Customer Reviews

Padlock on the Blues

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

 

 

Those who know Mayall and his music won't be disappointed by his end-of-century effort, "Padlock On the Blues," which finds him with yet another label and, at 65, still in top form. Those who don't know him have about three and a half decades of recorded output to sift through (a process that will yield innumerable blues pleasures), and might as well work backward from here.

In the longstanding Mayall tradition, the new album showcases his harmonica, keyboards and vocals in a variety of blues styles and moods--with the support of top-flight players. Chief among these is Buddy Whittington, a Texas guitar hand who's been working with Mayall for the past four years. His playing blends the best of American and English approaches to blues guitar--without the bombast of the cascading-notes crowd. The Bluesbreakers are rounded out by John Paulus, who serves up deep, thick bottom from a 5-string bass, and Joe Yuele, the outstanding and tastefully intricate drummer who's worked with Mayall longer than any other musician over the course of four decades.

Guest soloist Ernie Watts, the accomplished West Coast jazz sax great, takes a sleek, funky turn in the album's opener, "Don't Turn Your Back." Mayall also coaxed John Lee Hooker into the studio for presence and style on two other cuts, "Somebody's Watching" and the piano boogie "Bad Dream Catcher." Mayall struts his keyboard skills again on "Ain't No Surrender," a shuffle that bridges back to some of his early solo records in the Sixties.

Fans who know Mayall's work from that period will dig the reprise of "A Hard Road," the title track from the 1967 album with which Mayall introduced Peter Green to the world as Eric Clapton's replacement in the Bluesbreakers. For "Padlock," it's been rewritten and recast to sound less like a dirge and more like a driving lament. It works.

In all, the 13 tracks on "Padlock" add up to a balanced, representative collection of Mayall's work in the 1990's. It's a bit grittier than his other albums of this decade--no doubt because Mayall himself produced it. Not many surprises here, just an hour of Mayall doing Mayall and standing his well-staked ground.

The highspot of "Padlock On the Blues," the cut you'll play again and again for yourself and your guitar-freak buddies, is the slow-blues title track--itself worth the price of admission. Guitarist Whittington's three-chorus solo rips across three full minutes and builds in intensity, thought and fire. Just when you want more... he gives it to you. Mayall's familiar-sounding vocal concludes with what's probably the best summary of what happens in the album: "I got to go with what I got, and what I got won't let me down." He does, and it doesn't.

Another excellent CD by John and his current band. Pick it up and enjoy listening to some real professional musicians.

As a Mayall freak, this album was another must. Mayall turned me onto the blues long ago (as well as Paul Butterfield). Mayall went into the doldrums into the 70s but re-emerged with 'Sense of place'. I have every album since. This album has some great tracks but also has Mayall revisiting some of his 70's who 'cares territory'. The highlights are definitely his rework of 'Hard Road' from the 68 album, 'PadLock on the blues' and 'Country Girl'. Buddy Whittington on guitar adds so much to this album. I give it 4 stars because I love this man but only some of the tracks (but enough) live up to the 4 stars mark. My favourite Mayall remains 'Life in the Jungle'.

No, I have not listened to Padlock in its entirety yet, but I certainly got a healthy taste of it last night when John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers opened up for his friend Peter Green at the Keswick Theater (near Philadelphia). They did an hour-and-a-half set and featured several songs from Padlock. The selections from Padlock represented the "real" blues in the Delta/Chicago style, with that unique British blues flavoring that no one can provide like Mayall. This is the real stuff, folks...as good as it gets.

This cd should belong in every collection of Bluesfans. It's excellent work, showing that John Mayall yet once again have pciked up the best muscicians within Blues for the time being. It's also showing he keeps on developing and still pays the tribute to the Blues. Buy this cd, you won't be disappiontet!

What we have here is another solid effort by the great bluesman and his great band. Billy Whittington shines here, John Lee Hooker adds guitar to two cuts. Mayall fans, and fans of contemporary blues should pick this up.

The muse has been kind to John Mayall. He's been writing and playing quality music now for more than 40 years and he just never seems to be drained of creative juices. Padlock On the Blues is yet another fine effort from the godfather of white blues. This is a much bluesier CD overall than its predecessor Blues For the Lost Days. From the opening bars of the tour de force "Don't Turn Your Back" to the final notes of "White Line Fever", this album really grooves. Backing Mayall are a select group of veteran musicians with special guest John Lee Hooker. A minor criticism is that the title cut is very similar to the song "Blues for the Lost Days" and "Ain't No Surrender" is a musical clone of A Sense of Place's "Send Me Down To Vicksburg". However, Mayall still plays harp, piano, and guitar as well as ever and at nearly 70 years old he never slows down.

padlock on the blues is john mayalls best release of the last decade! it is pure blues from the grand old man of the blues. all titles but one composed by john and most of them are new. for every mayall fan who likes his special way of song writing, who likes this unique atmosphere of his compositions, this cd is pure gold.

let others concentrate on the sidemen - which are really excellent, no doubt ! - the soul of the bluesbreakers is john mayall! let others be stars and chart winners, it's the music that counts and john mayall is a trade mark for pure blues music!

Another excellent CD by John and his current band. Pick it up and enjoy listening to some real professional musicians.

Blues can be very boring like in this case. Don't get me wrong, I like blues and in fact I think John Mayall's "Wake up call" is more or less a masterpiece in this genre. But on this album, "Padlock on the blues", Mayall is making things too easy for himself - it's just the same song over and over again and I'm getting so bored. I tend to think that even Mayall got bored since this one clearly lack enthusiasm.

The music on "Padlock on the blues" isn't much better than the average "hobby-bluesband" you and your co-workers might have formed. A must better buy is Gary Moore's "Still got the blues", or if you lean towards the more heavy side of the blues - Pat Travers' "Blues tracks" and Rick Derringer's "Elctra blues".