A Hard Road

A Hard Road
Studio album by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
Released 17 February 1967[1]
Recorded 11, 12, 19 & 24 October; 11 November 1966 at Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, England[2]
Genre Blues
Length 37:13 (original)
79:22 (2006 reissue)
Label Decca
London
Producer Mike Vernon
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers chronology

Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
(1966)		 A Hard Road
(1967)		 Crusade
(1967)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone (positive) [3]

A Hard Road is the third album (and second studio album) recorded by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers released in 1967. It features Peter Green on lead guitar, John McVie on bass, Aynsley Dunbar on drums and John Almond. Tracks 5, 7 and 13 feature the horn section of Alan Skidmore and Ray Warleigh. Peter Green sings lead vocals on "You Don't Love Me" and "The Same Way". The notable instrumental track "The Supernatural", a guitar improvisation in the key of D minor, has much in common with Peter Green's later hit composition "Black Magic Woman".

The album reached #8 on the UK album charts which is Mayall's third biggest chart next to "Bare Wires" and "Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton" which reached #3 and #6, respectively.[4]

The cover art and the original LP sleeve design are by Mayall. In 2003 and 2006 two different expanded versions of the album were released.

Track listing

All songs by John Mayall except as noted

Side one
  1. "A Hard Road" – 3:12
  2. "It's Over" – 2:51
  3. "You Don't Love Me" (Willie Cobbs) – 2:50
  4. "The Stumble" (Freddie King, Sonny Thompson) – 2:54
  5. "Another Kinda Love" – 3:06
  6. "Hit the Highway" – 2:17
  7. "Leaping Christine" – 2:25
Side two
  1. "Dust My Blues" (Elmore James, Joe Josea) – 2:50
  2. "There's Always Work" – 1:38
  3. "The Same Way" (Peter Green) – 2:11
  4. "The Supernatural" (Green) – 2:57
  5. "Top of the Hill" – 2:40
  6. "Someday After a While (You'll Be Sorry)" (King, Thompson) – 3:02
  7. "Living Alone" – 2:23
2003 expanded version

1-14 Original album tracks (as above)

  1. Evil Woman Blues (Green) – 4:05
  2. All My Life (Robinson) – 4:25
  3. Ridin' on the L&N (Burley, Hampton) – 2:32
  4. Little by Little (London, Wells) – 2:47
  5. Eagle Eye – 2:52
  6. Looking Back (Watson) – 2:37
  7. So Many Roads (Paul) – 4:47
  8. Sitting in the Rain – 2:59
  9. Out of Reach (Green) – 4:44
  10. Mama Talk to Your Daughter (Atkins, Lenoir) – 2:39
  11. Alabama Blues (Lenoir) – 2:31
  12. Curly (Green) – 4:51
  13. Rubber Duck (Dunbar, Green) – 4:00
  14. Greeny (Green) – 3:56
  15. Missing You (Green) – 1:59
  16. Please Don't Tell – 2:29
  17. Your Funeral and My Trial (Williamson) – 3:56
  18. "Double Trouble" (Rush) – 3:22
  19. "It Hurts Me Too" (London) – 2:57
  20. Jenny – 4:38
  21. Picture on the Wall – 3:03
  22. First Time Alone – 5:00

The Additional material is: 15 from Raw Blues; 16-19 from the EP with P. Butterfield; 20-22 & 30-35 from Looking back; 23-26 &28-31 from Thru the years; 27 from the B-side of a single; 36 from Laurel Canyon

2006 UK expanded version (1CD/28 tracks, 4 unreleased)

1-14 Original album tracks (as above)

  1. Looking Back (Watson) – 2:37
  2. So Many Roads (Paul) – 4:47
  3. Mama, Talk To Your Daughter (Atkins, Lenoir) – 2:39
  4. Alabama Blues (Lenoir) – 2:31
  5. All My Life – 4:25
  6. Ridin' On The L And N (Burley, Hampton) – 2:32
  7. Eagle Eye – 2:52
  8. Little By Little – 2:47
  9. Sitting In The Rain – 2:59
  10. Out Of Reach (Green) – 4:44
  11. No More Tears –
  12. Ridin' On The L And N (Burley, Hampton) –
  13. Sitting In The Rain –
  14. Leaping Christine –

The previously unreleased tracks 25-28 are from the BBC Sessions; 19-22 are from the EP with P. Butterfield; 17-18, 24 from Thru the years; 15-16, 23 from Looking Back

Personnel

Original album[1]
2003 expanded[5]

Same as above with the addition of:

Production

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Unterberger, Richie. "A Hard Road - John Mayall, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, The Bluesbreakers : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  2. ↑ "John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers* - A Hard Road (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
  3. ↑ Saunders, Mike (December 7, 1968). "Records". Rolling Stone (San Francisco: Straight Arrow Publishers, Inc.).
  4. ↑ "Type in "John Mayall" under "''Name of Artist''"". Everyhit.com. 2000-03-16. Retrieved 2012-07-31.
  5. ↑ Unterberger, Richie. "A Hard Road - John Mayall, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, The Bluesbreakers : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-07-31.