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Rating:
"The Turning Point" - The Turning Point.
No title is more appropriate and effective for describing this album. John Mayall was in the '60s with his Bluesbreakers one of the benchmarks of "english blues": besides being the point of connection between the blues revival of the '50s and the blues-rock of the following decade, the group was an important launching pad for artists like Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Larry Taylor, Peter Green.
After the classic "Crusades", John Mayall symbolically abdicates from the throne of the king of blues to seek new paths. Keeping the faithful bassist Steve Thompson in the line-up and recruiting Johnny Almond on saxophone and flute, and the semi-unknown Jon Mark on acoustic guitar, without any drummer or electric instruments, the group recorded in the summer of '69 at the Fillmore East in New York with Eddie Kramer (already a tech for Led Zeppelin) behind the console the album reviewed here.
The album can be considered an unplugged ante-litteram, in which there is a perfect blend between the most sophisticated and the rawest blues; the 7 tracks are very long (7 minutes on average) and structured, with significant contributions from the horns both in embroidery and solo sections. All tracks are of high level, but two in particular struck me: "The Laws Must Change" and "Room to Move", respectively the opener and the closing song of the album. The first, after the presentation of the band, initially develops like a typical blues in C with an efficient work of the harmonica, but in the central part it becomes a semi-jam in which the harmonica duets with the flute. Thematically the song deals with the theme of the clashes between students and the police and that of drugs. "Room to Move" is one of Mayall's classics and is famous for the duel between him and Almond in terms of "vocal percussion" and the frantic harmonica. The other tracks cannot go unmentioned: the ballad "Saw Mill Gulch Road", "I'm Gonna Fight for You J. B." (dedicated by Mayall to his master J. B. Lenoir), and the triptych formed by "So Hard to Share", the long ballad "California" and "Thoughts About Roxanne" that present more than one jazz cue.
Thanks to this album Mayall managed to convince even the most doubtful about the new path boldly undertaken and which represented a true turning point in the way of playing and conceiving blues.
RATING = 8
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
05 California (09:31)
Going back to California
So many good things around
Don't wanna leave California
The sun seems to never go down
Some people may treat you ugly
Some treat you beautiful too
That's the way life is all over
So look for the good things for you
California - there is a good place to be
California - that's where I'm feeling so free
Solos
California that's where I'm feeling so free
California there is a good place to be
California - that is a good place for home
California - I'll be back there before long
06 Thoughts About Roxanne (08:21)
I call her on the telephone
But she is hardly ever home
I know she's gotten a lovin' man
And so I see her when I can
Roxanne will always be my friend
And that's the way I'll keep her love
I think she's pretty as a rose
I take her out and buy her clothes
I'd like to take her home with me
But I must wait until she's free
Roxanne will always be my friend
And that's the way I'll keep her love
I love to touch her when we walk
I love to listen to her talk
The way I feel I can't explain
But I will wait for her again
Roxanne will always be my friend
And that's the way I'll keep her love
07 Room to Move (04:57)
may seem peculiar
how I think o'you
if you want me, darlin'
here's what you must do
you gotta give me
'cause I can't give the best
unless I got room to move
if you want me darlin'
take me how you can
i'll be circulating
'cause that's the way I am
you gotta give me
'cause I can't give the best
unless I got room to move
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