"...A New Magic World...Where I Never Felt So Free..."
Mark Barry at Reckless Records, Lon | UK | 12/13/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Arriving in California in late July 1968 for a 3-week vacation, Mayall met other like-minded people and it prompted a splurge of songs from him that musically documented his feelings of elation and finally belonging. When he got back to Britain, he took his new stripped-down 4-piece band into Decca's Studios in West Hampstead for a 3-day session - 26 to 28 August 1968 - and out popped what many feel is his best album - "Blues From Laurel Canyon" - the entire record infused with reinvigoration and purpose.
The band for the session was:
JOHN MAYALL - Guitar, Harmonica, Keyboards & Vocals
MICK TAYLOR - Guitars
STEPHEN THOMPSON - Bass
COLIN ALLEN - Drums & Tablas
This expanded 2007 CD reissue (Decca 984 083-9) breaks down as follows (61:13 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 12 are the album "Blues From Laurel Canyon" issued in November 1968 in the UK on both MONO and STEREO - Decca LK 4972 and Decca LKS 4972 (it peaked in the UK charts at Number 33 in January 1969). It was also issued February 1969 in the USA in STEREO-only on London PS 545 (it peaked at a more modest 68).
The Stereo version has been used for this remaster with two bonus tracks thrown in. First bonus (Track 13) is a "single version" of "2401", the B-side of the "The Bear" which issued on 45 on Decca F 12846 in November 1968 in the UK; second bonus (Track 14) is a rare eight and half minute live version of "Wish You Were Here" recorded in Sweden in December 1968 with the same band as the album line-up (it was first released on the "Primal Solos" LP in 1977 on London LC 50003 in the USA and then in 1983 in the UK on Decca TAB 66). A real let down however is that the MONO mix didn't make the CD - but in fairness to the compilers - even if you drop the twelve and half minutes of the two bonus tracks - it would have been a push to get both versions on here intact - and the live track is a great addition - especially for fans of this wonderful band line-up.
Co-produced by MIKE VERNON (of Blue Horizon fame), the sound quality achieved on the original vinyl albums was famously superb and PASCHAL BYRNE of Audio Archiving has only amplified that in this truly fantastic remaster - ballsy, clean and beautifully clear. The 16-page booklet features the original Mayall liner notes, the lyrics and a detailed and affectionate appraisal of the album by noted writer and project co-ordinator MARK POWELL. There are even outtake photos from the album cover shoot.
The LP itself played like his emotions - tracks segue into each other, which either lifts the mood up or down depending on the tempo of the song - a clever representation of what he was feeling - jumping one moment, mellow the next. Highlights include the blisteringly good "Walking On Sunset" (lyrics above) which itself segues into the slinky and fabulous piano blues of "Laurel Canyon Home" which name-checks Zappa's girl-group signing "The GTO's" - while genuinely lamenting his departure from that Californian suburb in the lyrics "...here's a way of living that I will sorely miss..."
"The Bear" was a tribute to Canned Heat's lead singer BOB HITE while the quietly plaintive "First Time Alone" features the echoed licks of PETER GREEN as a guest guitarist. It's followed by superb keyboard work from Mayall on "Long Gone Midnight" which then gives way to the album's big finisher - and what an Outro it is - the stunning nine minutes of "Fly Tomorrow". After Chris Allen's Tabla intro, Mick Taylor finally gets room to stretch and show how good a guitar player he is. It's magnificent - and when I feature it on a shop play list, it brings customers to the counter asking - "who's this?"
So there you have it - John Mayall's "Blues From Laurel Canyon" is like Blodwyn Pig's "Ahead Ring Out" (1969 - see review), Fleetwood Mac's "Then Play On" (1969) and Taste's "On The Boards" (1970) - a properly great rock album from that extraordinary period of time - and it still stands up some forty years after the event.
Mick Taylor went on of course to join the Stones and the wow of "Beggars Banquet", "Let It Bleed". "Sticky Fingers" and "Exile On Main Street" - and in 2009, aged 76, John Mayall is still playing the music he loves - the blues - with a little bit of boogie and rock thrown in.
A fab reissue then with quality remastered sound and annotation.
Five out of five."
Excellent blues album with great guitar from Mick Taylor
Peter G | Maidenhead, England | 01/05/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is unusual and innovative in being a blues album of original tracks specially written and focused on one subject - John Mayall's holiday in Laurel Canyon, LA. - instead of 10 different ad-hoc tracks chosen from many sources by the band. As such it hangs together strongly as one entity, yet the tracks also have individuality that makes each one interesting.
This was the last album that Mick Taylor played before being "poached" to join the Rolling Stones, and Peter Green also featured. Both play extremely well.
A mix of upbeat and soft melancholic songs, it includes the lively single "2401", and was remastered in 2007 to match it to modern sound systems.
For me this is a "classic" album.
"
A Masterpiece!!
ddderek | Detroit | 01/28/2010
(5 out of 5 stars)
"You must ceck this album out... it is a MASTERPIECE! John Mayall had an incredible knack of re-inventing sounds and new albums that always have their roots in the blues... This is another masterful work that needs to be heard as a complete album not just one or two tracks. It is a musical journey in th blues."
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1