Huge new 35 CD John Mayall box set, "The First Generation 1965-1974"

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Galactus, Oct 30, 2020.

  1. Trainspotting

    Trainspotting Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    It varies. There's two BBC discs, both with different sessions of course. When I played the first disc the first few songs sounded better than the concert discs I had played previously. But after playing both BBC discs I realized there were some sessions which sounded lousy. Don't buy the set thinking the live stuff is going to sound great or even good. The live material gets by on the performances more than anything else. I just mentioned in my last post that the Bremen disc sounds better than the others, but Mick's guitar is curiously under-recorded. It's the vocals, really, which sound terrible on most of the live discs.
     
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  2. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    Yes, I already have the previous single disc official release of his BBC sessions. The sound varies a bit on that as well. I just wondered if the additional material was omitted from the previous release because the sound was even worse than that.
     
  3. Trainspotting

    Trainspotting Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I'm curious John, if you're a huge Mick Taylor fan, what album/show would you say has his best playing? Do you think his playing with the Stones was better than what he did with Mayall?
     
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  4. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    I am fan of the Blues From Laurel Canyon lp with Mayall but he played well on all of the Mayall albums. He also plays well on some of the Bluesbreaker reunion shows as well. He is great on Sticky Fingers and has some wonderful moments on some of the Stones live shows from when he was in the band. However, he wasn't really given full freedom with the Stones to play what he wanted. In addition, the live album at the Roxy he did with Carla Olson has some nice playing as does his live solo album Stranger In This Town.
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2021
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  5. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    My vote goes for Bare Wires and Primal Solos. Sound quality not great, but these are the most intense Mick Taylor that I have heard.
    Check out the song "Start Walkin'" - better than anything Clapton ever did with Cream (imo).
     
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  6. Trainspotting

    Trainspotting Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    He's fine on things like "Hartley Quits" and some of the stuff on Blue from Laurel Canyon, but it's nothing like when he played live with the band. Actually, Crusade has a lot more of his playing than the two 1968 albums.
     
  7. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    Taylor plays a version of Hartley Quits on the Carlo Olson album Live At The Roxy along with live versions of Sway and Silver Train.
     
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  8. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Ya, one of the best versions of "Red House" in that Live album. :righton:
     
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  9. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Carla Olson's "Too Hot For Snakes" is a great album.
     
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  10. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    He could cut loose more when playing live. His playing on Crusade is great but the horns are a bit intrusive in places for me.
     
  11. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    He just tears it up on "Hoochie Coochie Man" (Primal Solos).
     
  12. John Fell

    John Fell Forum Survivor

    Location:
    Undisclosed
    My biggest problem with purchasing this set other than price is that I already have all of the material except the previously unissued BBC and live material. I already have all of the individual albums which are included.
     
  13. Louis Bova

    Louis Bova Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York - USA
    I'm going to assume that Pete is THE mastering engineer on this set because even though there are marked differences from album to album my ears are hearing a steady continuity from disc to disc. No over pronouncement of hi or low frequencies just a nice overall listening environment.
    I am going to write Pete to see if there will be any articles written about his work on this boxset.
     
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  14. fast'n'bulbous

    fast'n'bulbous tight also

    Location:
    New York, NY
    Isn't it clapton on that song??
     
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  15. tlake6659

    tlake6659 Senior Member

    Location:
    NJ
    A shame they couldn't include the mono mixes of Bare Wires and Blues from Laurel Canyon.
     
  16. Laservampire

    Laservampire Down with this sort of thing

    All of the new 1965-66 era BBC material is from various quality off-air tapes. Nothing spectacular.

    But it's nice to finally hear the tracks without searching for bootlegs.
     
  17. ranasakawa

    ranasakawa Forum Resident

    It's tragic that the BBC destroyed so many tapes and videos that actually could have made them millions of dollars. German and Swedish TV and radio kept a great deal of the footage from the 1960s and 70s thankfully.
     
  18. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Maybe, they are both on that collection.
     
  19. Yes, Yes, ohhhhhh, Yesssssss!!!!! :nyah:
     
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  20. Chris Schoen

    Chris Schoen Rock 'n Roll !!!

    Location:
    Maryland, U.S.A.
    Yes, he used to be great... :nyah::sigh:
     
    Last edited: Mar 1, 2021
  21. ILovethebassclarinet

    ILovethebassclarinet Forum Resident

    Location:
    Great Lakes region
    Got some recommendations as to 'where they could be found before this?'
    The BBC and live stuff with Clapton, Green & Taylor that wasn't on Diary of A Band, Primal, etc. that is. Also, the difference in SQ (how much and for the better?) would be a huge variable for me too.
     
  22. privit1

    privit1 Senior Member

    Finally started the long and very enjoyable slogg through this.

    I bought this on the basis of the Clapton and Green albums and a few odd track that I had heard and very much enjoyed.

    Great way to get a Hugh amount of good music, its a shame the postage is do much for our American friends as the whole presentation is exemplary
     
  23. JulesRules

    JulesRules Weaponized, Deranged Warthog Thug

    Location:
    Germany
    Related - I just stumbled over this bit from this interview with Snowy White: Snowy White Thin Lizzy Pink Floyd eonmusic Interview October 2020

    I used to listen to a programme on the radio called ‘Saturday Club’, and occasionally, BBC studios used to have a live session on, and I heard John Mayall’s Bluesbreakes with Eric Clapton on that, and it was like 1965, ’66, and I loved it. It was really clean, and it really turned me on to blues, and I wanted to know what it felt like to be able to play those simple things; simple chord progressions with that nice sound. So, when the ‘Beano’ album [‘Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton’, 1966] came out, I was really keen to buy it, so I bought it, and I think it was ‘Hide Away’ that I heard on the radio, and I played it again, and Eric had this quite distorted, heavy sound, and it really disappointed me! I really liked the cleaner thing, and that’s why when Peter Green came along, I thought; “yeah, that’s exactly how it should be”; these lovely sounds.
     
  24. Zeki

    Zeki Forum Resident

    I’m listening to it for the first time. Yes! Am really enjoying it.
     
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  25. The Lew

    The Lew Senior Member

    As I scribe this post there are 7 of this box set up on Discogs. Only 1 in the UK and that guy wants £399 for it and it's not even sold out yet.
     

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