John Mayall "Blues From Laurel Canyon" 1968****

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

Bob Dylan "Real Live" 1984***

This is a Dylan LP you rarely hear about, apparently one his most forgettable. Granted, none of his live albums is of earth shattering importance - with the possible exception of the 1966 bootleg Royal Albert Hall Concert - which, as we learned when it was officially released with a 30-something years' delay, was actually not recorded at the Royal Albert Hall after all. But some of his live albums are, if not famous, notoriously disappointing: Hard Rain an underwhelming document of a momentous tour, Dylan & The Dead the collective nadir of two legends. Real Live, on the contrary, is completely inoffensive, thus utterly forgettable. It was recorded during his 1984 tour of UK and Ireland, and features a predominately English band [Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones) on lead guitar, Ian McLagan (The Faces) on keyboards, Colin Allen (Stone The Crows) on drums, and American Greg Sutton on bass]. The song selection and the lean, muscular arrangements are a direct reference to Dylan's Sixties heyday. Maybe his voice, never a fine instrument, here sounds more nasal and whiny than it did back then, but at least he sings like he means it.

The LP gets off to a flying start with "Highway 61 Revisited" and an incendiary "Maggie's Farm", Mick Taylor proving once again that he's the best guitarist The Stones ever had (sorry Keith!). His bluesy licks even elevate the relatively bland mid-tempo material from Dylan's latest album "Infidels" ("I and I", "License to Kill"). The acoustic solo numbers (just voice, guitar and harmonica) have a nostalgic air: On "It Ain't Me Baby" the audience joins in the chorus, while "Tangled Up In Blue" features changed lyrics which created a minor buzz with Dylanologists at the time. "Girl From The North Country" and "Ballad Of A Thin Man" stick close to the originals, while "Masters Of War" is the only track with a radically different arrangement. I like the faster tempo and cutting guitar, but I miss the original's sneering vocal delivery. It's as if Dylan disapproves of these masters of war, when in the older version he sounded like he hated their guts. Great rocking version nevertheless! The record closes with Carlos Santana from the support act joining the band for an fiery performance of "Tombstone Blues". It all adds up to a decent, enjoyable album few would object to - yet the live versions neither surpass the studio ones, nor are sufficiently different to give you something to write home about. I might have already forgotten about it if it wasn't for this nagging question: just who is the black bass player who takes pride of place in the inner sleeve photos? He's neither a member of Dylan's band, nor Santana (obviously). Does anyone know?  

**** for Maggie's Farm, Masters of War, Tombstone Blues

*** for Highway 61 Revisited, I and I, It Ain't Me, Babe, Tangled up in Blue, Ballad of a Thin Man, Girl from the North Country 

** for License to Kill

Various Artists "From Clarksdale to Heaven - Remembering John Lee Hooker" 2002***

Born in Mississippi in 1917, John Lee Hooker was around almost as long as the blues itself, devising a new urban blues boogie style, scoring his first hits in the 40's and experiencing a late career rebirth with 1989's "The Healer" that lasted until his death in 2001. These late records were full of guests from the blues and rock world, lining up to play the blues with one of the last original pioneers of the genre. Many of them are also featured here to pay tribute to the master bluesman and help raise money for a charity in his name. The result is entertaining but uneven, as it often happens with such tribute albums. Although most of the songs are J.L.Hooker originals, the end result mostly reflects the players themselves. A bit of the old DNA is in evidence in the opening soulful performance of "I Want to Hug You", sung by his daughter Zakiya backed by Johnnie Johnson & Bobby Murray. The classic "I'm in the Mood" is given a generic hard rock treatment by Jack Bruce and Gary Moore (now both also sadly deceased). Not bad, but I much prefer their slow take on "Serve Me Right to Suffer". Yes, it does sound like any other Gary Moore ballad, albeit a very good one. In any case, neither song sounds anything like the original. "Bad Like Jesse James" (by Vince Converse backed by Leo Lyons and Ric Lee from Ten Years After) comes somewhat closer. "Baby Lee" and "Little Wheel" are even more faithful, played with gusto by 60's veterans Gary Brooker (Procol Harum) and Andy Fairweather-Low (Amen Corner and, more recently, Roger Waters' band). The acoustic "Ground Hog Blues" also sports a quite original feel, not surprisingly since T.S. McPhee (from The Groundhogs) has played with Hooker since the 60's and was one of the first people to introduce him to British audiences. Colosseum's Dick Heckstall-Smith on sax adds a welcome jazz twist. On "I'm Leaving" they rock harder, as they're joined by Humbie Pie guitarist extraordinaire Clem Clempson. Jeff Beck offers his guitar pyrotechnics to the Hooker-like boogie "Hobo Blues" and the traditional gospel "Will The Circle Be Unbroken". Former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor adds workmanlike boogie "This Is Hip" and Peter Green takes on "Crawlin' King Snake", one of Hooker's most famous tunes. Of all the superstar guitarists involved in this project, Green was (in his Fleetwood Mac days) once the greatest. Inspired by religion (and drugs) he took a break in 1970 and never completely returned. His folk-blues guitar playing here is beautiful but very different and inferior to his old style, while his vocals sound like they're from beyond the grave. The remaining two tracks are the most intriguing as they come from half-finished J.L.Hooker projects: Greggs Eggs' blues-soul "The Business" (vocals by Suzanne Sterling) was destined for the next Hooker CD but never recorded by him due to his death and "Red House" features the great man himself backed by Booker T. Jones on organ and Randy California (from Spirit) on guitar. It was supposed to appear on a Jimi Hendrix tribute album and it's typical late-period J.L.Hooker, a nice slow jam with his trademark mumbling vocals. Not an extraordinary find, but a fine epitaph nevertheless.

**** for I Want to Hug You (Zakiya Hooker & Johnnie Johnson), Baby Lee (Gary Brooker & Andy Fairweather-Low), I'm Leaving (T.S. Mcphee, Dick Heckstall-Smith & Clem Clempson), Serves Me Right to Suffer (Gary Moore), Red House (John Lee Hooker & Booker T & Randy California)

*** for I'm in the Mood (Jack Bruce & Gary Moore), Bad Like Jesse James (Leo Lyons, Ric Lee, Vince Converse), Will the Circle Be Unbroken (Jeff Beck), Ground Hog Blues (T.S. McPhee & Dick Heckstall-Smith), This Is Hip (Mick Taylor), Little Wheel (Gary Brooker & Andy Fairweather-Low), Crawlin' King Snake (Peter Green), The Business (Greggs Eggs), Hobo Blues (Jeff Beck)

Mick Taylor "Mick Taylor" 1979****

Of all the guitarists in The Rolling Stones (the others being Keith Richards, Brian Jones and Ronnie Wood), Mick Taylor was the most technically proficient and his period in the band (1969–74) was by far the Stones' best. His contribution to the music was important, although he was no showman when it came to performing live. Exactly why he left them at the peak of their success is uncertain. He probably felt out of place in the world of jet-setters, top models and drug dealers the Stones were moving at that time - or maybe he didn't like being called Mick no.2 (just joking). He had begun his career at the age of 16 with psychedelic rockers Gods, playing alongside future Uriah Heep and Jethro Tull members. At 18 he was called upon to fill some very big shoes, namely the lead guitarist spot in John Mayall's Bluebreakers, formerly occupied by Eric Clapton and Peter Green who had just left to form Fleetwood Mac. Two years later he replaced Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones, making his live debut in front of 250,000 people at the historic Hyde Park concert in 1969. "Mick Taylor" is his first album after leaving the Stones. You probably won't find it at your local record store, since it never sold well and drifts in and out of print. Many reasons for that are mentioned, one being that his vocals were rather ordinary and another that in 1979 his style was out of synch with current trends. One thing that can't be blamed is his guitar playing which is amazing throughout. He combines blues, rock and jazz, sometimes reminding of the Stones, others of Clapton and more often of Jeff Beck in his jazz-rock period. Which is why, although the vocals tracks are also nice, the instrumentals steal the show. Opener "Leather Jacket" was the projected "hit" of the album, but not the best song. It's rather typical rock of the era, something you might find in Bad Company or Stones album of the late 70's but you'd still not really notice. "Alabama"is much better, with great slide guitar like something from the Stones' "Let it Bleed" or "Sticky Fingers". "Slow Blues" is what it says, an instrumental with beautiful bluesy solos. "Baby I Want You" is a commercial bluesy ballad of the kind Eric Clapton produced in the same period. "Broken Hands" is the only bona fide rocker and the one that will remind you of The Rolling Stones."Giddy-Up" is a masterful instrumental and "S.W.5" another commercial blues rock ballad with a nice vocal by Mick. Closer "Spanish / A Minor" is his tour de force, a complex 12-minute piece with light and fluid playing in a variety of styles (Rock, Jazz and Latin). It's an amazing instrumental that proves Taylor was the equal of his more celebrated colleagues like Eric Clapton and David Gilmour. He nevertheless was never destined to have a solo career, lending his talents to, among others, Bob Dylan, Alvin Lee and John Mayall.

**** for Alabama, Slow Blues, Broken Hands, Spanish/A Minor

*** for Leather Jacket, Baby I Want You, Giddy-Up, S.W.5