This was
John Mayall's studio-recorded follow-up to the live
The Turning Point, featuring the same drumless quartet of himself, guitarist
Jon Mark, reed player
Johnny Almond, and bassist
Steve Thompson.
Mayall was at a commercial and critical peak with this folk-jazz approach; the album's leadoff track, "Don't Waste My Time," had become his sole singles chart entry prior to the LP's release, and although his former label, London, confused matters by releasing the two-year-old Diary of a Band, Vol. 1 in the U.S. just before this new album appeared in early 1970, the new crop of fans he'd found with
The Turning Point stuck with him on this gentle, reflective release.
Empty Rooms hit Number 33 in the U.S.; in the U.K. it got to Number Nine. ~ William Ruhlmann