Cutting his teeth in the mid to late-‘60s around the jazz clubs of Soho and on the periphery of the British Blues Boom (as well as playing pop sessions for the likes of David Bowie), McLaughlin emerged as a formidable solo artist at the beginning of the ‘70s.
Of course, a stint at Miles Davis University didn’t exactly hamper him either – McLaughlin played on Bitches Brew and several other albums but declined the offer to join Davis’s live touring band.
Always searching, he took stock at the end of 1977 and decided to plug in again. Recorded in New York and Los Angeles, Johnny McLaughlin Electric Guitarist took shape as a tribute to the electric guitar featuring McLaughlin’s key past collaborators. Every track would feature a different lineup and different idiom, from fusion to post-bop. Two years of playing acoustic guitar had helped improve McLaughlin’s touch on the electric and widened his artistic horizons too. [by Matt Phillips, 2015 at Sound of Surprise]
If you listen to McLaughlin's version of "My Foolish Heart" from 1978's Johnny McLaughlin - Electric Guitarist, it's hard to logically explain how the same guitarist had also produced the sounds found on so many of his earlier records. It's hard to reconcile this tune with his approach on his debut Extrapolation, Miles' Tribute to Jack Johnson, Larry Coryell's Spaces, and various recordings by the Mahavishnu Orchestra and Shakti. None of those earlier performances would have prepared you for McLaughlin's beautiful treatment of Victor Young and Nat Washington's jazz standard. His warm and serene arrangement sounds like the antithesis of what McLaughlin was known for.
Electric Guitarist was meant to be a comeback record for McLaughlin. Columbia Records was none too pleased that McLaughlin had produced three straight records with his Indian acoustic world music group Shakti. These records would eventually reach legendary status, but at the time they sold embarrassingly poorly. There was hope at Columbia that Electric Guitarist would bring John McLaughlin back to the top of the record sales heap. In the end, although it sold well, it did not sell as many records as Columbia had hoped.
This album features many of McLaughlin's contemporaries, including Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke, Jack DeJohnette, Billy Cobham, Narada Michael Walden, Carlos Santana, Jerry Goodman, and David Sanborn. There is not one weak cut on the entire album. Electric Guitarist also marks the first recorded use of McLaughlin's scalloped fretboard electric guitar, an idea from his Shakti experience that gave him a brand new sound. McLaughlin was able to bend notes and even chords beyond limits. This technique opened up a whole new vocabulary for his compositions.
Key cuts to play really loud include a duet with Billy Cobham, "Phenomenon-Compulsion," and "Are You the One? Are You the One?," featuring Tony Williams and Jack Bruce. This tune harkens back to the great Tony Williams Lifetime that featured McLaughlin, Bruce and the late Larry Young on organ. Even though, for obvious reasons, Young couldn't make this gig, he would have loved this tune. "Do You Hear The Voices You Left Behind," based upon the changes of Coltrane's "Giant Steps," is an unrelenting jazz force that McLaughlin, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and Jack DeJohnette play for all they are worth.
Many all-star recordings do not live up to their promise. This album is not one of them. Johnny McLaughlin- Electric Guitarist was the last important recording of the initial jazz-fusion movement.[review by Walter Kolosky, 2002 at All About Jazz]
Original 1978 COLUMBIA RECORDS PROMOTIONAL POSTER for JOHN McLAUGHLIN - "ELECTRIC GUITARIST".
This hard to find original 45 year old poster for the legendary Mahavishnu Orchestra guitarist John McLaughlin is considered by collectors as the "holy grail" of John McLaughlin posters. It is his very best poster visually and also the most desirable. One recently sold on eBay for $200. Apparently, it was printed in extremely small quantities and distributed to select radio stations, distributors and retailers.
This post consists of FLACs ripped from my 'first pressing' vinyl which I bought in the year of its release, along with the usual high class artwork and label scans. I was a huge fan of Mahavishnu at the time and purchased this album when I sighted it in the record shelves at Melbourne University's Book Emporium. It should be noted that the title of the album actually attributes the album to 'Johnny McLaughlin'.
Track List
A1. New York On My Mind (5:46)
A2. Friendship (7:01)
A3. Every Tear From Every Eye (6:51)
B1. Do You Hear The Voices That You Left Behind? (7:40)
B2. Are You The One? Are You The One? (4:41)
B3. Phenomenon: Compulsion (3:21)
B4. My Foolish Heart (3:26)
The Players
John McLaughlin (guitar) with Jack Bruce (bass on B2), Stanley Clarke (acoustic bass on B1), Bill Cobham (drums on A1/B3), Chick Corea (piano and mini-moog on B1), Tom Coster (organ on A2), Jack DeJohnette (drums on B1), Stu Goldberg (electric piano, organ & mini-moog synthesizer on A1), Jerry Goodman (violon on A1), Neil Jason (bass on A2), Alphonso Johnson (Taurus bass pedals and bass on A3), Alyrio Lima (percussion on A2), Armando Peraza (congas on A2), Patrice Rushen (piano on A3), David Sanborn (alto sax on A3), Devadip Carlos Santana (guitar on A2), Fernando Saunders (bass on A1), Tony Smith (drums on A3), Narada Michael Walden (drums on A2), Tony Williams (drums on B2)
John McLaughlin Link (205Mb)
Thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteThank you AUSSIEROCK !
ReplyDeleteWhen it was released, the track ‘Birds of Fire’ was in Canadian AM radio rotation among the pop songs. There must have been someone cool at the radio station.
ReplyDeleteThanks Aussie It took me a while to warm to John McLaughlin but I am now a full convert
ReplyDelete