With 54 original albums, John Mayall has had a prolific recording career. He is best known as a British blues-rock pioneer who turned on new generations to the blues especially white America. Now, advocates from that movement can relive all the glory and new fans can be exposed to it for the first time thanks to this double live CD and DVD. It was recorded on July 19, 2003 at Liverpool's King's Dock in honour of his 70th birthday which ironically did not occur until November 29. In the video, John looks great (you'd never guess his age) and proves he is still capable of performing jaunty piano, earthy guitar and melodic harp. His singing is still weak and lacks punch. However, being a bandleader and mentor remains his forte. He is backed by the poignant Bluesbreakers (Buddy Whittington guitar, Joe Yuele drums, Hank Van Sickle bass & Tom Canning organ) who all hail from the U.S.. The two dauntless guest guitarists (Mick Taylor & Eric Clapton) make it feel like a night of 1000 guitarists. Whittington may not be as well known as the other guitarists but he holds his own with them and occasionally exceeds their skills. Although he can give his fretboard carpet-burns, he regularly drops the dramatics in favour of precise guitaring.
Via a recent phone interview, John said, "As a bandleader I choose musicians for what they play not for what I want them to follow in who-ever's footsteps. With that in mind, from their point-of-view it gives them pretty much total freedom to experiment and develop their own style within a framework they love." He then explained how the new CD and DVD came about. "It all revolved initially around UNICEF. They tried to get something in London like the Albert Hall but the cost for the use of the hall was so incredibly exorbitant that it didn't make any sense to have a benefit there because it would eat up all the money. So, they choose Liverpool as the next best thing which would have a venue big enough to hold four and a half thousand people. They (UNICEF) came to me through my record company, Eagle. That was the first I'd heard of it when they elected me to do this. I was very keen to do it. Between Eagle and UNICEF, they took care of everything. All I had to do was come up with the music, select the musicians who I wanted to have on the show and put together the program."
With 16 tracks, the DVD lasts for 137 minutes. Thanks to three additional songs, the CD clocks in at 151 minutes. The concert was filmed in widescreen and cameramen are occasionally caught on stage. Mick Taylor was never one to steal a show with his stage antics or wardrobe. Here, he physically appears disheveled and drab. However, musicians will enjoy the camera close-ups of his hands during his solos. With so many albums to chose songs from, how was the set list selected? "It mainly evolved around our current repertoire such as stuff we played on the previous album, Stories. That's what we are currently playing so that was kind of the framework. For Mick Taylor, I chose songs that were associated with him in the '60s. Stuff from the Crusade album and a couple others like Blues From Laurel Canyon. For Eric, it was likewise as in stuff from the Beano album. After laying it all out on paper, it looked like it would have a certain structure to it. We put a sort of break in the middle at the end of Mick Taylor's thing with the horn section. I thought rather then bringing on Eric with the whole band, I would send them off and start again from scratch. Eric and I had a duet and built his section from there. By structuring it that way, I think it kept the whole thing fresh and alive." All in all, the set includes selections from eight albums (from the '60s, '90s & the current decade) and features two songs never recorded by Mayall, namely the ragtime jazz "Please Mr. Lofton" and Sonny Thompson's "I'm Tore Down." Mayall described what it was like to be back on stage with the most famous of all the Bluesbreakers. "I've worked with Mick quite frequently over the years. In the case of Eric, its been nearly 40 years. We didn't do more than half an hours rehearsal and a couple run throughs at the sound check. It was like no time at all had passed. They've got their definite own identities which are very different from each other. I think that's the mark of any blues musician or indeed any jazz musician. With the best of them you've only got to hear a couple notes and you can pretty much tell who that is."
Most of the songs are hearty jams coming in, on average, at eight minutes, however, some are as long as 18 minutes. "Grits Ain't Groceries" has a driving rhythm laid down by the Bluesbreakers like a midnight train rolling down the track. Eight of the songs are Mayall originals. The contemporary numbers like "Kids Got The Blues" are blues-rock which contain heavy, pulsating grooves. Mayall's modern blues will appeal to youth because they come with punch, action and the absence of 12 bars. The autobiographical "Blues For The Lost Days" tells about John's start in the music business. "Alexis Korner and Cyril Davis pioneered the movement as such. They created the first audiences. Korner was very encouraging to me to get myself together to move down to London and he introduced me to the club people and kinda got me started." "Walking On Sunset" is old-style traditional blues with a soul groove. The song is used to transition to the blues portion of the program. "Oh, Pretty Woman" has a trance like rhythm where Taylor emulates the guitar tone of Albert King. Throughout his section, Mick Taylor delivers smokin' slide and plays with a raw, rough, rock edge. "Hideaway" sounds more polished and mature as compared to the Beano album. "All Your Love" was already a blues classic when Mayall and EC recorded it in 1966. Back then EC sounded more like Otis Rush but now Clapton draws on his own experience. "Have You Heard" gets lowered a few keys so John can hit the notes vocally. This is definitely the jam song of the album. On it, Canning attacks his organ, Whittington plays hot rockin' Texas blues, Barber blows his heart and soul into the punchy trombone while Clapton plays jiggling soft to banging hard. All in all, the brass section and Tom Canning fill more potholes than the Ministry of Transportation. Little Walter's "It Ain't Right" features John performing a harp and mouth solo with thumping gusts similar to his famous rendition of "Room To Move." "California" is a blues/jazz/rock fusion in the mode of the Allman Brothers Band. This is so unlike modern Mayall, its refreshing and one of the most memorable cuts. The entire cast takes the stage for J.B. Lenoir's "Talk To Your Daughter" where they culminate into a rousing, rocking, blues romp.
John Mayall feels his "main achievement has been to spread the word of the blues to so many people and to be a part of that movement so long. Once the '60s movement from Europe took place, the blues has been on the move ever since. I think its become a world-wide part of our lives. I really don't understand comments that the blues is going through tough times these days. From my point of view, the blues is doing better than ever and getting more and more attention. Record sales are not necessarily an indication of what's going on. Most record companies are a corporate type of thing and they are not interested in the music, they are only interested in sales and the whole hype of business. Blues and jazz are pretty much outside of that and they have their own followings and stability. I'm happy I've got a record company that is really behind me. I know that all record companies are having a harder time of it because of these new factors of stealing music. Its a shame really. It isn't right. Musicians deserve to be paid for what they do just like anybody else."
On the downside, the concert's first half isn't exactly blues, his reverent band gets a bit upstaged by the guests and the modulated vocal harmonies from recent discs are not re-created live. There are no special features on the DVD and nothing new is revealed in the bonus interview. Most of John's CDs lack the quality of his '60s releases however, John Mayall is still relevant today. He had brought his blues into the new century while continually introducing audiences to the masters of yesteryear. This disc doesn't feature his historic '60s style. However, its an excellent showcase of his modern sound which has been refined to near perfection. The producers (David Z & Mayall) have captured the raw and rock heavy blues from this monumental concert. If you enjoy guitarists who rock the blues, you'll enjoy every minute. If you haven't bothered with Mayall lately, 70th Birthday Concert is one to add to your collection.
For DVDs and CDs, contact: Eagle Rock Entertainment Inc., 3110 American Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L4V 1T2 905-364-3248 www.eaglerockent.com Artist website: www.johnmayall.com
Tim Holek, Freelance Journalist/Photographer, www.mnsi.net/~thblues
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