You would think that by now the dilemma CD or vinyl wouldn't exist any more. People may choose to stream albums directly, but when it comes to buying them in physical form, vinyl is a sure-fire winner. But it's not always that simple. Take this album: its price on new vinyl is triple that of the CD, you must be either rich or a huge fan to spend all that cash on it. Used LPs are always an option, and that was my choice in the end: I found it on a discogs seller together with some other stuff I wanted, and ordered it. Condition was VG+ for the record, VG for the sleeve, which as you can see is rather faded. Indeed the record doesn't have scratches or anything, but... some tracks here are, by design, mastered very quietly. When you get to those, you have to turn the volume way up, and inevitably the noise which isn't normally audible starts to overpower the music. And this doesn't only happen with used records. Some new vinyls also suffer from low background noise, probably due to bad manufacturing; record companies charge a lot of money for their 180gr. vinyl reissues, but weight does not guarantee sound quality. Whereas a well-remastered CD usually sounds fantastic; you can turn up the volume all you want during the quiet parts and all you'll hear is music. This is the reason I still go for CD when it comes to albums with slow, atmospheric, music. It's just that I had never heard this one in its entirety. I was only familiar with the more upbeat songs: "The Bear", "Walking On Sunset", "Somebody's Acting like A Child" etc.
British blues legend John Mayall is cursed to forever being remembered not so much for his own talent as a singer, songwriter and musician, but as the man who "discovered" some of the greatest names in British rock: by the time he had made this album, his former guitarists already included Eric Clapton and future Fleetwood Mac frontman Peter Green (Mick Fleetwood and John Mac Vie were also members of Mayall's backing band, The Bluesbreakers). His latest discovery was teen guitar prodigy Mick Taylor, who would also soon leave him, to join The Rolling Stones. As it happened, Taylor was the only one of the Bluesbreakers' latest incarnation who stuck around for the recording of this album, nominally a solo John Mayall LP. Compared to its predecessor Bare Wires, this is a more stripped-down affair (no horns, no side-long song suites, no jazz experimentation), but there's still a progressive element about it: it's a concept album inspired by Mayall's 3 week vacation to the hippy paradise of Laurel Canyon, just above Hollywood. Fittingly, it starts with the sound of jet engines and the words "Ten hours in a plane/England left behind/Back here in L.A/Wonder what I'll find". Taylor delivers an epic but way too short solo, signaling he's already at the same league with the likes of Clapton and Hendrix. This segues into straight blues "Walking On Sunset" about his first impressions of Los Angeles: The clubs (Whisky A Go Go in particular), the famous Sunset Boulevard, the friendly people, the pretty girls... Judging from his lyrics, the girls seem to be the highlight of Mayall's vacation: all these half-dressed teen groupies hanging around in all the musicians' houses he visited seem to have made a huge impression on the 35-year old English bluesman. Some are mentioned by name: "Miss James" with its groovy Hammond is dedicated to Catherine James: 18 years old and a single mother at the time, she was already a legend only surpassed by Miss Pamela, leader of the groupie collective GTO's, then almost 20 and the oldest of the bunch. She, and the rest of her team, get a nod in blues rocker "2401", named after the address that housed the GTO's as well as Frank Zappa, his band, and his baby daughter Moon Unit. Mayall sings the praises of their hospitalty, as well as that of Canned Heat's on blues boogie "The Bear" which is named after the Heat's hirsute singer Bob "The Bear" Hite. "Laurel Canyon Home" is a slow piano piece about how much at home he felt there; indeed he would soon leave England and move to Laurel Canyon, where he stayed for a decade. "Ready To Ride" is a lusty blues, "Medicine Man" one of those very quiet passages I mentioned before: just ghostly percussion and forlorn harmonica. "First Time Alone" is another quiet piece. Peter Green's mournful guitar on the background is barely audible; more of it would have benefited the song greatly. "Long Gone Midnight" is straight blues, "Somebody's Acting like A Child" the most upbeat song here, with an almost funky beat and nice guitar, organ and harp - the only song here that could belong to one of The Bluesbreakers' earlier albums with Clapton or Green. The album closes with "Fly Tomorrow", a 9-minute prog blues opus featuring masterful guitar by Taylor, still only 19 and a few months away from his debut with The Rolling Stones at Hyde Park before half a million spectators. Mayall would follow this LP with the wholly acoustic and drummer-less Turning Point. I have that one on vinyl, too, and I must say that, although that's also an understated and quiet album, it's mastered on a higher volume so that the low background noise never drowns the music like it can sometimes happens with the quieter songs here. Blues From Laurel Canyon is a strong album that needs to be listened in its entirety: the song order takes you on a journey together with Mayall as the songs all merge into each other, and he shares with you his travel experiences and his enthousiasm for the beauty of the Laurel Canyon surroundings and friendly manners of its hippie tribes.
**** for Walking on Sunset, 2401, Somebody's Acting Like a Child, The Bear, Fly Tomorrow
*** for Vacation, Laurel Canyon Home, Ready to Ride, Medicine Man, Miss James, First Time Alone, Long Gone Midnight
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