Photo by Jack Mitchell/Getty Images
I am pretty sure I have mentioned how important John Mayall was to this burdegeoing precocious blues man as a mere stripling child (13+) following (on and off) all my life but the first few albums were impossibly cool to me. That the irony of his band leadership was not lost on him as his leadership lead to fame for so many of his alumni; Green, Clapton, McVie, Tayor to name a few but that fame never really beckoned for him personally so much no hits and no adulation but this is what befalls the Mayall's and the Horners, the Graham Bonds and the Chris Barbers. They illuminate the pantheon of great British musical institutions and without trying to hammer the hyperbole John shone through the history books brighter than most forever!
"I'm a band leader and I know what I want to play in my band — who can be good friends of mine," Mayall said in an interview with the Southern Vermont Review. "It's definitely a family. It's a small kind of thing really."
A small but enduring thing. Though Mayall never approached the fame of some of his illustrious alumni, he was still performing in his late 80s, pounding out his version of Chicago blues. The lack of recognition rankled a bit, and he wasn't shy about saying so.
"I've never had a hit record, I never won a Grammy Award, and Rolling Stone has never done a piece about me," he said in an interview with the Santa Barbara Independent in 2013. "I'm still an underground performer."
Known for his blues harmonica and keyboard playing, Mayall had a Grammy nomination, for "Wake Up Call" which featured guest artists Buddy Guy, Mavis Staples, Mick Taylor and Albert Collins. He received a second nomination in 2022 for his album “The Sun Is Shining Down.” He also won official recognition in Britain with the award of an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 2005.
He was selected for the 2024 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class and his 1966 album “Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton,” is considered one of the best British blues albums.
Mayall once was asked if he kept playing to meet a demand, or simply to show he could still do it.
“Well, the demand is there, fortunately. But it’s really for neither of those two things, it’s just for the love of the music,” he said in an interview with Hawaii Public Radio. “I just get together with these guys and we have a workout.”
By The Associated Press
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