Harvey Brooks (born Harvey Goldstein; July 4, 1944 in Manhattan, New York) is an American bassist. He has played in many styles of music (notably jazz and popular music)
Brooks came out of a New York music scene that was crackling with activity in the early 1960s. One of the younger players on his instrument, he was a contemporary of Felix Pappalardi and Andy Kulberg and other eclectic bass players in their late teens and early 20s, who saw a way to bridge the styles of folk, blues, rock, and jazz. Columbia Records producer Tom Wilson gave Brooks his first boost to fame when he picked him to play as part of Bob Dylan's backing band on the sessions that yielded the song "Like a Rolling Stone" and the album Highway 61 Revisited — in contrast to the kind of folkie-electric sound generated by the band on his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home. Wilson and Dylan were looking for a harder, in-your-face electric sound, and Brooks, along with guitarist Michael Bloomfield and organist Al Kooper, provided exactly what was needed on one of the most famous recordings of the 1960s.
Brooks was also part of Dylan's early backing band which performed to great notoriety at Forest Hills, Queens and other venues in 1965. This band also included Robbie Robertson (guitar), Al Kooper (keyboards) and Levon Helm (drums). From the Dylan single and album, which became two of the most widely heard (and, at the time, most controversial) records of the 1960s, Brooks branched out in a multitude of directions, as he went on to play on records by folk artists like Eric Andersen at Vanguard Records, Richie Havens and Jim & Jean at Verve Records, transitional electric folk-rockers such as David Blue (whose producer was looking for a sound similar to that on Highway 61 Revisited), and various blues-rock fusion projects involving Bloomfield and Kooper. Brooks played on Cass Elliot's debut solo album Dream a Little Dream (1968), and also on some Doors sessions, including the Soft Parade album. Producer Paul Rothchild wanted to give the Doors a fresh sound. He hired Harvey to play and help organize the rhythm tracks and Paul Harris to write some string and horn arrangements. Harvey also played live with the Doors at the Forum in LA and Madison Square Garden in New York and was very visible on the Michael Bloomfield/Al Kooper/Steve Stills Super Session release, one of the iconic records of late 1960s rock music. His song "Harvey's Tune" appeared on this album.
It was through his participation in The Electric Flag, an extension of Michael Bloomfield and Barry Goldberg's interests in blues, that Brooks' career took an unexpected turn. The Flag only lasted in its original line-up for about a year, and much of that time was spent recording a sound track album to the film The Trip starring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Susan Strasberg & written by Jack Nicholson and "The Electric Flag, An American Music Band." But in the course of this, Brooks became a producer at Columbia Records and connected with fellow producer Teo Macero who led him to Miles Davis.
Working with Davis involved Brooks in a freer manner of making music than he'd been used to even on the most ambitious sessions with Bloomfield, though it also meant butting up against Davis' ego, personality, and musical sensibilities as a bandleader. Brooks worked with the legendary jazz trumpeter long enough to contribute to the Bitches Brew and Big Fun albums as well as several unreleased tracks. On these sessions two bassist were used; Brooks played electric bass while Dave Holland simultaneously played the acoustic bass. From that point on — between the Dylan, Davis, Electric Flag, and Bloomfield and Kooper connections — Brooks' career was made.
Even casual listeners became familiar with his name, and from the 1970s into the mid-1990s, Brooks was one of the busiest bassists in music, working with such varied artists as John Martyn, the Fabulous Rhinestones, Seals & Crofts, Fontella Bass, John Sebastian, Loudon Wainwright III, John Cale, and Paul Burlison. He has been somewhat less active since the early 1990s, having relocated to Arizona during that decade, but has continued to perform and record. Harvey also played with Donald Fagen (Rock 'n' Soul Revue). In 2006, Light In The Attic, a Seattle-based record label, reissued the 1971 album In My Own Time by Karen Dalton, which was arranged and produced by Harvey Brooks. His current band is the 17th Street Band based in Tucson, Arizona. With his wife Bonnie and guitarist Tom Kusian started "17th Street Records" with two releases in Nov. 2009 now distributed by independent distributor City Hall Records. "Positively 17th Street" by the 17th Street Band and "El Regalo, The Gift" by Francisco Gonzalez.
Harvey Brooks and his wife moved to Israel on August 4, 2009 Playing and recording in Tel Aviv Harvey & Bonnie continue their musical blog at viewfromthebottom at harveybrooks.net. Recently featured cover story at Bass Musician Magazine March 2011 (Bass Musician Magazine).
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