On 29 June 2009, Eagle Rock Entertainment release “The 70th Birthday Concert” from John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers and Friends. Liverpool’s King’s Dock on 19 July 2003 was the venue for a long awaited and much anticipated reunion between Eric Clapton and John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. The occasion was both a celebration of John Mayall’s 70th year and a fundraiser for Unicef. This Blu-ray shows the show in all its glory. Eagle was the first visual music company to embrace High Definition and their commitment to the new technology continues with new additions to their Blu-ray catalogue.

Also invited to the party were former Bluesbreaker and Rolling Stone Mick Taylor and veteran trombonist Chris Barber. Eric Clapton appears on eight of the nineteen numbers performed, with Mick Taylor guesting on a further six. If you’re a lover of the blues it doesn’t get much better than this. The show ran for around two and a half hours and the film is now presented here in its entirety for the first time. Thus, the Bonus Features on this Blu-ray release include three tracks from the concert that had to be cut from the original DVD issue for space reasons (Grits Ain’t Groceries, Jacksboro Highway and California). The release also features an interview with John Mayall.

TRACKLISTING

1. Southside Story
2. Kids Got The Blues
3. Dirty Water
4. Somebody’s Acting Like A Child
5. Blues For The Lost Days
6. Walking On Sunset
7. Oh, Pretty Woman
8. No Big Hurry
9. Please Mr Lofton
10. Hideaway
11. All Your Love
12. Have You Heard
13. Hoochie Coochie Man
14. I’m Tore Down
15. It Ain’t Right
16. Talk To Your Daughter

Seven decades, sixteen tracks and one hundred and sixty minutes of entertainment combine to make this a fantastic release documenting one incredible evening of stunning music. The DVD version of this release is a hugely successful title from Eagle’s catalogue and this brand new Blu-ray release allows the concert not only to look and sound better than ever on but also to be returned to its full length with the addition of the never before seen footage.


Ook op Blues Magazine ...