CoronaVinyl Day 372 (M): The Turning Point by John Mayall

For an explanation of CoronaVinyl, click here.

I forgot to hit "publish" yesterday, but yesterday's CoronaVinyl category was "M," and I went with John Mayall's 1969 live album, The Turning Point.

Mayall, of course, was one of the prime forces behind the British blues rock movement of the '60s.  Over the years, his band The Bluesbreakers featured the likes of Eric Clapton (before he left to form Cream), Peter Green (who would go on to co-found Fleetwood Mac), and Mick Taylor (before he joined The Rolling Stones), and Harvey Mandel (formerly of Canned Heat) on lead guitar.  Bassists included Jack Bruce (who left to join Manfred Mann and would later form Cream with Clapton and Ginger Baker) and John McVie (who left to form Fleetwood Mac).  Drummers included Mick Fleetwood (who was only in the band for a few weeks before he, McVie, and Green formed Fleetwood Mac) and future Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention and Journey drummer Aynsley Dunbar.

By 1969, Mayall had dropped the Bluesbreakers name and was just going by his own name.  With a new backing band, he changed musical directions, deciding to strip things down and ditch the screaming electric guitars and drums

In July 1969, the band played at the Fillmore East in New York and recorded the show for what would become The Turning Point, which was released a couple months later.  It's still blues, but it's not what you'd expect from Mayall if you were familiar with his mid to late '60s output.  The songs are all written or co-written by Mayall, and they're earthy and ethereal at the same time, harkening back to the Delta blues of the '30s, but with a few more instruments.  Mayall's voice always sounded older and more bluesy than what you might think a then-thirtysomething Brit might sound like.

Mayall, who is now 88, has continued to make music over the past five decades and even released an album as recently as last year.  In 2005, he was made an OBE.

The Spotify version of The Turning Point has three bonus tracks.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "The Laws Must Change"
This is the first song on the album, and per the back of the album cover it's "a few personal observations of police vs. youth and the drug situation."  Johnny Almond has a nice little flute solo.

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "Room to Move"
This is definitely the liveliest song on the album, with Mayall wailing on the harmonica and audible foot stomping going on.