When my wife and I saw John Mayer at the Gorge a few summer's back, I told everyone I was only going to see Ben Folds open - which was partly the truth, the other part is: I think John Mayer is a phenomenal songwriter and guitarist and I'm particularly fond of his most recent studio release Continuum. Nevertheless, Ben Folds said it best when he introduced John saying, "I knew John when he was still just a chump ass". He probably still is, but I try not to judge musicians on their personalities.
Anyway, this is all to say if the only John Mayer you've heard is "Your Body is a Wonderland" or "Bigger Than My Body" or even "Waiting on the World to Change" - basically anything they play on the radio - you're missing out big time. You might not believe me when I say I think John Mayer has more in common with Norah Jones than Britney Spears; and I think he's more jazz and blues than pop. Have a listen to these tracks, one from each studio album:
Then there's the John Mayer Trio (John, bassist Pino Palladino and drummer Steve Jordan) whose album Try! is just awesome. Recommended tracks are: "Wait Until Tomorrow", "Gravity" and Ray Charles cover "I Got a Woman".
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Kyle, have you seen his new(ish) concert on DVD, "Where the Light Is?" I watched about half of it with my dad last night, and it definitely revived my appreciation for John's talent, especially as a guitarist. The concert is broken into three sets: first "old style" acoustic John, second John Mayer Trio, and (presumably, I haven't made it this far in the disc yet) third "pop" John with full band. Of course, I'd rather watch a live show than on DVD, but it's still pretty interesting.
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