FROM LONDON TO LOUISIANA

Tony Peyser
Mirror contributing writer

   In England in the 1960s, John Mayall was to the blues what Second City was to comedy. And just as countless comedians emerged from that improv group, so did a bunch of amazing musicians under his tutelage. 
   Before Peter Green and John McVie started Fleetwood Mac, they played in Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. And so did the most famous guitar player to ever emerge from the United Kingdom: Eric Clapton. Mayall has been recording for almost 40 years and his latest album is Along For The Ride. 
   He’s recorded a new version of his classic song “California” which sounds like Dave Brubeck meets Traffic with a little Jim Morrison thrown in for good measure. It’s the perfect song to play on a late night drive on the Pacific Coast Highway or at dawn on Sunset Boulevard. Instead of R&B (rhythm and blues), you could call “California” R&J (rhythm and jazz.) 
   This version has great tenor saxophone by Red Holloway and Mayall’s own terrific piano-playing. The title track is another winner with this catchy chorus: “Ain’t no stop signs on the road to love/You always get the green light/Strap yourself in and hold on tight/When love’s got the wheel/You’re just along for the ride.” This infectious track in particular and the whole album in general are excursions eminently worth taking. 
   A fellow harmonica player and bluesman is Kenny Neal. He’s the son of Raful Neal, yet another harmonica player, who’s currently one-third of a group I recently raved about, The Hoodoo Kings. He’s only in his mid-forties but One Step Closer is his ninth album and Neal plays lead, rhythm and slide guitar on it as well as harmonica. 
   What distinguishes this from his previous releases is Neal is singing a) not just blues and b) a number of other people’s songs instead of his own. The covers he’s chosen demonstrates Neal’s savvy in picking material. He has a field day singing John Hiatt’s impassioned “Lovers Will.” Neal also does versions of two songs co-written by Colin Linden, a Canadian songwriter-singer and producer whom I’ve mentioned in this column and can’t say enough good things about. 
   “Remedy” and “Hidden In Place Sight” are both keepers and you’ve got to give Neal extra credit for just knowing who Linden is, let alone picking some real gems. He serves up a stirring take on Bob Dylan’s “Walk Out In The Rain,” a song Clapton covered on a 1991 Dylan tribute album cleverly titled I Shall Be Unreleased. Neal additionally sings Nick Lowe’s “High On A Hilltop” which juxtaposes the twin gods of disappointment and dreaming. 
   Lowe, Hiatt, Jim Keltner and Ry Cooder did one album together in 1992 as Little Village. Two tracks from that project —- “The Action” and “She Runs Hot” —- Neal could really go to town with. (Hint, hint.) In any event, this is an impressive album by an artist whose horizons are now looking wide open. 
CDNow has Along For The Ride for $14.49 and One Step Closer for $12.82. 
   *On May 20, Mayall will be playing in Dana Point at the Doheny Blues Festival.
   The Goofy Band Name Of The Week is...Take A Swing At Bob.