@skyscraper: Nice to use real names Mike ;-) .
The first time I heard Bloomfield was the same as for most people: on the 1965 Paul Butterfield Blues Band debut album on Elektra Records. That was the first exposure to real Blues (as opposed to the imitation Blues of the UK bands like The Yardbirds) for myself and my fellow white suburban teenagers. Blew our Minds! I think every band in the Santa Clara Valley (home to San Jose) played "Born In Chicago" in 1966, including mine. That song, by the way, was written by Nick Gravenites, later the singer in The Electric Flag. Playing bass and drums on the album are Jerome Arnold and Sam Lay from Howlin’ Wolf’s band. It don’t get more Blues than that!
Around the same time, Dylan heard Bloomfield play, and brought him into some recording sessions. And on his 1965 album So Many Roads, John Hammond Jr. had Robbie Robertson and Levon Helm of The Hawks playing guitar and drums, as well as Charlie Musselwhite blowing harp. Bloomfield has recounted the story of showing up at a Hammond session, intending to play guitar. Already doing just that was Robertson. Bloomfield says when he heard Robbie’s playing, he decided to move over to piano ;-) .
Anyway.....in the summer of 1968 I attended the Santa Clara County Folk/Rock Festival, held on the County Fairgrounds property. The 12 noon opening band that day was a local one: Fritz. Two members of Fritz were guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks. Just another San Jose Garage Band ;-). The Electric Flag were scheduled to go on in the late afternoon (5 or 6 iirc), and as their time slot approached all band members---including drummer Buddy Miles, who at 19 years of age was playing in Wilson Pickett’s band!, bassist the mighty Harvey Brooks, and pianist Mark Naftalin---were onstage, milling around. Also on stage were four black guys holding saxes---two baritone, two bass. Have you ever seen a bass sax? It’s HUGE!
Conspicuously absent was Mike Bloomfield. Gravenites walked up to his mic and apologized for the delay, saying Mike was on his way. After about fifteen minutes (during which time we all took a "cigarette" break ;-) I heard clapping starting behind me (I always sit close to the stage, so as to be able to clearly see what the musicians are doing), and running through the audience towards the stage was a barefoot Bloomfield, holding his uncased Strat. He bounded up on stage and plugged his guitar into his Fender Twin Reverb, Buddy counted off 1-2-3-4, and the band kicked into "Killing Floor" (a Howlin’ Wolf Song), just like the album opens. Just writing that sentence has the hair on the back of my neck standing up like a dog in a fight. They sounded in-f*cking-credible! My still-fresh memory of having recently seen Cream and Hendrix paled in comparison. The most exhilarating musical experience of my life. That is, until I heard Ry Cooder play his guitar solo in John Hiatt’s "Lipstick Sunset" on stage with Little Village, during which time seemed to stand still. I consider myself very fortunate ;-).
Wanna hear the ending to the story? The poor Doors had to follow The Electric Flag on stage ;-). To say they sounded anticlamactic is a gross understatement. The Doors never sounded the same to me after that day. Like little boys, not men---Eric.