Search - John Mayall & Bluesbreakers :: Plays John Mayall: Live at Klooks Kleek

Live Taste of Early Mayall

Kurt Harding | Boerne TX | 02/16/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Frankly, I didn't know this album existed until now but after reading the informative booklet that accompanies the CD I discovered that this is actually a reissue of John Mayall's first long player! It surprised me since I have been a Mayall fan since the 60s and never saw John Mayall Plays John Mayall while browsing in any record store. Anyway, now its been remastered for CD and Mayall fans will find lots to enjoy.

When you are listening to this, keep in mind that this was recorded live in 1964. If you do that, you are going to be amazed at what you find here. I pretty much like the whole CD, including the generous addition of five bonus tracks recorded in the same general time period. However, I do have some favorite tracks. These include both takes on Crawling Up A Hill, When I'm Gone, both takes of Crocodile Walk, What's the Matter With You, Runaway, Heartache, Chicago Line (redone by Mayall 30 years later with another group as the title cut of their album), and Mr James. About the only thing I don't like about the CD is the goofy Hoot Owl. But hey, that's the only one out of seventeen songs.

The CD comes with an informative booklet containing lots of early photos of Mayall and his band. In addition to Mayall, one other member of the band here remains internationally famous today. That is John McVie, who most people know went on to fame then fortune as a founding member and the "Mac" of Fleetwood Mac.

If you like John Mayall, and I assume you do if you are reading this, then you should include this Klooks Kleek live CD in your collection as soon as possible to hear what you have been missing. I'm sure glad I did!"

Live debut of legendary band

Laurence Upton | Wilts, UK | 07/01/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was the first album by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, whose ever-changing line up had temporarily stabilized as John Mayall (vocal, harmonica, guitar, 9-string guitar), Roger Dean (guitar), John McVie (bass) and Hughie Flint (drums), and it was recorded live. Klooks Kleek was at the Railway Hotel, next door to Decca's recording studios in West Hampstead. The club's compère Johnny Gunnell, together with his brother Rik Gunnell, persuaded Decca's engineers to run cables from an open studio window into the club, enabling studio quality sound in an environment in which the band excelled, and so their gig of Monday 7 December 1964 was preserved for posterity. At the time, the band (with a different guitarist and drummer) had released only one single, Crawling Up A Hill, which opened the live set, and they also previewed Crocodile Walk, their second single, which came out in April 1965, shortly after the album was released.



For the live recording the band was augmented by Nigel Stanger on tenor sax, plus some appropriate novelty slide sax sounds on The Hoot Owl and Chicago Line. Both of these and most of the rest of the record are John Mayall songs not recorded elsewhere, mostly in Chicago and country blues styles, and there is also a strange mash up of Night Train and Lucille.



To the original album have been appended five bonus tracks. These are both sides of the two singles, all in their original mono (stereo mixes of both sides of the second single can be found on London Blues (1964-1969)), plus My Baby Is Sweeter. This was recorded at the same session as the Crocodile Walk single but wasn't released until Thru the Years in 1971, and is the only stereo track on this CD.



John Mayall was one of the most important figures of the whole blues movement, and had a big impact through the astute use of the musicians he developed in the Bluesbreakers over a number of years, and through his own musicianship, and this atmospheric recording shows from where it stemmed.



RIP Rik Gunnell who died this month (June 2007)"