Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt February 5, 1944, Brooklyn, New York) is an American songwriter, producer and musician, probably best known for organizing the group Blood, Sweat & Tears, though he didn't stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. His first musical success was as a 14-year-old guitarist in the ROYAL TEENS, best known for their novelty blues riff, "Short Shorts". In 1960, he joined the song-writing team of Bob Brass and Irwin Levine, who wrote the hit, "This Diamond Ring", for Gary Lewis and the Playboys. When he was 21, he moved to Greenwich Village. ...show more

Al Kooper (born Alan Peter Kuperschmidt February 5, 1944, Brooklyn, New York) is an American songwriter, producer and musician, probably best known for organizing the group Blood, Sweat & Tears, though he didn't stay with the group long enough to share its popularity. His first musical success was as a 14-year-old guitarist in the ROYAL TEENS, best known for their novelty blues riff, "Short Shorts". In 1960, he joined the song-writing team of Bob Brass and Irwin Levine, who wrote the hit, "This Diamond Ring", for Gary Lewis and the Playboys. When he was 21, he moved to Greenwich Village.

He performed with Bob Dylan in concert in 1965 and in the studio in 1965 and 1966, including playing Hammond organ with Dylan at the (in)famous Newport Folk Festival of 1965. He worked extensively with Mike Bloomfield for a number of years after the two met as studio musicians on Dylan's legendary Highway 61 Revisited album. In 1965, he co-formed The Blues Project and played their most famous gig at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. He formed Blood, Sweat & Tears in the same year, leaving after the group's first album, Child Is Father to the Man, in 1968.

Kooper played on hundreds of records, including The Rolling Stones, B.B. King, The Who and Cream. On occasion, he has even overdubbed on his own efforts, as on The Live Adventures Of Mike Bloomfield And Al Kooper album, as Roosevelt Gook. He discovered the band Lynyrd Skynyrd, and produced their first three albums, including the single Sweet Home Alabama. ...show less