Michael Bloomfield's Early Years

Mike was such a talent and such a character, that fans, new and old, deserve to know more about him and to interact as well. Since Mike was less than two months younger than me, and since all of us never lived more than a mile apart, I have a special perspective on growing up with him from birth to the mid-teens.

As far back as kindergarten, Mike was always the most outrageous one in the class, and we were always in the same class. Some of the things he did in school were legendary, and some of them I will probably take to the grave.

Mike's antics ultimately became so well known that teachers and staff at New Trier High School would practically tremble at the name Bloomfield. For all four years there, I always had to explain to each new teacher that I was the "other" Bloomfield! Five years later, my younger sister sometimes would have to do the same. To them, the name Bloomfield was the equivalent of Dillinger or Jesse James.

While Mike's clowning around with faculty was often unbelievable, there was another side of him that is forgotten or unknown. For a while, he was the only student in over 3000 who ever regularly wore a sport coat to school. (Perhaps psychological warfare on faculty.)

He also had a very high IQ. He knew every god and goddess and member of the pantheon of Greek, Egyptian, and Norse mythology.

The big turning point in Mike's life, of course, was the guitar and with Tony Carmen's teaching, he would become its master. His first real opportunity to shine was in our sophomore year when the school put on its annual talent revue. Mike had put together a combo with Roy Ruby. The boy's advisor and other staff didn't want him to appear, and kept him off stage until the very last. When the notorious class clown finally started playing, the auditorium exploded! Girls started screaming! Boys started screaming! Dancing in the aisles! It was just like Elvis or the Beatles.

Things would never be the same again.

My Cousin Michael
By Nancy Bloomfield Mertz

Though I am a fan of Michael Bloomfield and I appreciate and enjoy his music, I had the privilege of knowing Michael the person. I was the youngest in the Bloomfield family and the only girl. I remember Michael with great affection because he always treated me with love and respect. He made me feel special every time I was around him by smiling with that huge grin of his and calling me his "little cousin Nanny."

There were times, when I was a little girl and Michael was a teenager, when I witnessed him get into trouble. These usually occurred at family gatherings such as dinners at his house or the Passover seder. Michael was exercising his teenagers' right to challenge authority which he did by engaging in arguments with my father or his own. This usually resulted in his being expelled from the table and later punished, I assume. I did not understand at the time what he had said that got everybody so angry, but he certainly knew how to push the adult buttons.

Later on, when I was an adolescent, I went with a girlfriend to visit Michael in Mill Valley. Michael was very hyper and could talk a mile a minute. If he wanted to, he could sarcastically rip a person apart, and I was in awe of this ability. But he still treated me with kid gloves and, in fact, gave us a private performance on his baby grand piano that I will never forget.

I miss Michael to this day and I play his albums so that I can remember the sound of his voice and his unique personality. I loved him very much and can still feel him around me at times.

As it turns out, my own son is a musician. Perhaps it is in the genes.

Copyright 2003 Allen Bloomfield

Michael demonstrates his fire-breathing trick, a stunt he often performed while playing "East-West" with the Paul Butterfield Blues Band in 1966.

Photo courtesy of

Deborah Chesher

Visitors since June 19th, 2002