After 38 long years, John Mayall and Eric Clapton finally reunited on stage and tore through some of the greatest rock and blues songs ever produced. Do I really need to say any more before you run out and pick this one up? Well, for all you stubborn fools, who are not easily convinced, I'll give you a few more reasons why you should.
Back in the summer of 2003, the father of British blues, John Mayall, celebrated his 70th birthday by fulfilling a long-standing dream of his to bring together some of his old Bluesbreakers' bandmates for an unforgettable live concert event. The 70th Birthday Concert was recorded on July 19, 2003 in Liverpool, England, and was also a benefit for UNICEF's fight against child exploitation. Along with Clapton, who played with Mayall on the landmark 1966 Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton album, former Mayall and Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor also showed up to wish the old man a happy birthday and lend his fretboard skills to a few numbers.
The DVD begins with the concert already in progress, with the current incarnation of the Bluesbreakers jammin' away as they await the arrival of Mayall to the stage. Moments later Mayall walks out from behind the drum kit and is greeted by a raucous applause as he proceeds to lay down some bluesy harmonica riffs. The band, featuring Buddy Whitington on guitar, Joe Yuele on drums, Hank Van Sickle on bass, and Tom Canning on keyboards, then proceeds to tear through three songs from their 2002 album Stories. For the next four songs Mick Taylor joins the band onstage and adds some impressive lead and slide guitar work. Taylor is certainly Clapton-smooth and skilled, but jeeezus could the guy have looked any more uninspired up there?! Not exactly a great showman, but he can definitely lay down some serious slide guitar.
"Blues For The Lost Days" was an early highlight, which featured a smokin' Hammond organ solo (man, I love that Hammond sound), as well as a great clean-toned guitar solo from Whitington. It certainly didn't take long for me to realize that Whitington could more than hold his own in the presence of Clapton and Taylor. I actually enjoyed his guitar work the most throughout this concert. Taylor finished off his portion of the set with an outstanding performance of " Oh, Pretty Woman", which he originally covered on Mayall's 1967 album Crusade.
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