Mayall, John
John Mayall Plays John Mayall
Britain's latest boom - R & B - has turned up a number of interesting characters. It has also brought forward some impressive musicians. The late Cyril Davis, Long John Baldry, Graham Bond and Steve Winwood. are but four who fit into either or both categories. But the most extraordinary of all, in many ways, is John Mayall. An excellent pianist, organist, guitarist, harmonica player and singer, John is also one of the most prolific writers on the scene today. He pours out new songs at such an alarming rate that it is often ex- tremely difficult to keep track of them. Playing and singing, as he does, in the Chicago-cum-Country style of blues, John and the Bluesbreakers, have gained both experience and following by backing such internationally famous performers as John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson. For John is a keen listener and the good things by other people do not pass him by. A tremendously powerful feeling for blues, an ability to make events from his own life into stories, and the musical gift with which to tie up these factors, these are the three major elements in John Mayall's increasing success.There is also his audacity in attempting the things which he does. If he thought of it in these terms he might be put off, but - and here, I believe, is the basis of it all - John becomes completely carried away by the music.,One only has to see him perform in order to realise that, to John, nothing matters but the music. That is why this LP is so very repre- sentative of the real John Mayall, a man who needs to be recorded LIVE! One evening, engineers and all the equipment - also, I suspect the Brothers Gunnell of "Flamingo Fame" - arrived at Klook's Kleek and these were the results. One of the country's finest R & B artists recorded at one of London's leading R & B clubs. The result was bound to be a success. All the feeling, all the life, all the personality came through in a way which so often is alien to the recording studio. This was what John Mayall really needed. Here he was, with the support of a truly enthusiastic audience and the knowledge that no one was going,to worry about times or anything else. So he moves his head around and shouts encouragement, he pushes along on organ, pulls strange sounds out of his harmonica, plays his nine-string guitar. It all comes over the way it should. The odd words lost here and there don't reallymatter. What does matter is the compulsive power of the whole session. Ranging from Crawling Up A Hill - a sort of potted auto- biography - to Runaway a surging harmonica feature, you run the gamut of John MayaII's Blues. There's Crocodile Walk which John wrote a couple of years ago, Doreen which is dedicated to one of John's first fans in the South (he hails from Manchester and only moved to London about 18 months ago) and a whole host of other titles. My personal favourites are Heartache, a real soul-searching few minutes, and I Need Your Love. This is a tremendously powerful Chicago-type blues with just the right sort of moody riffing to complete it. One final word, just like his stablemates down at the Flamingo - John Mayall knows how to work. You can listen or you can dance, there is something in this for everyone; the hallmark of a real musical entertainer who makes it all mean something. And, just like his stablemates, John Mayall could well 'take off' at any moment. I hope he does. ALEXIS KORNER. Recorded live at Klooks Kleek, Hampstead, London on Monday 7th December 1964