Better news with the Blues

After a rotten day at work, it was nice to go to the Chicago Blue Fest and see John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers with special guest, Mick Taylor. Mick Taylor has a very illustrious musical history that deserves to be retold. Mick was with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers in the middle 60s until 1969. Meanwhile, the Rolling Stones could not go on tour with Brian Jones (founder and rhythm guitarist) as Brian was wasting away on drugs. Finally in 1969, they fired him and a few weeks later he was found dead in his pool. Around the time the Stones fired Jones, Mick Jagger spoke with John Mayall who just disbanded the Bluesbreakers for awhile. Mayall suggested an outstanding blues guitarist from his band, Mick Taylor.

Conventional wisdom is that the Stones' 4 best albums were released consecutively. They are Beggars Banquet ('68), Let It Bleed (69'), Sticky Fingers ('71) and Exile on Main St. ('72). Mick Taylor played on 3 out of these 4 albums. While no one will say, Mick Taylor was THE reason why the Stones put out 3 great albums, many will say that his guitar playing was a vital contribution to the Stones apotheosis during the years 1969-1972 (especially on Sticky Fingers !). Taylor left in 74 or 75 due to fighting with Keith and the Glimmer Twins notoriously, stingy reluctance to share writing credits with anyone but themselves.

Anyway, back to the June 9 concert. John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers is, of course, a great band even without Mick Taylor. At one point in the 60s, Eric Clapton was the lead guitarist. At the concert, they favored long jams on their songs rather than playing many songs. Due to the format of this free show, they were only playing for slightly over an hour. The Bluesbreakers' regular lead guitarist, some great guitarist from Texas started the show and ran the band. 1 or 2 songs later, John Mayall ran onto the stage in a grand entrance and played harmonica, keyboards and sang almost all the lead vocals. 20-40 minutes into the show, Mick Taylor came out to a rousing ovation and lo and behold MICK TAYLOR SANG A SONG for the appreciative tens of thousands who were in attendance. He sang "You Shook Me" made famous by Led Zeppelin but as Mick explained in his soft, but guttural English accent, the song was written by Howlin' Wolf.
Mick Taylor did not look like "young Mick" of the late 60s and early 70s. He still has very long hair which usually hid his eyes, yet he gained between 50-100 lbs. since he last played with the Stones. (By the way, yours truly has gained a shade under 100 lbs since I ran the 2 mile run in track under 12 minutes which was 24 yrs. ago. When I told Ava that I was only 150 lbs. as a senior, she wondered if I was anorexic). But the artist formerly known as "young Mick" certainly hasn't lost any of his guitar virtuosity. Another highlight of the show was hearing him and the band do "All Your Loving". The band sounded great and thanks to their music, my spirits were lifted after having such an awful day at work.