No, not a lost weekend - rather, mishapen priorities. If anyone's willing to take the reins on this thread, be my guest(s) by all means.
I think I know what you mean... I'd like to but wouldn't have the time to keep it going as I can't get on here for days sometimes - with travelling fairly often and working long days I might lose the thread (no pun intended) - sadly.
I could talk about some albums, but only a precious few. I've got the biography so I could possibly fill in some historical details.
There's already been a little talk about the debut (live) album - and as the second release is somewhat legendary, going onto that now might bring a some activity here. This is the album (as I'm sure it was for the vast majority) that really got my attention, when I bought it 20 years ago and had been a Clapton fan since hearing my brother's Cream Of Eric Clapton tape in the 80s: Of course, if anyone wants to say anything more about the debut or early singles or anything (e.g. anyone see him/them live back then..?) then far be it from me to steer them away from that.
Great album of course. I've got the stereo and mono version (disc one of a 2 on 1 set, not the deluxe edition unfortunately). John is on fire (It Ain't Right!), as is Eric. Have You Heard is perhaps the blueprint for all slow blueses by bands like Led Zeppelin to come. It's funny to hear Eric's voice on Ramblin' on my Mind... There are some songs I don't like. Little Girl has pretty cringey lyrics IMO. All Your Love, while a fine performance, suffers from John singing nonsensical lyrics and what's even worse, Gary Moore later used those same lyrics instead of going back to the proper original by Otis Rush. I also don't care for Key to Love in either the original or Gary's version. Speaking of which, Gary covered no less than three songs off this album and featured it on the cover of "Still Got the Blues"! According to the discography (and Eric's biography), the band lineup was quite unstable. Eric left, then came back to replace Peter Green who'd taken his place and to discover the talents of Jack Bruce who'd come to the band because John McVie had been fired (which is probably the starting point for what became Cream), only for Jack Bruce to go to Manfred Mann and John McVie to come back...and then they did the album. Of course, there had been a few singles with Eric before, such as "I'm Your Witchdoctor". I think the deluxe contains all the recordings of the lineup?
Never released on LP in the U.S. - hence the difficulty of finding a decent playing copy. The only one I've ever seen here on the forum went for $100+ IIRC. The last JM album on my want list.
Huge fan of this album. Played it all the time in college. Stellar as Clapton's playing and tone from the Les Paul was, Parchman Farm was always the favorite in my dorm room. Love the Dust My Broom quote at the end of Hideway, and of course the cheeky Ticket To Ride at the end of What'd I Say. Mayall sounds just like B.B. King.
Great post. I've got the same CD - had the West German Deram at first and for a long time. Not sure if I prefer the 1969 stereo or original 1969 mono mix... if the keyboard hadn't been buried on Hideaway, I'd likely lean very heavily to the latter. But I have heard the stereo many more times and like a lot of these things for me, it's on a track-by-track basis. Yes, aside from everything else going on around him, John's bass is tearing it up. I like all the songs but perhaps some of the lyrics and (sorry to say this but..) his vocals aren't the strongest - maybe they wanted to get the album done quick? But I don't find his singing objectionable at all and it works fine, mostly. I was another that had to learn a lot of the EC riffs and licks and still try to throw them into my playing, here and there. I know that I need the deluxe and had tracks such as I'm Your Witchdoctor and On Top Of The Word on the Castle Communcations Early Clapton Collection double LP (the CD omits some tracks!)
Thanks. I think Dinu Logoz agrees with you on Hideaway... I have I'm Your Witchdoctor, On Top of the World & Telephone Blues from a CD called "The Story of the White Blues". A few historical details coming soon
I had to Google that, thinking it could be an anagram. Looking forward to that - historical has me intrigued...
Here you are - I skimmed through the first chapters yesterday to see whether I could find something to use on this thread. This is what I've come up with... All quotes from John Mayall: The Blues Crusader. By Dinu Logoz, 2015 Edition Olms Mayall's first major breakthrough came when he managed to talk Manfred Mann into giving the Bluesbreakers the interval spot at the legendary Marquee Club for £15 a night. At that night. top groups could choose their own intermission band. The next release after his debut album were the first two recordings with Eric Clapton: "I'm Your Witchdoctor"/"Telephone Blues". Produced by Jimmy Page, himself only 21 years old and telling the engineer that it was OK to record such a guitar sound! "I'm Your Witchdoctor" is a really spooky song with Clapton playing his guitar in a way that doesn't even sound like a guitar, and Mayall on a particularly ghostly organ..."Telephone Blues" is a great slow blues with some background harmonica and a long, well-constructed guitar solo. Confusingly, Page remembers further Mayall-Clapton songs being taped at this or later sessions, not only "On Top Of the World" and "Double Crossing Time" [which was supposed to be the next single release], but also songs such as Mayall's "So Sorry" and Freddie King's "Someday After Awhile" [later recorded by Clapton on his From the Cradle album], both mentioned on album liner notes. However, many remain unissued, and due to a cock-up of monumental proportions, virtually all Immediate's master tapes were wiped in error. As a result, several studio-recorded Mayall-Clapton outtakes will never see the light of day.// In the summer of 1965, Clapton went off to Greece with Ben Palmer and some other friends. This wasn't a particularly pleasant experience for either Clapton (see his own recollection in his autobiography for more details) or Mayall, who needed a replacement. Mayall then fired John McVie because of his drunking habits and brought Jack Bruce in, who added a lot of possibilities - being a great singer himself and playing harmonica as well. Peter Green kept telling Mayall that he was a better player than George Krivit (one of Clapton's replacements) and Mayall finally told him to prove it and so he did. But Peter had only played three gigs with the band when Clapton came back... The combination of Clapton and Bruce was musical dynamite, a sort of controlled anarchy. [...] Manfred Mann came to a gig and lured Bruce away with the promise of better money [...] so Jack took up the far more lucrative offer with Manfred Mann and quite the Bluesbreakers, much to Mayall's disgust. Apparently, "Double Crossing Time" was originally called "Double Crossing Man", which was a reference to Jack Bruce walking out to join Manfred Mann! This also means that the song was recorded before the album and with a different lineup. Mike Vernon then did a single with only John and Eric: "Lonely Years"/"Bernard Jenkins". This led the way to the famous Bluesbreakers album, which had its own issues... Clapton resolutely refused to turn down his amplifier. [...] Gus [Dudgeon; engineer] put the mike in fornt of Eric's amp. Eric picked up his amp and took it across the studio, as far away as possible from the mike. Much of Eric's guitar on the album was actually picked up by Hughie Flint's drum mike. Clapton also didn't play on "Parchman Farm". Here are some great quotes... "I never did learn to read music and I still can't today" - John Mayall "Trad bands were playing the blues, but not the type of blues I wanted to listen to" - John Mayall "I knew nothing at all about blues music. Mayall just gave me a stack of records, and asked me to listen to them to see if I could grasp the style and feeling. [...] He said 'OK, let's try a 12-bar in C, and I had to ask him what he meant! [...] It was only about a year and a half after I joined the Bluesbreakers that I began to understand what I was playing, through John playing me records and telling me what to listen to" - John McVie "Crawling Up a Hill was our first chance at making a record. We did 42 takes; we were burnt out, and I can still hear the frenzied desperation when I listen to it!" - John Mayall (note - @Sprocket Henry already used that one, slightly differently worded!) "Man, that John Mayall, he got the most hard-hitting blues band in the city of London. He's my boy!" - John Lee Hooker, who'd played a UK tour with the Bluesbreakers backing him in 1964 "Him and me played like a charm together. He's got a whole lotta soul!" - Sonny Boy Williamson II, Mayall's harmonica idol, about John Mayall "(It was) at Dunstable Civic Centre around August 64, supported by Steve Marriott & The Moments. Most impressive. Mayall had a rack of harmonicas hanging round his neck, and jumped around at this big old battered brown organ. John McVie stood at the back, serious and practically motionlesss throughout. Hughie Flint looked like a modern jazzer, the erudite beatnik. Roger Dean, very neat in a suit and tie, played an orange Gretsch guitar while seated!" - rock historian Pete Frame on seeing the Bluesbreakers for the first time "This is the greatest group I've had working with me in years. Soon as I get back to the U.S., I'll be telling everybody!" - T-Bone Walker about touring with the Bluesbreakers as his band in 1965 "Eric had the magic touch. [...] To have such mastery and feel at that age is pretty remarkable, actually!" - Mayall about Eric Clapton "It was the Eric Clapton show, it wasn't John Mayall's Bluesbreakers: there were more people coming along to see Eric!" - Hughie Flint "I think it was a real shock to people who'd only seen him play with the Yardbirds. He'd stepped into different shoes altogether; it was like he came from another planet. I was very impressed; particularly by the aggression of his playing and the toughness. When Eric joined the Bluesbreakers the audiences grew at an alarming pace" - Mike Vernon "Wonderful, absolutely out of this world. Nothing I had ever seen up to that point was better than Clapton." - Peter Green "Musically he was the most forceful bass player I had ever played with. He approached the gig almost as if the bass were a lead instrument, but not to the point where it got in your way, and his understanding of time was phenomenal. [...] So playing with Jack was more exciting then with John McVie." - Eric Clapton about Jack Bruce I don't think I'll be able to continue this throughout the thread, but if anybody has any discographical or historic question, I'll try to see whether I can look it up!
I haven't heard this track (or the album ) yet but something caught my eyes when looking through his discography: Nigel Stanger (tenor & slide sax) Perhaps this is the sound effect? I'll need to listen to that song when this thunderstorm is over...
Weird, but playing the song again IMO it does have a sax-like tone. We've been promised storms very soon... I'm up at 6.00 for work so hope it's over and done with in the next few hours if it reaches here and passes there as soon as possible too.
I've always thought the same; love that keyboard sound! And rare for EC to use feedback - also on On Top Of The World. Every time I play the album, I'll remember that now and it answers why he joined a 'pop' band, suddenly. I like MM a lot though and mostly the Paul Jones era. He really does sound like he's playing from instinct on the album and you can't put a price on that... pure feeling - blues all over! Wow! I'm a Marriott/Small Faces fan too and would I have loved to witness that night... GREAT WORK. Thank you for taking the time and trouble to post all this; I will be ordering that book and I am certain it will lead me to getting all the Mayall albums, before much longer as everything I have so far is brilliant anyway.
Thanks. The first time I read through it I found it a bit of a slog in places, but I'll have to reread. This guy is a blues musician himself and he goes into matters with meticulous detail (there's extra features on Mayall as a guitar, keyboard and harmonica player and an extensive discography/band lineup history at the end. But this also means that sometimes I had the feeling I was reading through the world's longest wikipedia article...The first half is very good with lots of anecdotes and many nods towards other bands & musicians that played a role in Mayall's life, later on it gets a bit dry as he puts out all the facts but doesn't seem to present them with as much interest. Then again, like most fans, it's the early stuff that impressed him, so who could blame him for being more enthusiastic about those records. PS: I made a typo above, it should read 'quit' the Bluesbreakers, not 'quite'! Not quite right, lol! Of course, I'm a huge fan of Manfred Mann's Earth Band but I like a lot of the Paul Jones stuff as well. I can understand the reservations about the Mike D'Abo era though. Even Klaus Voormann, Bruce's successor, wasn't particularly fond of the music they were playing (I think he called it castrated or something...I have Klaus' autobiography as well ) and Manfred has been rather dismissive himself, saying that they were still doing those 'children's songs' (e.g. Fox on the Run, Ha! Ha! Said the Clown, My Name is Jack [not Bruce though ]) when the Beatles were rapidly maturing and people like Jimi Hendrix came onto the scene...
Those quotes are very informative Jules. It doesn't surprise me Jimmy Page producing at 21 getting that right sound for Clapton's guitar on "I'm Your Witchdoctor" and mention of another blues heavyweight Steve Marriott. Good stuff man!
Cheers, it's quite interesting to read all those facts. Like, not only Peter Green was in the band before he was 'in the band' (i.e. after Clapton had gone for good), but the same actually happened to Mick Taylor as well! He stood in for an absent EC one night and then later joined when Peter had left. Fascinating, eh?
I think before I tackle the book, take it slowly and play the albums in order as I get through it. I'll not have to worry about spending much at first, because I have the first half a dozen or so then it becomes sporadic. I'm not a big reader as I used to be (blame the Internet for that! ) and do have a few 'must have' music books on the shelf, gathering dust. Funnily enough, one is Clapton's autobiography... So I will have to delve into the music so as not to lose concentration. I don't know much of MM's Earth Band and only have The Roaring Silence (which is an incredible album) so will be correcting that, in due course. My only problem being that there is so much great music out there, when do I get to hear it all? Anyway, I find the D'Abo hits pleasant enough but that's about it; albums weren't much of a consideration for them, as far as I've been led to believe and a ton of other bands by then were making what are now regarded 'classics.' Incidentally I saw The Manfreds around 2004 (minus the keyboardist, who gave the original band their name...) with both Paul and Mike singing. It was a treat and as musicians, they were all top-notch; far better than their 60s records perhaps suggest.
Fascinating for sure! There are so many world class musicians that passed through the Bluesbreakers It's really amazing.
The first time I heard Mayall was The Turning Point, on reel to reel, I'm old. Took a long time to find that album, been a fan since. All the Mayall albums I have are good imo. Chicka chicka what?
