Michael Bloomfield’s first Solo album is a mix of Soul, Gospel and Blues. It is fascinating to see that even today the critics are not positive about this album. Personally I think it is a fantastic album which shows more about Bloomfield than just blazing guitar solos.  The guitar solos are there but they are immersed into songs which give the song a lift and add some drama.

People who may know Michael Bloomfield from Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited may like the album. Dylan’s album does not contain any straight Blues songs whereas “It’s Not Killing Me” does actually have a few blues songs.

Listening to the guitar, you can hear clearly the B.B King influence on Michael’s playing, there are also traces of T. Bone Walker, who is not often mentioned as a influence on Michael Bloomfield’s playing.
The guitar sound is fairly clean with a healthy dose of reverb from time to time.

The songs sit in a mix of Gospel, Country and Blues. The album does also sound a bit like some of the Flying Burrito Brothers in some places: Michael’s singing is not the strongest but it is honest and you can hear what he is going for which gives it that authentic sound. When he plays a blues he also adds some different ideas to give it his own sound.

Give it a try to hear something different from a guitar player we should not forget.

Hope to see you soon again,
Eddie