John McLaughlin

• Devotion [Douglas, 1970] A
• Electric Guitarist [Columbia, 1978] B+
• Thieves and Poets [Verve, 2003]

See Also:

• Mahavishnu Orchestra/John McLaughlin
• Mahavishnu Orchestra
• Mahavishnu John McLaughlin
• John McLaughlin, Dave Holland, John Surman, Stu Martin, Karl Berger
• John McLaughlin with the One Truth Band
• Carlos Santana/Mahavishnu John McLaughlin
• merge all

Consumer Guide Reviews:

Devotion [Douglas, 1970]
McLaughlin reminds me as much of Duane Eddy as of John Coltrane--he loves electric noise for its own sake and rocks more naturally than he swings. Here Buddy Miles provides his usual ham-handed thump, a universe away from Tony Williams's sallies, and McLaughlin just marches along on top, his tone supremely heavy by choice. But like Coltrane, though in a much more detached way, he can get enormous mileage out of harmonic ideas whose simplicity is probably one source of the spirituality he generates. Rarely has a rock improvisation been more basic or more thoughtfully conceived than on the title track, where he and Larry Young trade the same elemental motif for so long it turns into an electric mantra. A

Electric Guitarist [Columbia, 1978]
In which the top musicians in fusion are gathered by the man who made it all possible to show the genre off aesthetically--no funk vamps, no one-run solos, no twaddle about the harmony of the universe. The project has a certain stillborn aura--it doesn't swing a lot, there is a reliance on Speedy Gonzalez climaxes, and snatches of such deathless melodies as "Holiday for Strings" and "Mohammed's Radio" are audible. Still, repetitiousness is minimized, and there are good ideas and lots of sensitive interaction. And it didn't sell diddley. B+

Thieves and Poets [Verve, 2003]

See Also

• When Your Consider Your Condition . . . [1971-11-25]