The Story of How "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan was Recorded - Al Kooper
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
- In this video, Joe Chambers, CEO and Founder of the Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum in Nashville, TN, sits down with MHOF Inductee Al Kooper. Al was invited to the recording session by Dylan's Producer, Tom Wilson to watch. What ended up happening would change everyone's life as he got the chance to play the Hammond B3 organ on the recording.
Dylan would then invite Al to play on the rest of the album making him the most famous organ session player of the time. He created a sound that was widely imitated during that period.
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i was in an apartment in NYC in 1965 with someone closely affiliated when i was asked if i wanted to hear Bobby's new tune. I said, "yes." the tune was Like a Rolling Stone. it had only just been released. my host played it all night long on a turntable over and over and over. i thought it was the best year of my life.
Ok busdy
I can see that.
I call bullshit on that. Everyone hated like a Rolling Stone when it came out even his diehard fans. Hell even his mentor didn’t even listen to the entire record. Cool story, bro.
@@kingcontraian "Everybody hated it" must've been why it went to number 1....😅
@@kingcontraianI vividly remember hearing it on the AM radio in 65, at the ripe old age of 8. Even I knew it was special!
“I don’t care what he is - make the organ louder.” 🤘
Recorded 15 years ago, when he was 64-now 79 in 2023. Born: 1944 (age 79 years).
Thanks, Al for all the great music. Michael Sherrer aka Riff Digger.
Thank you! @Musicians Hall of Fame: please give the date of your recordings in the descriptions!
I've always felt the organ made the song. It's all I ever heard.
I agree !
It's very good. The more you know.
the piano part was pretty awesome though
I don’t care what he is make the organ louder - what a great quote that is
Could listen to Al Kooper tell stories from the 60´s and 70´s all day long..
His book "Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards" (two volumes btw) is an essential and hilarious read. He is a great story teller ..
Great story… that guitar player that humbled Al was Mike Bloomfield. That meeting led to a lifelong friendship between Al and Mike which lasted until Mike’s unfortunate passing, and resulted in several records featuring Al and Mike, starting off with the 1969 “Super Session”.
Thanks for sharing Bill…. joe
Great story on top of a great story. So much came out of that chance encounter.
I have the C D with Stephen Stills. And Fillmore East with Johnny Winters
I always loved that organ in Like a Rolling Stone! I still love it!
Lantanana I agree, and I feel the same way about Charlie McCoy’s guitar on Desolation Row!
I went back and listed to Like a Rolling Stone for the 2000th time and just listed to the organ. He does come in a beat late. Without the organ it would have been a different song.
Also positively 4th street. Must have been same session
I have Watch The story being told on know direction home The story being told on know direction home many Times and it's 1 of my favorite stories. This 1 is very close But more Detailed. Love this 1 too I'll be watching it many times. There's so many good Dylan songs it's hard to have a favorite But mine is like a rolling stone
Thanks for watching Cynthia….Joe
Same here.
Hard to pick a Bob Dylan favorite but Like a Rolling Stone is probably #1 for me too.
Love how Al Kooper tells the story.
LUV LUV t Organ sound on Like a Rolling Stone AND Positively 4th Street-- SO Hugely Impactful for t entire song. A-mazing Great Story & testimony. WOW. Thanx God!
I just saw A Complete Unknown for the second time last night. Really glad this story was captured in the movie - one of the best parts. And the organ TOTALLY makes that song, imo. Thank you, Al(!)
I just had my second time viewing A Complete Unknown too! Good to hear Al talk about that session thats in the movie. And recorded for posterity.😊
In the movie, where Dylan snaps his head to the left towards the organ as it plays its first chord, as if to say “what the hell is that”, instantly realizes it’s perfect, and the take happens. One of many great moments, I’m going again Tuesday.
Me too!!
Yep I love that scene!
Yeah! Great scene. Saw movie 3x. Love it.
Going to see it for the third time!
WOW, what a story. I've heard that "rumor" since the 60's or as I have several friends that are studio musicians. But to hear it from the guy, amazing.
oink ooink gy
Bob is the coolest and the upmost!!!!
I love Al. Kooper, B. Dylan and the great song, thanks!
This dude discovered lynerd skynerd
@@Jack-b7g8j And he was afraid of Ronnie!
This guy is cool. Just look at him he's the truth. We all need a chance.
This has got to be one of the of the most inspiring and heartwarming stories ever, whether you are a musician or not.
No Guts No Glory! Thanks Al love everything you've done and do.
In the just released movie, "A Complete Unknown" they went over this Al Kooper story in a 1 minute clip. Thanks to this UA-cam clip, I understand the scene.
Can’t wait to see it! Now I know 😍
I saw the movie two days ago and remembered watching this video years ago.
The movie is absolutely great singing is great the music is great Timothy who plays Bob Dylan is terrific as is the woman who plays Joan Baez but the depth of the story about Al Kooper obviously was not in the movie not the way Al describes it here nor in the book about like a Rolling Stone the song
On my first viewing of Like a Complete Unknown I came out of the theater telling my family the Al Cooper bit was my fav part of the entire movie!
And hearing this interview is so inspiring, having been the guy that needed to put the guitar back in the case and slide it under the chair!😏
This story literally blew my mind. This guy is some kind of pure genius to come up with one of the most incredible organ parts in history.
That's the Day I became " An Organ Player "
What a Magical Story!
He’s a fantastic story teller!
Imagine that's your first real organ part on a record.
Thats like if jon lord bugged a producer to get in on a deep purple session and his first time on the b3 was smoke on the water
The most important organ part in rock history! Without that organ, there would be no fold-rock. I guess he also played on Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, Visions of Johanna, etc....
Imagine that's your first real organ part, PERIOD, and in two weeks, you're hanging with Bob in the Village in the 60's, and famous for being and organ player.
Never get tired of this story. Good old Tom Wilson you better thank him for the recording😎👍
The organ is the best part of the song. It’s haunting yet up lifting. I love Al Kooper’s last comment about ambition and talent. Valuable life lesson and it’s woven into one of the greatest rock songs of all time.
Here is the perfect SERENDIPITOUS MOMENT FULLY ILLUSTRATED. Rock on Al.
Even better was his organ playing on "Postiively 4th Street"! I find myself whistling that organ phrase all the time!! Very tuneful and melodic!!
What a great fucking story. God bless you Al Kooper.
Kooper's organ in the intro is a key part of this great song.
This is such a great story, technique isn’t always the most important thing.. soul is what matters
Thanks DF.....Joe
I saw Al Kooper, Mike Bloomfield, and some other musicians at the Fillmore west in the fall of 1968. I was stationed at Fort Ord and had just received my orders to go to Vietnam. Crazy times for a kid from Indiana.
Bloomfield was the guitarist he was talking about.
i remember when this song came out and how striking the organ sound was to me at that time.
I vaguely knew the song as a kid. Everyone knew the chorus; 60 year later, I finally appreciate the lyrics
how can you not love Al Kooper
Amazing story! I wonder how many millions of musicians would have loved to be invited to a Dylan session in 1965!
You all should read Al's book, Backstage Passes and Back Stabbing Bastards. The first chapter he
starts by saying something like, "OK, I'm gonna start with a story that's been told by a lot of people
but I'm the one who was there and I'm telling you the way it really happened." Al Kooper has always
been one of my very favorite musicians. The book is a great read for anyone interested in true tales
of a rock and roll wanderer and visionary.
I will look for that, thanks.
LMHO
I bought Backstage Passes in 1979 and read about that recording session. His book was full of great stories, especially the great New York City power blackout of 1965.
One of the better musician interviews. Great to hear the unlikely story of the song we were all listening to back then.
Hearing this song as a young child , It was always the organ that grabbed me . Well done Mr Kooper on a happy accident that turned out amazing !
that organ part is my fu@kig favorite too...it always stood out melodically counterpoint
my fav song too w/all along the watch tower
I've heard this story before. But it's always a great story. Nothing better than Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield. They made this session. And went on to greatness!
My God what a great story from a great storyteller. One thing that comes across as well as this Al Kooper is an extremely likeable guy and someone you'd like to spend the day with.
Thanks for watching your Kane….. Joe C.
What an incredible opportunity, Al comes across as such a humble man but he is super talented, wonderful story!
The guitar player that he said was so much better than he, was Mike Bloomfield. I love this story. He took the bull by the horns and changed the trajectory of his career. The organ helps make the song great.
No shame to be out done by Bloomfield, the best white blues player ever.
I have listened to this interview rapt with attention for several months. I have to say its the most revealtory interview in music history from what I have previously absorbed. This was the most consequential song ever recorded in terms of what Like A Rolling Stone meant to music. Greil Marcus wrote a book about this song and puts out the idea of what happened if these musicians recorded a different time and different place in a slightly different setting and what the result would be, and that in and of itself sheds a light on how fleeting art is. Had Kooper not done what he did, how would this song have manifested itself? The way it turned out in the end is nothing short of an absolute miracle, and it created, to me, the greatest 6 minutes of studio music in the history of rock and roll.
It's interesting how many "random" circumstances changed the music world. "Tangled Up in Blue" is a lyrical masterpiece, IMO, that probably wouldn't have happened 14 years later if "Like a Rolling Stone" was never accepted perhaps largely by Cooper's contribution and people who weren't open to suggestions. If Cooper had played something other than that iconic organ part, and Dylan hadn't liked it, how different would the musical world have been? Dylan isn't the 1st one who has said that he doesn't know where the music came from. SRV amount others have said the same. Dylan was about 22-23. Where does it come from? Jackson Browne was said to have been 16 when he wrote "These Days" How the hell does that happen? I'm just glad it does.
i could listen to these ol' warriors all night long..matter of fact..everybody should listen to these folks..they knew music..real music...thx for the video..
I went back to listen to the song as soon as I finished watching the video. It’s incredible that you can hear exactly what Kooper is talking about: his playing is straight ahead with the chord changes, his approach allows him to avoid playing “on top of” the other musicians and you can actually hear him “hang back” a split second before playing on some of his phrases. Also his playing is similar to Bobs harmonica lines so they end up complementing each other. What a great story for a great song.
and then a dozen other albums copied them .. and he and Dylan laughed over it .
Great Job Al,you had balls!
This story is Golden ! It's such a perfect example of the recording processes during those incredible days when everything was based on actual Talent, there was no pitch correction and no one would even consider the idea of a time grid.. At that time everything was New and exciting.. The music industry in the 21st century has lost the Human Element that made all of those records so Powerful and memorable.. What a great time for music ! Thank you so much for sharing this great story.. Lary
He came up with the most recognizable lick of the song, responding to every "how does it feel" with the organ.
Saw Al Kooper in 1968 at Hobart College, Geneva NY. I was 18 . Will always remember their concert.
That cut was THE song heard EVERYWHERE at Newport, '65 (Dylan "goes electric"). You could NOT escape hearing it! Amazing! All capped by Dylan's performance Sunday night.
Amazing how music history takes place, unplanned by chance, the right musician doing something right and a “masterpiece” created. I have listened to LARS thousands of times and never tire of it.
I love that story and never tire of hearing Al tell it.
good ol' Al Kooper. one of the coolest guys, ever, and probably the closest thing there is in rock music to Forrest Gump- being at the right place at the right time. read his book. this one story only scratches the surface!
To this day since first release this is my all time favourite track for so many reasons including that organ part.
Luck is preparedness meeting opportunity. What a great story!
Good luck is also the absence of bad luck. We wouldn't be hearing this story if he'd had some bad potato salad the night before and spent the day in the bathroom, rather than a recording studio.
"My organ style was based on ignorance" wow, what a great, unbelievable story getting himself on that session. The only other organ player who sounded as good playing that song was Garth Hudson in my opinion.
"Chest Fever" my all time favorite Band song .....
I was very fortunate to have heard this story told to me, directly by Al himself. See, 15 years ago Al formed a band of all Berklee professors in Boston called “The Funky Faculty.” My close friend Tom, bassist in that band had me tag along to gigs and such for the better part of two years. I’d take photos with my Nikon F100 and share the pics with Al and other members after development. Well lucky me.... Al used one of my photos for the inner sleeve of his Black Coffee CD. Was an exciting time....getting to hang out and talk to a session legend. I’m forever grateful.
Awesome story and memories.
Awesome story!
...one time Tom and I went over to Al’s home, in Somerville, Massachusetts. Al led us downstairs to his studio and while kind of nosing around, we noticed a closet with its doors ajar. On the shelving were tapes. Labeled master tapes. The Sweet Home Alabama and Freebird masters! My heart definitely skipped a beat upon seeing these right before my eyes. Tom and I were like two little kids, snooping around the Christmas presents, giggling like a couple fifth graders....! Man we had so much fun.
Al Kooper could listen to him tell his rock stories all day. Damn Al that was a totally ballzy thing to do no one else can say that talk about right place right time.
Al is acredited to having been the organist on Positively 4th Street, Just Like a Woman and I Want You. To me, that organ sound, as a 10 year old kid in a car headed to church on a Sunday morning, was somehow unique among the Stones, Beatles, Supremes ect....of that era.
Didn't he also play the opening organ on "Freebird", just before the piano kicks in, when he was producing Lynyrd Skynyrd? That sounded very "churchy", too!
@@impalaman9707 I can't find that but maybe?
I just checked Wikipedia to be sure. He did play the organ on "Freebird"!
You are a thousand times talent Al Kopper.....thanks for blowing my mind.....over and over again.....
He obviously had more talent than he thought. He's not fooling me one bit. Great story anyhow.
I know he’s down playing his great talent and it makes the story that much more exciting
I watched 20 x , Al is a Mack !!! Love his drive 🇺🇸⚓️ hip
Always felt the organ made the song. Wow.
So glad this story was told with sincerity by Al. He is a great guy and excellent musician.
People ....Listen to Al Kooper And The Kooperators.... Al's song writing and playing is top notch.
Damn cool story, Mr. Cooper. You seemed to transform your guitar style into a rockin' organ style, almost instantaneously. At it's ambitious core, you basically created a contemporary connection to an original rock organ sound. Bravo, man.
What a great interview! Al Kooper is just awesome, what a great story teller, great insights!
Incredible…
All these years I hear this song for the organ play…
Thank god al got to play oregon that day
Have no idea how it would have changed my life after listening to supersessions as a young kid as many times that I did and still do
What a great story. Makes ya smile. At 21, Al was 90% ambition and 10% talent. "Now I'm 90% talent and 10% ambition."
Ended up playing Hammond, as I recall ... licks that made the song, and he wasn't even a keyboard guy. This is a great story. I loved this song DEARLY, first time I ever heard it. Yeh, Al ... I been a guitar player for 58 years, played out weekends for 35 years. Now I'm 72 years old and just as always ... ZERO per cent talent and NO per cent ambition anymore! I'm just happy on those days that I can breathe and, maybe walk without so much pain!
"It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission."
Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper
:-)
What a memory for a 1960s musician! Impressive!
Damn good story! Thanks to all involved!
OMG That is truly amazing! I've always loved Al Kooper. One of my favorite albums of all time is Child is Father to the Man. Although Blood Sweat & Tears was made up of many talented musicians, Al's work really stood out to me. Thanks for posting this interview!
Highway 61 Revisited is an iconic album, for sure. So good! Cheers!
Al's a low key guy and been a real pro since he was 14 years old . Amazing ... Hope he has pictures of Dylan and Hendrix .
Don't let al kid ya,he knew his shit even back then. Great ear, improv skills, master in the studio who worked with everyone who was someone from Lennon to Skynyrd. Al was a humble genius.
Great story. I saw Al with Super Session at the Filmore East back in the day. Thank you for airing this.
Incredible story. Ambition can't be taught or learned, thass what I learned from this.
Greatest Motivational Story Ever.
That was a great interview!
Thanks...
This has to be one of the all time best musician stories ever LOL LOL
What an incredible story! Thanks for sharing. And by the way that’s the Hammond way to be played.
Wonderful listening to this man. And then there was Super Session!! Talk about a masterful recording!!
Wow...such a great, great story told by the man himself. I've read interviews of his experience, but to hear him tell it live, is wonderful. Thanks~!
Thanks again Spyder...Joe
I absolutely adore this story and Al Kooper is an American treasure.
ONE of THE BEST STORIES I have EVER HEARD‼WOW😲
so cool....only Al Kooper could pull that off!!
awesome interviews and great stories from great musicians and great people! thx much!
Thanks Joe..... Joe
I LOVE THIS STORY!!!! He was at the right place, at the right time, he believed in himself, he had one opportunity, he took full advantage of it, and he changed his life. Wow! This reminds me of my own personal memory about that album. I had a buddy, Mike Digini, in the old neighborhood who often needed a loan of a few bucks. A few bucks in those days was like twenty or thirty now. Anyway, he "sold" me his Highway 51 album for a few bucks with the idea that he could buy it back from me whenever he wanted. We had done that many times before. Most of the time I didn't even play the albums he sold me. I would just wait for him to buy them back whenever he could. Anyway, I listened to this one and was blown away! When he wanted to buy it back I said no way! I couldn't stop listening to it. I didn't have any idea who Bob Dylan was - I didn't even know how to pronounce his name- but I knew a classic when I heard one.
Hi Miracle.... great story... thanks for sharing... Joe
I lived in a LA when “Like a Rollin Stone” was number one on local radio. KHJ and KMET played this longest hit song ever over and over. The organ were the song’s signature sound. What a great story.👏
I can't imagine this song without the organ. The organ is what helps make the song so good. In fact, it may not have even succeeded as well as it did without it.
Great story. Love Al Kooper, one of my all-time musical heroes -- BST, Super Session and beyond.
What a story ... thanks Al.
What a great story!!!
One of the best rock n' roll stories...
Love that story, never get tired of listening to it -- Dylan knew what he wanted his art to sound like and, as most artists and filmmakers know well, 'accidents' can be the best parts.
Fantastic interview...what a guy!
Terrific interview, what a great story !! It's probably already mentioned somewhere below, but I believe Kooper also played the organ in the Rolling Stone's "You Can't Always Get What You Want", as well as the French horn, and maybe the piano, IIRC. He also produced the first few Skynyrd albums.
Great to hear it from his own mouth, after hearing so many second hand references to this story. Brilliant!