John Mayall
Blues From Laurel Canyon

John Mayall is perhaps the greatest figure in white rock-blues of all time, and one of the major protagonists of the "British Blues" movement that brought, thanks to enthusiasts of this music that so greatly influenced rock, blues to become music for white audiences as well. Singer, harmonica player, and keyboardist, he has always surrounded himself with excellent musicians, who he can also boast of having discovered. Eric Clapton, Peter Green (later founder of Fleetwood Mac), Mick Taylor (future Rolling Stones), John Hiseman (drummer of the future Colosseum), and many others, played with him.

Between the late 60s and early 70s, John Mayall recorded great albums like "The Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton", "Bare Wires", "Hard Road", and "Crusade". In '68, he disbanded the Bluesbreakers and thought about taking a vacation in the States, in California, at Laurel Canyon. Upon returning from the trip, John decided to record an intense album in his own name, bringing along the promising young Mick Taylor as the only survivor of the old group. It was 1969, the psychedelic period was in full swing, and John Mayall released one of his best albums ever, namely "Blues from Laurel Canyon". Besides the aforementioned Taylor, Mayall decided to be accompanied by a group reduced to the essentials, in contrast with his latest productions, especially the experimental "Bare Wires": on bass, we find Stephen Thompson and on drums Colin Allen.
The blues on this album is full of an almost "desert-like" sound, reflecting the influence of the Californian stay of the bluesman. Mayall, as always, explores all the possibilities the blues has to offer: from whispers accompanied by a band that barely caresses their instruments like "Laurel Canyon Home" to the compelling blues with Taylor's abrasive and acidic guitar in the opening "Vacation", "2401", and "Ready to Ride". Mayall, as always, brands his performance with his very peculiar yet unique voice, his fiery harmonica, and the excellent arrangements of Hammond and piano. "Medicine Man" indeed shows him armed only with his voice and harmonica with just a few percussion touches. And there's more for many: "The Bear", dedicated to the singer of the American Canned Heat, is an excellent boogie played with skill and incisiveness as never before, or even the jazzy blues of "Miss James". John Mayall takes the blues and plays with it as if it were almost a compendium of all Afro-American tradition, and all with a class that few whites have had in the history of rock. In "First Time Alone" there's only the voice supported by an imperceptible instrumental part weaving this timeless music. To close it all, the long jam of "Fly Tomorrow" reminds us that we are in the midst of, and almost at the end of, the psychedelic period.

If you want to listen to an album of pure blues in all its forms, here you go.

This is "Blues from Laurel Canyon".