The Turning Point (John Mayall album)

Background

When John Mayall was starting another band after the break-up of the Bluesbreakers in May 1969, he decided to have a band that would play "low volume music" – or music without "heavy lead guitar and drums".

Musicians

The performers on the album were Mayall on vocals, harmonica, a slide and a Fender Telecaster guitar, a tambourine, and mouth percussion, Jon Mark on acoustic guitar, Steve Thompson on bass, and Johnny Almond on tenor and alto saxophones, flutes, and mouth percussion. All the songs on the album were written or co-written by John Mayall. Thompson co-wrote California, Thoughts About Roxanne and Don't Waste My Time. Another track, "I'm Gonna Fight For You, J.B.," is a tribute to the American blues guitarist J. B. Lenoir who died in 1967 and who had a deep influence on Mayall (this was Mayall's second such tribute to the musician; "The Death of J.B. Lenoir" appeared on his earlier Crusade album). Two concerts took place, on 11 and 12 July. All tracks are from the second gig.

Production

The album was produced by John Mayall, who also designed the packaging and was the album's art director. The recording engineer was Eddie Kramer, who had engineered Jimi Hendrix and Led Zeppelin, among others.

Reissues

In 2001, a remastered CD reissue included three additional tracks from the same performance.

Earlier recordings of the same material, live from June 1969 in England, were released in 1999 on the first CD The Masters (the second disc contains mostly interviews). A concert at the Marquee on 30 June 1969 has been issued with a similar playlist. The music from the two cds of The Masters and the performance at the Marquee were issued in 2004 on a 2CD entitled The Turning Point Soundtrack credited to John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers. Part of these earlier rehearsals and performances have been filmed and released as a 25-minute black and white 1996 BBC TV documentary, The Turning Point (and issued on a 2003 DVD, along with abstracts of the 70th Birthday concert, as Godfather of the Blues/The Turning Point).

Track listing

All songs written by John Mayall, except where indicated.

Side one

1. "The Laws Must Change" – 7:21
2. "Saw Mill Gulch Road" – 4:39
3. "I'm Gonna Fight for You J.B." – 5:27
4. "So Hard To Share" – 7:05

Side two

1. "California" (Mayall, Steve Thompson) – 9:30
2. "Thoughts About Roxanne" (Mayall, Thompson) – 8:20
3. "Room to Move" – 5:03

Bonus tracks (2001 reissue)

1. "Sleeping By Her Side" – 5.10
2. "Don't Waste My Time" (Mayall, Thompson) – 4.54
3. "Can't Sleep This Night" – 6.19

Other recordings of the same material:

Personnel

Production