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Hard Road (mono version)

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A killer album from one of the most legendary versions of John Mayall's Blues Breakers – a quartet that features drummer Aynsley Dunbar, bassist John McVie, and lead guitarist Peter Green – who's also singing a fair bit on the album as well! The style here is tighter and more focused than before – showing a bit more of a rockish bent, especially on the guitars – but still strongly drenched in American R&B traditions, served up in a way that never waters down the sound for a mainstream audience. While other UK artists were taking American roots and softening them up for the charts, Mayall only seemed to deepen his commitment to more authentic representation of the styles – really only taking a bit more liberties with the strength and length of guitar parts. As before, there's a bit of reed work here that's especially nice – served up by UK jazzers Ray Warleigh, John Almond, and Alan Skidmore – and titles include "A Hard Road", "It's Over", "The Stumble", "Dust My Blues", "There's Always Work", "The Same Way", "The Supernatural", and "Living Alone".  © 1996-2013, Dusty Groove, Inc.