Last July, blues guitarist Mick Taylor was scheduled to play four shows in New England during an American Tour, his first gigs in the U.S. since 2007. The entire tour was canceled, though, after Taylor was diagnosed with a blood clot in his chest and pleurisy.
Recovered and looking healthy, Taylor rescheduled the tour for this spring and arrived in Boston Wednesday night. His five-piece group, which includes notable keyboardist Max Middleton, played in Northampton Thursday at the Iron Horse Music Hall to an enthusiastic and rowdy capacity crowd.
Though the band was jet-lagged, as Taylor mentioned, they shook off the rust and ran through a 1 1/2-hour set that showcased Taylor’s brilliant single-string and slide guitar work. The outfit was a bit on the loose side but still rocked hard throughout. Taylor’s voice, which is pleasing if not technically adept, carried off some of his own best-known tunes to his loyal following and some other more widely-known material.
Taylor, best known as the 17-year-old wunderkind of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in 1968-69, replacing Peter Green who departed for Fleetwood Mac, or as the ideal replacement for the fired Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones, giving that band one of its most accomplished lineups, is now in his early 60s and bit more rotund than that slim, young, baby-faced guitar player from what was a magical time for blues musicians. But he seemed happy, ready to please and rocking throughout his group’s set, showing alternately tender and fiery musicianship as he soloed frequently.
He opened the show with the first two tracks from A Stones’ Throw, his highly underrated album from 2000, A Secret Affair and Twisted Sister, both stretched-out versions, one nearly 10 minutes, the second more than 12. He switched freely between slide and single-string solos, often combining both styles.
What’s interesting to note about his exquisite slide playing is he is one of the few blues guitarists to play slide in regular tuning rather than Open G or Open D tuning, allowing him to play chords unhindered. His slide playing in the opener was all one could ask for: melodic, fluid, adroit and drenched in a bluesy feel. Taylor is very much still at the top of his game as a musician.
Although his isn’t the most compelling voice, he makes excellent use of it by often playing the melody he sings simultaneously on guitar, either with or without slide. The effect produced gives his voice a more biting and penetrating delivery. It’s a technique made popular by Jimi Hendrix back in the late ’60s, as well as many earlier-generation southern blues players. Taylor makes use of it extensively to excellent effect.
After Twisted Sister, the crowd whooped and hollered in a cacaphonous assault, prompting Taylor to say “I forgot, you Americans are loud! Loud and proud!”
The band then launched into a combination that started with Fed Up With The Blues, a tune he said he learned from Mayall back in the ’60s, and morphed into Freddie King’s I’m Tore Down and back again. His technique was put squarely center stage on the 10-minute outing that saw him mix various blues styles with a multitude of tones he wrenches from his Les Paul by frequently changing pickups and using a wah-wah pedal, occasionally for the effect but often to alter tone.
He then responded to a request for Alabama, from his self-titled solo album from 1979, perhaps his very best, an album that mixed rock, blues and fusion music. Alabama is a down home country blues with extensive slide soloing.
From there, second guitarist Denny Newman played and sang one of his own tunes, Burying Ground, which featured nice dynamics and effective soft soloing as Taylor took a break off-stage. Taylor then dedicated the Willie Dixon tune You Shook Me to Muddy Waters and some of the blues greats from the Chicago scene. His interpretation was much closer to Waters’ rather than the most well-known cover versions by the original Jeff Beck Group and Led Zeppelin, as he liberally doubled the melody line on his guitar beautifully.
The next selection was a treat for long-time fans as Taylor’s All-Star Band went into Giddy-Up from his first solo album, an intricate and highly entertaining instrumental that shows off numerous musical styles. The Dylan tune Blind Willie McTell, from A Stones’ Throw, followed, which morphed into All Along The Watchtower and back and even featured parts of the Layla riff. That closed the main set.
The encore saw Taylor pick up a white Fender Stratocaster, which appeared to be open-tuned, for the only time of the night for his interpretation of the Stones’ No Expectations, a tune from Beggar’s Banquet, which predated his entry into the group. Taylor said he was going to “finish with a song by his old band, well, sort of my old band.” The arrangement was much different from the original, starting with more of a country-rock feel, featuring Newman on one lead and then developing into a full out rocking tag that didn’t see Taylor solo but did see him rocking out with his band. It almost sounded as if they would segue into another Stones song, but they just rode out the tag as the crowd howled to the rocking finale.
Taylor’s band, in addition to Middleton, who soloed infrequently but with his typically fluid, jazz/blues sensibilities, and Newman, included bass player Kuma Harada, who played on A Stones’ Throw, and drummer Jeff Allen, who produced it. This band suits Taylor just fine and backs him up quite competently.
Taylor made good on his promise to come over and complete the tour that never started last year. That’s a satisfying outcome for American blues lovers. He will hit 18 cities, and will be back in Massachusetts three more times, so you can still catch him in the region if you’re willing to travel a little. The complete tour list is here. He will also play B.B. King’s in New York early in May and heads west to California and Texas for the last six dates of the tour. If you can, catch this blues great. Although what Taylor has been doing for the past 30 years hasn’t been as visible as some of his contemporaries, it’s just as relevant.
