"Actor: Sippie Wallace"

• Jammin' With The Blues Greats | DVD | (22/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Don't let the cheesy title put you off, because Jammin' with the Blues Greats, essentially a roadshow headed up by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, is quality stuff, managing to convey all the virtues of the music without sacrificing one ounce of the atmosphere of what must have been an extraordinary gig. It's pretty much impossible to identify any one contributor as outshining the others, given that there are as many takes on the music here as there are practitioners, but it's worth noting Mayall's ongoing commitment to the form as the Bluesbreakers deliver "An Eye for an Eye", "Room to Move" and several other tunes. Buddy Guy and Junior Wells get a couple of numbers ("Messin' with the Kid" is wonderful), BB King gets three and Etta James just one. However, despite everyone getting the opportunity to cut loose on the finale ("CC Rider Jam"), the whole circus is totally upstaged by the 83-year-old Sippie Wallace, who is gently led onstage, leans on the piano and sings "Shorty George" with the kind of conviction that makes everyone else look like upstarts. On the DVD: Jammin' with the Blues Greats is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio and has only one extra feature, a John Mayall discography. --Roger Thomas

• John Mayall and the Bluebreakers - Live at Capitol Nj | DVD | (28/07/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £10.99

  John Mayall is known as the White King of Black Blues. His way of singing his harmonica playing and his typical Hammond organ sound reigned supreme in the realm of the blues during the sixties and seventies. I never made commercial compromises; everything I did I did for myself and nobody else Mayall confessed - words that are as honest and credible as his music. In 1982 Mayall decided to reunite the Bluesbreakers in the original line-up for a tour. In June of that year there was a spectacular extravaganza at New Jersey's Capitol Theatre when John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers open a concert night titled Jammin' With The Blues Greats: white blues from Britain meets Chicago and Memphis blues. The audience paid homage to the Bluesbreakers who accompanied five blues immortals through the night. Tracklist: 1. An Eye For An Eye 2. Baby What Ya Want Me To Do feat. Etta James 3. Messin With The Kid feat. Buddy Guy & Junior Wells 4. Dont Start Me Talkin feat. Buddy Guy & Junior Wells 5. My Time After A while 6. Shorty George feat. Sippie Wallace 7. The Dark Side Of Midnight 8. Why Are You So Mean To Me? feat. Albert King 9. Born Under A Bad 10. Sign feat. Albert King 11. Call It Stormy Monday feat. Albert King 12. C. C. Rider Jam Allstars 13. Room To Move