the snake box

It's always a bit baffling as well as saddening when a legendary name in music falls on tough times and needs to go to the public to ask for some help. Such was the way for Harvey Mandel this time last year when he needed to appeal for funds to pay for his medical bills following a cancer diagnosis.
It sure illustrates, apart from how unfair the US medical system seems to us in the UK, but also how doubly unjust it is this pioneer of the guitar hasn't been rewarded sufficiently in his career to be able to deal with an unexpected health issue.
As it says on his website "A professional at twenty, he played with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat, The Rolling Stones, and John Mayall before starting a solo career. Mandel is one of the first rock guitarists to use two-handed fretboard tapping.."
Maybe this latest box set of his first 5 albums will go some way to recovering the bank balance along with the well deserved retrospective on his work. His guitar playing certainly set new standards in an era when blues was being rewritten by many new musicians in the mid 60's with Mandel's style pioneering sustained notes and controlled feedback to the form.

As these early solo albums prove Mandel wasn't just content with repeating blues riffs but exploring his ideas beyond the guitar and into orchestration which is perfectly illustrated by the track "Cristo Redentor" from his first album of the same name in 1968.
It was a daring and for some controversial exploration for a blues man to take as the sublime string arrangement and vocal choir took the sound into completely different expression with the haunting and beguiling theme having far more in common with an Ennio Morricone film soundtrack than any axe wielding psychedelic blues. If you wanted that then you could turn to his work with Canned Heat which he was doing in the same late 60's period.
The follow up solo albums in the 'Snake Box' to 'Cristo Redentor' are 'Righteous', 'Games Guitars Play', 'Baby Batter' and 'The Snake' and what's more his YouTube Channel is good enought to provide lots of tracks from the boxset. Go and have a root around the selection and order from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com
The 'Snake Box' is a fitting tribute to the man which will no doubt be fully recognised when he tours Europe in March having successfully recovered from last years diagnosis. See HarvelMandel.com for further details.

the blues ain't finished yet

Somethings seem to never change.. and thank the lord of blues it's the sound of John Mayall's voice. The man has recently turned 80 years old and few artists will ever come close to maintaining the strength of their voice as Mayall's instantly recognisable vocals have done. Never mind the shear body of work Mayall has produced since the early 60's days of gigging around the UK in a van, listening to his new album 'A Special Life' dissolves those decades as if they never existed.
Ever since his early albums, Mayall has never shied away from writing lyrics that not only reflect his life experiences but also making a personal comment on the times he lives in. Not for him does he churn out a history of blues cliches, his mission has always been blues as truth and his latest outpouring is right on the money. Just hear how simply he sums up the whole stupid mess of a world today in "World Gone Crazy". Then in "Just A Memory" how wonderfully and sensitively he sings a lament to a love lost in times long gone. It's achingly tender delivery reaches some breathtaking notes.
The band is as rock solid and expressive as ever he's had. But then Mayall's always searched out the best players and drilled them with precision without losing any of the feel of the blues. His harmonica playing is as ever from the top draw of harp playing and there's a fantastic example again in "World Gone Crazy".
Even the cover of the new album has a picture of one of his hand decorated guitars he's always been famous for, and who can forget that one on the front of Diary Of A Band (above)
Today, blues is not trendy or even popular with a UK audience, save for perhaps Seasick Steve turning out at festivals, but if it hadn't been for John Mayall and his blues mission some 5 decades ago and how it shaped the way rock music was going to be heard there would have been countless bands lost to exploring what?.. Pop?
John Mayall's 'Special Life' life does indeed need celebrating.
Here's a playlist of 4 tracks from the album. They'll play consecutively. Press 'Play It All'
World Gone Crazy
Just A Memory (A Special Life)
Like A Fool
Speak Of The Devil

john mayall back on the road

Yes, John Mayall is back on the road. At 80 years old!
After a dozen gigs this January in the US the tour picks up from February until April with an extensive date sheet in Europe. An unbelievable itinerary for the septuagenarian (oops... sorry that will be an octuagenarian).
In a recent interview -

"People keep saying how impressive it is to go back on the road, but it's old hat for me...
In many ways I feel better equipped to play - as you get older, you hone your craft"
(Uncut Mag)

The blues have obviously been good to the man who has inspired countless musicians over the years and his audience of all ages are still packing out the venues. See his website for all dates.

Here's a rare video of Mayall and the Bluesbreakers on the short lived US TV show 'The Music Scene' first aired in 1970. How this clip survived is rare enough but it's also one of the best videos of The Bluesbreakers post 1969 classic album 'Turning Point'.
"When John Mayall was starting another band after the break-up of the Bluesbreakers in May 1969, he decided to have a band that would play "low volume music" – or music without "heavy lead guitar and drums". (WIKI)
The personnel then was
John Mayall - vocals, harmonica, slide and guitar,
Jon Mark - acoustic guitar,
Steve Thompson - bass,
Johnny Almond - tenor, alto saxophones, flute

Mayall's lyrics have never been afraid of social and political comment like so many of the traditional blues players and with this song 'The Laws Must Change' he mentions the US radical comedian of the times Lenny Bruce.
Here's an excellent point made on the comments of the video from a 'Jane Millerick', she says -

"for anyone who wasn't around then he (Mayall) was referring to a number of laws:
...specifically references Lenny Bruce who was allegedly set up by the LAPD with bad heroin ostensibly for his open criticism of corruption in government and unjust drug and obscenity laws ("How To Talk Dirty And Influence People"). This song had broad relevance then as it does today."

also in replying to a previous comment 'Kingscrib' added

"...making a comment on the civil rights violations which were rampant at the time. Like he (Mayall) says, "the laws should fit the crime'. I'm guessing you weren't alive back then, through the civil rights era of the late 50s through the 70s when things were changing quickly but there were still serious violations of civil liberties. Especially on students who were protesting the Vietnam War and the murders of JFK, RFK & MLK. John was just making comment about the life & times."

Here then is 'The Laws Must Change' from the album 'Turning Point', as bright and relevant today as it was then, with the added rare curiosity of hearing a flute and an harmonica play off one another. Superb stuff,

j.b. lenoir

April shouldn't pass without a mention of blues man JB Lenoir who died on the 29th April 1967.
In his early days although he struggled to work as a professional musician he was rediscovered by Willie Dixon in the 1950's and went on to record two influential albums and inspiring some of the new generation of blues players in the 1960's when he toured Europe, and performed in the American Folk Blues Festival in the UK.
Lenoir's music had direct political content relating to racism and later the Vietnam War. J.B. was tragically killed after being hit by a car.
As YouTube commenter Jaycee37 puts it, "hit by a car and sent home. Poor medical care, indifference, neglect! What a loss!"
Here is a photo collage accompanying "Vietnam Blues" sung as only JB could.

In 1967 John Mayall recorded "The Death of J.B. Lenoir" (LP "Crusade") after hearing of JB's sad end.
His aching vocal and haunting tune captures the tone and mood that many of Lenoir's followers felt.
Here's some brief but excellent 1960's footage reflecting on Mayall's song.
(possibly taken from the documentary "Living Blues" narrated by Morgan Freeman)

john mayall

John Mayall and the Blues Breakers formed in 1963 and throughout the decade a succession of young aspiring guitarists went on to become some of the leading players in the country. Mayall had the happy knack of finding the right player at the right time. The list reads like a who's who of British musicians -
Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Jack Bruce, Aynsley Dunbar, Hughie Flint, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser, Johnny Almond.
Later in the 70's 80's and 90's then picking up the American players Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya and Buddy Whittington along with various British players returning from previous Blues Breaker groups.
Mayall was awarded an OBE in the Honours List 2005. "It's the only major award I've ever received. I've never had a hit record or a Grammy or been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."
Here is "Parchman Farm" live in 1969 with Mick Taylor guitar -

and a track from what is considered to be the best British blues album ever cut "The Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton" or "The Beano Album". All Your Love.