This
release presents a new recording of John Mayall s Bluesbreakers that was
previously unknown and just popped up online, too bad that it is quite short
and that it has been made available only as mp3, but the rarity of the concert
justifies this review. This was one of the first gigs in Finland in 1967 with
the band’s personnel featuring Mick Taylor on guitar (quite upfront), Dick
Heckstall Smith and Chris Mercer on sax together with John Mayall on vocal,
keyboards and harmonica, Keef Hartley on drums and Paul Williams on bass. The
recording is excellent, although in mono and seems to come from a TV broadcast,
so there should be the video available too; it seems that this is what is left
from the original recording even if there are introductions of songs that are
not featured as well as the last song played in the concert, it is therefore
possible the whole show reels may lay somewhere. The last track comes however
from a 1970 festival held in Turku and presents an impressive harp jam on a
track which, apart from John Mayall on harp, should also feature Johnny Almond
on sax, Harvey Mandel on guitar and possibly Steve Thompson on bass; there is
no indication about who was the drummer heard, maybe Paul Lagos, but it is anyway
strange there was one, since this was the period when Mayall played without drums,
as can be heard on the USA Union album. Front cover offers a picture from the
1967 concert.
