Customer Reviews

John Mayall - Godfather of British Blues / Turning Point

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I rated this 4 out of 5 stars ONLY because I could not play the sound on my computers DVD player. ( I had a problem with the 70th b-day concert as well).I Think Eagle-Vision needs to correct this.
ANYWAY, what a DVD, I of course ( probably like most fans), went to the "turning point" part of the CD. It is only 24 min. long ( my only other complaint is, if this was your last shot at this, they should have included the WHOLE T.P. movie, it was 1 1/2 hours long.).
How cool it was to see Mayall in the old days, seeing the old T.P. band members.There is a part where it shows him going to the "Bath" festival in England in 1970. It also shows them playing the T.P. songs in Mayall's home.Also some quick recording sessions.
The coolest part is at the end when it shows Mayall walking thru the Heathrow airport with the band members to get their tickets & board the plane. How differant he looks, tall & skinny.
All in all, what a great part.

The 2nd part is the documentary that was shown on the BBC last year.The thing about this one is that they talked a good 5 minutes in various parts to Mayall's FORMER wife- Pamela.His current wife Maggie was shown only once or twice.
I loved this one as well, we all know about his history & who played what, where etc. What I enjoyed is that they had parts where Mayall's house was shown & his Cinema that he has. There is a museum that he constucted that has all cool things in it. ( Although he told the camera to pan on everything, & to much regret, didn't).
His son Jason was interviewed as well & talks about how he came to live with John and the wild parties he had there. He also said that Mayall's house was frequented by actors, gansters, and was well known around Holleywood for his famous bar-called the "Brain Damage Club".

On a sad note it showed his home burning up in the canyon & Mayall says to this day he has not gotten over it.
It also shows a clip from 1975 from an English TV show where John almost looks "DISCO-ISH" Shame on you John....
This part was VERY informative & was great viewing.

Last, there is a picture gallery on the DVD was contains around 20 pictures, most early shots from 1970-1972. These are worth the price of the cd alone. It also says that he was VERY good friends with Frank Zappa & in his drinking days, he sold his car & relied on his friends like Zappa to cart him around.
So, in summary, you MUST get this DVD ASAP, again the only downfalls ( for me anyway) is the no sound when I played on my DVD ( which may not be a problem for anyone else). & the lack of the WHOLE T.P. movie.
This one you will play over & over like I did 3 times the day I bought it.....

This is a DOCUMENTARY on John .. NOT a Concert . It gives you an insight into what makes him tick ..and how he maintained over the years . It uses footage from an earlier black and white "rockumentary"(included in full on this disc ) filmed by the same guy back in what .. 69? the Turning Point era .. . It is put together tremendously well ,The new footage , blended with the old .. and I highly recommend this DVD to any British Blues Fan who wants to get a more intimate look at Mayall .It is one of my most played music DVD's, and I have a LOT!

I have been a Mayall fan for 35 years. Don't waste your money on this one. Buy the 70th birthday concert DVD instead.

Not much about the Turning Point as such. If you expect some detailed information on this classic album then you will be disappointed.

The other irritation is the repetition of footage between the two features on this DVD.

I'll sell my copy on ebay.

Unfortunately, you don't get even one full song played by Mayall on this DVD.

I don't have any complaints about the cinematic aspect, but what a disappointment it was not to have him play in concert. The entire DVD plays "California" in the background, whetting your appetite for ANY full performance, but to no avail.