Perhaps the best song from a groundbreaking album, sounds as fresh today as ever. How many so called classic albums from that time can honestly say that. Forget the always overrated Clapton, for my money the greatest blues licks of the 60's came not from any guitar but exploded from the horn of Johnny Almond, perhaps no where better than on this song. The percussive effects generated by Marc on nylon strings at that and Mayall on the harp in counterpoint to Thompson's bass remain astonishing.
I had listened to this album a few dozen times before i took note of the album liner statement that there was no percussion on this album -Yep- no drums . I listened to it a few dozen more times to appreciate this artful fact. I am guitarist who is reasonalby skilled in several genres of music and I love the endeavors that do not rely on guitar heroes also. It keeps all of us thinking and realizing that music is a holistic art and the more variation the better. p.s. I am a 61 year old geezer.
steven thompson on bass. oh yeah. Jonny Almond's fat sax filling the Whiskey a Go Go, fillin our hearts, blowin our minds. Marc so different, so tasty. Mayall so great--forever changing. I played Turning Point over and over and over.
Love this tune, and the album. Remember how his "drummerless" band was such a departure from the Bluesbreakers, and how great it sounded. Johnny Almond was definitely one of my earliest influences on flute & sax, and the Mark/Almond Band (& this recording) showed me how great acoustic guitar goes with those two instruments as well...
@NSA666999 idiot. This performance was from the 60's possible before the Bieber boys parents were even born. Open your ears and listen to what real musicians can do. So much more than just a haircut teen heartthrob.
oh yea my noddin music from late 69-70 this stuff u take wit ya bless j mayall he did the blues for us in 60 & 70s i moved to ca & this song reminded of that/ great band he put together .
OK, I've read a couple of posts that seem to intimate that Jon Mark played the woodwinds here. Not so. He's a guitarist. In fact, I believe the liner notes describe him as a "finger-style" guitarist. The late Johnny Almond played both sax and flute on this cut, one after the other. I'm not a woodwind player of any stripe, but I have to believe that getting the armbucher down between them is no treat.
Certainly a wonderful album. It's Stephen Thompson's constant bass line that does it for me. What an amazing talent he was. Sadly, no longer with us. Remember that night still at the Dome in Brighton when we saw no drums and we said "What the f***. Then...........they played and blew us away. 1969. Never forget it! See you at Cadogan Hall in October 2011. Clive
I spent many nights listening to this album in '69. It was magical music for a magical time. As entropy has taken over our country, I wish deeply I could go back to that time. Some have said it was a dark time, but I saw it as full of hope and vision. And then, time went on, vision dimmed. Were it not for the direct mercy and goodness of God, I would not have been able to withstand living in such a good era, and then seeing things as they are now. Easter morning gives me hope beyond hope.
I see a few people commenting about the sax & flute, that's Jon Marc and Johnny Almond. And as some have pointed out, they did do two other LP as the Marc Almond Band. However Marc Almond is also the name of thesinger from the group Soft Cell, which makes finding thir other music difficult.
Yes saw them play this in Dublin back around '69. This is the number that blew me away (this and the JB Lenoir one 'I'm gonna fight for you JB') - still remember it like it was yesterday. Wonderful stuff!
Johnny Almond put out two instrumental alblums, that I have yet to see on CD around the time with John Mayall. One alblum has the late Joe Pass on it. I still have them both. Good stuff if you find them. BTW this tune is one my favs as a teen in the late 60's.
My Corgi was lying quietly asleep at my feet until Johnny Almond hit that high C over C (I’m a self-taught guitarist who can’t read a note so I’m guestimating solely by ear here; it could be F over C for all I know) on the sax at which point he awakens hackles up, and starts barking at my laptop. One man’s (or dog’s) feast is another’s famine!
@desertswo Ahhhh yes, that note. I played a little and it made my lip hurt just listening to that note. But I loved it at the same time. What a treat to find much of this album out here.
@clydegeorge Almond is a great player. It is amazing that one can be a veritable virtuoso on two such disparate wind instruments as the sax and flute appear to be to my unschooled eye and ear. Mayall and Almond along with Blood, Sweat and Tears, taught a whole generation of us (I’m 54 this month) to not rely solely on “guitar heroes” to give us our musical highs. As a proficient guitarist in the blues/rock motif, I really love what a well played sax brings to the table in that métier.
@desertswo I agree - johnny is sadly no longer with us, having died in the San Francisco bay area aged 63 years. His playing on this album and all the Mark Almond Band albums was superb. Instrument fingering on flutes and sax are complementary, although embouchure techniques are very different.
@desertswo Well said sir! I am a Harmonica player and play in several Rock & Blues bands and always try to underplay if anything, but am always working on the overall sound of the band. The idea being that four or five instruments/players create one beautiful sound (solo's aside). This album is one of the greatest examples of what I try to achieve every time I play. Love it! Thanks for posting. :-)
@desertswo Well said sir! I am a Harmonica player and play in several Rock & Blues bands and always try to underplay if anything, but am always working on the overall sound of the band. The idea being that four or five instruments/players create one beautiful sound (solo's aside). This album is one of the greatest examples of what I try to achieve every time I play. Love it! Thanks for posting. :-)
@desertswo Turned 55 this year so I'm coming from the same era & agree completely & just wanted to throw Ian Anderson flute of Jethro Tull into the mix though he always had a guitarist.Had me checkin out jazz bands ( actually Alvin Lee & Ten Years After's early stuff too )Been diggin' on Trombone Shorty lately.
I saw Mayall in 1968 in San Antonio...awesome show! Did this tune! I bought "Turning Point" and burned out all my friends with it. Requested this songon our "underground" radio station often.
Turning Point ( 1969) is one of the greatest live albums ever !
Probably the first of the " Unplugged" concept, and tracks like California and Roxanne feature great acoustic guitar work by Jon Mark and fantastic sax by Mark Almond !
Mayall also shows his blues vocal & harmonica prowess throughout and " Room To Move" has since become somewhat of a Blues classic !
This was my first real exposure to the blues...british style. I was maybe 10 years old and this music changed my view from the bubblegum crap of the 60's to the outer edges of music at the time. Now so tame but revolutionary then.
@thesonglines had been following the Bluesbreakers for a while and had the first 3 albums..Turning Point hit in ways that Eric and Peter hadn't yet and was lucky enough to get a primo front row seat about 10 feet from Mr. Mayall (Atlanta 1970)...we were the bums that handed him a big yellow cigar
Perhaps the best song from a groundbreaking album, sounds as fresh today as ever. How many so called classic albums from that time can honestly say that. Forget the always overrated Clapton, for my money the greatest blues licks of the 60's came not from any guitar but exploded from the horn of Johnny Almond, perhaps no where better than on this song. The percussive effects generated by Marc on nylon strings at that and Mayall on the harp in counterpoint to Thompson's bass remain astonishing.
fomomoto3 1 week ago
I had listened to this album a few dozen times before i took note of the album liner statement that there was no percussion on this album -Yep- no drums . I listened to it a few dozen more times to appreciate this artful fact. I am guitarist who is reasonalby skilled in several genres of music and I love the endeavors that do not rely on guitar heroes also. It keeps all of us thinking and realizing that music is a holistic art and the more variation the better. p.s. I am a 61 year old geezer.
QuantaGuitar 2 weeks ago
steven thompson on bass. oh yeah. Jonny Almond's fat sax filling the Whiskey a Go Go, fillin our hearts, blowin our minds. Marc so different, so tasty. Mayall so great--forever changing. I played Turning Point over and over and over.
portlandjohn8 3 weeks ago
JUSTIN BIEBER ?????? Who's the moron who said he wrote it??? JUSTIN BIEBER wasn't even an embroy when this came out!
PencilArt57 3 weeks ago
Love this tune, and the album. Remember how his "drummerless" band was such a departure from the Bluesbreakers, and how great it sounded. Johnny Almond was definitely one of my earliest influences on flute & sax, and the Mark/Almond Band (& this recording) showed me how great acoustic guitar goes with those two instruments as well...
StevenCharlesJazz 4 weeks ago
Beautiful song from a great album
LegZoff 1 month ago
touched me way back and still does a number on me now. how is it possible that one person did not like this song?
nativebird63 1 month ago
@nativebird63 I'm sorry but I loved it. Just couldn't find the button.
bradleypridgeon 1 month ago
California I will be there before long...
operalover67 1 month ago
JUSTIN BIEBER WROTE THIS SONG AND PLAYS IT SO DIFFERENT THAN THIS NOBODY. JUSTIN HAS ALL THESE GANGSTA MOVES TOO WHEN HE SINGS CALIFORNA YO YO YO
NSA666999 1 month ago
@NSA666999 idiot. This performance was from the 60's possible before the Bieber boys parents were even born. Open your ears and listen to what real musicians can do. So much more than just a haircut teen heartthrob.
fomomoto3 1 week ago
one of the best live albums of all time just saying
tarmike23 1 month ago
I think this is a masterpiece... obviosly it's just a personal opinion...
Redmar85 2 months ago 3
oh yea my noddin music from late 69-70 this stuff u take wit ya bless j mayall he did the blues for us in 60 & 70s i moved to ca & this song reminded of that/ great band he put together .
npepito1 2 months ago
Aucun temps mort. C'est sublime
MegaAndreNo 3 months ago
Aucun temps mort. C'est sublime
MegaAndreNo 3 months ago
yes
michael21dice 4 months ago
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michael21dice 4 months ago
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michael21dice 4 months ago
I was listening to this at Camp Eagle, just out side of Phu Bai, Vietnam in 1971.Made me realize what I was missing. Made me homesick
michael21dice 5 months ago 2
@michael21dice I remember listing to this at Camp Eagle in '71 also. Just wondering are you from Sacramento?
068468235 4 months ago
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michael21dice 5 months ago
This & USA Union get by w/o a drummer on the back of two incredible bass players :)
Okpolosi 6 months ago
OK, I've read a couple of posts that seem to intimate that Jon Mark played the woodwinds here. Not so. He's a guitarist. In fact, I believe the liner notes describe him as a "finger-style" guitarist. The late Johnny Almond played both sax and flute on this cut, one after the other. I'm not a woodwind player of any stripe, but I have to believe that getting the armbucher down between them is no treat.
desertswo 7 months ago
Exquisito!!! sutil! woww
JuGaaraObciro 7 months ago
Yes one of the best ever!
visciification 8 months ago
Certainly a wonderful album. It's Stephen Thompson's constant bass line that does it for me. What an amazing talent he was. Sadly, no longer with us. Remember that night still at the Dome in Brighton when we saw no drums and we said "What the f***. Then...........they played and blew us away. 1969. Never forget it! See you at Cadogan Hall in October 2011. Clive
pinkfloyd77777 8 months ago
I've been listening to this album for 42 years and it's still one of the best ever recorded.
angelosfam 9 months ago 2
This my friends, is what true talent sounds like...
I'm 15; never give up on music, no matter how cookie cutter it sounds now a days!
cheers!
SecretPack 9 months ago 2
I spent many nights listening to this album in '69. It was magical music for a magical time. As entropy has taken over our country, I wish deeply I could go back to that time. Some have said it was a dark time, but I saw it as full of hope and vision. And then, time went on, vision dimmed. Were it not for the direct mercy and goodness of God, I would not have been able to withstand living in such a good era, and then seeing things as they are now. Easter morning gives me hope beyond hope.
bharfarar 10 months ago 3
@bharfarar john mayall performed this at the newport jazz festival in 1969 with the same lineup in an afternoon concert with the mothers of invention
spacepatrolman 7 months ago
I found cd version of this about 4 years ago oh jee i am very happy,its timeless
roadrape 10 months ago
I too still have the vinyl I bought in 1970. Luckily I also have the two mint copies I found in 1986!
Deservedly rated as one of the best live albums ever. I saw this band at the Liverpool Empire and they were beyond beauty.
In every decade since issue, I've had requests for copies of this album - now they come from kids whose parents were unborn when it was recorded.
SuperAllanjames 11 months ago
I've got this LP from '69. It's timeless. Was great then as is now. We were "blown away" when we first heard this. Great listening music.
BansheeFifteen 1 year ago
My older brother brought the turning point home,and i proceeded to burn the grooves of it.Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece of music here....
kharrin111 1 year ago
Comment removed
gabrielgao 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
If anyone has the bass tab for this, send to my email, gabrielgao_@hotmail.com
gabrielgao 1 year ago
Thank you for putting this wonder music up !
veribull 1 year ago
Wielkie podziękowania i pozdrowienia z Polski.
serfair1 1 year ago
I don't think there are any drums here! Not needed!! -- Wow !
durgaaa 1 year ago
What an incredible aggregation of talent!! Timeless.
wizardofwaste 1 year ago
This was a watershed album when it came out in 1969- it's still up there.
billchew450 1 year ago 7
I see a few people commenting about the sax & flute, that's Jon Marc and Johnny Almond. And as some have pointed out, they did do two other LP as the Marc Almond Band. However Marc Almond is also the name of thesinger from the group Soft Cell, which makes finding thir other music difficult.
atthehops 1 year ago
@atthehops - thank you for finally clearing that up for me - I was so confused!
marshareed 1 year ago
Funky cool magnificence!
Riding down Highway A1A on a Fall evening with the stars clear as a high C.
voidforpurpose 1 year ago
esoteric, sensual, timeless.
colpadrian 1 year ago 3
Yes saw them play this in Dublin back around '69. This is the number that blew me away (this and the JB Lenoir one 'I'm gonna fight for you JB') - still remember it like it was yesterday. Wonderful stuff!
Zone1242 1 year ago 2
Great! : )
JLQMM 1 year ago
simplemente esta rola esta de poca madre , gracias por subirla
fitomix1043 1 year ago
tnx for sharing.. sax and flute are awesome in this number of Mayall.
Aardsbijtje 1 year ago
wheres the vodka...too many"memories".......
BerkLeeDrm 1 year ago
Johnny Almond put out two instrumental alblums, that I have yet to see on CD around the time with John Mayall. One alblum has the late Joe Pass on it. I still have them both. Good stuff if you find them. BTW this tune is one my favs as a teen in the late 60's.
Behutet93 1 year ago
Such great music for some incredible memories.
subeewa 1 year ago
My Corgi was lying quietly asleep at my feet until Johnny Almond hit that high C over C (I’m a self-taught guitarist who can’t read a note so I’m guestimating solely by ear here; it could be F over C for all I know) on the sax at which point he awakens hackles up, and starts barking at my laptop. One man’s (or dog’s) feast is another’s famine!
desertswo 1 year ago
@desertswo Ahhhh yes, that note. I played a little and it made my lip hurt just listening to that note. But I loved it at the same time. What a treat to find much of this album out here.
detweilcny 1 year ago
Comment removed
desertswo 1 year ago
Probably John Mayall's Pinnacle Masterpiece of all time....Jon Marks sax sets the tempo
MrPhantom4 1 year ago
@MrPhantom4 I mean John Almond on sax! !
MrPhantom4 1 year ago
@MrPhantom4 Johnny Almond is the sax player.
clydegeorge 1 year ago
@clydegeorge Almond is a great player. It is amazing that one can be a veritable virtuoso on two such disparate wind instruments as the sax and flute appear to be to my unschooled eye and ear. Mayall and Almond along with Blood, Sweat and Tears, taught a whole generation of us (I’m 54 this month) to not rely solely on “guitar heroes” to give us our musical highs. As a proficient guitarist in the blues/rock motif, I really love what a well played sax brings to the table in that métier.
desertswo 1 year ago 20
@desertswo Yeah..fantastic on both flute and sax!
daviemcf 1 year ago
@desertswo I agree - johnny is sadly no longer with us, having died in the San Francisco bay area aged 63 years. His playing on this album and all the Mark Almond Band albums was superb. Instrument fingering on flutes and sax are complementary, although embouchure techniques are very different.
grumpyoldefart 1 year ago
@desertswo Well said sir! I am a Harmonica player and play in several Rock & Blues bands and always try to underplay if anything, but am always working on the overall sound of the band. The idea being that four or five instruments/players create one beautiful sound (solo's aside). This album is one of the greatest examples of what I try to achieve every time I play. Love it! Thanks for posting. :-)
dlancaster1234 8 months ago
@desertswo Well said sir! I am a Harmonica player and play in several Rock & Blues bands and always try to underplay if anything, but am always working on the overall sound of the band. The idea being that four or five instruments/players create one beautiful sound (solo's aside). This album is one of the greatest examples of what I try to achieve every time I play. Love it! Thanks for posting. :-)
dlancaster1234 8 months ago
@desertswo Turned 55 this year so I'm coming from the same era & agree completely & just wanted to throw Ian Anderson flute of Jethro Tull into the mix though he always had a guitarist.Had me checkin out jazz bands ( actually Alvin Lee & Ten Years After's early stuff too )Been diggin' on Trombone Shorty lately.
Okpolosi 6 months ago
Just Seen Mayall Here In Canada Last Fall '09 Hes Still Got It Thx For The Post
sfdog1369 1 year ago
I saw Mayall in 1968 in San Antonio...awesome show! Did this tune! I bought "Turning Point" and burned out all my friends with it. Requested this songon our "underground" radio station often.
lmpncof 1 year ago
Killer Sax work!
Robkat3751 1 year ago
As incredible today as it was when recorded. Inspired me to move from Philly to California in 74.
kleroyboy 2 years ago
This album's the one that gets played the most.. John Mayall at his best, w/ big kudos to 1/2 the Marc-Almond Band. A big YES!
Rich915 2 years ago
Turning Point ( 1969) is one of the greatest live albums ever !
Probably the first of the " Unplugged" concept, and tracks like California and Roxanne feature great acoustic guitar work by Jon Mark and fantastic sax by Mark Almond !
Mayall also shows his blues vocal & harmonica prowess throughout and " Room To Move" has since become somewhat of a Blues classic !
tonto4848 2 years ago
Great Albumb
crustyde54 2 years ago
UNO DE LOS MEJORES TEMAS DE JOHN MAYAL
SERGIOPAZO29081971 2 years ago
great album - great music. t was than - it still is
funcktheduck 2 years ago
Timeless.
doggzma 2 years ago
I used to hear this song as a young kid, back in the 70's. The sax performance hypnotized me. Great memotries, as I listen to this song.
teachmeneslon 2 years ago
Mayall made some fine progressive blues albums during this period, in particular Bare Wires and Blues from Laurel Canyon.
maida1982a 2 years ago
This was my first real exposure to the blues...british style. I was maybe 10 years old and this music changed my view from the bubblegum crap of the 60's to the outer edges of music at the time. Now so tame but revolutionary then.
jeffandjune 2 years ago
Thanks a lot for this fantastic music. And for the information.
Luc23cia 2 years ago
where was this audio recorded from live?
SpongeSquarePantsBob 2 years ago
Fillmore East.
thesonglines 2 years ago
@thesonglines had been following the Bluesbreakers for a while and had the first 3 albums..Turning Point hit in ways that Eric and Peter hadn't yet and was lucky enough to get a primo front row seat about 10 feet from Mr. Mayall (Atlanta 1970)...we were the bums that handed him a big yellow cigar
DoowahDiatribe 1 year ago
Damn the Fillmore again...
Aegis90 1 year ago
@thesonglines
THAT was the best concert i have ever witnessed.
jlghertner 11 months ago
sponge bob where are you. the midnightrider4 is me Ron bro give me a call
TheMidnightrider4 2 years ago
@SpongeSquarePantsBob
Fillmore East, NYC.
bendbadgersteve 1 year ago
Would you post more of this album it is great!!!
arreguinio 2 years ago
This song flows like a powerful beautiful river - Take a ride.....
OrangeSunshine2 2 years ago 2
l'un de mes albums préféré.....
charcuterix 2 years ago 2
Agreed...still f'n great after all these years. Johnny Almond is killer on sax.
phillyboy25 2 years ago
John Mayall..."California"....still the best after 40 years
MrPhantom4 2 years ago