Frogtoon Music

Tough (Album) by John Mayall

Artist Biography For John Mayall

John Mayall Born November 29 1933 Is A Pioneering English Blues Singer Songwriter Guitarist Keyboard Player And Harmonica Player. John Mayall Is Often Referred To As The "Father Of The British Blues." His Well-Known Band Is Still Called John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. They Started Out In The Late 1950s In England Using Chicago Style Blues As A Starting Basis For Their Sound Which Has Evolved From Album To Album. And While At One Point John Mayall Was Playing A Fairly Jazzy Sound He Has Always Come Back To The Blues. One Of The Interesting Features Of The Bluesbreakers Is That Members Have Changed On A Very Regular Basis And Many Have Gone On To Well Deserved Fame And Fortune With Other Bands And As Solo Acts. Past Members Include Eric Clapton And Jack Bruce Also Of Cream Peter Green John McVie Mick Fleetwood And Mick Taylor Who Went On To A Five -Year Stint With The Stones. The Studio Album Recorded With Clapton Entitled John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers Was Recorded In 1966 And Is Widely Considered To Be One Of The Great Classic Blues Albums On Either Side Of The Stormy Atlantic. Cream Came Round Right After. John Mayall Stands Out For Several Reasons - His Standing Up For The Blues While Experimenting With Different Approaches His Ability To Attract The Best Of Musicians And Perhaps Most Notably His Willingness To Work With Musicians Who Far Outshine Him In Sheer Ability. And He Himself Sounds Very Good! From Wikipedia

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Frogtoon Music Album Info: Tough

There Are Eleven Hard Rocking Electric Blues Tunes On This Double Album And There’s Not A Bad One In The Bunch—assuming You Like The Form Because If You Don’t You Won’t Like Any Of It! The First Side’s Three Tracks Are More Like Menacing Hard Rock Than Bluesy. Things “blues Out” More After That. Mayall’s Autobiographical “Slow Train To Nowhere” Sums Up Where He’s Been And Where’s He’s Ended Up In A Much Better Place . It Also Sums Up The Album’s Basic “love And Hope” Theme And The Idea That No Matter How Far You’ve Fallen There’s A Way Up. Mayall Takes A Pot Shot At Rap While Extolling The Virtues Of “rock And Blues” And Who Can Blame Him? These Guys Play. As A Talent Scout Bluesman John Mayall Has No Equal. Everyone Knows He ‘discovered’ Eric Clapton And That The Blues Breakers Album Decca SKL 4804 Became A Best Seller And A Classic But The List Of Mayall Discoveries And/or Early Accomplices Is Astonishing John McVie Fleetwood Mac Peter Green Fleetwood Mac Mick Taylor Rolling Stones David O’ List The Nice Andy Fraser Free And More Recently Though Still 25 Years Ago! Coco Montoya And Walter Trout. Mayall Has Released Dozens Of Blues Albums Over The Years With This One From 2009 Being His Latest. He’s 77 And Still Going Though Not As Strongly As He Used To No Big Surprise . On This Album He Plays Piano Organ Harmonica And 6 And 12 String Guitar And He Sings. Singing Has Never Been Mayall’s Strong Suit He’s Got A Thin Whiny Voice That’s Gotten Thinner Over The Years. He Sounds Sort Of Like What Ray Romano Would Sound Like If He Could Sing The Blues. Mayall Can Sing The Blues And His Delivery More Than Makes Up For His Pipes. Face It Though We’re Entering A Blues-Free Era Or At Least One Where Blues Is Starting To Sound Faux Menacing And Faux Tough. The Whole Cave Man Approach To Boasting And Womanizing Is Kind Of Over And Done And Much Of The Genre Just Sounds Silly. But That Really Isn’t The Point. The Genre Is “classic” Just As Old Cars Are And Equally Dated And Impractical. But They Sure Are Fun And So Is The Blues. Mayall’s Latest Band Consists Of Blues Drumming Veteran Jay Davenport Who Keeps A Tight Lock Of The Groove. Lead Guitarist Rocky Athas Played With And Was Good Friends With Stevie Ray Vaughan And Was Named One Of The Ten Best Guitarists In Texas. Bassist Greg Rzab Has Played In Bands Headed By Everyone From Buddy Guy To Otis Rush Albert Collins And Jimmy Page Put A Big Etc. At The End Of The List .Keyboardist Tom Canning Has An Equally Incredible Resume Working With Everyone From Freddie King Delbert McClinton Bonnie Raitt Elvis Costello And Many Many Others. In Other Words The Band Behind Mayall Here Is As Usual Really Good! There Are Eleven Hard Rocking Electric Blues Tunes On This Double Album And There’s Not A Bad One In The Bunch—assuming You Like The Form Because If You Don’t You Won’t Like Any Of It! The First Side’s Three Tracks Are More Like Menacing Hard Rock Than Bluesy. Things “blues Out” More After That. Mayall’s Autobiographical “Slow Train To Nowhere” Sums Up Where He’s Been And Where’s He’s Ended Up In A Much Better Place . It Also Sums Up The Album’s Basic “love And Hope” Theme And The Idea That No Matter How Far You’ve Fallen There’s A Way Up. Mayall Takes A Pot Shot At Rap While Extolling The Virtues Of “rock And Blues” And Who Can Blame Him? These Guys Play. The Recording Was Done At LAFX Studio In L.A. Which Has A Vintage Rebuilt API Board But This Sounds Like ProTools All The Way. It’s Dark. The Cymbals Just Sound Smothered. I Don’t Blame The Engineer Who’s Organized Everything Well. I Blame The ProTools Algorithms. Do Those Folks Really Listen To Music? I Wonder. You Have To Crank It Up And Then You Can Push Some Life Out Of And It Doesn’t Sound Half Bad Except For The Cymbals Though It’s An Airless Environment. Mayall Is A Survivor. This Is His 57th Album! Good Grief! He’s Definitely Tough Enough! Review By Michael Fremer Credits Backing Vocals – Maggie Mayall
Bass – Greg Rzab
Drums – Jay Davenport
Engineer – Michael Aarvold*
Guitar – Rocky Athas
Piano Organ – Tom Canning
Producer Vocals Harmonica Organ Piano Guitar – John Mayall Notes Released 2009
Genre Blues
Length 54 40
Label Eagle Records / Music On Vinyl
Producer John Mayall

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