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.
Country Road
Al Kooper Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Your way and my way seem to be one and the same
Mama don't understand it
She wants to know where I've been
I'd have to be some kind of natural born fool
To want to pass that way again
But you know I could feel it
Sail on home to Jesus won't you good girls and boys
I'm all in pieces, you can have your own choice
But I can hear a heavenly band full of angels
And they're coming to set me free
I don't know nothing 'bout the why or when
But I can tell that it's bound to be
Because I could feel it, child, yeah
On a country road
I guess my feet know where they want me to go
Walking on a country road
Take to the highway won't you lend me your name
Your way and my way seem to be one and the same, child
Mama don't understand it
She wants to know where I've been
I'd have to be some kind of natural born fool
I wanna pass that way again
But I could feel it, oh
On a country road
Walk on down, walk on down, walk on down
Walk on down, walk on down a country road
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Country road, oh, yeah
Walking on a country road
Country road, uh
Country road
In Al Kooper’s song “Country Road,” the first two lines invoke the image of hitting the open road and embarking on a journey, asking for a name to lend to the singer’s own. The following lines describe the singer’s way as the same as the individual whose name is being lent, implying a connection between the two individuals. The next stanza shifts to the idea that the singer’s mother is questioning where they have traveled to. This is followed by the assertion that only a “natural born fool” would want to return to that place, but the singer could feel something on the country road. The next verse plays with the concept of being in pieces and providing a choice to good girls and boys to “sail home to Jesus.”
The singer then hears a heavenly band full of angels coming to set them free, stating that they don’t know why or when it’s happening, but they can feel the change coming. This is followed by the realization that their feet just know where they want to go, and that they are walking on a country road. The final stanza reprises the first, asking for someone to lend the singer their name and emphasizing the connection between the two individuals. The song continues to reiterate the singer’s connection to the country road and that they can feel something there.
One interpretation of the song is that it is about finding oneself on a road trip or journey. The country road may represent a physical journey, or the singer’s own personal path. The connection between the two individuals may represent the connection the singer feels with others on their journey. The song also touches on the idea of change and growth, the idea that the singer is moving towards something new and unknown.
Line by Line Meaning
Take to the highway won't you lend me your name
Ask you to join me on a journey and introduce yourself to me
Your way and my way seem to be one and the same
Our paths are very similar
Mama don't understand it
My mother doesn't comprehend what I'm doing
She wants to know where I've been
She's curious about where I've been
I'd have to be some kind of natural born fool
I'd need to be incredibly stubborn or ignorant
To want to pass that way again
To want to repeat that experience
But you know I could feel it
However, I have a strong sense or feeling
On a country road
While on a quiet rural path
Sail on home to Jesus won't you good girls and boys
Go to Heaven good children, by the grace of God
I'm all in pieces, you can have your own choice
I'm feeling shattered and you can decide for yourself what to do
But I can hear a heavenly band full of angels
I can literally hear music coming from angels in heaven
And they're coming to set me free
And they're coming to liberate me from my current situation
I don't know nothing 'bout the why or when
I don't possess any understanding of why or when
But I can tell that it's bound to be
But I instinctively know it will occur
Because I could feel it, child, yeah
Because I have such intense intuition or awareness, young one
I guess my feet know where they want me to go
I must assume my feet understand where they desire to take me
Walking on a country road
Walking on a secluded, rural path
Take to the highway won't you lend me your name
Join me for a ride and tell me your name again
Your way and my way seem to be one and the same, child
We seem to be very similar young one
Mama don't understand it
Mother doesn't get it
She wants to know where I've been
She needs to know my whereabouts
I'd have to be some kind of natural born fool
I would have to be a complete idiot
I wanna pass that way again
I want to experience that way again
But I could feel it, oh
But I am able to perceive it so intensely
On a country road
While walking on a rural path
Walk on down, walk on down, walk on down
Keep on walking, keep on walking, keep on walking
Walk on down, walk on down a country road
Keep walking down a peaceful path in the countryside
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Nonsense syllables to fill the music
Country road, oh, yeah
Quiet rural path, indeed
Walking on a country road
Traveling on a peaceful, rural byway
Country road, uh
Secluded, scenic path, mmm
Country road
Path through the countryside
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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