Birthdays | Remembering John Mayall (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024)

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

Two Mayall Nineties Anthologies Thru’ The Years & London Blues | John Mayall: (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) | URBANASPIRINES

John Mayall: (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024)

and of course Kostas does the master the maestro a Blues institution really, a well deserved memorial here too!

John Mayall OBE (29 November 1933 – 22 July 2024) was an English blues and rock musician, songwriter and producer. In the 1960s, he formed John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians. A singer, guitarist, harmonica player, and keyboardist, he had a career that spanned nearly seven decades, remaining an active musician until his death aged 90. Mayall. He has often been referred to as the "godfather of the British blues", and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the musical influence category in 2024.     read on here  John Mayall on Urbanaspirines 

 

Mick Taylor and John 

JOHN MAYALL - LONDON BLUES 1964 - 1969 (1992)

&

JOHN MAYALL - THRU THE YEARS 1990

British Blues legend John Mayall has died at the age of 90. | Don’s Tunes

British Blues legend John Mayall has died at the age of 90.

John Mayall has passed away surrounded by family and his two wives and assistant 

One of my earliest musical heroes in the Godfather of British Blues has died, John Mayall still touring into his 90th year has died and we will not see his like again. Catalyst for so much great music from Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Eric Clapton, the list of British musicians who passed through his tutelage and support through The Bluesbreakers is endless. I think I mentioned the other day one of the first singles I ever bought was his Key To Love with Parchman Farm as the B-side! Loved that sound and all those early albums . . .didn’t really notice the other guitarist(s) (sic) for quite some while, I was just enamoured of all John did, the guitars he played and the sound he pioneered. He will be missed forever . . . . 

"In a 2014 interview with The Guardian, John reflected, “blues is about – and it’s always been about – that raw honesty with which it expresses our experiences in life, something which all comes together in this music, in the words as well. Something that is connected to us, common to our experiences.” That raw honesty, connection, community and playing of his will continue to affect the music and culture we experience today, and for generations to come.

I wouldn’t change anything." he told Classic Rock in 2016. "I mean, if you look at all the stuff I’ve done over the years – I’ve explored every kind of variation on the blues – it’s all added up to a wonderful career. I haven’t had hit records, but I’ve always had the artistic freedom to create music the way I want."

Musicians attested to what it meant to play with Mayall. “As far as being a blues-guitar sideman, the Bluesbreakers gig is the pinnacle. That’s Mount Everest,” said Walter Trout. “You could play with B.B. King or Buddy Guy, but you’re just gonna play chords all night. This guy features you. You get to play solos. He yells your name after every song, brings you to the front of the stage, and lets you sing. He creates a place for you in the world.”

“The reason I choose musicians is what they bring to the table, and I enjoy their work, and I want to give them an opportunity to express themselves because that’s what I hired them for,” Mayall said in a 2016 interview with Blues Blast. “So I enjoy their playing and fortunately, being a bandleader, I get to choose who I want to play with. So, I indulge my own musical enjoyment. … Improvisation is the main thing. You have your structure of the musical piece, and then you embellish it in whatever direction that evening’s performance entails. So, it’s always been the bedrock of everything I’ve done. The whole idea is to create music as you’re playing. The improvisational thing is the main part of it. You’re exploring the music.”

Photo by Michael Putland

The album Bluesbreakers was released on July 22, 1966, and proved to be the breakthrough that John Mayall was seeking, landing at No.6 on the UK album charts in its first week. Musically, it captured a short, magical moment in time – one that could never be repeated. Before Bluesbreakers even hit record stores, Clapton had already quit the band to form Cream with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce. Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Peter Green (who formed Fleetwood Mac a year later) stepped in as his worthy replacement.

The album is often called The Beano Album by fans because of its cover photograph showing Eric Clapton reading The Beano, a British children's comic. Clapton stated in his autobiography that he was reading The Beano on the cover because he felt like being "uncooperative" during the photo shoot.

Photo: David Wedgbury

Don's Tunes

Parchman Farm (Mose Allison)

John Mayall at 90

One of the earliest and most profound influences on my budding musical tastes was this man. . . as a school boy drawn to the blues masters from the States (I have said elsewhere starting with Josh White, Big Bill Broonzy, Leadbelly et al about 12/13 years old or so)  I also used the earliest albums from John Mayall to boost my knowledge and there was (is?) no-one to touch him still. A special place is reserved in my heart for John! 

Keep on keeping on, maestro!

John Mayall also known as the godfather of British blues. 

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. 

He has a career that spans nearly seven decades. At ninety years old, Mayall is one of the oldest active musicians.

 Key To Love (Mayall) . . . bought when it came out . . .somehow on a single! [I think]

so pretty sure this was the B-side and wasn’t aware of [nor had heard of] the guitarist, (Clapton) it was Mayall and that’s all I cared about!

Parchman Farm (Allison)

and of course since . . . . . . . 

Mists of Time

Somewhere in the world

Are friends I've missed from long ago

Could be drifting by the wayside

Or even dead - I just don´t know

And now my memories are fading

...Like melting footprints in the snow

Sometimes a dream will haunt me

And I see a young girl's face

Was she once for real

And did she really share my space

Within the swirling mists of time

It's hard to keep a track of year and place

I thought about my mother

When she was young and on the road

Hanging out with my musicians

Or camping out in forest groves

Like gray mists conceal horizons

I miss those times we'll share no more

So far my life's a journey

And I wouldn't change for anything

All those years of bold adventures

The highs and lows that make me sing

Within the swirling mists of time

Such sweet memories still often ring.

2002-08-26 

John Mayall 

JOHN MAYALL PROFILE | URBANASPIRINES

John Mayall - Turning Point/Empty Room 1969/1970

Now Kostas over at Urbanaspirines has been as per usual in overdrive of late and posting one of the most extraordinarily eclectic group of artists and bands from around the planet it is possible to imagine, Australian, (Crime And The City Solution, The New Christs, British India - say what now?) USA, [The Alley Cats, Bohemian Vendetta, The Complete Flamin’ Groovies, A five disc survey of Stax records - no less, Phluph (?), Cincinatti’s Wussy!?], and a MASSIVE profile of Richard Hell and The Voidoids, Greece (of course) [with Mother Turtle,] and for British music, a Mojo magazine best of the Dark Heart of the Sixties! 

So today comes as no surprise and we have a profile of Blues Legend and elder statesman and guru of the genre, John Mayall with two early albums and a nice potted history 

Now John Mayall was incredibly important to me and I hung around with a lot of people who played his stuff, both on record and for real, mostly guitarists and the early albums meant the world to me from about the ‘Beano' Album onwards but even Laurel Canyon was on the decks back then and I always made it a point to check out what he was doing and who he was playing with and which newcomers he came up with on guitar. From Duster to Pete Green, Eric of course but Mick Taylor too. His staple diet of Blues standards taught me a great deal and I still have a feel for those early albums

Enjoy I think you will!