Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 02/27/1996
Run Time: 47:18
John Mayall's
"Turning Point" band --
Jon Mark,
Johnny Almond, and
Steve Thompson -- broke up in June 1970 after a European tour, with
Mark and
Almond forming their own band, appropriately named
Mark-Almond.
Mayall then assembled his first all-American band, consisting of violinist Don "Sugarcane"
Harris, guitarist
Harvey Mandel, and bassist
Larry Taylor, and recorded this album in July. It had more drive than the previous outfit, and
Mayall turned to environmentalism on the lead-off track, "Nature's Disappearing." (The original album jacket contained recycling information, too.) But much of his low-volume, reflective approach remained on an album that was still more of a jazz-pop outing than the blues sessions of his early career. Although
The Turning Point is
Mayall's biggest U.S. seller,
USA Union had the highest chart peak of his career, hitting #22. But in the U.K., where its title confirmed Mayall's U.S. leanings (he had been living in California for two years), the album showed a big drop-off in his usual sales, spending only one week in the charts at #50.
~William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide