This was the last of the six albums
John Mayall originally made for Blue Thumb/ABC Records between 1975 and 1978, about which he has said, "ABC released six of my albums as a tax write-off. A week after they were released you couldn't find them in any store." It's a live album on which
Mayall fronts a quartet consisting of guitarist
James Quill Smith (who sings lead on several songs), bassist
Steve Thompson, and drummer
Soko Richardson. The approach is rock-oriented, and the set list includes such
Bluesbreakers favorites as
Mose Allison's "Parchman Farm," and
Freddie King's "Hideaway" (taken at a frantic tempo), along with the usual complement of generic
Mayall originals, among them, a remake of "The Bear," from
Blues From Laurel Canyon. ~ William Ruhlmann