergroup" concept of the late 1960s and 1970s — ie: Blind Faith, Crosby, Stills & Nash, etc. ~ adapted from wikipedia
Tracklist:
1. Albert's Shuffle
2. Stop
3. Man's Temptation
4. His Holy Modal Majesty
5. Really
6. It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
7. Season Of The Witch
8. Dont You Love Me
9. Harvey's Tune
BONUS TRACKS:
10. Albert's Shuffle (w / o Horns)
11. Season Of The Witch (w / o Horns)
12. Blues For Nothing
13. Fat Grey Cloud (Live)
Many thanks to Cacu from The Lake Band
Personnel
* Al Kooper - vocals, piano, organ, ondioline, electric guitar, twelve-string guitar
* Mike Bloomfield - guitars side one
* Stephen Stills - guitars side two
* Barry Goldberg - electric piano on "Albert's Shuffle" and "Stop"
* Harvey Brooks - bass
* Eddie Hoh - drums, percussion
Much PEACE n luv to my friends at 1337x and blazinseedboxes
Media Info:
General
Complete name : Mike Bloomfield, Al Kooper, Steven Stills- Super Session (1968) mp3@192kbps {1337x} kawli
Format : MPEG Audio
Overall bit rate : 192 Kbps
Album : Super Session [Bonus Tracks]
Performer : Michael Bloomfield/Al Kooper/Steven Stills
Genre : Blues
Recorded date : 1968
Writing library : LAME3.97
UPC : 074646340622
Style : Electric Chicago Blues / Blues-Rock / Modern Electric Chicago Blues
Audio
Format : MPEG Audio
Format version : Version 1
Format profile : Layer 3
Mode : Joint stereo
Duration : 4mn 10s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 192 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 5.72 MiB (100%)
Writing library : LAME3.97
Encoding settings : -m j -V 4 -q 5 -lowpass 18.6 -b 192