Back to the Roots [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered]

John Mayall, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 13, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1971
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Label: Polydor / Umgd
• ASIN: B00005A8MA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,043 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #31 in Music > Blues > Harmonica Blues

Editorial Reviews

Japanese only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD - playable on all CD players) paper sleeve pressing. Includes 15 bonus tracks. Universal. 2008. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Its About Time!, June 3, 2001

By 

Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Back to the Roots (Audio CD)

I have been a fan of John Mayall since I was 10 years old and have enjoyed nearly all his music before and since, but Back To The Roots merits a special place on the long list of Mayall blockbusters. The 1960s and early 1970s were a period of tremendous creative ferment in the world of music and Mayall was always in the vanguard of experimentation. He is known to most who know of him as a blues artist, but on this CD he stretches that concept even beyond the new musical ground covered on his groundbreaking album Turning Point. On Back to the Roots, Mayall touches more on social issues and the everyday concerns of the people than at any time before or since. What commuter couldn't relate to Prisons on the Road, a song even more meaningful today than it was in 1970? Accidental Suicide is a cautionary song about the dangers of excessive drug use. Groupie Girl ridicules the bimbos who are "chasing after fake love in the world". Marriage Madness expounds Mayall's view that marriage is a legal albatross around an individual's neck, however he has since come a long way from the libertine sentiments expressed in this and in his earlier hippie anthem, Room to Move. Mr. Censor Man lashes out at the tyranny of the censorship that was then fairly prevalent. One of my favorites, lyrically, is Television Eye, which denounces the hypnotic and addictive power of television and its commercials which try to make him "buy things I'll never use". Along with the social commentary the listener is treated to some damn good music throughout, including the remixes of some of the songs with Joe Yuele on drums dubbed in. Mayall once again assembled an all-star cast of musicians, some of whom are still well-known today and those who have faded into obscurity. The well-known include Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor, while the more obscure include such late 60s-early 70s heavyweights as guitarist Harvey Mandel, sax and flute player Johnny Almond, violinist Sugarcane Harris, and legendary drummer Keef Hartley. While Back to the Roots offers little in the way of traditional blues, there is a lot of Mayall's signature piano here and a lot of good progressive music in the inimitable Mayall style. This CD deserves more than five stars and I say its about time that this superb Mayall album is available to both his old stalwarts and a new generation of fans.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mayall & alumni, October 27, 2001

By 

tim charles (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Back to the Roots (Audio CD)

This is a first rate collaborative album by Mayall and former associates and his current band at the time of the original recording in 1971. I'm not certain that the tracks that have been partially re-recorded add significantly to the overall standard.
It remains a mellow album, which spans many blues styles, and even touches on elements of softer jazz-rock, which Mayall had been experimenting with at the time.

It contains some excellent all-round work by Clapton, (my personal favourite is "Prisons on the Road") fresh from recording Layla around this time, Mick Taylor's best slow blues solo ever, on "Marriage Madness" some superb blues sax work by Johnny Almond on "Television Eye", blues violin by Sugarcane Harris, a somewhat obscure figure today.
Mayall certainly believes in expressing his forthright opinions, and at times some of the lyrics are a little too preachy, but that's a minor quibble. Then as now his vocals which often sound weak on record, strangely are much stronger in live performance.

Enjoy!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless period for Mayall., September 9, 2004

By 

P.J. Le Faucheur (Canada (ex- U.K. resident)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Back to the Roots (Audio CD)

I must say i waited for years for this one to re-appear.
The album contained the finest selection of musicians to be collected under one roof. Mick Taylor is in exceptional form especially on "Marriage Madness". This session was almost like a continuation for Taylor from his previous gem of a recording with Mayall (i.e. "Crusade") Sugarcane Harris's electric violin added a truly cutting edge to the whole session. Eric Clapton plays on several tracks.
Listen to "Unanswered Questions". I searched for this song everywhere whilst "Back to the Roots" remained a deleted album. This track contains a mindbending guitar solo by the masterful Harvey Mandel. Sugarcane's violin wails also on this psychedelically funky minor blues. Great lyrics for this song especially during the times we live in today.
If you were young in 1970 then you'd relate to the scene that this album generates.
Buy this one before it's deleted again!