Bloomfield was an indifferent student and self-described social outcast and immersed himself in the multi-cultural music world that existed in Chicago in the 1950s. He got his first guitar at age 13. Initially attracted to the roots-rock sound of Elvis Presley and Scotty Moore, Bloomfield soon discovered the electrified big-city blues music indigenous to Chicago. At the age of 14, the exuberant guitar wunderkind began to visit the blues clubs on Chicago’s South Side with friend Roy Ruby in search of his new heroes: players such as Muddy Waters, Otis Spann, Howling Wolf, and Magic Sam. Not content with viewing the scene from the audience, Bloomfield was known to leap onto the stage, asking if he could sit in as he simultaneously plugged in his guitar and began playing riffs.
Bloomfield was quickly accepted on the South Side, as much for his ability as for the audiences' appreciation of the novelty of seeing a young white player in a part of town where few whites were seen. Bloomfield soon discovered a group of like-minded outcasts. Young white players such as Paul Butterfield, Nick Gravenites, Charlie Musselwhite, and Elvin Bishop were also establishing themselves as fans who could hold their own with established bluesmen, many of whom were old enough to be their fathers.
In addition to playing with the established stars of the day, Bloomfield began to search out older, forgotten bluesmen, playing and recording with Sleepy John Estes, Yank Rachell, Little Brother Montgomery and Big Joe Williams, among others. By this time he was managing a Chicago folk music club, the Fickle Pickle, and often hired older acoustic blues players for the Tuesday night blues sessions. Big Joe Williams memorialized those times in the song "Pick A Pickle" with the line "You know Mike Bloomfield...will always treat you right...come to the Pickle, every Tuesday night." Bloomfield’s relationship with Big Joe Williams is documented in "Me And Big Joe," a moving short story detailing Bloomfield’s adventures on the road with Williams.
Bloomfield's guitar work as a session player caught the ear of legendary CBS producer and talent scout John Hammond, Sr., who flew to Chicago and immediately signed him to a recording contract. However CBS was unsure of exactly how to promote their new artist, declining to release any of the tracks recorded by Bloomfield's band, which included harp player Charlie Musselwhite.
With a contract but not much else, Bloomfield returned to playing clubs around Chicago until he was approached by Paul Rothchild, the producer of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band albums. Bloomfield was recruited to play slide guitar and piano on early recordings (later released as The Lost Elektra Sessions) which were rejected for not fully capturing the sound of the band. Although more competitors than friends ("I knew Paul [and I] was scared of him" remembered Mike), the addition of Bloomfield to the Butterfield Band provided Paul Butterfield with a musician of equal caliber -- Paul and Michael inspired and challenged each other as they traded riffs and musical ideas, one establishing a pattern and the other following it, extending it, and handing it back.
In between recording sessions with the Butterfield Band, Bloomfield backed up Bob Dylan on the classic Highway 61 Revisited album, and appeared with him at the Newport Folk Music Festival in 1965 when Dylan stunned the purist folk music crowd by playing electric rock-and-roll. Declining an offer from Dylan to join his touring band, Bloomfield and the Butter Band returned to the studio; with the addition of pianist Mark Naftalin they finally captured their live sound on vinyl.
The first two Butterfield Blues Band albums, the Dylan sessions, and the live appearances by the Butterfield Band firmly established Bloomfield as one of the most talented and influential guitar players in America. The second album featured the Bloomfield composition "East-West" which ushered in an era of long instrumental psychedelic improvisations.
Bloomfield left the Butterfield Blues Band in early 1967 ostensibly to give original guitarist Elvin Bishop, in Mike's words, "a little space." Undoubtedly he had also become uncomfortable with Paul Butterfield's position as bandleader and was anxious to lead his own band.
That band, The Electric Flag, included Bloomfield's old friends from Chicago, organist Barry Goldberg and singer/songwriter Nick Gravenites, as well as bass player Harvey Brooks and drummer Buddy Miles. The band was well received at its official debut at the Monterey Pop Festival but quickly fell apart due to drugs, egos, and poor management.
Bloomfield, weary of the road, suffering from insomnia, and uncomfortable in the role of guitar superstar, returned to San Francisco to score movies, produce other artists, and play studio sessions. One of those sessions was a day of jamming in the studio with keyboardist Al Kooper, who had previously worked with Bloomfield on the 1965 Dylan sessions.
Super Session, the resultant release, with Bloomfield on side one and guitarist Stephen Stills on side two, once again thrust Bloomfield into the spotlight. Kooper's production and the improvisational nature of the recording session captured the quintessential Bloomfield sound: the fast flurries of notes, the incredible string bending, the precise attack, and his masterful use of tension and release.
Although Super Session was the most successful recording of his career, Bloomfield considered it to be a scam, more of an excuse to sell records than a pursuit of musical goals. After a follow-up live album, he "retired" to San Francisco and lowered his visibility.
In the seventies Bloomfield played gigs in the San Francisco area and infrequently toured as Bloomfield And Friends, a group which usually included Mark Naftalin and Nick Gravenites. Bloomfield also occasionally helped out friends by lending his name to recording projects and business propositions, such as the ill-fated Electric Flag reunion in 1974 and the KGB album in 1976. In the mid-seventies Bloomfield recorded a number of albums with a more traditional blues focus for smaller record labels. He also recorded an instructional album of various blues styles for Guitar Player magazine.
By the late seventies Bloomfield's continuing drug and health problems caused erratic behavior and missed gigs, alienating a number of his old associates. Bloomfield continued playing with other musicians, including Dave Shorey and Jonathan Cramer. In the summer of 1980 he toured Italy with classical guitarist Woody Harris and cellist Maggie Edmondson. On November 15, 1980, Bloomfield joined Bob Dylan on stage at the Warfield Theater in San Francisco and jammed on "Like A Rolling Stone," the song they had recorded together 15 years earlier.
Michael Bloomfield was found dead in his car of a drug overdose in San Francisco, California on February 15, 1981.
Don
Mike Bloomfield Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Girl, don't pull the rug from under my feet (don't do it baby)
Don't leave, don't leave me so, I'm talking in my sleep
This could be the start of a nightmare
Waking up and not finding you there
It would be more that i could stand
Oh, baby
Girl, don't leave me so I'm pacing the floor (don't do it baby)
Maybe I've been too hung-up on myself
But don't change me by putting my heart on a shelf
'Cause that's more than I could stand
Why you wanna leave me?
Why you wanna go?
I promise not
To never never hurt you no more
Oh, please don't leave me
Please don't go
By causin' my heart to ache
Causin' it to break
We, we've still got, a lot of love to give (yeah)
So turn around, baby (turn around)
While there's a lot of life to live
Leavin' me would ruin all of my plans
It would be like tying the both of my hands
And that's more baby than I could stand
Why you wanna leave me?
Why you wanna go?
In "Don't You Lie To Me", Mike Bloomfield is pleading with his lover not to leave him. He starts off by asking her not to "pull the rug from under [his] feet", emphasizing the suddenness and pain of a potential departure. He then confesses that the thought of her leaving keeps him up at night, suggesting that he's anxious and afraid of losing her. Bloomfield seems desperate to keep his partner in his life, explaining that her absence would be like a nightmare and he couldn't bear waking up without her there.
The rest of the song is an attempt to convince his lover to stay. He acknowledges that he may have been too focused on himself, but begs her not to change him by putting his heart on a shelf. This line could refer to his fear that if she leaves, he will be too heartbroken to love someone else. He then promises that he won't hurt her again and beseeches her not to leave him because it would cause his heart to ache and break. Bloomfield suggests that they still have a lot of love to give and asks her not to leave him while there's still a lot of life to live. He ends by saying that her departure would ruin all of his plans and that it's more than he could stand.
Overall, "Don't You Lie To Me" is a song about fear, desperation and the fear of losing love. Bloomfield is trying to convince his lover not to leave him by confessing his anxieties and emphasizing how much her departure would hurt him.
Line by Line Meaning
Oh, baby
Addressing his lover, the singer starts to plea.
Girl, don't pull the rug from under my feet (don't do it baby)
The singer asks his lover not to betray him and break his trust.
Don't leave, don't leave me so, I'm talking in my sleep
The singer confesses his fear of abandonment which haunts him even in his sleep.
This could be the start of a nightmare
The singer feels that his lover's departure could trigger a disastrous chain of events.
Waking up and not finding you there
The singer imagines how he would feel if he woke up to an empty bed after his lover leaves him.
It would be more that i could stand
The singer conveys that losing his lover would be unbearable for him.
Girl, don't leave me so I'm pacing the floor (don't do it baby)
The singer is anxious and restless, unable to cope with the thought of his lover leaving him.
'Cause that's, that's what I'll do if you close the door
The singer would pace the floor if his lover left him because he would not know what to do with himself.
Maybe I've been too hung-up on myself
The singer admits that he may have been self-centered and selfish, causing his lover to contemplate leaving.
But don't change me by putting my heart on a shelf
The singer pleads with his lover not to shut him out emotionally, hoping she still cares for him enough to work things out.
'Cause that's more than I could stand
The singer is declaring that his lover's emotional distance would be too painful for him to bear.
Why you wanna leave me?
The singer is questioning his lover's motives for wanting to leave him.
Why you wanna go?
The singer is asking his lover why she wants to end things between them.
I promise not
The singer makes a promise to his lover.
To never never hurt you no more
The singer promises that he will no longer hurt his lover.
Oh, please don't leave me
The singer is begging his lover not to abandon him.
Please don't go
The singer continues to plead with his lover to stay with him.
By causin' my heart to ache
The singer explains how it would hurt him emotionally if she left him.
Causin' it to break
The singer fears that his heart would not only ache, but also break if she left him completely.
We, we've still got, a lot of love to give (yeah)
The singer believes that there is still hope for their relationship and that they have a chance to work things out if they stay together.
So turn around, baby (turn around)
The singer asks his lover to turn around and work things out with him.
While there's a lot of life to live
The singer reminds his lover that they have a lot left to experience together.
Leavin' me would ruin all of my plans
The singer expresses how much his lover means to him and how leaving him would adversely affect his future goals and aspirations.
It would be like tying the both of my hands
The singer feels helpless and powerless at the thought of his lover leaving him.
And that's more baby than I could stand
The singer reiterates the unbearable pain he would feel if his lover left him.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: HUDSON WHITTAKER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
oldwindsorblues
Stunning! Mike has been one of the greatest blues guitar players of all time.
Pete TheMan
Go listen to Albert Collins.
oldwindsorblues
@Pete TheMan I love Albert!
rd3324
@Pete TheMan Love them both. Freddie and Albert King too
Garth Kolbeck
He reminds me a bit of T Bone Walker too
Christopher Detweiler
Nobody quite like him. What a sweet tone.
Susan Haller
I eventually thanked my long term boyfriend for breaking up with me. However I really missed the boat by not thanking him for introducing me to Mike Bloomfield playing blues guitar. It's masterful, and I treasure it.
Chris
Amazing guitar player
Wild Ride
Michael Bloomfield-Peter Greene. Amazing blues players with soul, feeling, and phrasing.
midiland
He is the best guitarist.