Freddy Robinson (John Mayall: Jazz Blues Fusion)

When I was a kid, early teens, I used to buy John Mayall LPs because a) it was blues music and b) they were often .99 cents in the cut-out bin at Greens.

John Mayall has a lousy voice, writes insipidly stupid lyrics and is a mediocre harp player at best. But, yes, he managed to have some remarkable players wander in and out of the revolving door to his band: Eric Clapton, Harvey Mandel, Sugarcane Harris, Mick Taylor, etc.

Jazz Blues Fusion offers more of the same to those familiar with Mayall's oeuvre: Once again, the songs are stupid. Mayall doesn't even try and the words are mumbled to the point of distraction. But the twist is this: the band is good and this remains one of Mayall's sturdiest efforts to this day.

The line-up of Jazz Blues Fusion is impressive: Ron Selico on drums, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Clifford Solomon on sax, Larry Taylor on bass and one of the long lost heroes of my childhood: Freddy Robinson on guitar.

For me, it's Freddy Robinson who makes this album. He is the reason it got as much air time in my room in the 70s as it did, and he is the reason I can without shame state how enjoyable most of it still sounds to me today (I say "most of it" as I still can't believe there was any kind of unanimous consensus that "Exercise in C Major" was worthy of inclusion, then or now).

Listening to Jazz Blues Fusion has been an enlightening trip down memory lane for me. It's like getting reacquainted with an old friend that you always thought was kind of weird only to find out they still are. But their weirdness is comforting somehow.

I was the guy who never had any money and was always too scared to shell out more than a buck for a LP. Consequently, my record collection was very odd, pock-marked and downright weird by the time I got into college.

Once I got out to San Francisco, the trend continued although I upped my allowance to 3 bucks a record and started to buy promos and such. I wound up with no Echo & the Bunneymen, no Flock of Seagulls, no Modern English, but I did have Dr. John, Stevie Wonder, Sly Stone, the Band, Dylan, great Nigerian guitar compilations, Brave Combo, Flipper, etc.

Looking into the mirror that all music is, John Mayall's Jazz Blues Fusion and Freddy Robinson's joyful string-popping offers me a reflection of who I was. Embracing the music once again becomes my way of embracing that person. I'm revisiting my old self from this current vantage point.

Hmmm...the listening experience as a means to fluctuate the time/space continuum. Woah...