MISTS OF
TIME
JOHN
MAYALL AND THE BLUESBREAKERS
Songwriter:
JOHN MAYALL
Country: U.K.
Album: STORIES
Label: EAGLE
RECORDS
genre: BLUES
ROCK
Year: 2002
John Mayall,
69 years of age at the time of this recording, is at the very least
irrepressible. He and his many versions of the Bluesbreakers have hit the road every year for decades, and the five years leading
up to the release of Stories offer a flurry of activity that hasn't been seen from him since the
1970s. The Bluesbreakers lineup here has been with him since Spinning Coin,
and includes Joe Yuele on drums, guitarist Buddy Whittington,
Hank Van Sickle on bass, and Tom Canning on keyboards. Like the young hip-hop kids who self reference
ubiquitously, Mayall writes
more songs about blues music or playing the blues than virtually any musician
in history, and Stories seems to be a series of narrative songs that are, for the most part,
about various blues giants of the past, such as a reminiscence about seeing Little Walter in "Southside Story" or a paean to Leadbelly in "Oh, Leadbelly," various blues myths such as "I
Thought I Heard the Devil" and "The Witching Hour," or
exhortations for young people to take up the blues mantle ("Kids Got the
Blues"). There
are other tracks, however, like the excellent political minor-key shuffle
"Dirty Water" -- no, not that one. The best
track on the album is a country-style Bo Diddley shuffle called "Feels Just Like Home," the only love song
on the record and it's a stunner. The production is crisp, perhaps a little
too, and the playing is inspired. Mayall's harmonica
playing is as fine as ever, and if there is one complaint about the last few
records, it's the overplaying of Whittington,
who is a stunning guitar player in the modern style. Mayall reins
him in a bit here (though not enough) and as a result the songs – because Mayall is a
fine writer -- come shining through the instrumental prowess. This is a worthy inclusion in one
of the most prolific and consistent catalogs in blues-rock history.
Somewhere
in the world
Are friends I've missed from long ago
Could be drifting by the wayside
Or even dead - I just don´t know
And now my memories are fading
Like melting footprints in the snow
Sometimes a dream will haunt me
And I see a young girl's face
Was she once for real
And did she really share my space
Within the swirling mists of time
It's hard to keep a track of year and place
I thought about my mother
When she was young and on the road
Hanging out with my musicians
Or camping out in forest groves
Like gray mists conceal horizons
I miss those times we'll share no more
So far my life's a journey
And even if I could I wouldn't change a thing
All those years of bold adventures
The highs and lows that make me sing
Within the swirling mists of time
Such sweet memories still often ring
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