Mike Bloomfield at the Bitter End

Happy 68th birthday, Mike Bloomfield! We at mikebloomfieldamericanmusic.com are pleased to have learned that filmmaker Ira Schneider documented Mike Bloomfield's New York debut with the Electric Flag at the Bitter End in November 1967. This footage has been here-to-fore unknown to fans of Michael Bloomfield. At the time, the Flag's manager, Albert Grossman, gave Ira permission to film them backstage and in performance as long as he did not record sound. The resulting 8 minutes of color film offers a remarkable rare glimpse into the Flag's extraordinary intensity and Bloomfield's electric stage presence. Even without sound, the excitement the band was renown for generating comes through. Buddy Miles is a powerhouse, and Bloomfield grimaces and contorts with each note as he literally shakes the strings of his Les Paul. Ira Schneider has graciously allowed us to post this very brief excerpt from his footage. It is a low-resolution copy with timing bar and watermarks, but the power of Bloomfield, Miles and Harvey Brooks clearly comes across. To enhance the clip, we have added sound (taken from a Pyschedelic Supermarket show recorded several weeks before this Bitter End gig). We offer this Bloomfield Extra in celebration of Mike's 68th birthday, and hope his fans will enjoy this very brief moment with one of American music's great pioneers! For more information about Ira Schneider and his films visit his website at ira-schneider.com/artist/index.html.

Added 7 Apr 2026