Similar Albums:
- Artist: John Mayall
- Rating:
- Release Date: November 15, 2005
- Type: Live
- Genre: Blues
Review
Rolling with the Blues chronicles seven John Mayall concerts played between 1972 and 1982. Mayall had given up trying to maintain and support a regular backing group by the early '70s, and was instead working with different configurations for specific gigs. For the 1972 Frankfurt show that opens this two-disc set (a third disc is a DVD interview with Mayall from 2002), Mayall works with a lineup of Keef Hartley on drums, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Clifford Solomon on sax, Freddy Robinson on guitar, and Victor Gaskin on upright bass. Red Holloway replaces Solomon on sax for a second show in Frankfurt a year later in 1973. A 1980 show in Huntington Beach, CA, finds James Quill Smith on guitar. Two 1982 concerts, one in Minneapolis and one in Chicago, feature John McVie of Fleetwood Mac on bass, while two shows in Italy later in the year, one in Rome and one in Lugo, sport a stripped-down lineup of Mick Taylor, Steve Thompson, and Colin Allen. For all these personnel differences, the sound is remarkably consistent and the live recordings are quite balanced, although things red-line occasionally and now and then there are some obvious dropouts, but nothing too serious. Among the highlights are the over 12-minute jazz blues "Got You on My Mind" and a scuffling "No Holds Barred" from the 1972 Frankfurt show and an appropriately ragged John Lee Hooker homage, "John Lee Boogie," from the 1980 Huntington Beach performance. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music GuideTracks
CD 1
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Band Introduction [Narrative] | John Mayall | (1:01) | |
| Got You on My Mind | John Mayall | John Mayall | (12:13) |
| No Smoking | John Mayall | John Mayall | (8:07) |
| No Holds Barred | John Mayall | John Mayall | (7:23) |
| Band Intro [Narrative] | John Mayall | (1:41) | |
| Feels Good in Frankfurt | John Mayall | John Mayall | (11:43) |
| Next Time Around | John Mayall | John Mayall | (11:26) |
| Freddie's Request [Narrative] | John Mayall | John Mayall | (0:31) |
| Sad to Be Alone | John Mayall | John Mayall | (6:32) |
| Red Presents Blue Mitchell [Narrative] | John Mayall | John Mayall | (1:04) |
| Filthy McNasty | Horace Silver | John Mayall | (7:55) |
| Make My Bed Tonight | John Mayall | John Mayall | (6:42) |
CD 2
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| Mexico City | John Mayall | John Mayall | (10:17) |
| Gone from the Canyon | John Mayall | John Mayall | (4:43) |
| Caught in the Middle | John Mayall | John Mayall | (9:57) |
| John Lee Boogie (Lyrics) | John Mayall | John Mayall | (8:44) |
| Emergency Boogie | John Mayall | John Mayall | (4:33) |
| Rolling with the Blues | John Mayall | John Mayall | (9:06) |
| Howlin' Moon | John Mayall | John Mayall | (6:32) |
| Room to Move (Lyrics) | John Mayall | John Mayall | (6:39) |
| Sitting Here Alone | John Mayall | John Mayall | (6:27) |
| The Stumble | Freddie King | John Mayall | (5:16) |
CD 3
| Track Title | Composers | Performers | Time |
| John Mayall Interview [DVD][*] | John Mayall |
