You're speaking my language. As an 8-9-year-old kid my brother and I each had a little Radio Shack transistor radio that we either plugged in a single mono earphone or we put the radio under our pillow which actually mitigated some of the tinny high end of that cheap speaker and improved the mids and lows. But we both fell asleep to Wolfman Jack on XERB transmitted out of Mexico spinning Lou Rawls, Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Cannonball Adderly, Etta James, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, and James Brown. The college dude that worked the counter at Soundsville records was always interested in who I would lay down my 35¢ per 45 record each Saturday morning. He asked why I wasn't listening to Alvin and the Chipmunks or Allen Sherman and I'd say, "That's kid's stuff." He called me an old soul. I started my musical career in elementary school orchestra on a broken down B flat clarinet the San Diego public schools lent out to me, but my skinny little fingers couldn't fill the key openings. Mom worked all Summer at sears to get me an almost brand new Leblanc closed hole clarinet and in one afternoon during try-outs, I went from the middle of 3rd section in the intermediate band to 3rd chair first section in the advanced band. Always loved Al Koopers stuff. Al's BS&T was the BEST BS&T. He truly was/is the Forrest Gump of rock music. Recently caught the recording of Al's 50th Birthday Bash at the Bottom Line. My Lord what a great archive of my favorite players. So sad that Bloomfield couldn't be there. Great stuff, Jimmy. Great stuff.

Loved it! Thanks! Al is an American treasure and so full of fabulous stories. Can't wait for part 2!

So happy to see this. Al is such a musical legend, and so funny! If you haven’t read his book Backstage Passes & Backstabbing Bastards: Memoirs of a Rock 'N' Roll, you are missing out. It’s my favorite music bio, and I’ve read a lot of them. Thanks Al and Jimmy!

Great interview, especially the respect JV showers on the older musicians.

Happy Birthday, Al!

love seeing my buddy, Al...so glad you two have such history together. Miss you both!

Al is a legend for all time❤

Great Interview, Jimmy and Al! Hey, I grew up in a little town in Northern New Jersey, called Glen Rock, and, in the early 1970s, Jimmy and his twin brother, Jerry, were a couple of grades ahead of me at Glen Rock Jr.-Sr. High School... The Vivino brothers had a really great Rock Band (with Horns!), that we used to go see, at the Ridgewood High School Gym... They played "covers" of Chicago, Ides Of March, and Blood Sweat & Tears, of course, (and, a few "originals", too, IF I remember correctly). So, the cool thing is... their Band was called "Flesh & Blood", which was a reference to the Al Kooper line, in Blood Sweat & Tears' "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know", where he wails, "I'm only flesh and blood!" Well, fast forward to sometime in the '90s, and, I'd grown up to be a Professional Recording Engineer/Producer, working at Notes-On-Call, in St. Pete, (the precursor to what's become "TrueFire", today), and, I was was reading Al Kooper's Column, in EQ, and, he was talking about his "go-to guitarist", named, Jimmy Vivino! What? HOLY SHIT! Jimmy had gone from a kid naming his Band after an Al Kopper lyric, to growing up to be Al's Go-to...!!! I always thought that that was pretty cool. I still do. At the end of part 2 of this interview, Jimmy even said that they're "Best Friends"! Yeah, pretty damn cool, Jimmy! (Hey, I do know Al Di Meola, though! In fact, in 1976, I supplied the "Herbal lubricant", let's say, for Paco De Lucia, who wouldn't "play a note, 'til he gets high"! Then, they Recorded, "Mediterranean Sundance", at Electric Lady...!) BTW, Al Kooper, I love you more than you will ever know! (And, you should STOP GOING TO THOSE DOCTORS! They'll only kill you!) Of course, NOW, ALL of OUR "days are numbered"! ;o) Peace. -Chris kzfaq.info PS, I'm still looking for Stuart Ervin, Electronics Engineer @ Dallas Music Industries (DMI), in the '70s... So, IF Al Kooper reads THIS, please, let me know IF you know of Stuart and Jane's whereabouts!? (I haven't seen them since the late '70s... Quite a Character, that Stu...)

Birdland must have been like The Famous Ballroom in Baltimore. I saw Maynard many times there in the late 60's as well as Don Ellis and many of the jazz greats from that era. They always served beer and pretzels and potato chips. Went there with my friend Louis Scherr. Great times. I miss it.

Excellent interview of one of my musical heroes

"This is Randy's Record Shop, comin in from Memphis with 50,000 watts"! That was at that time the most powerful radio station coming out the south. They played the best R&B, blues and jazz on the airwaves. Those were some good days.🙂

Great work Jimmy .. Al and you have a great bond

DESOLATION ROW is the Dylan song on HWY 61 with CHARLIE MCCOY ON GUITAR.

You could hear Randy's Records radio show across the entire south, northeast and all the way out to California.🙂

Great interview

I love Al Kooper. Super Session is on my Apple Playlist. Child is Father To The Man also. And of course we all know about Dylan and Al.

Too hyper. Al Kooper is an excellent interview subject. He’s calm and expressive. I would have asked follow up questions and let him go into greater detail about his teenage years. And why hasn’t his ‘80s album “Championship Wrestling” ever been issued on CD? It’s one of his best.

Jimmy, how's brother Floyd doing?

nothing about Skynyrd? His best work - Ronnie Van Zant called "Pronounced "His masterpiece' - owuldn;t have happened without AL

How could Zappa drive off the side of the road when he didn’t drive?

Interesting Al Cooper to hear his stories during his career