Artist: Mayall, John
Label: Decca Records
Release: 2007
John Mayall is rightly considered the godfather of British guitar rock, since Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor all cut their teeth in his backing band The Bluesbrakers, and Mick Fleetwood, Aynsley Dunbar, Jack Bruce, John McVie and Andy Fraser all learned a thing or two from him as well.
The ‘Live at the BBC’ collection presents John Mayall and The Bluesbrakers across five different appearances on the legendary BBC – April and October 1965, March 1966, January 1967 and October 1975 – and any claims about the band’s lineups are more or less guesswork, or informed opinion. Alongside John Mayall, who played organ, harmonica (aka harp) and sang, the solid core was made up of bassist John McVie, drummer Hughie Flint and guitarist Eric Clapton.
So that lineup (almost certainly) plays on the April ’65 recording and the March ’66 one. On the October ’65 session, Jack Bruce replaced McVie on bass and Jeff Kirbit replaced Clapton, by January ’67 Peter Green is already shining in the guitarist’s seat with Aynsley Dunbar behind the drums, and the closing tracks from ’75 feature a varied, lively (I might even say not exactly star-studded, but no worse for it) Bluesbrakers lineup, where we also hear a violin, a female voice and keyboards.
So what is there to say about all this? You can hear where The Yardbirds, The Animals, and of course Cream and Fleetwood Mac drew from, where The Rolling Stones went to school, and how easy it is to create a huge body of music that still sounds so incredibly fresh, interesting and different after forty years, in a way that nothing today sounds at all! Lively, wonderfully simple rock songs steeped in blues, an effective and interesting combination of organ, electric guitar and harmonica, a big-band sound made with nothing but a quartet, explosive and virtuoso guitar breaks from whichever of the superb guitarists is up, and on top of it all, a one-of-a-kind delivery. You won’t find a bad song on this record, or even one that stands out too much – despite the different lineups and time periods, the whole record is a one-of-a-kind whole and proof of how a band is supposed to sound!
Only a group of excellent musicians can create music this timeless and everlasting, music that only gains in value over time and sharpens the sad realization of just how truly bad, disposable and boring the music being churned out these days is. That’s probably where the reason for all the disposability, monotony and pointlessness hides, too – music is being produced and no longer created and played!
Lineup
John Mayall – vocals, organ, harmonica
Eric Clapton – guitar
Peter Green – guitar
Jeff Kirbit – guitar
John McVie – bass guitar
Jack Bruce – bass guitar
Hughie Flint – drums
Aynsley Dunbar – drums
Tracklist
1. Crawling Up A Hill
2. Crocodile Walk
3. Bye Bye Bird
4. I’m Your Witchdoctor
5. Cheating Woman
6. Nowhere To Turn
7. On Top Of The World
8. Key To Love
9. No More Tears
10. Riding On The L And N
11. Sitting In The Rain
12. Leaping Christine
13. So Much To Do
14. Taxman Blues
