I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know

Al Kooper

Al Kooper has one of the coolest pedigrees in the history of rock music; mostly because his career spans nearly that entire history. We first heard him playing the Hammond organ on Bob Dylan's recording of "Like A Rolling Stone". Kooper later gained notice as a member of The Blues Project and, in the 70's, as the producer of Lynyrd Skynyrd. To list all or even most of his accomplishments here would be impossible, so for today, we will focus on one of his better known projects; a little band known as Blood Sweat and Tears.

Al Kooper formed the band in 1967 with Jim Fielder, Fred Lipsius, Randy Brecker, Jerry Weiss, Dick Halligan, Steve Katz and Bobby Colomby. Al, Bobby, Steve, and Jim did a few shows as a quartet at the Cafe Au Go Go in New York City in September 1967, opening for Moby Grape. Fred Lipsius then joined the others two months later. A few more shows were played as a quintet, including one at the Fillmore East in New York. Lipsius then recruited the other three, who were New York horn players. The final lineup debuted at the Cafe Au Go Go on November 17–19, 1967, then played again at The Scene the following week. The band was a hit with the audience, who liked the innovative fusion of jazz with acid rock and psychedelia. After signing to Columbia Records, the group released the album "Child Is Father To The Man" in February of 1968. It featured Kooper's memorable blues number, "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know". The album eventually peaked at #47 on Billboard's Pop Albums chart, but has continued to sell well through reissues on CD and audiophile vinyl.

In Al Kooper's autobiography, "Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards", he tells us that "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" was a split tribute to Otis Redding and James Brown. Al says "The lyrics were a nod to Otis' song "I Love You More Than Words Can Say", and the melody was reminiscent of James Brown's "It's A Man's World". On December 6, 1967, Otis died in a plane crash and it really f***ed me up. The next night, we began recording the album. I insisted we record "I Love You..." first. Nobody objected. We put down a blistering track and it looked like this was gonna be an easy album to make. We overdubbed Freddie Lipsius's solo and Steve Katz's fills, and then it was time to put a vocal on it."

Al goes on to say that the band was so nervous about his vocal skills that he prepared a practical joke to ease the tension. On the first take, he started singing the lyrics in French, having memorized them that way beforehand. When everybody stopped in shock, he innocently smirked "Oh, you wanted me to sing it in English?" Then, there was Take 2.

Kooper continues, "Now my eyes were screwed shut, and I was thinkin' about Otis and this sounds cliched as hell, but it's true. I was saying to myself, "This is for you". And I was singing. One take. They called me into the booth for playback, and everyone was smiling."

In spite of this song's success, the band eventually did kick Al Kooper out. It was a cross between wanting a different lead vocalist and creative differences with the rest of the band, who objected to Kooper's tight control. The chief rivals here are Kooper and Bobby Colomby, who continue bitter feuds to this very day over whose idea was what and who gets the money from "Child Is Father to the Man". It's always the money.

Joe Bonamassa and Beth Hart

Nonetheless, a good song remains a good song, no matter what the circumstances. Although the song has since been given affectionate workouts by both soul singer Donny Hathaway and British blues guitarist Gary Moore, "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know" was certainly ripe for a solid reinterpretation, but needed the right band and just the right vocalist.

Guitarist Joe Bonamassa has carved quite a career for himself. It's exceptional in the sense that he has managed to become an arena-filling success as an independent artist, using hardly any help from major corporate record labels. A child prodigy, Bonamassa was finessing Stevie Ray Vaughan licks when he was seven and by the time he was ten, had caught B.B. King’s ear. After first hearing him play, King said, “This kid’s potential is unbelievable. He hasn’t even begun to scratch the surface. He’s one of a kind.” By age 12, Bonamassa was opening shows for King himself and went on to tour with the likes of Buddy Guy, Foreigner, Robert Cray, Stephen Stills, Joe Cocker and Gregg Allman. An avowed road dog, Joe Bonamassa tours hard; playing an average of 200 shows a year. His mind-blowing guitar wizardry and electrifying stage presence are selling out progressively larger venues.

A Los Angeles native, Beth Hart began playing the piano at age 4, and has made music all her life. She attended L.A. High School for the Performing Arts and released her first album, "Immortal", in 1996. Hart is known for the passionate conviction of her soul-baring performances, on record and onstage. The strength of her vocals is matched by what she conveys in her lyrics, making her take on confessional songwriting both authentic and heartfelt. She also adds a new tenderness to her powerful blues-rock sound that intimately draws listeners in. Hart is raw and emotionally immediate; singing of life's travails, lessons learned, and contentment gained.

Here is Beth Hart with Joe Bonamassa, and their scorching rendition of "I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know". I'll bet Al Kooper is diggin' this.

If you enjoyed this track, then I will remind you that Hart and Bonamassa are independent artists who are very worthy of your support, so I encourage you to do so by purchasing their music, which you can do at their official website, or your local indie purveyor of musical wonderment. There's also online corporate giant Amazon, where you can find "Seesaw" and other recordings by Beth Hart and Joe Bonamassa, both together and individually.

You can also find the music of Blood Sweat & Tears at Amazon, including a spiffy little 5 disc boxed set, which contains all the BST you'll ever want, nicely remastered with bonus tracks, for well under $20. Such a deal.