Before talking about this album, let's talk first about the man behind it.
Where would music be without John Mayall. Let me help you. It would be sadly lacking. Apart from the undeniable talent of the man himself, he has an uncanny knack of surrounding himself with the best musicians and in many cases he was instrumental in setting them up to achieve fame and fortune after serving their time as 'Bluesbreakers'. The revolving door of band members reads like a who's who of names synonymous with greatness.
This album makes mention of Eric Clapton, but apart from him and Mayall, the other 2 members of the group at the time were equally of note. One was Hughie Flint on drums, later to be one of the title members of McGuiness Flint along with Tom McGuiness, ex-Manfred Mann. The other was John McVie, destined to become the 'Mac' in Fleetwood Mac. That came about because at one point McVie, Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood were members of the Bluesbreakers at the same time. I've written about this previously. (Fleetwood Mac - Vinyl Vault 25 July 2020).
Jack Bruce was a Bluesbreaker, which is where he met Clapton. He'd already played with Ginger Baker when they were both in The Graham Bond Organisation - we all know what Bruce, Clapton and Baker became. (Cream - Vinyl Vault 7 June 2020).
Prior to becoming a Rolling Stone, Mick Taylor hitched his wagon to the Bluesbreakers between '67-'69. The list goes on, and the people who appeared on albums as 'guests' is staggering.
Now to the featured album. Although it's John Mayalls second album, it's his debut studio production. His first release in 1965, 'John Mayall Plays John Mayall' was the 1964 live recording of his appearance at the Klooks Kleek club. This second album was also going to be live, in fact some recording was made at the Flamingo Club with Jack Bruce on bass, but unfortunately the quality wasn't good enough so the idea was abandoned and they headed for the studio instead - without Jack. The did have Gus Dudgeon as producer though. The same Gus who went on to produce many of Elton John's most popular works.
Just a note on the record cover. Clapton had joined the Bluesbreakers having come from 2 years with The Yardbirds - and he was still only 19 !!! Showing his teenage attitude, he decided, in his own words, to be "uncooperative" for the photo shoot, so picked up and pretended to read a comic. Because of that, the LP is often referred to as 'The Beano Album'. The guitar Clapton used was a 1960 Gibson Les Paul, but was later known as the 'Blues Breaker' or the 'Beano', presumably from it's use on this album.
Talking of Clapton, despite being with the Yardbirds he'd only ever done backup singing, or at best, shared vocals. The Robert Johnson song ' Ramblin' On My Mind' on this LP was his first recorded lead vocal. Maybe that was in the back of his mind when he released his solo album "Me and Mr. Johnson" in 2004.
There's a couple of overlaps on this album, one that's well documented and others that I just discovered on replaying it after many years. The well-known one is track 6 on side one. This is the Ray Charles classic 'What'd I Say'. After a middle drum solo by Flint, Clapton and the band come back in but instead of picking up the original, at 3.30 Clapton breaks into an unmistakable homage to The Beatles 'Day Tripper'. The Beatles released their song the year before, so it is most definitely a tribute.
The others are possibly only obvious to me, but they resonate strongly. The instrumental 'Hideaway' has a short section at 40 secs. Compare that with the intro to the song 'Beltane Walk' released 6 years later by T. Rex on their album "Bolan Boogie". Then the Mayall composition 'Key to Love' sounds eerily like the Holland, Dozier, Holland song 'Can I Get A Witness' as done by the Stones on their debut eponymous 1964 album (Rolling Stones - Vinyl Vault 25 June 2020).
John Mayall takes most of the vocals, piano and Hammond organ on the album, but occasionally you get treated to his harmonica and it is spine-tingling. The album was designed to showcase Claptons guitar playing, but to me it's a total ensemble piece with John Mayall leading, guiding and retreating in all the right places.
John Mayall continues to amaze and astound. The last album I got of his was "Nobody Told Me" released in 2019 when the man was 85 years old !! As he has done all his career, he assembled some of the best to include on the album. Todd Rundgren, Steven Van Zandt (Little Steven from Bruce Springsteen and The Sopranos fame), Alex Lifeson from Rush and long time associate Joe Boamassa.
Can I pick a favourite? It's not easy. I have to go with probably one of his more obscure tracks and certainly one that doesn't fit with the perception of Mayall music. It comes from an album I bought years ago in 1975 called "New Year, New Band, New Company". The track is 'Step in the Sun' with Dee McKinnie sharing the vocals. It's different, quirky and unexpected and for those reasons I love it. Please click the link and play it - at least once.
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