Usa Union / John Mayall

This recording was done in 1970 right after John had disbanded his "Turning Point " band. At this time he was known for recordings that did not feature drums and he put together a group that understood this, but also could fill in the gaps due to this situation. On Electric Violin was Don "Sugarcane" Harris,on lead guitar was Harvey Mandel and on Bass, one of my favorite unknown commodities Larry Taylor alias The Mole. Both Taylor and Mandel were gigging off and on with an L.A. band Canned Heat @ this time in their carears and would go off and persue other venues after this recording. John handled vocals,piano,harmonica and some guitar on the outing which if you are familiar with his work is par for the course since if it's in the studio and he can play it it usally winds up on the recording.
For me the inclusion of the electric violin makes this a special recording in the vast Mayall catalog because Sugarcane Harris basicaly on all songs assumes the role of lead guitar thrusting above the rthym secton and leading most of the upbeat tunes to their conclusions and in the slower ones just plays above everyone else doing his thing. I do not have alot of electric violin in my music collection so it's either this album or Jefferson Airplane when Papa John Creach was aboard that I keep returning to,and Don's work on this recording is stellar. The song "Crying" is a fine example of a man and his instrument just taking over a song and laying it on the line.
Other songs on this album that stand out imo are "You Must Be Crazy", "Took the Car" and a great song about getting drunk called "Where Did My Legs Go?"
When this album first came out I didn't care for it,I prefered Empty Rooms or The Turning Point but it's now one of my favorite Mayall recordings that I return to because each time I listen to it it's like I'm hearing it for the first time.

I have this both on cd and factory reel to reel. I really like Deep Blue Sea. Although it is not my favorite John Mayall album it is indeed different with Sugarcane Harris. I have been on a Frank Zappa buying blitz lately and of course found out that Sugarcane Harris is on a few of Frank's albums also. I like the Turning Point album and really think The Blues Alone from 1967 is a great album. If you like the Jazz Fusion years do not forget to buy Moving On since it is out on CD but may go out of print again. John Mayall has some really good albums that many do not know about.

I still remember when and where I bought this album. It was 1973 at the Kmart near my house, in the bargain/cutout bin (for likely $1.99). It was my first Mayall, though my brother owned "Turning Point" at the time. Since I didn't have that many albums at the time, it saw a lot of playing time. It lead to purchases of: More Mayall, Canned Heat, and Mandel solo. Thanks for bringing back the memories. I may just have to dig it out tonight. I can only imagine its condition considering what my deck was back then.

Electric Violin, you say? I'll definitely be watching for this one now, don't have it yet. As of today, I have 9 Mayall albums though, & don't plan to stop collecting them, so I'll "probably" end up with it.