His first musical success was as a 14-year-old guitarist in the Royal Teens, best known for their novelty blues riff, "Short Shorts". In 1960, he joined the song-writing team of Bob Brass and Irwin Levine, who wrote the hit, "This Diamond Ring", for Gary Lewis and the Playboys. When he was 21, he moved to Greenwich Village.
He performed with Bob Dylan in concert in 1965 and in the studio in 1965 and 1966, including playing Hammond organ with Dylan at the (in)famous Newport Folk Festival of 1965. He worked extensively with Mike Bloomfield for a number of years after the two met as studio musicians on Dylan's legendary Highway 61 Revisited album.
In 1965, he co-formed The Blues Project and played their most famous gig at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. He formed Blood, Sweat & Tears in the same year, leaving after the group's first album, Child is Father to the Man, in 1968.
Kooper played on hundreds of records, including The Rolling Stones, B.B. King, The Who and Cream. On occasion, he has even overdubbed on his own efforts, as on The Live Adventures Of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper album, as Roosevelt Gook. He discovered the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and produced their first three albums, including the single Sweet Home Alabama. Kooper also wrote the score for the TV series, Crime Story, and has also written music for several made-for-television movies. Kooper also produced a now rare album by a group called Appaloosa.
Al Kooper has published a memoir, Backstage Passes: Rock 'n' Roll Life In The Sixties (1977), now available in revised form as Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll Survivor 2007
Kooper currently teaches songwriting and production at Berklee College of Music in Boston and plays weekend concerts with his band Jimmy Vivino and The ReKooperators.
Buckskin Boy
Al Kooper Lyrics
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He is walking through his land with tears in his eyes
He is walking through his land with poison in his skies
He is naked in the mirror sad & stripped & put to shame
And people joke about him but its really not the same to
The BUCKSKIN BOY
They have laid his people down
They have robbed him of his culture
In the land that he once found
He is wise in the ways of nature
And tired with the ways of Man
He is walking in a vacuum that will never understand
The BUCKSKIN BOY
They want to give him half an acre to live out all his years
And everything that is sacred will be sold as souvenirs
And the pipe it has been handed
Down to young ones everywhere
To the warriors of Peace who simply found the need to share
The love inside their souls just the way that Jesus taught
But the battle’s always over before it’s even fought
God save the BUCKSKIN BOY
God save the BUCKSKIN BOY
The song Buckskin Boy by Al Kooper is a deeply insightful and touching commentary on the Native American experience of displacement, marginalization, and cultural erasure. The lyrics paint a vivid picture of a Native American man walking through his once-beautiful and lush land, now poisoned and stripped of its natural beauty. The man is described as being "naked" in the mirror, stripped of his pride and dignity, and ridiculed by others who fail to understand his pain and struggles. The song emphasizes the stark contrast between the beauty and tranquility of nature and the inhumanity and greed of man.
The second verse of the song speaks about the violence and brutality that Native communities have faced at the hands of invaders who have laid the people down and taken away their culture. The buckskin boy, who is wise in the ways of nature, feels tired of man's ways and the vacuum that he finds himself in - a space that will never comprehend the depth of his pain and marginalization. The song highlights the symbolism of the pipe that is passed down to the young ones as a symbol of peace and sharing, but the battles are always over before they begin. Finally, the song calls on God to save the buckskin boy, a poignant plea for empathy and understanding for the indigenous people who have been oppressed and disregarded for so long.
Line by Line Meaning
He is walking through his land with tears in his eyes
The singer is feeling emotional while traversing his area.
He is walking through his land with poison in his skies
The land's air is harmful, and the singer is walking past it.
He is naked in the mirror sad & stripped & put to shame
The singer is bare in front of a reflective surface, feeling saddened and violated.
And people joke about him but its really not the same to
The BUCKSKIN BOY
Despite people poking fun at him, the artist doesn't respond the same way.
They have stormed into his valleys
Enemies invaded and overtook the artist's landscape.
They have laid his people down
The singer's society has been persecuted and oppressed.
They have robbed him of his culture
In the land that he once found
The singer's ethnic tradition was stripped away in his native soil.
He is wise in the ways of nature
And tired with the ways of Man
The artist values nature knowledge but is disillusioned with humanity's approach.
He is walking in a vacuum that will never understand
The BUCKSKIN BOY
The artist is navigating an environment that will never grasp his experience.
They want to give him half an acre to live out all his years
And everything that is sacred will be sold as souvenirs
The authorities offer a small space for the artist to stay, while also commercializing what's important to him.
And the pipe it has been handed
Down to young ones everywhere
The smoking pipe tradition has been passed on to younger generations.
To the warriors of Peace who simply found the need to share
The love inside their souls just the way that Jesus taught
The individuals who prioritize peace are the torch-bearers of spreading love, following a Jesus-like approach.
But the battle’s always over before it’s even fought
The adversaries always win effortlessly or preemptively.
God save the BUCKSKIN BOY
A prayer to protect and preserve the singer.
Contributed by Penelope D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.