The great Al Kooper. He founded Blood Sweat and Tears, played with the Rolling Stones, BB King, the Who, and many more. And by accident, he played the most famous organ riff ever on the number-one song of all time. Kooper says his watershed moment came when he performed as an organ accompanist for Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". the performance catapulted Kooper's career, but as Jim found out the hard way, the musician is hesitant -- to say the least -- to recount the story of the impromptu organ addition:
"Let me say that, I've told this story 4 million times, everybody watching this show, even if they don't know who I am, know the story," said Kooper.
In 1965, Kooper was trying out as a guitarist for Dylan, but the gig was passed off to another musician. Instead of giving up, Kooper snuck in to the recording booth and riffed to the song on a Hammond organ. The part became an essential component to the song’s success.
And yes, Kooper says he really did sneak in to Bob Dylan’s studio. “When I was that age… I was 90 percent ambition and 10 percent talent. And that’s part of 90 percent ambition,” Kooper said.
Kooper was there for a number of famous Dylan moments, including the famous crowd booing at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. That story is "totally unreal," according to Kooper. "What was real was that, we were the headliners of the...festival, and we played 3 songs and went offstage." Fans were angry, but there were not disgruntled jeers. "I could destroy a lot more if you want to talk about things."
But Kooper’s career goes far beyond Dylan. He began as a guitarist in Royal Teens, the rock and roll band that brought us the song “Short Shorts,” which topped the charted in 1956. After that, Kooper became a songwriter for a publishing company. He worked with Gene Pitney, and authored songs that went on to be recorded by Gary Lewis, Pat Boone, and many others.
“It was sort of wild to have these people, like Keely Smith and Carmen MacRae, recording songs that I wrote,” Kooper said.
Rarely the center of attention, Kooper’s legacy is nonetheless woven through music history. But staying out of the spotlight was just fine for Kooper. “In the beginning, I had a lot of attention, and I didn’t like it it turns out.”
Besides music, Kooper also keeps an eye on politics. In 1979, Kooper was so concerned over Regan’s election that he decided to leave the country. This time around, he supports fellow-Brooklyn boy Bernie Sanders: “I think he’s wonderful”.
Will he go the way of the expatriate if Trump wins the White House? “I’m too old,” Kooper said.
Off camera, Kooper asked Greater Boston to make it clear that he “hated” telling the Bob Dylan story for the “4 millionth time”. To test his notion, we asked the Greater Boston production team is they had ever heard the story before tonight. For most of them, it was still the first time hearing about the origin of the organ.
But even if they had, a true legend never gets old.
