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.
LET YOUR LOVE SHINE
Al Kooper Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Let your love shine
Let it shine like the light that reflects off the moonlit bay
Let your words ring
Deep inside you will find all the soul that ya need to say
And you will understand the masterplan
Of woman & man together
Let your love shine
Let it light up your eyes like a 4th of July's night sky
I do love you
Let the thrill that you feel be a part of just you & I
For I am lost behind the love I find
Inside your mind today
When you let your love shine
And I am so knocked-out that I could shout
That it's all about
I love you
I'm so excited I Love You
Let your love shine
Let your love shine
And you will understand the masterplan
Of woman & man together
When you let your love shine
When you let your love shine
When you let your love shine
In "Let Your Love Shine," Al Kooper sings about the power of love to bring people together and overcome obstacles. The song encourages us to let our love shine like the moonlit bay and light up our eyes like a 4th of July night sky. The lyrics suggest that love is the answer to the "masterplan of woman & man together," and that by allowing our love to shine, we can understand this plan and find joy in our relationships.
Kooper's use of imagery in the song helps to convey the beauty and power of love. The moonlit bay represents the peaceful, reflective nature of love. The 4th of July's night sky represents the bold, explosive nature of love. The lyrics suggest that both of these aspects of love are necessary in order to truly "let your love shine."
The chorus of the song brings everything together, urging us to let our love shine and understand the masterplan of woman & man together. By doing so, we can find happiness and fulfillment in our relationships.
Line by Line Meaning
Let your love shine
Allow your affection and kindness to be apparent and noticeable
Let it shine like the light that reflects off the moonlit bay
Permit it to glow as brilliantly as the shimmering reflections of light on the surface of the bay illuminated by the moon
Let your words ring
Speak with a voice that resonates and echoes within the ears of the listener
Deep inside you will find all the soul that ya need to say
Inside you, there is an immense accumulation of emotions and thoughts that you can express
And you will understand the masterplan
You will comprehend the ultimate course of events
Of woman & man together
Regarding the interconnection of a female and a male
Let your love shine
Allow your affection and kindness to be apparent and noticeable
Let it light up your eyes like a 4th of July's night sky
Cause your eyes to twinkle with the same intensity as the explosions of fireworks on the 4th of July
I do love you
I really love and care about you
Let the thrill that you feel be a part of just you & I
Allow the excitement and enthusiasm you feel to be a shared experience between just the two of us
For I am lost behind the love I find
The depth of love I've discovered is so immense that I am completely consumed by it
Inside your mind today
In your thoughts at this moment
When you let your love shine
Allow your affection and kindness to be apparent and noticeable
And I am so knocked-out that I could shout
I'm so overwhelmed and dizzy with emotion that I could scream loudly
That it's all about
That everything is focused on
I love you
I feel affection and care for you
I'm so excited I Love You
I'm thrilled about the love that I have for you
Let your love shine
Allow your affection and kindness to be apparent and noticeable
And you will understand the masterplan
You will comprehend the ultimate course of events
Of woman & man together
Regarding the interconnection of a female and a male
When you let your love shine
Allow your affection and kindness to be apparent and noticeable
When you let your love shine
Allow your affection and kindness to be apparent and noticeable
When you let your love shine
Allow your affection and kindness to be apparent and noticeable
Writer(s): A. Kooper
Contributed by Daniel Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.