BLUES | BLUES MUSICIAN

Mike Bloomfield: Rock’s Forgotten Guitar Prodigy That Clapton and Dylan Revered

By the early Sixties, Bloomfield was a major part of Chicago’s blues scene. Adept on piano and acoustic as well as electric guitar, he recorded as a sideman with Sleepy John Estes and Big Joe Williams and jammed at black-night spots with Waters and Wolf

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Bloomfield was one of the first 1960s pop music superstars to become famous primarily for his instrumental skills; he rarely sang until 1969 and 1970. Not only was Bloomfield a major influence on the mid-to-late 1960s renaissance of old Chicago and other blues styles, but he was also well-known for his fluid guitar playing and had played with many of Chicago’s blues greats before he became famous himself. Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number 22 on their “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time” in 2003 and again at number 42 in 2011. In 2012, he was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame, and in 2015, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band