Dark Roads Blues: Santa Cruz 1981

Legendary guitarist Mike Bloomfield is captured in concert on Jan. 31, 1981, at the Catalyst Club in Santa Cruz, California, in his last recorded performance, just two weeks before his passing at age 37. The never-before-released show, heard in a soundboard recording, features the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Blues Hall of Fame inductee on piano and guitar, performing 10 blues perennials. One of the most brilliant and influential players of his generation, Bloomfield was a pivotal member of the groundbreaking Chicago blues group the Paul Butterfield Blues Band and founded the genre-leaping "American music band" the Electric Flag. He recorded with such greats as Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, and Muddy Waters, among many others. Pressed on grey splatter vinyl exclusively for RSD Essentials.