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The Turning Point | 
| Artist: John Mayall
Label: Commercial Marketing
Category: Music
Buy New: £8.99
New (34) Used (6) from £4.80
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 5527
Format: Live, Original Recording Remastered
Media: Audio CD
Running Time: 64
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 549423
UPC: 731454942324
EAN: 7314549423248
ASIN: B00005R8FI
Release Date: November 5, 2001
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | The Laws Must Change | | • | Saw Mill Gulch Road | | • | I'm Gonna Fight For You J.B. | | • | So Hard To Share | | • | California | | • | Thoughts About Roxanne | | • | Room To Move | | • | Sleeping By Her Side | | • | Don't Waste My Time | | • | Can't Sleep This Night |
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| Customer Reviews:
not a turn for the worse! December 27, 2007
At times intense, at others relaxing, this live, semi-acoustic, jazz-blues album stands in John Mayall's discography as second only to the 'Beno album'. This isn't that loud, messy jazz; this is relaxing and at times even beautiful.
The musician's interplay is wonderful, with guitar, flute, saxophone and, of course, mouth organ melodically harmonizing. Mayall's singing is probably the best I have ever heard it, and the atmosphere created is wonderful.
Definitely worth the money to any blues fan interested in something slightly left field. It's just unfortunate that we couldn't have been there ourselves.
A timeless classic... April 22, 2004
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
Mick Taylor's decision to quit the Bluesbreakers for the Rolling Stones in May 1969 consolidated John Mayall's reputation as a mentor for new talent, but left him without a band. His response was to recruit two experienced session musicians - Jon Mark and Johnny Almond - and to use them, and remaining bassist Steve Thompson, to push his music into new areas of jazz-blues fusion. Dispensing with a drummer, he immediately put this "revolutionary", and in the end short lived line-up on the road, recording "The Turning Point" at the Fillmore East only two months later.
Viewed initially as a gimmick, the lack of drums was in fact key to the clear, intimate sound Mayall was seeking. Structured to allow virtuoso playing, his highly atmospheric songs are driven along by the bass and acoustic guitars, with instrumental solos emerging from and gliding above their intricate backing rhythms. Mayall's vocals, guitar & harmonica underpin some excellent blues and R&B, while Almond's inspired sax & flute breaks lift several numbers into the realms of pure jazz. As the Melody Maker commented at the time, "the range of sounds and moods they obtain is staggering", but the group's most remarkable feature is their seemingly effortless interaction and the drifting, almost distant feel this stimulates.
The ecstatic response of the New York crowd mirrors my own reaction on seeing the band a few weeks earlier in the slightly less exalted surroundings of the Slough Adelphi. Standing in a circle, with simple lighting, low amplification, no drummer and one member (Mark) seated on a canteen chair they seemed small and insignificant. But when they played they just soared, taking the audience with them. To capture their unique style required a live recording and "The Turning Point" does just that: showcasing them in superb form as they create beautiful, enthusiastic, and often highly introspective music that stands out across time.
And, for those who've already discovered the delights of this quite superb album, this remastered version includes three additional tracks from that same magical night, two of which rank only marginally behind those that made the original cut and one - "Don't Waste My Time" - that's as good as anything else on it.
Radically different but wholly successful October 30, 2003
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Abandoning the lead-guitar model established with former members Eric Clapton, Peter Green & Mick Taylor, John Mayall unveiled his new stripped-down line-up at the Fillmore East, New York, in 1969. Consisting of Mayall (vocal, harmonica, guitar), John Mark (acoustic finger-style guitar), Johnny Almond (saxophones & flute) and Stephen Thompson (bass), this was a radically different band from the Bluesbreakers. Despite the lack of percussion, however, strong rhythms are provide by the guitar & bass, with acoustic guitar and sax/flute adding superb melody lines.
Mayall's songwriting is no better here than on any of his other albums but the arrangements and performances are outstanding. "The Laws Must Change", "I'm Gonna Fight For You, JB" and "So Hard To Share" are the best songs, while Mayall's signature tune, "Room To Move", appears here in a energetic and irresistably effusive form that almost persuades you to ignore its embarrassing lyrics.
The same line-up produced the much less successful studio recording, "Empty Rooms", later the same year and was then disbanded as Mayall shifted to an all-American band. Mark & Almond formed Mark Almond and produced some great (and much not-so-great) music through the seventies, always evoking the feel of "the Turning Point".
Mayall bringing together the finest musicians of their style December 23, 2001
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Ground breaking for an established blues artist at the time of the original release, the originality of the band's format and the sheer brilliance of the musicians still mark this album out as an essential for Mayall fans and lovers of the saxophone in particular, with So Hard to Share and California outstanding vehicles for Johnny Almond. Mayall brings out the best in those who play with him: which always is his forte.
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