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The founding fathers of the blues (in all its various forms), Lead Belly, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Charley Patton, and Robert Johnson, pioneers for the great American "amplified" bluesmen Howlin' Wolf, Maddy Waters, Buddy Guy, and Freddy King, would have been very proud if they had been able to hear the Blues Incorporeted Band performing at the Marquee club, at number 165 Oxford Street in London.
The supergroup founded by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies, between the late '50s and the first half of the '60s, was the embryonic core of British electric blues. A real nursery that saw the rise of young and fierce musicians in its line-up: Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker before Cream, as well as Jagger, Richards, Watts, and Jones before the Rolling Stones, also Robert Plant and Jimmy Page before the legend of Led Zeppelin, not to forget John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers.
It was precisely in the changing lineup of the Bluesbrakers, specifically the one selected by Mayall for the second studio album "Hard Road," featuring guitarist Peter Green and bassist John McVie, that the talented drummer from Liverpool Aynsley Dunbar came to attention, having made his debut with Alexis Korner.
His technique was so unique that Jeff Beck described it as: "... like the rhythm of workers in the deep south of the United States", and for this very reason, he called him into his new group along with Rod Stewart and Ron Wood. However, this experience was very short-lived because the young Aynsley could hardly stand being trapped in the rigid framework of blues music and wanted to play in a style freer from the genre's conventions.
"The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation" is his first studio album, produced in 1968 by John Mayall and released by Blue Thumb Records (BTS 4).
The lineup features alongside Dunbar: Victor Brox Cornopeon, with a very distinctive voice and capable of providing a significant contribution also on rhythm guitar, organ, and horns, as well as John Moorshead on lead guitar and vocals, and finally Alex Dmochowski on bass.
On side A, we start with the track "Watch'n Chain" which begins with a resonant tom-tom and the ticking of a lightly brushed snare, before continuing with a highly engaging percussion groove. Suddenly, a chorus of whistles and voices join in, and while the group performs the piece as if it were a work song, Victor Brox sings the lyrics with great passion, with the counterpoint of the other guys. An exquisite blues call and response composition.
"My Whiskey Head Woman" is a slow and very soft blues, opening with a cornet solo by the versatile multi-instrumentalist Brox, something unexpected in an album of this kind. Right after Brox's solo, Mooreshead enters with a delightful phrasing playing the classic twelve-bar blues guitar. In the background, Dunbar works the cymbals and drums in a manner that is a joy to the ears.
"Trouble No More" does not resemble the track recorded in 1955 by Muddy Waters; instead, it presents stylistic similarities with "Woke Up This Morning" by B.B. King. It is a 12-bar rumba that transforms into a shuffle. Dunbar proposes a more imaginative rumba pattern than other musicians who have interpreted it, resulting in a piece that is pleasantly direct, beautiful, and well played.
"Double Lovin" is one of the gems of this album and, probably, of all British Blues. The track, written by Brox and Mooreshead, is a slow and very relaxed blues, with an unusual chord sequence for the blues genre. Dunbar uses brushes on the snare almost sinuously, while Brox contributes with his delicate acoustic rhythm guitar and his splendid dense and velvety voice, enhanced by a gentle reverb. Mooreshead shines in this piece above all others, with a guitar solo of such elegance and beauty as to rival equally with those of Clapton and Green.
"See See Baby" is the rock blues version of the standard "See See Rider," recorded by his Majesty "Elvis the Pelvis" Presley. Originally recorded as a slow blues by Ma Rainey in the mid-'20s, it has undergone numerous reinterpretations in various blues styles by great musicians such as Big Bill Broonzy, Lead Belly, Ray Charles, and Peggy Lee. In this case too, the performance is excellent due to Brox's beautiful vocal texture and his barrelhouse on the piano, but also because of Mooreshead's excellent guitar riffs. The rhythm section is also excellent, with the drums taking the lead role, while Dmochowski's bass is recorded too much in the background, depriving the piece of some of its intensity.
The last track on the first side is "Roamin An Ramblin". Victor Brox is the author of this piano shuffle, which features an unusual turnaround that grows up to the flatted third. The voice is doubled, something quite unusual in blues music. There are also some rhythmic accentuations that are very creative and pleasant.
On side B we find "The Sage Of Sydney Street". The composer of this piece is unknown. It involves a beautiful phrasing between Alex Dmochowski's bass and Aynsley's drums.
The piece "Memory Pain" is a cover of the track that Percy Mayfield recorded for Specialty in 1953. Aynsley and the band recorded their version as a slow blues. Brox's voice is splendid, with a tone that appears almost grim, very reminiscent of the atmosphere of "Warning," the debut single of the Retaliation, which was made famous by the cover from Black Sabbath on their eponymous first album from 1970. In this track, there is a 24-bar guitar solo very linear by John Mooreshead and, after a moving verse with his thin, incisive voice, Victor Brox offers us his splendid pipe organ solo before everything calms down again. The band holds back all its power until the last verse when everything builds up with explosive momentum. The atmosphere of this track is so evocative that Thin Lizzy made their own version in 1981.
It closes with "Mutiny", a piece over 7 minutes long, characterized not only by a great guitar riff from Mooreshead but especially by an extraordinary drum solo from Aynsley where he demonstrates all the uniqueness of his drumming technique.
The extraordinary photo on the cover is a result of the brainstorming by graphic designers Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell (assisted by photographer Peter Christopherson) deus ex machina of the legendary Hipgnosis, the studio that, between the late '60s and throughout the '70s, produced some of the most legendary album covers in rock history, like those for Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and especially the jaw-dropping cover for Peter Gabriel's second solo album (1978), better known as Scratch.
"The Aynsley Dunbar Retaliation" is one of the most electrifying debut albums of British blues. Its slow and rarefied atmosphere, almost suspended in time, makes it an original and refined interpretation of electric blues. It remains an extraordinary album even today, where blues, jazz, and psychedelia blend into a unique and memorable mix.
After the disbandment of the Retaliation in 1970, Aynsley Dunbar continued his brilliant career playing with musicians such as Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, David Bowie, Lou Reed, and Jefferson Starship.
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