BklynBlue
02-10-2004, 09:06 PM
Been listening (a lot) to the expanded edition of "A Hard Road" - here's some thoughts that crossed my mind -
Despite their claims to the contrary, John Mayall and Mike Vernon must have felt the pressure of following up the monster that "Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton" had become. At a time when albums were recorded in a day or two, they took five ( 5 ) days - and recorded at least nineteen ( 19 ) tracks - I say at least because, there has never been a date attached to the three Mayall tracks on the "Raw Blues" LP and I believe they may be from the lone November date listed for "A Hard Road" -
The number of songs recorded and the amount of time put in, implies Vernon wanted plenty to work with.
Although I feel that the album was designed to allow Mayall to reclaim the spotlight, I also believe that Green willingly collaborated in turning the attention away from himself.
Listen to the difference in his playing on his first tracks released as a Bluesbreaker, "Looking Back" & "So Many Roads" - Green's attack and his omnipresent fills had more in common with Otis Rush or Buddy Guy, than B. B. King. He left all that behind two weeks later when they began cutting the album.
I think on the single, he was playing the way that Vernon and possibly Mayall asked him to. When then began cutting the LP, Vernon and Mayall wisely let him play like himself.
I feel it's a shame that the album never really got fair shake - first being compared with the Clapton LP and then within seven months of it's release - Mayall released "Crusade" and two months after that, "Blues Alone". And he never looked back, and that is to his credit.
I think the expanded edition allows for a needed reassessment of this often overlooked LP.
Despite their claims to the contrary, John Mayall and Mike Vernon must have felt the pressure of following up the monster that "Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton" had become. At a time when albums were recorded in a day or two, they took five ( 5 ) days - and recorded at least nineteen ( 19 ) tracks - I say at least because, there has never been a date attached to the three Mayall tracks on the "Raw Blues" LP and I believe they may be from the lone November date listed for "A Hard Road" -
The number of songs recorded and the amount of time put in, implies Vernon wanted plenty to work with.
Although I feel that the album was designed to allow Mayall to reclaim the spotlight, I also believe that Green willingly collaborated in turning the attention away from himself.
Listen to the difference in his playing on his first tracks released as a Bluesbreaker, "Looking Back" & "So Many Roads" - Green's attack and his omnipresent fills had more in common with Otis Rush or Buddy Guy, than B. B. King. He left all that behind two weeks later when they began cutting the album.
I think on the single, he was playing the way that Vernon and possibly Mayall asked him to. When then began cutting the LP, Vernon and Mayall wisely let him play like himself.
I feel it's a shame that the album never really got fair shake - first being compared with the Clapton LP and then within seven months of it's release - Mayall released "Crusade" and two months after that, "Blues Alone". And he never looked back, and that is to his credit.
I think the expanded edition allows for a needed reassessment of this often overlooked LP.