Today, GuitarWorld.com presents a high-quality video of late guitar legend Mike Bloomfield performing "Drinkin' Wine" with the Electric Flag at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967.
The clip — which represents Bloomfield's debut gig with his new high-energy band — is from a new documentary, Sweet Blues: A Film About Michael Bloomfield, which combines vintage audio interviews and live performance footage with new interviews with Bloomfield’s friends.
The film is part of From His Head to His Heart to His Hands, a career-spanning box set that was released today, February 4, via Sony’s Legacy imprint.
Although he often is overshadowed by Eric Clapton and Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green, Bloomfield — with his Sunburst 1959 Gibson Les Paul — set the pace for the disruptive fervor of the 1960s youth revolution with his greasy mix of Chicago blues and freak-out frenzy.
The box set, which includes three CDs and one DVD, includes previously unreleased recordings, such as Bloomfield’s first demos (including "Hammond's Rag,"which you can check out on GuitarWorld.com), which were recorded for John Hammond in 1964.
In addition to solo material and performances by the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the Electric Flag, the box set offers a hefty serving of Bloomfield’s session work for other artists, including Bob Dylan, Muddy Waters and Janis Joplin. It even includes his final live performance, which took place at a 1980 Dylan concert.
For more about Bloomfield and the new box set, check out this in-depth feature from our sister publication, Guitar Aficionado, and the new March 2014 issue of Guitar World, which is available now at the Guitar World Online Store.
For more about Bloomfield, visit his Facebook page.
