Force of nature (John Mayall) (LP 3113 - 3129)

John Mayall  Back To The Roots (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1971) ***  

John Mayall  Memories (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1971) ***

John Mayall  Jazz Blues Fusion (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1972) ***** 

John Mayall  Moving On (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1972) *** 

John Mayall  The Latest Edition (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1974) ** 

John Mayall  New Year New Band New Company (Vinyl, ABC Records, 1975) ***

John Mayall  Notice To Appear (Vinyl, ABC Records, 1975) ***

John Mayall  A Banquet In Blues (Vinyl, ABC Records, 1976) ***

John Mayall  A Hard Core Package (Vinyl, ABC Records - test pressing/white label, 1977) ***

John Mayall  Return of The Bluesbreakers (Vinyl, Aim Records, 1985) **** 

John Mayall  Wake Up Call (Vinyl, Silvertone Records on blue vinyl, 1993) ****

John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers  Blues For The Lost Days (Vinyl, Silvertone Records, 1997) ***

John Mayall  Nobody Told Me (Vinyl, Forty Below Records, 2019) ****

John Mayall  Looking Back (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1970) *** 

John Mayall  The World of John Mayall (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1970?) ***

John Mayall  The Giant of The Blues (Vinyl, Karussell Records, 1970) *** 

John Mayall  Stormy Monday (CD, Karussell Records, 1994) ***

Genre: Blues 

Places I remember: Passionate About Vinyl, Real Groovy Records, The Vinyl Soulution (San Mateo), music shop in Melbourne, JB Hi Fi. Record Fairs.

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Blue Fox (Back To The Roots)

Gear costume: Exercise in C (Jazz Blues Fusion)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: This is a roundup of all the John Mayall albums that I haven't mentioned so far on this blog and there have already been a number of those - just check on the search function.

In between times, the great man has passed away in July of last year, aged 90, so this post is a further tribute to his life and music.

In various ways, he looked back a few times during his career, and that's the great thing about the blues - there are plenty of great moments in the genre to look back on. Back To The Roots is one such example, a double album that has Mayall teamed up with alumni such as Mick Taylor, Keef Hartley and Eric Clapton.

It's a lavish package of a double album with a large colour booklet (no doubt designed by Mayall) which has a page each for the musicians who appear. It's impressive, and fitting.

The songs are all Mayall originals, played expertly, with feeling, by this collection of past members of his bands over the previous seven years (up to 1971). Highlights: Blue Fox (some great harmonica by Mayall and violin by Sugarcane Harris); Television Eye has beautiful separation between instruments and a great tenor sax solo by Johnny Almond.

Memories is also well named. Mayall uses his autobiography as a source for the lyrics on the album as he fashions a blues album. It's genuine and heartfelt (i.e. Grandad is about the influence his grandad had on him when he was young), but not an album I return to much.

Jazz Blues Fusion is a live album from 1971. Blue Mitchell (trumpet) and Clifford Solomon (alto and tenor sax) augment the basic blues group of bass, drums, guitar and all the various instruments Mayall plays.

This is an awesome album - jazz fusion at its finest. Apart from the horns, Larry Taylor is the star of the show on bass (those bass runs are thrilling throughout) and the jazzy guitar textures on guitar are by Freddy Robinson. The whole band is cooking and all should take a bow.

John Mayall takes a back seat for the most part and even mildly rebukes an audience member for requesting Room To Move, saying they'd moved on from that, even though Exercise In C has a bit of chikka chikka in it.

Moving On is a second live album with the core of the Jazz Blues Fusion band intact (Keef Hartley in on drums this time), plus an additional horn section.

The increase in musicians tends to over-egg proceedings a tad and the material isn't as strong as Jazz Blues Fusion. A bridge too far I think.

The Latest Edition is from 1974 and incorporates jazz, funk, and pop elements. It's not that memorable, unfortunately, as Mayall seems a little lacking in inspiration during the mid to late seventies.

You can almost hear the sigh in the next album title - New Year New Band New Company (I think that's referring to a new record company, but it could also be John's latest lady - singer Dee McKinnie). This set veers more to the centre of the rock road (there's even prominent female vocals) and it's a competent set.

Notice To Appear is a second album from 1975 and Mayall is as restless as ever. This time he's teamed up with Allen Toussaint who writes the lion's share of the songs and plays on all of the album. John Mayall does the singing and playing along with the New Year band. 

Consequently, it has a max reading on the funk-o-meter. I think it's a valiant attempt, but it doesn't seem like a good fit. Weirdest moment is a cover of The Beatles' Hard Day's Night. John sings it unconvincingly (I think that's the kindest description).

A Banquet In Blues is way better! He's back in more familiar settings with the same players from his early seventies albums. People like Johnny Almond, Sugarcane Harris, Red Holloway, Jon Mark, Blue Mitchell, Larry Taylor and Soko Richardson. Even John McVie attends on one song. 

Favourite song: Sunshine (the one with John McVie on bass) gets the album off to a roaring start. The 14-minute Fantasyland ends this high-quality album in some prog fusion style. 

While in Monterey a few years ago I picked up a test pressing of A Hard Core Package from The Vinyl Soulution (sic) in San Mateo. It cost me $US14.89 (I've left all the stickers on the cover). It's a more mellow sound than A Bouquet In Blues, without the highs. Still a pretty good funky rock sound though. 

Sadly, I don't have information on who the musicians were who appeared on it, but special kudos to the lead guitarist for some stunning/stinging runs.

We jump forward a few years now to the dreaded eighties - 1985 to be precise, for The Return of The Bluesbreakers (featuring Mick Taylor). I went with friends to watch this band at Auckland Town Hall, and it was baaad (not in a good way). The sound was too loud and too thin so Mick Taylor and Mayall's strengths were buried as a consequence.

Return Of The Bluesbreakers points to what we missed. Side one is a studio set from the early eighties with Don Nix producing (more on him when we get to the Ns). It's great, with not one synth in sight.

Side 2 is a live set with Mick Taylor featured on guitar (he's not part of the studio set). He's in brilliant form and shows what we missed in the dodgy sound/ performance at the Town Hall. He provides some blistering guitar to Ridin On The Sante Fe.

A jump in time now to 1993 and Wake Up Call (I've previously included his 1990 album A Sense Of Place). Mick Taylor, Buddy Guy and Mavis Staples guest and provide some terrific sharpness to proceedings. The material is uniformly terrific with Mailorder Mystics, Maydell and Light The Fuse being favourites.

Blues For The Lost Days is an okay album but the material isn't that inspired, although the playing is fine. The 'limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on green marbled vinyl' gimmick is a bit of a giveaway. Mine is #001241.

Nobody Told Me is the most recent album I have of his (his final release during his lifetime was The Sun Is Shining Down - released when he was in his eighties). 

I always think he rises to the occasion when he has legendary guests. On board this time are Joe Bonamassa, Todd Rundgren, Alex Lifeson and Little Stevie Van Zandt among others. It's a strong album in every way: Mayall's voice is strong, so is the material and the band. Remarkably, this album could have come from the eighties, nineties, and so on. He still had it, right to the end!

That just leaves some compilations to discuss. I've got five and they all stand up. I'll start with Looking Back which came out in 1969.

This compilation looked back at 9 different groups. Settled lineups were never his thing. The photomontage on the inner sleeve is worth the price of admission on its own. It's made up of non-LP singles from 1964 to 1968, featuring almost all of the notable musicians that passed through the Bluesbreakers throughout the decade. Sitting in the Rain is with Peter Green, and Stormy Monday is one of the few songs from 1966 that briefly featured both Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce.

The World of John Mayall is next. This turned out to be Volume 1, The World of John Mayall Vol. 2 I've mentioned previously here. This and Stormy Monday (CD) and The Giant of The Blues (vinyl) cover similar territory - non-album tracks mixed with album tracks from the sixties. 

The more budget the better is my philosophy with these things. So, I'm especially fond of the two volumes of The World of John Mayall and The Giant of The Blues.

If, like me, you find his album output a tad bewildering, a how-to-buy guide can be found on the interweb. 

The following are my recommendations.

First a list of essentials, IMHO.

Five-star classics:

• Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton 
• A Hard Road 
• The Turning Point  
• Jazz Blues Fusion

Four-star not quite essential but near as dammit:

• Bare Wires
• Blues From Laurel Canyon
• Empty Rooms
• USA Union
• A Sense Of Place
• Return Of The Bluesbreakers
• Wake Up Call
• Nobody Told Me

Where do they all belong? He was prolific and he never stopped, so there are plenty of other albums to collect from his catalogue.

Right before my eyes (Ian Matthews) (LP 3110 - 3112)

Matthews' Southern Comfort  Matthews' Southern Comfort (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1970) ***  

Ian Matthews  Tigers Will Survive (Vinyl, Vertigo Records, 1972) **** 

Ian Matthews  Some Days You Eat The Bear...Some Days The Bear Eats You (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1974) **** 

Genre: Country rock, folk rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Only Dancer (Tigers Will Survive)

Gear costume: Please Be My Friend (Matthews' Southern Comfort). A second version appears on Tigers Will Survive.

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: I have been after a vinyl copy of the first album by Ian Matthews/ Matthews' Southern Comfort for a loooong time. It joins their second and third album in my collection. 

Both of those are four star efforts. I'm a big fan of Ian's peculiar English take on country rock.

Matthew's Southern Comfort was his first solo album and it's more folk rock than country, even though Gordon Huntley's pedal steel makes a welcome appearance on a few tracks (he and Matthews were the only carry over when Matthews' Southern Comfort became a band for the next albums). 

That's to be expected, given Ian had just left Fairport Convention. Some of his colleagues from that band appear here, namely Ashley Hutchings, Simon Nicol and Richard Thompson.

The first thing you notice with this album is the rich vocal from Ian Matthews. He has an amazing voice! Please Be My Friend, a Matthews' song, provides a clue about where he was heading next. That pedal steel sound is glorious.

Tigers Will Survive was one of two albums he recorded in 1971 (I don't have the first - If You Saw Thro' My Eyes) and before he formed Plainsong with Andy Roberts (I'll come to their album In Search of Amelia Earhart in due course). He was a busy boy! 

Tigers Will Survive is an excellent album - full of superb country rock songs played well. As is Some Days You Eat The Bear. Those warm acoustic guitars and his honeyed voice are a winning combination.

Some Days is more commercial sounding with some big names helping out - Jeff 'Skunk' Baxter and David Lindley among them. There are quite a few covers too - Tom Waits, Crazy Horse, Steely Dan. Like that first solo album it's a bit of a transition album from the country rock to a more pop/ rock approach.

Where do they all belong? Okay, I'm up to date with Ian Matthews. I've written about a couple of his other albums, Valley Hi and Stealin' Home already - I'm always keen to collect more of those earlier albums.

The dreaming tree (Dave Matthews Band) (LP 3109)

Dave Matthews Band  Before These Crowded Streets (CD, RCA Records, 1998) ***  

Genre: Pop rock, jazz rock 

Places I remember: Shona Walding collection

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Don't Drink The Water

Gear costume: Crush

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: This isn't the sort of thing I'd buy but I'm happy to accept it as a donation to my collection.

Apparently, this is the third album by Dave Matthews Band. I don't know his other work so this is a one off for me. The Middle Eastern grooves are interesting (and welcome) and the improvisation aspect is borrowed from jazz rock or even jazz fusion. As you know - big fan of jazz fusion!

The songs are generally quite lengthy but to my mind they need some melody and editing. To be fair, it's a bit hard to categorise their music.

I guess I'm just not a huge fan of Dave's gruff vocal style, and the music is fine but, ultimately, and strangely, not really my thing.

Where do they all belong? As indicated - a one-off.

Crusher destroyer (Mastodon) (LP 3100 - 3108)

Mastodon  Remission (CD, Relapse Records, 2002) *** 

Mastodon  Leviathan (CD, Relapse Records, 2004) ****  

Mastodon  Blood Mountain (CD, Relapse Records, 2006) ***  

Mastodon  Crack The Skye (CD, Relapse Records, 2009) ****  

Mastodon  Live At The Aragon (CD/DVD, Reprise Records, 2011) ***

Mastodon  The Hunter (CD, Reprise Records, 2011) ****  

Mastodon  Once More 'Round The Sun (CD, Reprise Records, 2014) ****  

Mastodon  Cold Dark Place (CD, Reprise Records, 2017) ****  

Mastodon  Emperor Of Sand (CD, Reprise Records, 2017) ****  

Genre: Heavy metal, Prog metal

Places I remember: Fopp, HMV, JB Hi-Fi 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Blood And Thunder (Leviathan); The Sparrow (The Hunter)

Gear costume: Quintessence (Crack The Sky)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: So, to remind you all - I have a written rule (check back in the blog if you don't believe me) that I listen to each album as they come up for these posts.

That means I have listened to all nine of these albums one after the other.

I'll just let that sink in for a sec...

Crushed and destroyed? Yup - that pretty much sums up my bleeding ears, pounding heart, and grim countenance. I also have a drained smile on my face.

Mastodon are an American metal band. They come from Atlanta, Georgia, but these guys are not a southern rock band.  The band's lineup (Troy Sanders - bass/vocals, Brent Hinds - lead guitar/vocals, Bill Kelliher - rhythm guitar and Brann Dailor - drums/vocals) has remained unchanged since 2001. That's cool!

Remission (I like the multiple meanings around that word) was their debut album in 2002. It is loud and brash and heavy as all get out. The vocals are raw and almost but not quite that metal growl style. Each track is a blitzkrieg of full noise. Favourite song - Mother Puncher.

Their second album, Leviathan, is the first of their concept style albums - this one obviously centres around Moby Dick.

I am a big fan of this album - the guitar crunch from Remission is more riff-a-rama on Leviathan and the vocals have settled down a bit, in that I can now distinguish words and phrases! I can pick the Black Sabbath reference points on this album. Favourite song - Blood And Thunder.

Blood Mountain is also based around a concept.  According to bassist Troy Sanders, "It's about climbing up a mountain and the different things that can happen to you when you're stranded on a mountain, in the woods, and you're lost. You're starving, hallucinating, running into strange creatures. You're being hunted. It's about that whole struggle."

For me, it's not as consistently brilliant as Leviathan, but these things are relative, are they not. It's still jaw droppingly inventive as they inch inexorably towards more prog metal sounds. Favourite song - Colony Of Birchmen. Josh Homme guests on that one as well.

Sidebar: Several of the lyrics in opening song, The Wolf is Loose, refer to chapter titles and themes in Joseph Campbell's The Hero With a Thousand Faces. The hero's journey is something I love as a story vehicle, and I've read a lot of Joseph Campbell's work so the guys get extra kudos for this.

That movement towards prog-metal would be complete on Crack The Sky. This was the first album I bought by the band, having read some glowing reviews in Prog magazine. The vocals are clean and melodic by this album and Blood Mountain.

Crack The Skye's concept centres around Tsarist Russia and astral travelling. Of course. It also doubles as a tribute to Skye Dailor, Brann Dailor's younger sister, who committed suicide when he was a teenager.

The live album (CD and DVD combo) is from a 2009 gig. It's a good package as the DVD includes Crack The Skye: The Movie, as well. Favourite song from this gig - The Czar where the band do their best Ozzy impression, but the live version of The Last Baron is immense as well.

Like Remission, The Hunter was a non-concept album. In a similar move to Crack The Skye, the title The Hunter was chosen to honour Brent Hinds' brother who died tragically, in a hunting accident, while the album was being made. 

Music critic Mike Diver, writing for BBC Music, summed it up well: The Hunter, with its monstrous choruses, powerful percussion and jaw-on-the-floor fret-work, is sure to connect with anyone who's previously rocked out to the band's wares just as easily as it will absolute beginners. Don't like metal? You might just love Mastodon. 

Favourite songs - Black Tongue, The Sparrow. Those two songs top and tail this set of songs - easily the most accessible of the band's career to this point. No power is relinquished at all, but it's refined and packaged differently.  

Once More 'Round The Sun is a continuation of the sound chiseled out for The Hunter - i.e. a lot more polished and rockier songs than previously. Even though the bludgeoning riffs are still there, the sludgy growls of Mastodon's early years are a thing of the past. Favourite song - High Road.

If I was ever going to use a Mastodon album for my music club nominations I would go for the EP Cold Dark Place. It's only got four songs on it so it's 20 plus minutes are a good sampler for how the band stands in 2017. 

Three of the songs were left over from Once More 'Round The Sun and Toe To Toes was from the Emperor Of Sand sessions. The four songs give a nicely rounded summary of the band's sounds and strengths.

The final album on my list is 2017's Emperor Of Sound. A bit of a weird one with a mixture of styles. Another great cover incidentally. Their art work accompanying each album is superb (aside from The Hunter - not too keen on that one). In a welcome return to a concept album mode, the story follows a desert wanderer who has been handed a death sentence.

Not their best in my humble opinion. Leviathan, Crack The Skye would be my go-to Mastodon albums.

Where do they all belong? Clearly, I still need to grab a copy of their most recent album - Hushed And Grim from 2021.

The restful mind (Larry Coryell) (LP 3099)

Larry Coryell  The Restful Mind (Vinyl, Vanguard Records, 1975) ***** 

Oregon  Out Of The Woods (Vinyl, Elektra Records, 1978) ***** 

Genre: Jazz fusion

Places I remember: Little Red Bookshop (Hastings)

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Julie La Belle (The Restless Mind)

Gear costume: Yellow Bell (Out Of The Woods)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Larry (on acoustic and electric guitars) is joined by three members of Oregon for this more meditative set. 

It's still intense in parts but compared to Larry's visceral approach elsewhere (type in his name in my search bar to read my previous posts) this is like a deep breath out. It's as far away from The Eleventh House as he can get.

The authors of The Penguin Guide to Jazz called The Restful Mind "a very special record that manages to avoid all the pitfalls usually associated with crossover projects that aim to marry jazz and classical music. This is Coryell at his thoughtful best'.

Oregon are that rare thing in jazz - a band that sticks together enough to forge a career for themselves. They were formed in 1970 by Ralph Towner, Paul McCandless, Glen Moore, and Collin Walcott.

Towner, Moore and Walcott appear on The Restful Mind and all four are on Out Of The Woods. They play acoustically and interchange instruments a lot. You can be individually talented and not gel as a team (plenty of football teams discover that), Oregon seem to be telepathically aligned and that makes for music to warm your soul.

Where do they all belong? A great pair for the jazz fusion section.

Rabbit one (Masters of Reality) (LP 3098)

Masters Of Reality  Sunrise On The Sufferbus (Vinyl, Chrysalis Records, 1992, this copy 2020) ****  

Genre: Hard rock, prog rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: She Got Me (when she got her dress on)

Gear costume: Tilt-a-Whirl 

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: I picked this up because of the Ginger Baker connection. He plays drums for Masters Of Reality - but, in reality, only this album.

He is masterful. We get a different side of him on this album. Take a listen to She Got Me - superb! I can't remember when he sounded this onto it.

As for the band (yay! A power trio) - I love Chris Goss' vocals and guitars on these songs. He has a variety of voices that he uses to his (and the song's) advantage.

The songs are quite mellow and varied. Ginger even gets a vocal (spoken thankfully) on T.U.S.A. - mildly (for him) complaining about the inability of Americans to make tea properly (Pour boiling water over the tea/How simple and clear/Can the instructions be?). A hoot!

Where do they all belong? Tempted to try more from this band, but this was the only album with Ginger on it.

I remember (Midge Marsden) (LP 3096 -3097)

Midge Marsden Connection   Midge Marsden Connection  (Vinyl, Mandrill Records, 1981) ***  

Midge Marsden and The Indicators Live (Vinyl, Peak Records, 1983) ****

Genre: NZ Music, blues rock 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Slow Walk Jive Talk

Gear costume: Caledonia

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5

Active compensatory factors: Midge Marsden is a Kiwi blues harmonica player from Taranaki.

That's about as solid as it gets in NZ music!

I've owned his Connection album a couple of times. I was attempting to be a Mandrill Records completist at one point but ran out of puff. Problem with Connection is that I want it to be better than it is I think, although it is bookended by two classic Midge Marsden moments - as highlighted above.

BTW - I love his sleeve notes - nowhere else in the world would the thanks section include Little Feat (for everything) and the Opunake R.F.C. Ha ha!!

Live is an EP recorded at The Gluepot Easter 1983. Again - there is nothing more solid than The Gluepot as a pub venue in Auckland.

Seems that Midge and the boys are best sampled live. Ta Rutherford appears on both of these records (guitar) and he delivers, as does the horn section! Their version of Riot (in Cell Block No 9) is tops but they charge into all of these songs. Sounds like it was a great night!

Where do they all belong? A NZ legend and good guy! Plus he plays a mean gob iron.