John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers and Friends: 70th Birthday Concert (Blu-ray)

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Has it really been that long since British multi-instrumentalist John Mayall formed the Bluesbreakers and recorded "John Mayall Plays John Mayall" for Decca Records? It's a cliché, I know, but it seems like only yesterday when the album came out on the heels of the Bluesbreakers' backing of John Lee Hooker for the bluesman's 1964 British tour. But sure enough, if you do the math Mayall indeed turned 70 in 2003, when he and his current Bluesbreakers celebrated by giving a concert at King's Dock in Liverpool on July 19th.

I saw Hooker perform around the time that he was 70, and he sat down the whole time and didn't have the energy to play for every song. His sidemen did all the heavy lifting. But Mayall? He wears jeans and a Oklahoma Blues Society sleeveless t-shirt, revealing biceps that suggest the leader of the band probably does his share of setting up and striking the equipment. As he moves smoothly from one instrument to another, without faltering, you begin to realize that he's been standing throughout the whole concert. "By the time we came to the finale," Mayall writes in the liner notes, "I was almost shocked to look at my watch and realize we'd been on stage for two and a half hours!"

The run-time on this concert video from Eagle is 159 minutes, and people who love music and concerts but aren't familiar with Mayall or the blues ought to check it out. There are no Bic lighters or glow-sticks in the audience, no times when the crowd is urged to clap or sing along, and no lengthy introductions to the songs to buy time for the musicians to catch their breath. These guys don't want to catch their breath while they're playing. They just want to have fun. It's all about the music, not entertainment. The stage set is simple, and so is the music. It's the same thing that drove Chicago musicians to Willie Dixon's basement after-hours to keep on jammin' once the clubs closed. But you'd better love the blues, because all 17 tracks are blues songs, many written by Mayall--even ones that sound like rock 'n' roll covers, like "Oh, Pretty Woman" or "Dirty Water." And three bonus tracks featuring just the Bluesbreakers without Mayall are included as extras, so that makes 20 songs that just keep on groovin' with these Bluesbreakers and their improvisations.

It's not a birthday without presents, of course, and for Mayall it's presence. Joining him onstage for the first time in 40 years is former Bluesbreaker Eric Clapton, who obviously sweetened the deal for the audience. Also reuniting with Mayall is Mick Taylor, the guitarist who replaced Peter Green on the Bluesbreakers after Green left to form Fleetwood Mac, and who himself left the Bluesbreakers to play for the Rolling Stones. The third special guest is trombonist Chris Barber, a jazz musician who's also played blues since the Fifties,' and who introduced England to blues players such as Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee, Muddy Waters, and Big Bill Broonzy. They join Mayall and his current Bluesbreakers: Buddy Whitington on guitar, Hank Van Sickle on bass, Tom Canning on organ/piano, and Joe Yuele on drums, with a horn section consisting of saxophonists Dave Lewis and Julian Arguelles and trumpeter Henry Lowther. Collectively, these guys are the ones having the party. We just get to watch.

The Bluesbreakers are already playing and onstage when this concert video begins. Then the birthday boy, his gray hair pulled back in a pony tail, comes out to play harmonica and keyboard on "Southside Story." From that point he's involved in every song that follows:

"Kids Got the Blues" (with the Bluesbreakers)
"Dirty Water" (with the Bluesbreakers)
"Somebody's Acting Like a Child" (with the Bluesbreakers and Taylor)
"Blues for the Lost Days" (with the Bluesbreakers and Taylor)
"Walking on Sunset" (with the Bluesbreakers and Taylor)
"Oh, Pretty Woman" (with the Bluesbreakers and Taylor)
"No Big Hurry" (a duet with Clapton)
"Please Mr Lofton" (a trio with Clapton and Barber)
"Hideaway" (with the Bluesbreakers, Clapton, and Barber)
"All Your Love" (with the Bluesbreakers and Clapton)
"Have You Heard" (with the Bluesbreakers and Clapton)
"Hoochie Coochie Man" (with the Bluesbreakers, and Barber)
"I'm Tore Down" (with the Bluesbreakers, Clapton, and Barber)
"It Ain't Right" (with the Bluesbreakers)
"Talk to Your Daughter" (with everybody)

There's no messing around with stories or introductions. One song segues into another. In fact, the first two with Mayall onstage run together like a medley, with just a beat change and key change separating them. And the Bluesbreakers don't catch a break until Clapton comes onstage and everyone but Mayall and Clapton clears out. Then they come back. What's interesting is that while Clapton may have the biggest reputation, Taylor and Whitington hold their own. None of them tries to out-shine the others, though. It's not a contest of musical one-upmanship. Rather, when it's an instrumentalist's turn to solo, they do their thing with confidence and matter-of-factness. It's what they do.