Al Kooper is one of rock’s Zelig characters. His career started in the 1950s as a member of the Royal Teens, responsible for the single “Short Shorts.” In the 1960s he co-wrote “This Diamond Ring,” a hit for Gary Lewis and the Playboys, founded Blood, Sweat & Tears, took part in the famous “Super Session” with Mike Bloomberg and, most famously, conned his way into the studio with Bob Dylan to add his unplanned and unrehearsed organ part to “Like a Rolling Stone.”
In the 1970s he released a series of solo albums, including the 1970 double LP “Easy Does It,” which included this protest song against the Nixon administration. Kent State had occurred that April. You didn’t have to be Nostradamus to see more ugly shit coming, and Kooper’s last line — “They’re gonna kill us all” — reflected the state of the Union at the time.
