John Mayall's Bluesbreakers

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers - Power Of The Blues - 1987 - Charly

Legendary British blues artist John Mayall has always been an eclectic blues artist because of his tendency to incorporate jazz and folk elements into his music. This in-concert set from 1987 is a successful attempt by Mayall to contemporize the electric Chicago blues style. Mayall and his band, including the great guitarists, Walter Trout and Coco Montoya cover tunes by great artists including Sonny Boy Williamson, and Otis Rush. The 11-minute "Room to Move," with Mayall on harmonica, is a standout track. Over the years Mayall has swung his musical output between acoustic and electric, and although much of his less blues orientated material remains very much in demand, it's a great change to hear the man get back to basics, and play some authentic blues standards. This album was recorded live in Frankfurt, Bonn, and Munster, Germany between 19th, and 21st April 1987. The UK magazine series The Blues Collection No.8 includes a CD with the same tracks as The Power of the Blues. The album has also been released on other labels with different sleeve/CD covers. However, the track list is the same on most of them. Listen to the brilliant John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers 1967 "Crusade" album, and John's equally brilliant 1968 "Blues from Laurel Canyon" album. British blues doesn't come much better than the two aforementioned albums.

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1 Ridin' On The L&M - Burley/Hampton
2 Help Me - Williamson/Bass
3 Racehorse Man - Mayall
4 All Your Love - Rush
5 I Ain't Got You - Arnold
6 Wild About You - Mayall
7 It Ain't Right - Jacobs
8 Room To Move - Mayall

MUSICIANS

John Mayall - Mouth Harp, Guitars, Keyboards, Vocals
Coco Montoya - Guitar, Vocals
Walter Trout - Guitar, Vocals
Bobby Haynes - Bass
Joe Yuele - Drums



BIO (Wikipedia)

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are a pioneering English blues band, led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall, OBE. Mayall used the band name between 1963 and '67 then dropped it for some fifteen years, but in 1982 a 'Return of the Bluesbreakers' was announced and it has been kept since then. The name has become generic without a clear distinction which recordings are to be credited just to the leader or to leader and his band. The Bluesbreakers have included luminaries such as: Eric Clapton (April–August 1965, November 1965–July 1966 and Jack Bruce, who both left to form Cream, Peter Green, who had replaced Clapton, played until August 1967, when he departed with Mick Fleetwood and then also enticed Bluesbreaker John McVie a few weeks later to form Fleetwood Mac, Mick Taylor (August 1967–July 1969) who later joined The Rolling Stones, and reunion tours in 1982–83 and 2004, Harvey Mandel, Walter Trout, Larry Taylor (later in Canned Heat), Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Randy Resnick, Aynsley Dunbar, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser (Free), Chris Mercer, Henry Lowther, Johnny Almond and Jon Mark (later of Mark-Almond). The Bluesbreakers were formed in January 1963 and became an ever-evolving lineup of more than 100 different combinations of musicians performing under that name. Eric Clapton joined in 1965 just a few months after the release of their first album. Clapton brought the blues influences to the forefront of the group, as he had left The Yardbirds in order to play the blues. The group lost their record contract with Decca that year, which also saw the release of a single called "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (produced by Jimmy Page), followed by a return to Decca in 1966. The album Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (also known as The Beano Album because Clapton is shown on the cover photo reading a copy of the comic) was released later that year; it reached the Top Ten in the UK. Clapton and Jack Bruce left the group that year to form Cream. Clapton was replaced by Peter Green for A Hard Road, after which he left to form Fleetwood Mac. Finally, in 1969, the third Bluesbreaker-guitarist departed when Mick Taylor joined the Rolling Stones. By the time the 1960s were over, the Bluesbreakers had finally achieved some success in the United States. With some interruptions, the Bluesbreakers have continued to tour and release albums (over 50 to date), though they never achieved the critical or popular acclaim of their earlier material. In 2003, Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Chris Barber reunited with the band for John Mayall's 70th Birthday Concert in Liverpool — the concert was later released on CD and DVD. In 2004, their line up included Buddy Whittington, Joe Yuele, Hank Van Sickle and Tom Canning, and the band toured the UK with Mick Taylor as a guest musician. In November 2008 Mayall announced on his website he was disbanding the Bluesbreakers to cut back on his heavy workload and give himself freedom to work with other musicians. A 2009 tour with Rocky Athos (formerly of Black Oak Arkansas) is currently advertised.