This collection of music from the soundtrack of the film The Turning Point captures the blues giant John Mayall at an interesting intersection of his career. He was searching for some other way of delivering the blues besides hiring electric guitarists like Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor, coming up with the idea of a drummerless combo with John Almond on woodwinds, Jon Mark on acoustic guitar and bassist Steve Thompson. This album captures Mayall just before his classic Turning Point album, and includes a couple tunes from that album, albeit in rougher form, a dark and Chicago bluesy “The Laws Must Change” and two reads of “California” which feature Almond’s searing sax.
There’s a healthy dose of folksy blues with heavy hitting tambourine on”Don’t Waste My Time” and “So Hard To Share” with a classic 12 bar’d “I’m Gonna Fight For You JB”. The sound quality has a bit of a bootleg feel to it, but if you’re a Mayall nut, especially in light of his retiring from touring, you’ll want this as a memento of what blue eyed blues can achieve.