John Mayall Three For The Road

John Mayall
Three For The Road
Forty Below Records

Despite showing him with a guitar, this latest album by the veteran blues stylist has him leading a trio (the Three in the title) on piano and harmonica backed by bassist Greg Rzab and drummer Jay Davenport. It is surpising given his association with so many guitarists in the past, but this live 2017 German recording is a surprising in focusing solely on his effective piano and harmonica and appealing, gravelly, if occasionally stilted, vocals.

There is nothing fancy or contrived about the performances that include 7 covers and two Mayall numbers opening with a relaxed shuffle treatment of the Little Johnny Jones/Eddie Taylor "Big Town Playboy," that is followed by a medium tempo, choppy groove for Chuck Willis' "I Feel So Bad," which is credited to Lightnin' Hopkins. His piano playing comes off better than his limited rack harmonica playing. There is an infectious quality to his piano playing and the backing on Curtis Salgado's "The Sum of Something," with a nice drum solo. Mayall switches to organ for his train blues, "Streamline," with a nice groove and one of his better vocals here. Rzab and Davenport are strong in supporting his bouncy solo.

I believe it was Walter Davis who did the original of Henry Townsend's "Tears Came Rollin' Down," and with Mayall's somewhat gloomy piano sets somber mood for his vocal on a lengthy rendition of this blues. An unexpected cover is of a Lionel Hampton song, "Ridin' on the L&N," followed a rendition of Jerry Lynn Williams' "Don't Deny Me," with more greasy organ. After a lengthy rendition of his own "Lonely Feelings," he opens Sonny Landreth's "Congo Square" on harmonica before his rhythm join in for a lengthy jam although his vocal suffers compared to others who have done this number.

Certainly a diverting hour or so of music, generally well-played (and again praise to Rzab and Davenport), and credibly sung. In this age of blues-tinged rock, this solidly played set of straight blues has definite charm and appeal.

I received my review copy from a publicist. This review originally appeared in the March-April 2018 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 377). Here is a relatively recent performance by Mayall and his band.

John Mayall Talk About That

John Mayall
Talk About That
 Forty Below Records

As not one that gets overly excited by John Mayall recordings, I did find his latest album, "Talk About That," a very entertaining one. His vocals, keyboards and harmonica are supported by Rocky Athas on guitar, Greg Rzab on bass and Jay Davenport on drums with Eagles/ James Gang guitarist Joe Walsh guesting on two selections. His previous new recording "Find a Way To Care," with a number of covers, struck me as mediocre whereas this new release with mostly his own songs strikes me as much better and his band plays strongly in support of him.

The title track opens this album with a funky groove and Athas and Rzab providing interesting backing riffs as Davenport lays down a hard groove. Horns are added to "It's Hard Going Up," with a lyric about hard going up, but twice as hard coming down, and his piano sounds better here than other recent recordings while the band keeps things tight. Joe Walsh contributes lead guitar to "The Devil Must Be Laughing," a slow topical blues that shows Walsh hasn't lost his blues touch from playing in Cleveland bars nearly five decades ago. "Give Me Some of That Gumbo," finds Mayall in a Crescent City groove with the horns adding to the flavor, and followed by a very nice low key cover of Jimmy Rogers' "Goin' Away Blues." Walsh returns with the slide lead on "Cards on the Table," set against a strutting groove.

"I Didn't Mean To Hurt You," is an appealing slow blues ballad with Mayall singing with much emotion while "Don't Deny Me," is a solid blues in the vein of Little Willie John and Chuck Willis even though Mayall is not a singer on their level. "Blue Midnight" has a nice swampy feel created by Mayall's electric piano and Athas' guitar riff. Athas also takes a strong, well-constructed solo here along with one by Mayall. "Across the County Line" is a lively shuffle with horns added behind Mayall's vocal and harp playing with another terrific Athas guitar solo. "You Never Know" has a philosophical lyric and jazzy feel. On this, Mayall's vocal and piano are backed only by bass and drums (Davenport using brushes) closing one of Mayall's better recent recordings.

I received my review copy from a publicist. I have made a few corrections from the review as it originally appeared in the March-April 2017 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 371). Here is a video on the making of this recording.

John Mayall - A Special Life

John Mayall returns with his first album in 5 years, “A Special Life” (Forty Below Records) with Rocky Athas on guitar; Greg Rzab on bass and Jay Davenport on drums with C.J. Chenier singing on two tracks and playing accordion on one. There are three new Mayall originals along with one of his older compositions and one by Rzab, to go along with covers of songs from Clifton Chenier, Jimmy Rogers, Eddie Taylor, Sonny Landreth, Albert King, and Jimmy McCracklin.

While one might be hard-pressed to call myself a Mayall follower, I found this recording enjoyable with several real fine performances here. The CD opens with C.J. joining Mayall on a solid rendition of Clifton Chenier’s blues Where Did You Go Last Night.  C.J. plays his piano accordion to go  with Mayall’s piano  on this performance played at such a nice tempo. The rendition of Sonny Landreth’s Speak of the Devil is more in the vein of blues-rock in its execution and Athas’ guitar playing although crisply played is in this vein. Mayall’s cover of Jimmy Rogers classic That’s All Right is taken a bit faster than normal (although not rushed or frantic). Mayall's  harmonica and Athas’ guitar accompaniment are effective in its simplicity and restraint. World Gone Crazy is an original about the madness we experience throughout the world as we are “guilty living in our crazy times.”

Mayall is on lead guitar (and contributes the organ backing) on a cover of Albert King’s Floodin’ In California, and takes a nice solo, if somewhat generic sounding one. He picks up the harmonica as well lay down some rollicking piano on a reworking of Eddie Taylor’s recording of Big Town Playboy (Little Johnny Jones had recorded it first) that is one of the best selections here with its peppy (not frenzied) shuffle groove. The title track is a reflective look back at the good fortune he has enjoyed with a refreshingly understated backing. C.J. Chenier joins to help on the vocal for McCracklin’s I Want To Know. Like a Fool by Athas and Rzab is a nice slow original with Mayall singing that it ain’t right his woman toys with his affections and left him feeling like a fool.

The closing Just a Memory is a wistful Mayall original reflecting about a past love and closes this release on an enjoyable note. John Mayall’s music might not make my best of 2014 list, but there are more than enough pleasures to enjoy in A Special Life.
I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is the opening track Where Did You Go Last Night. The youtube post includes a link to purchase this on amazon.