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.
The Great American Marriage
Al Kooper Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Nothing is wrong
Oh but nothing is right
Days filled with nothing
And nothing at night
We once had something
Something to share
When something was there
Now we lie side by side
Nothing to say, nothing to do
Love has become just a word
Something you’ve heard
But that’s nothing too
We’re surrounded by lies
Our friends joined by ties of family tradition
We all enter the act, a well publicized fact
No need for permission
I consider your face
Lying deep in somebody’s dreams
Sleeping eyes crying
Falling apart at the seams
Nothing is wrong
Oh but nothing is right
Days filled with nothing
And nothing at night
The lyrics of The Great American Marriage by Al Kooper explore the theme of an unhappy and failing marriage where nothing seems to be going well for the couple. The song establishes the presence of nothingness as the couple is engulfed in a routine of nothingness where the days are spent doing nothing and the nights are equally unremarkable. The first two lines suggest the couple might be numb or indifferent to each other's presence. The lyrics "We once had something, something to share, time came & turned us when something was there" expresses the idea that the couple had a shared feeling or a connection in the past, but as time passed by, their relationship lost its spark.
The phrase "Love has become just a word, something you've heard, but that's nothing too" is especially poignant as the singer suggests that the couple doesn't have any affection for each other anymore. The lyrics reveal that the couple is living a life of pretense, surrounded by people and their traditions, while the couple's marriage is falling apart. The line "I consider your face, lying deep in somebody's dreams" suggests that the couple is no longer a part of each other's dreams indicating the emotional and physical detachment. The ending lines of the song repeat the refrain "Nothing is wrong, Oh but nothing is right, days filled with nothing, and nothing at night," emphasizing the emptiness of their lives despite it sounding like they are living an ordinary life.
Line by Line Meaning
Nothing is wrong
Everything appears alright but something is fundamentally amiss
Oh but nothing is right
In spite of the mundane appearance, everything is far from perfect
Days filled with nothing
Life is devoid of any joy or meaningful activity
And nothing at night
Even the nights are empty and uneventful
We once had something
There was something that we shared and valued
Something to share
A common bond that connected us closely
Time came & turned us
The passage of time has altered our relationship in significant ways
When something was there
Back when we had a stronger connection
Now we lie side by side
We are now physically close but emotionally distant
Nothing to say, nothing to do
Our interactions lack depth and purpose
Love has become just a word
The word love no longer carries the same importance and meaning
Something you’ve heard
It's just a concept we are familiar with but don't feel ourselves
But that’s nothing too
That feeling of emptiness and apathy extends to this concept of love as well
We’re surrounded by lies
Society and social expectations propagate falsehoods and illusions around us
Our friends joined by ties of family tradition
Our friends too are bound by societal conventions and customs handed down by their families
We all enter the act, a well publicized fact
We all play along to maintain a facade, which is common knowledge to all
No need for permission
Our acquiescence is taken for granted and not something that requires consent
I consider your face
I think of you and reminisce about our past
Lying deep in somebody’s dreams
You are a distant memory, occupying someone's subconscious
Sleeping eyes crying
Even in sleep, we are deeply unhappy and distressed
Falling apart at the seams
Our lives are unraveling and coming undone
Contributed by Mia M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.