Al Kooper
Al Kooper was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States on February 5th, 1944 and is the Blues Singer. At the age of 80, Al Kooper biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, songs, and networth are available.
At 80 years old, Al Kooper has this physical status:
Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt, February 5, 1944) is an American songwriter, record producer, and guitarist best known for arranging Blood, Sweat & Tears, as well as providing studio help to Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and bringing guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills together to record the Super Session album.
He was a prolific manager and producer in the 1970s, including the release of Lynyrd Skynyrd's first three albums.
He's also had a fruitful solo career, composed music for film soundtracks, and has lectured on musical composition.
He continues to perform live.
Early life
Al Kooper was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Sam and Natalie Kuperschmidt (both Jewish), and grew up in Hollis Hills, Queens, New York.
Career
Kooper's first professional work was as a 14-year-old guitarist in The Royal Teens, best known for their 1958 ABC Records novelty 12-bar blues riff "Short Shorts" (although Kooper did not appear on the recording). In 1960, he collaborated with writers Bob Brass and Irwin Levine to produce and record demos for Sea-Lark Music Publishing. "This Diamond Ring," by Gary Lewis and the Playboys, and "I Must Be Seeing Things," were the trio's top hits. Gene Pitney (both 1965) was a collector. In Manhattan, Kooper immigrated to Greenwich Village.
"Like a Rolling Stone" was the first performance for Bob Dylan on the Hammond organ riffs. Producer Tom Wilson had invited him to watch the recording. Kooper met and befriended Mike Bloomfield, whose guitar playing he adored, during those recording sessions. He worked with Bloomfield for many years. In 1965, Kooper performed with Dylan on stage and with Dylan on Hammond organ at the Newport Folk Festival, as well as in the recording studio in 1965 and 1966. On his 1981 world tour, he performed organ again with Dylan.
In 1965, Kooper became a keyboardist for The Blues Project. He left the band just before their show at the Montegours in 1967, although he did appear in the event's bootlegs. He formed Blood, Sweat & Tears in 1967, but left due to artistic inequalities in 1968, the group's first album, Child Is Father to the Man, which was released in 1967. He recorded Super Session with Bloomfield and Stephen Stills in 1968, and on the album Kooper Session, he collaborated with 15-year-old guitarist Shuggie Otis. He revived The Blues Project at a charity concert promoted by Bruce Blakeman at Valley Stream Central High School in 1972.
Kooper has performed on hundreds of hits, including ones from The Rolling Stones, B.B. The King, The Who, Alice Cooper, and Cream. Under the pseudonym "Roosevelt Gook," he overdubbed his own efforts on several occasions, including on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper and others.
Kooper developed, arranged, and performed the album Appaloosa, a "folk-baroque" style of music that mixed rock and classical in 1969. Judy Collins, Donovan, Tim Hardin, and Tom Rush were among the many classical-influenced orchestration performers arranging folk-oriented music. John Parker Compton, a Boston musician and acoustic guitarist, joined Kooper on violin, Eugene Rosov on cello, and David Reiser on electric bass, alongside acoustic guitarist Robin Batteau, singer and acoustic guitarist Robin Batteau on violin, Kevin Batteau on guitar, and David Reiser on electric guitar. Fred Lipsius and Blood, Sweat and Tears drummer Bobby Colomby was among the musicians on the album, contributing to the collection. Lynyrd Skynyrd's founder went to Atlanta in 1972 and performed on their first three albums, including "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Free Bird." He released the Tubes' debut album in 1975.
As well as several made-for-television films, Kooper wrote the score for the television series Crime Story and for the film The Landlord. He was the musical genius behind many of the pop songs, including "You're the Lovin' End" for The Banana Splits, a children's television show.
In the late 1980s, Kooper had his own dedicated keyboard studio space in the historic Sound Emporium recording studio in Nashville, next to studio B.
Because of Kooper's reputation as a published author, he was able to join (and perform as musical director of) the Rock Bottom Remainders, a band made up of writers including Dave Barry, Stephen King, Amy Taning, and Matt Groening.
For online publication The Morton Report, Kooper wrote a column titled "New Music For Old People" from April 2014 to April 2015. This resulted in a radio show hosted by the same name, which began in October 2018 for Martha's Vineyard community radio station WVVY. The first 11 editions of this series can be found online.
Steve Martin was profiled by Kooper in 1977's Crawdaddy Magazine.
Kooperkast
"Kooperkast" is Kooper's own podcast, which debuted in late 2020. Al, webmaster Jon Sachs, addresses his many experiences in his more than 60 years in the music business, including his solo albums, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and answering questions that can be sent on his website.
Kooper was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by Berklee College of Music in Boston in May 2001. At Berklee College of Music, he taught songwriting and recording. He appears at weekend concerts with his bands ReKooperators and the Funky Faculty. He appeared on the album Psalngs, the debut release of Canadian musician John Lefebvre in 2008.
In 2008, Kooper was inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, Tennessee.
Martin Scorsese produced No Direction Home: Bob Dylan for the PBS American Masters Series, in which Kooper's contributions are acknowledged.