Step right up if you want to know where the rebirth of the modern blues came from. John Mayall, who’s still with us and playing with passion even in his 80s, is found here in a series of UK gigs in early 1967 with his early incarnation of the Bluesbreakers that included Peter Green/g, John McVie/b and Mick Fleetwood/dr. Was there really life before Fleetwood Mac? Let’s not go there for now.
The gigs are spread out over a number of shows, and even within each set, the sound quality varies from “hey, not bad at all! ” to “well, at least we have SOMETHING.” Each song is worthwhile in its own right. The band is raucous on tunes like “All Your Love” and the boogie “Brand New Start” which features Mayall on his harp. Some smoky B3 swirls around on “So Many Roads” and “Double Trouble,” while Green is just a monster on “Someday After Awhile” and the searing “Have You Ever Loved A Woman” that has the strings beg for mercy. The rhythm section shuffles on “The Stumble,” boogaloos on “Streamline” and smokes like a Romeo y Julieta on “Stormy Monday.” The energy and enthusiasm of a newly discovered genre oozes like Balboa discovering the Pacific Ocean. A definite “Eureka.”
Forty Below Records