Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
John Mayall's lengthy, ever-growing discography is so littered with reissues of various sorts that it may not be readily apparent that he continues to make new albums regularly, about one every couple of years. Since Tough, recorded and released in 2009 when Mayall was 75 years old, is his follow-up to 2007's In the Palace of the King, which was billed as his 56th LP, that would make it his 57th. Unlike its predecessor, a tribute to Freddie King, Tough has no particular theme. It is simply a representative collection of songs in various blues and blues-rock styles, played and sung by Mayall with a band including long-serving keyboardist Tom Canning, guitarist Rocky Athas, and bassist Greg Rzab. Athas gets to make like Jimi Hendrix on the hard rocker "Train to My Heart," and takes a blistering solo on the closer, "The Sum of Something," which also gives Canning an organ feature. Mayall has personal reflections to make on some of his original compositions. "Slow Train to Nowhere," which highlights his piano playing, is also a cautionary tale about recovering from bad behavior. "Tough Times Ahead" is concerned with the economic crisis that gripped the world in the run-up to the recording sessions in March 2009: "Banks are closing daily, and recession's coming back again." And "That Good Old Rockin' Blues" is the songwriter's defense of the music he loves in the face of trendier styles. "I hate rap music with a passion that you've never seen," he declares. That's no surprise. And Tough won't surprise anyone who has heard even a few of Mayall's earlier recordings. At 75, he just keeps on playing the blues.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
Jerry Lynn Williams, ComposerLyricist - TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Francis John Miller, ComposerLyricist - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Peter Harper, ComposerLyricist - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
Walter Trout, ComposerLyricist - TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Jeffrey G Pitchell, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
Kenny Greenberg, ComposerLyricist - TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Gary Tolbert Nicholson, ComposerLyricist - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - David B Fields, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Andrew Samuel Winton, ComposerLyricist
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
TOM CANNING, Organ, Piano, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Michael Aarvold, Producer, Engineer, Mastering Engineer, Co-Producer, StudioPersonnel - John Mayall, Producer, Guitar, Organ, Piano, Vocals, Harmonica, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer - Curtis Salgado, ComposerLyricist - Maggie Mayall, Producer, Co-Producer, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rocky Athas, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Greg Rzab, Bass Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Jay Davenport, Drums, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a Division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
Album review
John Mayall's lengthy, ever-growing discography is so littered with reissues of various sorts that it may not be readily apparent that he continues to make new albums regularly, about one every couple of years. Since Tough, recorded and released in 2009 when Mayall was 75 years old, is his follow-up to 2007's In the Palace of the King, which was billed as his 56th LP, that would make it his 57th. Unlike its predecessor, a tribute to Freddie King, Tough has no particular theme. It is simply a representative collection of songs in various blues and blues-rock styles, played and sung by Mayall with a band including long-serving keyboardist Tom Canning, guitarist Rocky Athas, and bassist Greg Rzab. Athas gets to make like Jimi Hendrix on the hard rocker "Train to My Heart," and takes a blistering solo on the closer, "The Sum of Something," which also gives Canning an organ feature. Mayall has personal reflections to make on some of his original compositions. "Slow Train to Nowhere," which highlights his piano playing, is also a cautionary tale about recovering from bad behavior. "Tough Times Ahead" is concerned with the economic crisis that gripped the world in the run-up to the recording sessions in March 2009: "Banks are closing daily, and recession's coming back again." And "That Good Old Rockin' Blues" is the songwriter's defense of the music he loves in the face of trendier styles. "I hate rap music with a passion that you've never seen," he declares. That's no surprise. And Tough won't surprise anyone who has heard even a few of Mayall's earlier recordings. At 75, he just keeps on playing the blues.
© William Ruhlmann /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 11 track(s)
- Total length: 00:54:43
- Main artists: John Mayall
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Mercury Studios
- Genre: Blues
© 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited ℗ 2009 Eagle Records, Eagle Records is a division of Eagle Rock Entertainment Limited
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.