About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

He may not be one of the best-known names in rock history, but few unsung heroes have reached more ears than this veteran New York Renaissance man. For the better part of four decades, Al Kooper's songs, keyboard playing, production, and arrangements have insinuated themselves into the collective consciousness, and this two-disc compendium gives some indication of just how broad his influence has been. While steering clear of his sessions with Dylan, the Stones, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, the double-disc Rare & Well Done demonstrates what Kooper can do when he's in the spotlight. Disc 1, Rare, collects various outtakes, demos, B-sides, and other rarities bearing Kooper's stamp, while Disc 2, Well Done, focuses on his better-known songs. Many of his works -- "I Can't Quit Her," for example, and "New York's My Home" -- are part and parcel of the urban-rock soundtrack of the late '60s, and his driving takes on songs like "I Can't Keep from Crying Sometimes" are utterly peerless. The set draws from his days with the Blues Project and Blood, Sweat & Tears (the band with which he pioneered jazz-rock fusion) and proffers abundant examples of his grace as an interpreter. To the latter end, we get Kooper's take on "Hey Jude," replete with a horn section that'd do Count Basie proud, and his revamp of XTC's "Making Plans for Nigel," which he recasts as a Depression-era strut). Kooper's talents are formidable, and, as this career-spanning set bears out, his status as one of rock's true unsung greats is undiminished by time. David Sprague, Barnes & Noble

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