Naked Songs represents the other end of Al Kooper's early career from I Stand Alone. Where that first album was recorded very gradually at the outset of his solo career, soon after exiting Blood, Sweat & Tears, Naked Songs was a much more cohesive work (cut in New York and Georgia) from the end of his stay at Columbia Records. Ironically, it was a contractually obligated album, but never one to throw away an opportunity, Kooper embraced soul, gospel, blues, pop, and even country music in the course of filling its two sides. Playing his usual array of instruments, including loud, note-bending blues guitar and gospel-tinged organ on "As the Years Go Passing By," he effortlessly switches gears to the smoother pop-soul sound of "Jolie," then straight country with a blues tinge on "Blind Baby." John Prine's grim and uncompromising "Sam Stone" gets an extraordinary performance, but the real surprise is the presence of Sam Cooke's Soul Stirrers-era gospel classic "Touch the Hem of His Garment".

The live attempts at recreating the seminal jam chemistry of Super Session were hit-and-miss affairs, and this one, previously unreleased, has its fair share of off-key and off-target tunes. The rhythm section is erratic, the repertoire–ranging from Simon & Garfunkel's "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy)" to an Elvis-flavored "That's All Right Mama"–is a bit odd, and co-leader Al Kooper is competent but rarely inspired. Guitarist Michael Bloomfield, however, is uniformly brilliant and his graceful blues virtuosity is by itself well worth the price of admission. Bloomfield and the group are joined on B.B. King's "It's My Own Fault" by a then-unknown Johnny Winter and things get really interesting.

Child Is Father to the Man is keyboard player/singer/arranger Al Kooper's finest work, an album on which he moves the folk-blues-rock amalgamation of the Blues Project into even wider pastures, taking in classical and jazz elements (including strings and horns), all without losing the pop essence that makes the hybrid work. This is one of the great albums of the eclectic post-Sgt. Pepper era of the late '60s, a time when you could borrow styles from Greenwich Village contemporary folk to San Francisco acid rock and mix them into what seemed to have the potential to become a new American musical form. It's Kooper's bluesy songs, such as "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" and "I Can't Quit Her," and his singing that are the primary focus, but the album is an aural delight; listen to the way the bass guitar interacts with the horns on "My Days Are Numbered" or the charming arrangement and Steve Katz's vocal on Tim Buckley's "Morning Glory." Then Kooper sings Harry Nilsson's "Without Her" over a delicate, jazzy backing with flügelhorn/alto saxophone interplay by Randy Brecker and Fred Lipsius.

The best of all of Al Kooper's studio albums, Rekooperation is a mostly instrumental album, on which the artist (playing organ and piano, and occasional guitar) and a band including Jimmy Vivino, Harvey Brooks, and Fred Walcott, among others, roar and pound their way through a baker's dozen of R&B, rock & roll, and soul classics. Everything from chestnuts like "Soul Twist," "Honky Tonk," "Johnny B. Goode," "Clean Up Woman," and " "Don't Be Cruel" to originals such as "Downtime" and "Alvino Johnson's Shuffle," without a notable gap in quality between them, are included – and the one vocal number, "I Wanna Little Girl," contains one of the finest singing performances that Kooper has ever turned in on record (but is also played so well, that it would work as an instrumental too). In many ways, this recording is a distant cousin to Blood, Sweat & Tears' Child Is Father to the Man, and was his first attempt at leading a band since that 1968 venture, which was sort of fitting since it led to Soul of a Man, Kooper's live-in-concert career retrospective album, the next time out.

An Al Kooper anthology featuring Mike Bloomfield, Bob Dylan, Steve Stills, Shuggie Otis, Paul Simon. Includes live material.

Championship Wrestling started life as an attempt at another "super session"-type production, with more of a focus on R&B than blues, to have featured Al Kooper and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter as equal partners with dual credit. Midway through what took a third of a year to get down on tape, Baxter withdrew from collaboration, and Championship Wrestling turned into a Kooper album featuring Baxter. It wasn't what Columbia Records expected, and it was dumped on the market – based on the paucity of reviews, it's doubtful that promo copies or even a press release went out to A- or B-list critics – and forgotten. Despite the fact that it's sort of "off-brand" (or "off-game") Kooper, Championship Wrestling has more than a few good, even exciting and bracing moments.

If Al Kooper isn't a living American musical legend, no one is. Who else has performed with Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Jimmy Hendrix and countless others? And not just performed but been an important component of legendary songs (how about the Hammond organ on both Dylans' Like a Rolling Stone and The Stones' You Can't Always Get What You Want)? As a solo artist he is best known for his work as a founding member of both the Blues Project and Blood Sweat and Tears. Many more famous recordings have followed and lead us to this great selection - a CD that is, in my opinion, a classic: a two-CD Al-fest. Recorded live at NYC's Bottom Line, Al performs his great tunes from the Blues Project and Blood Sweat and Tears, as well as his solo recordings such as I Stand Alone. The excitement from the packed audience is only rivaled by the intensity Al and the band bring to such classics as I Can't Quit Her, Somethin' Goin' On and New York City (You're a Woman). It's Blues, Jazz, Rock and Roll and a great time, as only Al Kooper can bring.

Kooper Session is the second-in-line of the Super Session albums featuring singer-songwriter Al Kooper. Joining Kooper in the guitar slot is 15-year-old phenomenon Shuggie Otis, son of legendary rhythm and blues pioneer Johnny Otis. Divided into two halves, "The Songs" (a quartet of arranged gospel and rhythm and blues tracks) and "The Blues" (a trio of improvised blues tracks), the album, like Super Session before it, was quickly recorded and featured short, succinct tracks ("Double or Nothing", "One Room Country Shack") and fluid, drawn out jams highlighting the talents of the artists ("12:15 Slow Goonbash Blues", "Bury My Body").

As the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) had done a year earlier, Super Session (1968) initially ushered in several new phases in rock & roll's concurrent transformation. In the space of months, the soundscape of rock shifted radically from short, danceable pop songs to comparatively longer works with more attention to technical and musical subtleties. Enter the unlikely all-star triumvirate of Al Kooper (piano/organ/ondioline/vocals/guitars), Mike Bloomfield (guitar), and Stephen Stills (guitar) – all of whom were concurrently "on hiatus" from their most recent engagements. Kooper had just split after masterminding the groundbreaking Child Is Father to the Man (1968) version of Blood, Sweat & Tears. Bloomfield was fresh from a stint with the likewise brass-driven Electric Flag, while Stills was late of Buffalo Springfield and still a few weeks away from a full-time commitment to David Crosby and Graham Nash. Although the trio never actually performed together, the long-player was notable for idiosyncratically featuring one side led by the team of Kooper/Bloomfield and the other by Kooper/Stills.

The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper is a double album recorded at the Fillmore West venue; the album is a successor to the studio album Super Session, which included both Bloomfield and Kooper in addition to Stephen Stills, and had achieved commercial and critical success earlier in 1968. The performances, recordings and production cannot be described as flawless; in his sleeve notes, Kooper describes the difficulties of finding rehearsal space, Bloomfield's insomnia, and the failure of a vocal microphone during "Dear Mr Fantasy"; the track "I Wonder Who" is faded during a Bloomfield solo for no apparent reason. Nevertheless, the album remains an important, if raw, document of a live blues-rock performance of the period and, apart from its intrinsic qualities, is notable not only for one of the earliest live recordings by Carlos Santana but also for Bloomfield's debut as a vocalist. Whilst he is not historically noted in this role, in "Don't Throw Your Love on Me So Strong", according to Kooper, "he displays consummate homage to the traditional guitar-voice trade-offs; a lesson in phrasing and understanding."

Songwriter, record producer and musician he worked with some of the biggest innovators at the time including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Who and the Rolling Stones, He was a founding member of Blood Sweat and Tears and discovered Lynyrd Skynrd and the Zombies, This compilation showcases his talent both as songwriter and his unique take on classic tracks.

Raven presents, on a great value Double CD, three landmark albums by legendary multi-instrumentalist, producer and solo artist Al Kooper. Few American musicians have pursued a more diverse or fascinating career than Kooper. As well as having played organ on Bob Dylan's timeless 'Like a Rolling Stone', formed Blood Sweat & Tears and produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kooper has issued more than a dozen solo albums and continues to record. Easy Does It (1970), New York City (You're a Woman) (1971) and A Possible Projection of the Future (1972) were his 5th, 6th and 7th albums recorded for Columbia and incorporate soul, pop, country and jazz elements with seamless ease. All showcase Kooper's incredible musicianship at its creative and innovative peak. Also features a stellar cast of session musicians including Herbie Flowers, Joe Beck, Rick Marotta, Carol Kaye, Sneaky Pete Kleinow, Rita Coolidge etc.

Easy Does It is the third solo album by American singer-songwriter Al Kooper, recorded and released in 1970 for Columbia Records. A double album, Easy Does It featured Kooper on an expanded number of instruments, including sitar (used to effect on the country-tinged "Sad, Sad Sunshine"), vibes and electronic effects. While mostly backed by Bretheren rhythm section Stu Woods and Rick Marotta, Kooper also utilized groups in Nashville and Los Angeles to record the tracks for the album. Two tracks were also featured on the soundtrack to the counter-culture film The Landlord, "Brand New Day" and "Love Theme from The Landlord".

Raven presents two landmark albums by legendary multi-instrumentalist, producer and solo artist Al Kooper. Few American musicians have pursued a more diverse or fascinating career than Kooper. As well as playing organ on Bob Dylan's timeless "Like a Rolling Stone", having formed Blood Sweat & Tears and produced Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kooper has issued a dozen solo albums. His 1968 debut I STAND ALONE incorporates pop and soul, jazz and classical elements, making for a seamless and enjoyable whole. As well as covers of "Hey, Western Union Man", "Coloured Rain," and "Blue Moon of Kentucky", Kooper excels with classy originals "I Can Love a Woman" and "Right Now for You". YOU NEVER KNOW WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE (1969) ups the ante with the brassy "Magic in My Socks", the swooping, soulful "Loretta (Union Turnpike Eulogy)" and "I Don't Know Why I Love You". This top-value package of these two timeless albums comes complete with seven bonus tracks and showcases Kooper's incredible musicianship at its creative peak.

Kooper's seventh solo release opens daringly enough, with his own funky version of "This Diamond Ring," which he transforms completely from its Drifters-inspired origins. Most of the album is in a mid-'70s soul-funk vein, with Tower of Power turning up elsewhere and Kooper trying (with considerable success) to sound soulful on songs like "She Don't Ever Lose Her Groove" and "I Forgot to Be Your Lover." The playing throughout is excellent, with guitars by Kooper himself (who also plays sitar, Mellotron, organ, and synthesizer) as well as Little Beaver and Reggie Young, with Joe Walsh sitting in on one song, and horn arrangements by Kooper and veteran soundtrack composer Dominic Frontiere. The real centerpiece is the epic-length "Hollywood Vampire," which can't quite sustain its seven-minute length. The funkier numbers work, but some of the rest, like "In My Own Sweet Way," don't come off so well. This is two-thirds of a pretty fair album, and only lacks consistency.