Umbrella (label)
30 September 2022 (released)
01 September 2022
In the year that we are celebrating the first gigs by the Rolling Stones, Paul Jones releases a collection to remind us that he was also there in the earliest days of the British Blues boom and has been a constant in Blues ever since. He was actually asked by Brian Jones and Keith Richards to form a band with them but went on to join Manfred Mann while the other two turned to Mick Jagger, at the behest of Alexis Korner, and the Rolling Stones were born.
The album has 21 tracks, all featuring him as writer or co-writer, from his time with Manfred Mann, The Blues Band, Mick Pini & Guido Toffoletti’s Blues Society as well as solo material and, in a slightly dis-chronological order, it manages to show the progression of the doyen of British Blues – a man with more awards as a singer, harmonica player, radio dj and father of the Blues than some of us have chromosomes.
The earliest material with Manfred Mann is raw, with Jones effecting a much lower vocal tone than his natural vocal style, but gradually improving as he found his natural style. His harmonica playing from the very start was one of his strengths and that is a constant through the 21 tracks here.
His solo material was never as successful as the material with other bands but tracks such as ‘Sonny Boy Williamson’, co-written with Jack Bruce and featuring just the two of them, and ‘The Pod That Came Back’ or ‘Suddenly I Like It’ are classic Blues and really work to show his vocal quality.
The Blues Band was the band he formed with Tom McGuiness (ex-Manfred Mann) and Hughie Flint (ex-John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers) and the songs with this combo definitely sound most adult and classic. ‘It’s Got To Be The Blues’ is a joy featuring a horn section and Dave Kelly’s slide guitar.
‘Living For The Day’ is a live track with Guido Toffoletti’s Blues Society (Toffoletti was another Alexis Korner connected artist), a Blues with a great swing to it and ‘Like Mother, Like Daughter’ is with Mick Pini and a very laid back and eighties number.
Paul Jones has been around since the early Blues Boom and his influence is seen throughout British Blues – this album is a fine collection of his own favourites.
