John Mayer has made a nice transition from being a bit of a teeny-bopper pop star to a slap-rappin’ rocker dude. I’ll admit that I didn’t really get into his music until he surfaced with The John Mayer Trio… I found his early material to be, well, too teeny-bopper pop for me.
I also couldn’t really quite understand his singing voice, compared to his speaking voice. When you hear him speak, he’s got this normal, crisp voice… but when he sings, it’s suddenly breathy and slurred… and often it sounds like he’s got a big wad of saliva in his mouth… I kept wishing that he’d just spit it out and be done with it. Anyhow, this has always made me wonder if he purposely changes his voice when he sings… which unfortunately made me question his sincerity as a musician.
Well, I’m over it because he’s one hell of a songwriter, guitar player, and overall performer. When his first album with The John Mayer Trio, Continuum, was released, I totally dug it and loved his new direction. I guess I found it more believable. After digesting his Trio work, I did go back to pick up his first albums… I gotta admit, that’s some mighty fine songwriting. His voice still bothered me, though.
JUST SPIT, MAN!!!! YOU’LL BE GLAD YOU DID!
Here’s a short bootleg from the early goings of his career. This acoustic performance was recorded a mere eight months after his debut album, Room for Squares, hit the shelves. I prefer these stripped down versions to those on the album… as I usually do when it comes to the acoustic setting. Mayer sounds great (wish he’d spit), and the bass player is very, very cool.
Mayer is chatty and relaxed in this bootleg… I love his comment, “Let’s hear it for Tourettes, everybody… it’s definitely not the disease that goes unnoticed.” Funny guy!
Sorry if that offended anyone… just keep in mind that I didn’t say it, John Mayer did.
John Mayer on Amazon
John Mayer on iTunes
Your Dig-It Downloads:
Download: ZIP FILE OF SHOW
Download: Intro
Download: 3X5
Download: Why Georgia
Download: Your Body is a Wonderland
Download: No Such Thing
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I personally love John Mayer’s music. He was great live, put on a fantastic show. Thanks for the bootlegs.
Thanks a lot for great bootlegs
I think he sounds different because of all those weird things he does with his mouth when he sings. But could be spit too. I dunno :) I do have to admit that I think I’ve gotten past the visual I would get when I’d hear him, and since then I’ve really been able to enjoy his music. So, thank you for the boot. I think the Wonderland song is the only one I’m really familiar with up there, so I look forward to listening to the rest too.
My opinion of John Mayer changed substantially after watching his “Where The Light Is” DVD. I initially bought it because it was directed by Danny Clinch who is a really amazing music photographer and I wanted to see how his photographic eye translated to video. In short, the visuals are amazing but I keep watching it for the music performance (the audio mix is awesome also).
I too thought he was a teeny bopper cookie cutter production when I heard Room For Squares. I think we can just chalk that one up to what the record label wanted him to be to sell product, lucky for us he used the leverage he gained to go in the direction he really wanted to go in.
Mayer proves that he belongs being mentioned in this same sentence with the people he cites as his influences (Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy, SRV, Hendrix). He shows off an impressive mix use of virtuoso guitar work and nuance that is very uncommon for most guitar players, regardless of age.
Ok, and his voice, it is quite different than his speaking voice but it is distinctly Stevie Ray Vaughn. You can definitely tell that when he was developing his vocal style he emulated SRV, probably because it fit his vocal range the best. Johnny Cash happens to be where I landed for singing tone and style, but I don’t mind having at all having someone that sounds like SRV still making records.
got to go to one of his concerts here in LA as part of a bday gift. boy was i blown away! did not know what an amazing guitarist he is and now i’m def. a fan
Hmmm… gotta admit, I’ve never thought of his voice as SRV-ish… Mayer has these slurs and weird mannerisms with his vowels that simply aren’t there in his speaking voice. It’s like he sings with a Mayerese accent. But I’ll take a closer listen now that you’ve brought it up…
The thing that’s cool about John Mayer is he is a pop songwriter and doesn’t try to fight it. The difference between him and pretty much every other pop songwriter (Jason Mraz, for example) is his versatility. Take the song “Wonderland” – it’s syrupy sweet and hotsteamysexy at the same time. Not too many songwriters can do that, you know? Plus he’s an excellent, imaginative guitarist and working with the likes of Buddy Guy, he will only get better.
Thanks for the downloads – “Why Georgia” is one of my favorite songs ever.