2015 –Forty Below Records
By Phillip Smith; Aug. 22, 2015
It makes me happy to see John
Mayall return to the studio and record another sensational blues album. Find a Way to Care is masterfully written and
exquisitely performed. Returning to the
studio with Mayall is guitarist Rocky Athas, bassist Greg Rzab, and drummer Jay
Davenport, who were all present on his previous
studio album A Special Life.
Mayall breathes a new funky and
soulful life into Percy Mayfield’s “The River’s Invitation”. With Mayall manning the keyboard, and a
terrific horn section at his side, this song takes on a sort of “Bar-Kays Soul
Finger” vibe. I dig this one a lot. Riding this same wave of feel-good music, is the
vibrant Lightning Hopkins cover, “I Feel So Bad”, which makes me feel so
good when I give it a listen.
There’s
no shortage of traditional blues here either.
Mayall serves up nothing but the best of it as he splendidly
tackles Junior Parker’s “Mother in Law Blues”, Muddy Water’s “Long Distance Call”, and Charles
Brown’s “Drifting Blues”.
I’m
quickly drawn in to the music on “War We Wage” a heady guitar blues track by acclaimed
UK guitarist Matt Schofield. It’s
hard to beat the combination of Mayall’s keys alongside Athas on
guitar. They just sound so good
together. Mayall brings the album
to a close, busting out some fabulous barrel house piano blues on “Crazy Lady”.
Mayall is known as the “Godfather
of British Blues” for a good reason and his legacy continues with Find a Way to Care.
For more info on John Mayall, visit his website http://www.johnmayall.com/
