Mike Bloomfield

Mike Bloomfield
Bloomfield c. 1968
Background information
Birth name	Michael Bernard Bloomfield
Born	(1943-07-28)July 28, 1943 Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died	February 15, 1981(1981-02-15) (aged 37) San Francisco, United States
Genres	Blues, blues rock, Chicago blues
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, piano
Years active	1964–81
Associated acts	The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Bob Dylan, the Electric Flag, Al Kooper, Nick Gravenites, Dr. John, John P. Hammond
Website	mikebloomfield.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul Fender Telecaster

Michael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield (July 28, 1943 – February 15, 1981) was an American guitarist and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969. Respected for his guitar playing, Bloomfield knew and played with many of Chicago's blues legends before achieving his own fame and was instrumental in popularizing blues music in the mid-1960s. He was ranked number 22 on Rolling Stone's list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" in 2003 and number 42 by the same magazine in 2011. He was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2012 and, as a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.

Bloomfield was born into a wealthy Chicago Jewish-American family. Bloomfield's father, Harold Bloomfield, was born in Chicago in 1914. After pursuing business ventures in California during the 1920s, he returned to the city in the early 1930s. Harold Bloomfield began manufacturing restaurant supplies, and by the latter part of the decade his company, Bloomfield Industries, was making pie cases, kitchen utensils, salt and pepper shakers, and sugar pourers. By the early 1940s Bloomfield Industries had acquired more manufacturing and warehouse space. The company expanded during World War II by manufacturing supplies needed for the war effort. Working with his brother, Daniel, and his father, Samuel, Harold Bloomfield built up Bloomfield Industries into a thriving business. Michael Bloomfield's mother was born Dorothy Klein in Chicago in 1918 and married Harold Bloomfield in 1940. She came from an artistic, musical family, and worked as an actor and a model before marrying Bloomfield. Michael Bloomfield's brother Allen Bloomfield was born in Chicago on Dec. 24, 1944.

Bloomfield's family lived in various locations around Chicago before settling at 424 West Melrose Street on the North Side. When he was twelve his family moved to suburban Glencoe, Illinois. where he attended New Trier High School for two years. During this time, he began playing in local bands, and Bloomfield put together a group called the Hurricanes, named after Ohio rock band Johnny and the Hurricanes. New Trier High School expelled Bloomfield after his band performed a raucous rock and roll song at a 1959 school gathering. He attended Cornwall Academy in Massachusetts for one year and then returned to Chicago, where he spent his last year of education at a local YMCA school, Central YMCA High School.