7-inch Record Specialty Shop Notes 312: "Super Session"

Regarding the 1968 'Super Session,' I can't quite shake the impression that it's a bit of a con, so it's a tricky record that I can't wholeheartedly say I love.

With a title like that, you'd think the three of them were playing together, right? But in reality, Side A is a session between Bloomfield and Kooper, and Side B is a session between Stills and Kooper. So, it sets you up expecting guitar interplay or a back-and-forth between Bloomfield and Stills, and then... well, it's not exactly 'super,' is it?

Well, it is written clearly on the back cover. If you asked me if I would have bought it had I known that, I suppose I still would have, but the impression of being misled is hard to shake... Still, I do like Stephen Stills' playing during this period. Whether Mike Bloomfield is there or not, Side B of this record might actually be a 'super session' after all. This record did, for what it's worth, reach number 22 on the Billboard album charts. The fact that it was reasonably well-regarded back in 1968 is important to me personally for understanding the atmosphere of the era.

By the way, the backing musicians other than the three main guys included Harvey Brooks from The Electric Flag on bass, and Barry Goldberg, also from The Electric Flag, who stopped by to play a little electric piano. The horns were overdubbed. Who is the drummer, Eddie Hoh? He doesn't do anything particularly special, so he might just be an unknown studio musician, but since it's called a 'Super Session,' could it be a pseudonym for someone famous? ...No, that doesn't seem right; he's too low-key.

The truth seems to be that Al Kooper had a sudden idea and reached out to Mike Bloomfield to do a session in California, but Bloomfield, who was suffering from insomnia, took off halfway through, and Stephen Stills was called in over the phone to help finish it. I guess you could call it a job well done for a bit of pocket money.

By the way, the copy I own is a budget reissue released about ten years later, but by 1978, this back cover ↓, they really didn't spend any money on it. Everything about this record, aside from the music, is pretty frustrating, but I just can't leave these kinds of records alone.