Customer Reviews

Looking Back

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

 

 

Yes, Eric Clapton is here, and he sounds great. But, (and this is a BIG BUT)the real treasure found here is the playing of Peter Green. Forgotten by most or not known by most here in the USA, Green was one of the greatest white blues guitar players ever. B. B. King once said the only white guitar player that made him sweat was Peter Green! Mayall brought many greats into the limelight and got their careers started. The greatest of these was Peter Green. If you like his supurb playing here, check out the early years of Fleetwood Mac (late 60's, early 70s). This album is great and should be a part of every blues/rock collectors collection.

This is a collection of songs that were essentially outtakes when initially recorded - I assume released in 1969 so the company could put out another recording and capitalize on the Clapton/Green/Taylor connection (as well as Mayall, of course who was a star too). If you like white blues this is a lovely recording -- who cares it is a collection rather than all of piece? "Stormy Monday" is breathtaking Clapton recorded live - compare his barnstorming approach to the laid back Allman Bros recording on "Live at the Fillmore" and you can see why Clapton was so influential to heavy rock. Unmistakable and very powerful! Still in my view Peter Green (perhaps as usual?) provides the most tasty additions to most of the tracks. His solo on "Looking Back" is an absolute classic of its type - squeeze a meaningful and dynamic solo into one minute of song and then stop. Economy is what it is all about. I wish I could play like that. As others say earlier, "Jenny" is another unusual track with great melacholia (a Green characteristic) as is "So Many Roads". As usual with these Decca/London-Mayall recordings the sound is just lovely and the band are wonderfully full of character. Definitely white, definitely blues and they know when to stop as well as start playing - tasteful is probably the word for it. I recommend it. If you have the "BB with Eric Clapton" and "A Hard Road" and "Bare Wires", then I think this is next on the list.

A collection of singles and odds and ends from Mayall's period with Decca [UK]/ London [US], roughly 1964 to 1966 [according to the "Twenty years On" liner notes on the CD version] like the 1971 collection feature the work of Roger Dean on two tracks, Eric Clapton & Jack Bruce on one cut, one with Mick Taylor and Peter Green on the reamining seven tracks.

"Mr James" an early B side is a nice cut, "Blues City Shakedown" is unremarkable, the Clapton/Bruce [with Hughie Flint on drums] take of "Stormy Monday" which remained unreleased up to that point, sounds like a live cut, possiby from the same show that produced "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" on the Clapton Crossroads set.

"So Many Roads" features Mayall's vocal through a Leslie speaker and Peter Green on signature guitar with great tone and reverb and features subdued horns. "Looking Back" features the horn more prominently, but not in a bad way. It's a nice bouncy almost soulful track. "Sitting in the Rain" is a nice subdued blues. "It Hurts Me Too" is also unremarkable blues. "Double Trouble" features Green doing tasty tasty bends, possibly a forerunner to Fleetwood Mac's "Before the Begining." "Suspicions [Pt II]" featuring Taylor is more horn driven, and I recommend Part I from the 'Thru The Years' collection much higher. "Jenny" is Mayall and Green dueting on sad mournful blues, a real gem on this record. Finally, "Picture on the Wall" with Peter on steel guitar [proabaly lap steel, not the country pedal steel] is another great gem.

Overall, a decent collection, but not the place to START exploring the influential Mayall.

This is when Clapton was at the peak of his blues prowess. You don't hear many like this anymore.

Nice to see some new material from EC. For the old guard fans, it may be not what they expect.