Mayall, John

Band members               Related acts

- Colin Allen -- drums (-69)

- John Mayall - vocals, harmonica, guitar, keyboards

- Jerry McGee -- guitar, sitar (1971)

- Larry Taylor -- bass (1971)

- Mick Taylor -- guitar (-69)

- Stephen Thompson -- bass (-69)

  

 

- The Artwoods (Keef Harley)

- Dog Soldier (Keef Harley)

- Keef Hartley Band

- The Rolling Stones (MIck Taylor)

- Stone the Crows (Colin Allen)

- Rory Storm and the Hurricanes (Keef Hartley)

- Mick Taylor (solo efforts)

 

 

 

 

Genre: blues-rock

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  Blues from Laurel Canyon

Company: London

Catalog: PS 545

Country/State: UK

Year: 1968

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG

Comments: gatefold sleeve

Available: 1

GEMM Catalog ID: 4989

Price: $9.00

 

 Following an extensive American tour and the July 1968 dissolution of The Bluesbreakers, John Mayall opted for a major change in lifestyle.  Like half of the world he packed up and headed for Southern California for what was a three week vacation.  

Returning to the UK, Mayall decided to recruit a new band.  Returning to a more streamlined backing band he rounded up drummer Colin Allen, lead guitarist Mick Taylor (the lone carry over from the last Bluesbreakers line up) and bassist Stephen Thompson (the latter two still in their teens).  After a couple of weeks of rehearsals the quartet went into Decca's West Hampstead Studios.  Co-produced by Mayall and Mike Vernon, "Blues from Laurel Canyon" was finished over a three day span.  Almost a concept piece, material such as 'Vacation', 'Walking On Sunset' and 'First Time Alone' provided a pretty detailed description of Mayall's vacation.  In case you wondered tracks like 'Miss James' and 'The Bear' (apparently about a night on the town with Canned Heat's Bob Hite) and other tracks made it clear Mayall had a pretty good time.  Ditching some of his recent jazz-rock efforts, the album reflected a return to a straightforward blues genre, though Taylor's soloing injected a nice rock feel to '2401', 'Somebody Acting Like a Child' and other tracks.  Former Mayall lead guitarist Peter Green also made a cameo appearance on 'First Time Alone'.   Commercially the album did well peaking at # 68.  

"Blues from Laurel Canyon" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) Vacation   (John Mayall) - 2:47

2.) Walking On Sunset   (John Mayall) - 4:33

3.) 2401   (John Mayall) - 3:42

4.) Ready To Ride   (John Mayall) - 3:32

5.) Medicine Man   (John Mayall) - 2:43

6.) Somebody Acting Like a Child   (John Mayall) - 3:27

 

(side 2)

1.) The Bear   (John Mayall) - 4:40

2.) Miss James   (John Mayall) - 2:30

3.) First Time Alone   (John Mayall) - 4:49

4.) Long Gone Midnight   (John Mayall) - 3:27

5.) Fly Tomorrow   (John Mayall) - 8:59

 

 

Genre: blues-rock

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  Memories

Company: Polydor

Catalog: PD 5012

Country/State: UK

Year: 1971

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG

Comments: gatefold sleeve

Available: 1

GEMM Catalog ID: not yet listed

Price: $7.00

 

We'll be the first to admit that much of Mayall's blues catalog tends to sound similar.  Maybe due to the fact 1971's self-produced "Memories" is such an autobiographical work, it stands as one of our favorite releases.  Probably his most personal work, the set touches on all aspects of his young life - parental divorce  (the title track); young lust ("Wish I Knew a Woman" is one of the funniest beat-off songs you'll ever hear), Army duty ("The Fighting Line" and "Back from Korea") and personal loss ("Grandad").  Unlike earlier releases, here Mayall opted to work with a scaled back; Ventures guitarist Jerry McGee and bassist Larry Taylor providing support. While you'd expect the set to have a spare sound, the results are anything but.  McGee kicks in everything from sitar to some stinging slide guitar throughout.  Easily one of his most enjoyable outings !!!  Unfortunately, released at the same time previous label London Records released a compilation set, the collection did little in terms of sales, peaking at # 179.  (The LP was originally released with a gatefold sleeve.)

 

"Memories" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) Memories   (John Mayall) - 5:00

2.) Wish I Knew a Woman   (John Mayall) - 5:17

3.) The City   (John Mayall) - 4:54

4.) Home In a Tree   (John Mayall) - 3:21

5.) Separate Ways   (John Mayall) - 4:14 

 

(side 2)

1.) The Fighting Line   (John Mayall) - 4:02

2.) Grandad   (John Mayall) - 4;38

3.) Back from Korea   (John Mayall) - 5:10

4.) Nobody Cares   (John Mayall) - 3:56

5.) Play the Harp   (John Mayall) - 5:21 

 

 

Genre: blues-rock

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  Moving On

Company: Polydor

Catalog: PD 5036

Country/State: UK

Year: 1972

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG

Comments: --

Available: 1

GEMM Catalog ID: not yet listed

Price: $7.00

 

 Geez, a live John Mayall set!  What a surprise!  Well, this one is a little different.  Recorded in July 1972 at Los Angeles' Whiskey A-Go-Go, "Moving On" the album found Mayall working with an all-star collection of jazz musicians - Victor Gaskin, Blue Mitchell, Charles Owens, Freddie Robinson, Clifford Soloman, Larry Taylor and Ernie Watts.  In fact, other than Mayall, the only "rock" musician in the line up was former Mayall drummer Keef Hartley.  We'll be the first to admit how surprised we were to hear this set.  In contrast to his earlier "jazz" outing (1972's "Jazz-Blue Fusion"), this set retains a strong commercial focus, with the horn section serving to toughen up the overall sound.  Highlights abound and include "Keep Our Country Green", "Things Go Wrong" and "".

"Moving On" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) Worried Mind   (John Mayall) - 8:45

2.) Keep Our Country Green   (John Mayall) - 3:25

3.) Christmas 71   (John Mayall) - 4:54

4.) Things Gone Wrong   (John Mayall) - 6:11

 

(side 2)

1.) Do It   (John Mayall) - 4:56

2.) Moving On   (John Mayall) - 4:22

3.) Red Sky   (John Mayall)  3:47

4.) Reasons   (John Mayall) - 3:10

 

 

 

9.) High Pressure Living   (John Mayall) - 6:59

Genre: blues-rock

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  Notice To Appear

Company: ABC

Catalog: ABCD 926

Year: 1976

Country/State: UK

Grade (cover/record): VG / VG

Comments: small cut out hole bottom left corner

Available: 1

GEMM Catalog ID: not yet listed

Price: $7.00

 

First off, this one's quite a change of pace for Mayall.  Folks into Mayall's pursuit of pure blues are liable to be upset, or disappointed.  On the other hand, folks hoping he'd try something a little different are likely to embrace 1976's "Notice To Appear".  In no part due to the participation of producer/songwriter Allen Toussaint, we're firmly in the later category.  Recorded in Toussaint's New Orleans Sea-Saint Studios, the collection is almost a full scale Mayall-Toussaint collaboration with the latter contributing eight of the ten tracks.  Toussaint also provided keyboards and arrangements, with long time partner Marshall Sehorn remixing the LP.  Exemplified by tracks such as "Mess of Love", "Who's Next, Who's Now" and "Hale To the Man Who Lives Alone" the results were far funkier than anything Mayall had ever done.  It's not a perfect fit; Mayall occasionally sounding a little uncomfortable in his surroundings, but for the most part the collaboration achieves a nice groove.  The end result is one of the three Mayall LPs we play on a regular basis.

 

"Notice To Appear" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) Lil' Boogie In the Afternoon   (Allen Toussaint) - 2:44

2.) Mess of Love   (Allen Toussaint) - 4:35

3.) That Love   (Allen Toussaint) - 4:18

4.) The Boy Most Likely To Succeed   (Allen Toussaint) - 3:58

5.) Who's Next, Who's Now   (Allen Toussaint) - 4:16

 

(side 2)

1.) Hale To the Man Who Lives Alone   (Allen Toussaint) - 4:19

2.) There Will Be a Way   (John Mayall) - 4:27

3.) Just Knowing You Is a Pleasure   (Allen Toussaint) - 3:58

4.) A Hard Days Night   (JohnLennon - Paul McCartney) - 3:45

5.) Old Time Blues   (John Mayall) - 3:49

 

 

 

Genre: blues-rock

Rating: *** (3 stars)

Title:  The Last of the British Blues

Company: ABC

Catalog: AA-1086

Year: 1978

Country/State: UK

Grade (cover/record): VG+ / VG+

Comments: --

Available: 1

GEMM Catalog ID: not yet listed

Price: $7.00

Recorded at dates in Baltimore, Cincinnati and New York, 1978's "The Last of the British Blues" also stood as Mayall's 6th and final release for ABC.  If you're anything like us, then you approached this LP with a certain amount of ambiguity - 'not another Mayall live set' ...  Luckily, this time around he's surrounded by a rock oriented band (drummer Soko Richardson, guitarist James Quill Smith and bassist Steve Thompson).  Musically the set offers up a nice mix of blues classics (Moses Allison's "Parchman Farm" and Freddy King's "Hideaway") and select Mayall pseudo-classics ("The Bear").  Perhaps the biggest surprise stems from the fact Mayall steps back and lets guitarist Smith handle lead vocals on his self-penned "There's Only Now" and "".  A nice surprise !!!

 

"The Last of the British Blues" track listing:

(side 1)

1.) Tucson Lady   (John Mayall) - 4:02

2.) Parchman Farm   (Moses Allison) - 3:57

3.) There's Only Now   (J.Q. Smith) - 4:00

4.) The Teaser   (John Mayall) - 4:09

5.) Hideaway   (Freddy King) - 2:57

 

(side 2)

1.) The Bear  (John Mayall) - 4:13

2.) Lonely Birthday  (John Mayall) - 3:50

3.) Lowdown Blues  (John Mayall) - 4:26

4.) Another Man  (John Mayall) - 2:15

5.) It Must be There  (John Mayall) - 4:16

 

 

 

 

Back to Bad Cat homepage/search