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BOX CUTS

SIX HEAVILY EDITED SONGS
ON THE BLOOMFIELD BOX SET

This presentation examines six songs on Michael Bloomfield's From His Head To His Heart To His Hands, a box set anthology of Mike's music released by Columbia Records and Sony Music Entertainment in 2014.

Each of the songs contains one or more edits. With each edit, a musical passage or section is removed from the recording and discarded.

There are twenty such edits altogether in the six songs.

As the cuts occur, the continuity of the music is destroyed. Incongruous musical juxtapositions — including musical lines that were not played (and would not have been played) — are manufactured and presented in place of what was actually performed and previously released.

Those who care about and respect Michael Bloomfield and his memory deserve to know how his music has been changed on the box — and to hear that music as Mike played it and intended it to be heard.

This presentation is for them.

The presentation includes:

  • Soundclips of all twenty deleted musical passages or sections,

  • And for each of the six songs —

    • A waveform diagram,

    • Before-and-after contextual soundclips, and

    • The original recording of the entire song, without edits.

The diagrams depict both original and box-edit versions of the songs, and show the dimensions and locations of all twenty cuts.

Full versions of the songs are also on the albums credited below, all of which are available on CD.

Editing analysis and webpage production by Mark Naftalin
Diagrams by Beth Northrop from Samplitude waveform files

Please click or scroll down to study the songs.

"Carmelita Skiffle"
  • one entire chorus cut out of the opening guitar solo
  • last note of the opening guitar solo lopped off
  • one entire chorus cut out of the closing guitar solo

"Jockey Blues / Old Folks Boogie"

  • sixteen of twenty-four bars cut out of the intro
  • five- and three-bar sections cut from the 25-bar
       instrumental interlude
  • first two bars cut out of the ensemble ritard at the end

"Don't You Lie To Me"

  • first chorus of the guitar solo cut out

"A-Flat Boogaloo"

  • twelve-bar intro cut down to two bars
  • two twelve-bar sections cut out of the 48-bar concluding vocal

"Darktown Strutters' Ball"

  • six bars cut out of a sixteen-bar chorus in the
       instrumental introduction

"It's About Time"

  • twelve of twenty bars cut out of the intro
  • twelve bars of a sixteen-bar passage cut from the beginning
       of the first guitar solo
  • four more bars cut out of the middle of the solo
  • another four bars cut out shortly before the end of the solo
  • fourteen bars cut out between the guitar solo and the return of
       Nick Gravenite's vocal
  • ten of 34 bars cut out of Nick's vocal (between the guitar solos)
  • eight of sixteen bars cut from the closing guitar solo

"CARMELITA SKIFFLE"
(Bloomfield, Gravenites, Naftalin, Kahn, Jones, Kamin)
original 5:16 / box edit 2:53

Recorded at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, January or February, 1969
Released on the Columbia album "Live At Bill Graham's Fillmore West"

Michael Bloomfield, guitar / Mark Naftalin, piano / Ira Kamin, organ
John Kahn, bass / Bob Jones, drums / Noel Jewkis, tenor sax
Gerald Oshita or Snooky Flowers, baritone sax / John Wilmeth, trumpet

CUTS
click times for music

     The entire fifth chorus of the six-chorus
          opening guitar solo:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:20)

     The final note of the opening guitar solo, and
          the entire three-chorus sax solo:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:59)

     The first two choruses of the four-chorus
          organ solo:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:40)

     The final flourish of the organ solo, and the
          entire first chorus of the two-chorus closing
          guitar solo:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:19)

CONTEXT
click times for music

Opening guitar solo

ORIGINAL

  • The original version of the opening guitar solo,
    with all six choruses and the last note intact
     (2:09)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the opening guitar solo
    with the entire fifth chorus and the last note
    cut out (1:49)

Closing guitar solo

ORIGINAL

  • The original closing guitar solo with both
    choruses (and the final flourish of the organ
    solo) intact (:58)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the closing guitar solo with its
    entire first chorus (and the final flourish of the
    organ solo) cut out (:41)

Here is the entire song without edits.
"Carmelita Skiffle"

"JOCKEY BLUES / OLD FOLKS BOOGIE"
(Traditional, J. L. Hooker)
original 3:52 / box edit 3:15

Recorded at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California, January 1, 1977
Released on Michael Bloomfield's CD "I'm With You Always" © 2008 Benchmark Recordings, Inc.

Michael Bloomfield, guitar & vocals / Mark Naftalin, piano / Buell Neidlinger, bass

CUTS
click times for music

     Sixteen bars (bars 8-23) of the 24-bar
          intrumental intro:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:21)

     Five bars of the instrumental interlude:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:06)

     An additional three bars of the instrumental
          interlude:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:04)

     The first two bars of the ensemble ritard that
          ends the song:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:05)

CONTEXT
click times for music

Intro

ORIGINAL

  • The original 24-bar instrumental intro (:47)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the intro with sixteen of 24 bars
    cut out (:26)

Instrumental interlude

ORIGINAL

  • The original 25-bar interlude (:51)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the interlude with the two short
    sections cut out (:41)

Ending

ORIGINAL

  • The original ending with ten bars at tempo
    leading to six half-time bars of ritard (:54)
BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the ending with the first
    two bars of the ritard cut out (:48)

Here is the entire song without edits.
" Jockey Blues / Old Folks Boogie"

"DON'T YOU LIE TO ME"
(H. Whittaker)
original 3:34 / box edit 3:09

Recorded at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California, January 1, 1977
Released on Michael Bloomfield's CD "I'm With You Always" © 2008 Benchmark Recordings, Inc.

Michael Bloomfield, guitar & vocals / Mark Naftalin, piano
Buell Neidlinger, bass / Buddy Helm, drums

CUT
click time for music

     The entire first chorus of the guitar solo:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:20)

CONTEXT
click times for music

Guitar solo

ORIGINAL

  • The original guitar solo with all three
    choruses intact (1:16)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the guitar solo with the
    first chorus cut out (:56)

Here is the entire song without edits.
" Don't You Lie To Me"

"A-FLAT BOOGALOO"
(M. Bloomfield)
original 5:21 / box edit 3:55

Recorded at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California, January 1, 1977
Released on Michael Bloomfield's CD "I'm With You Always" © 2008 Benchmark Recordings, Inc.

Michael Bloomfield, guitar & vocals / Mark Naftalin, piano
Buell Neidlinger, bass / Buddy Helm, drums

CUTS
click times for music

     The first ten bars of the twelve-bar
          instrumental intro:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:31)

     The first chorus of the "we love you" chant:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:27)

     Another twelve bars of chanting, starting with
          the eighth bar of the second-to-last chorus:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:27)

CONTEXT
click times for music

Intro

ORIGINAL

  • The original first chorus, which is a twelve-
    bar instumental intro (:47)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the twelve-bar intro with the
    first ten bars cut out (:17)

Concluding vocal

ORIGINAL

  • The original 48-bar concluding vocal, which
    consists of one chorus of blues lyrics followed
    by three choruses of chanting "We love you,"
    ending with "We hope you love us too"
     (2:11)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the concluding vocal, reduced
    from 48 bars to 24 by two twelve-bar cuts
     (1:15)

Here is the entire song without edits.
" A-Flat Boogaloo"

"DARKTOWN STRUTTERS' BALL"
(S. Brooks)
a medley also including "Mop Mop" and "Call Me A Dog"
original 4:05 / box edit 3:56

Recorded at McCabe's Guitar Shop, Santa Monica, California, January 1, 1977
Released on Michael Bloomfield's CD "I'm With You Always" © 2008 Benchmark Recordings, Inc.

Michael Bloomfield, guitar & vocals

CUT
click time for music

     Seven bars — the last six bars of a sixteen-bar
          chorus of "Mop Mop" (the first element of the
          instrumental intro), plus an extra bar of rhythm
          leading to the next element:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:08)

CONTEXT
click times for music

Intro

ORIGINAL

  • The original solo guitar intro, which includes
    one full chorus of each of the three songs in
    the medley (1:13)
BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the solo guitar intro with the
    last six bars of the first song (and one additional
    contiguous bar of rhythm) cut out  (1:04)

Here is the entire song without edits.
" Darktown Strutters' Ball"

"IT'S ABOUT TIME"
(N. Gravenites)
original 7:03 / box edit 5:15

Recorded at the Fillmore West in San Francisco, January or February, 1969
Released on the Columbia album "Live At Bill Graham's Fillmore West"

Nick Gravenites, vocals / Michael Bloomfield, guitar / Mark Naftalin, piano / Ira Kamin, organ
John Kahn, bass / Bob Jones, drums / Dino Andino, conga / Noel Jewkis, tenor sax
Gerald Oshita or Snooky Flowers, baritone sax / John Wilmeth, trumpet

CUTS
click times for music

     The first twelve bars of the twenty-bar
          instrumental intro:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:21)

     The first twelve bars of a motific sixteen-bar
          solo guitar passage that sets up the extended
          solo to follow:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:20)

     Another four bars of the extended guitar solo:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:06)

     Yet another four bars of the extended guitar solo:

           REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:07)

     Fourteen bars between the end of Mike's first
          guitar solo and the return of Nick's vocal:

           REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:17)

     The first ten bars of Nick's eighteen-bar vocal
          ad lib (following the final vocal chorus):

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:17)

     The first eight bars of a motific twelve-bar solo
          guitar passage that sets up the ending:

          REMOVED AND DISCARDED (:14)

CONTEXT
click times for music

Intro

ORIGINAL

  • The original intro — four bars of rhythm
    (percussion and piano) followed by a sixteen-
    bar chorus where the bass and guitar join on
    the first half, and the organ and horns on the
    second (:41)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the twenty-bar intro with the
    first twelve bars cut out (:20)

First guitar solo

ORIGINAL

  • The original first guitar solo (2:12)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the first guitar solo with
    the first twelve bars cut out; with four bars cut
    out eighteen bars into the solo (counting from
    the new, manufactured, beginning); and with
    another four bars cut out at the peak of the
    solo, right before it ends (1:39)

After the guitar solo, before the vocal

ORIGINAL

  • The passage in the original between the end
    of the guitar solo and the point where Nick
    comes back in singing (:40)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the same section with
    fourteen bars cut out, including the ensemble
    riff that sets up the vocal (:23)

Nick's second vocal section

ORIGINAL

  • The complete 34-bar original vocal
    section following Mike's extended solo —
    one sixteen bar chorus and eighteen bars of
    ad lib lyrics (1:03)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the second vocal section,
    with the first ten bars of Nick's vocal ad lib
    cut out (:46)

Closing guitar solo

ORIGINAL

  • The original closing guitar solo: twelve
    bars of a distinctive musical motif — similar
    to what was played at the beginning of the
    first guitar solo — leading to the ending
    which builds on the ensemble riff (:56)

BOX EDIT

  • The box edit of the closing guitar solo
    with the first eight bars of the twelve-bar
    motific passage cut out (:39)

Here is the entire song without edits.
"It's About Time"

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