''The Blues Alone'' is a 1967

electric blues Electric blues refers to any type of blues music distinguished by the use of electric amplification for musical instruments. The guitar was the first instrument to be popularly amplified and used by early pioneers T-Bone Walker in the late 1930 ...

album recorded by John Mayall on which he recorded all the parts himself, with the exception of percussion which was provided by longtime collaborator

Keef Hartley Keith "Keef" Hartley (8 April 1944 – 26 November 2011)
was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted his own band ...

. The cover art and the original LP sleeve design are by John Mayall. Sleeve notes, including track notes, were written by noted DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. The following quote is of interest regarding the album concept.

I was featuring his LP ''
A Hard Road ''A Hard Road'' is the third album (and second studio album) recorded by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, released in 1967. It features Peter Green on lead guitar, John McVie on bass, Aynsley Dunbar on drums and John Almond on saxophone. Tr ...
'' on the air and was amazed that, in addition to writing 8 of the 12 numbers on the record, playing 5 '' ic' and 9 string guitar, organ, piano, harmonica and singing, he had written the sleeve notes and painted the portrait of the group on the front cover.
With this new LP, he has carried all of this to its logical conclusion and has produced a record featuring no other musician than himself except for the occasional aid of his drummer Keef Hartley.

Notable tracks

"Down the Line" is a sparse lament featuring vocals over a cold-sounding slide guitar and piano accompaniment. "Sonny Boy Blow" is a harmonica-driven boogie tribute to the then-recently deceased Sonny Boy Williamson. "Marsha's Mood" is a slow, deliberate and passionate piano solo constructed over a descending bass figure. "No More Tears" features rare examples of Mayall's solo lead guitar playing. "Catch That Train" is a "train" harmonica solo over accelerating rhythms provided by a recorded steam locomotive beginning a journey. "Harp Man" is also an instrumental, adding

celesta The celesta or celeste , also called a bell-piano, is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. It looks similar to an upright piano (four- or five-octave), albeit with smaller keys and a much smaller cabinet, or a large wooden music box ( ...

to the more traditional blues instruments of harmonica and bass. In the sleeve notes,

commented: "There is no truth to the rumours that the Bluesbreakers will be using

dulcimer The word dulcimer refers to two families of musical string instruments. Hammered dulcimers The word ''dulcimer'' originally referred to a trapezoidal zither similar to a psaltery whose many strings are struck by handheld "hammers". Variants of ...

sackbut The term sackbut refers to the early forms of the trombone commonly used during the Renaissance and Baroque eras. A sackbut has the characteristic telescopic slide of a trombone, used to vary the length of the tube to change pitch, but is di ...

and

psaltery A psaltery ( el, ψαλτήρι) (or sawtry, an archaic form) is a fretboard-less box zither (a simple chordophone) and is considered the archetype of the zither and dulcimer; the harp, virginal, harpsichord and clavichord were also inspired by ...

. Let's face it, guttural cries of "Let's hear your sackbut, son!" can only lead to violence." In fact the instrument had previously been used in jazz and piano boogie pieces by artists such as

Meade Lux Lewis Anderson Meade Lewis (September 4, 1905 – June 7, 1964), known as Meade Lux Lewis, was an American pianist and composer, remembered for his playing in the boogie-woogie style. His best-known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded by ...

. "Brown Sugar" is another slide guitar piece, not related to the famous

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

track of the same name, although both songs use the expression to mean the same thing. The slow, tender track "Broken Wings", accompanied by organ, elicited particular praise from Peel. The song was covered by Atomic Rooster on their debut album.

Track listings

Original LP

All songs by John Mayall

A Side

# "Brand New Start" – 3:27 # "Please Don't Tell" – 2:33 # "Down the Line" – 3:44 # "Sonny Boy Blow" – 3:50 # "Marsha's Mood" – 3:15 # "No More Tears" – 3:12

B Side

# "Catch That Train" – 2:19 # "Cancelling Out" – 4:20 # "Harp Man" – 2:44 # "Brown Sugar" – 3:44 # "Broken Wings" – 4:16 # "Don't Kick Me" – 3:11

2006 Remastered CD

*13 "Brand New Start" (First version) – 3:02 *14 "Marsha's Mood" (First version) – 3:17

Personnel

* John Mayall – vocals, guitars (6- and 9-string), harmonica, piano, organ, celeste (track 9), drums (tracks 1, 5) *

Keef Hartley Keith "Keef" Hartley (8 April 1944 – 26 November 2011)
was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted his own band ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

(tracks 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blues Alone, The John Mayall albums 1967 debut albums Albums produced by Mike Vernon (record producer) Albums produced by John Mayall Decca Records albums Ace of Clubs Records albums