JOHN MCLAUGHLIN — Devotion (aka Marbles) (review)

JOHN MCLAUGHLIN — Devotion (aka Marbles) album cover

Album · 1970 · Jazz Related Rock

4.5/5 · 2024-10-11
FunkFreak75

John's second solo album but first to be recorded in and released from the United States (Douglas Records). It featured a lineup that included organist Larry Young (with whom he'd been playing for six months in Tony Williams' Lifetime power trio), Billy Rich on bass, and former member of Electric Flag and Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsys drummer, Buddy Miles. John immediately distanced himself from the album when during its publication phase as he was disappointed in the way producer Alan Douglas "destroyed" the music when mixing the songs down in John's absence.

1. "Marbles" (4:05) slow build with shimmering organ and bird sounds echoed from John's guitar turns into another monstrously engaging SANTANA-like groove with a bit of a Latin feel to it over which John rips and rents holes in the sky. Larry's organ in support is so perfect: so strong and melodic. The rhythm section is doing their job but nothing very "out of the box" for the first three minutes. (8.75/10)

2. "Siren" (5:55) based on an old feeling blues tune, the heavily-effected bass, organ and guitar are so far beyond the distorted effects Alan Douglas employed to some of Jimi Hendrix's stuff! Great guitar play but probably my least favorite song on the album. (8.666667/10)

3. "Don't Let the Dragon Eat Your Mother" (5:18) a nice, steady, hard-drivin' blues rocker of the Mahavishnu kind with Larry playing both organ and electric piano beneath John's fiery heavily-treated NEKTAR "Journey to the Centre of the Eye"-like guitar. The song meanders around space in its psychedelic LSD trip way, especially when Larry and Buddy are given the solo time at the very end. The problem is: I really like it! (9.75/10)

4. "Purpose of When" (4:42) very bluesy (and very loud) guitar and organ played over plodding bass and drums while Larry's organ and electric piano support from behind. The music may not be great but John is lit! He is burning white hot from the inside out! A difficult song to assign a rating for since the music isn't that great, but John's performance is absolutely jaw-dropping. (9/10)

5. "Dragon Song" (4:13) sounds as tension-building as some of Hollywood's best soundtracks but is perhaps a little too loud and dynamic, but man is John cooking! And Larry holding the Earth still as best he can beneath. Great use of the wah and delay pedals as well. Larry's time in the final minute is too little too late especially with the big finish at the end. (9.25/10)

6. "Devotion" (11:25) great multi-track dynamic play over addictive (and stellar) bass and drum play. I can't say that Larry's contributions are half as remarkable as Johns, but that's okay. This is John's album. Still, he's pretty good in the seventh and eighth minutes (just not as amazing as he is on Lenny White's Venusian Summer). (19.25/20)

Total time: 35:40

I find the quartet so much more satisfying than the organ-based trio: Billy Rich is wonderful in expressing his own idiosyncratic personality and I feel that Larry Young is allowed much more freedom to create and be himself. I'm sorry that John did not like the "finished" rendition of the album but I find it quite enjoyable--much more so than any of the Lifetime or Miles Davis works that he participated in during the previous year. I even like parts of this more than some of his Mahavishnu stuff!

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of ground-breaking, transformational psychedelic jazz-rock fusion. An album I value more and consider more a favorite than any of the Mahavishnu Orchestra albums! Absolutely mind-blowing for its time! A Top 40 Favorite "Classic Era" J-R Fusion Album for me.