My Take
Mike Bloomfield is one of those guitarists who makes you stop and ask "wait, who IS that?" the first time you hear him — and for 1960s American music, that moment hit a lot of people at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival when he played electric guitar behind Bob Dylan and essentially helped ignite the whole Dylan-goes-electric controversy. The man grew up wealthy in Chicago but dove headfirst into the South Side blues scene like his life depended on it, soaking up Muddy Waters and B.B. King until his playing had that lived-in, aching quality that white guys almost never pulled off convincingly. His work with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and the Electric Flag showed just how deeply he understood the genre, and the album "Super Session" with Al Kooper remains a genuine classic. He burned bright, struggled hard with addiction, and was gone at 37 — a real tragedy, because that guitar voice was irreplaceable.
Overview
Michael Bernard Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American blues guitarist and composer. Born in Chicago, he became one of the first popular music stars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, as he rarely sang before 1969.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Mike Bloomfield
- Name (Japanese)
- マイク・ブルームフィールド
- Reading
- まいく・ぶるーむふぃーるど
- Born
- July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Leo / Goat
- Origin
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- guitarist / pianist / singer / blues musician
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- New Trier High School
- University
- Private
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.