   al kooper (born alan peter kuperschmidt; february 5, 1944) is an american songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing blood, sweat & tears (although he did not stay with the group long enough to share its popularity), providing studio support for bob dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists mike bloomfield and stephen stills to record the super session album. he has had a successful solo career since then, written music for film soundtracks, and has also lectured in musical composition. he continues to perform live. ==life and career== kooper, born in brooklyn, grew up in hollis hills, queens, new york. his first musical success was as a fourteen-year-old guitarist in the royal teens, best known for their 1958 abc records novelty twelve-bar blues riff, "short shorts". in 1960, he joined the songwriting team of bob brass and irwin levine, and wrote "this diamond ring", which became a hit for gary lewis and the playboys. when he was twenty-one, kooper moved to greenwich village. he performed with bob dylan in concert in 1965, and in the recording studio in 1965 and 1966, including playing hammond organ with dylan at the newport folk festival in 1965. kooper also played the hammond organ riffs on dylan's "like a rolling stone". it was in those recording sessions that kooper met and befriended mike bloomfield, whose guitar-playing he admired. he worked extensively with bloomfield for a number of years. kooper played organ once again with dylan during his 1981 world tour. kooper joined the blues project as their keyboardist in 1965, leaving the band shortly before their [[c
1944_births ABC_Records_artists American_keyboardists American_pianists American_rock_singers American_session_musicians Berklee_College_of_Music_faculty Blood,_Sweat_&_Tears_members Living_people Martin_Van_Buren_High_School_alumni Musicians_from_Brooklyn Rock_Bottom_Remainders_members Songwriters_from_New_York