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When I heard that John Mayall had died at 90, I sent my son a brief note saying, Mayall was a “name you might not know but he is a significant loss.” Mick Jagger tweeted this: “So sad to hear of John Mayall’s passing. He was a great pioneer of British blues and had a wonderful eye for talented young musicians, including Mick Taylor – who he recommended to me after Brian Jones died – ushering in a new era for the Stones.”
In writing this tribute, I realized that Mayall’s death – besides being a sad event – was the linchpin, the one that tied all the other British blues stuff I’ve written about together. Anything bolded will take you down another rabbit hole and so if you are someone like, oh, say, fellow blogger Mr. Babyhead, cancel all your plans.
John Mayall was born on the 29th of November 1933 and grew up near Manchester, England. Like many of us, his first exposure to music was through his parents’ record collection, in this case, blues and jazz.
He got to know guitarists Big Bill Broonzy and Leadbelly and then boogie-woogie pianists Albert Ammons and Meade Lux Lewis. (Mayall saw himself as a pianist but he was also a singer, songwriter, harmonica player and guitarist.) As is practically mandatory with every blues musician in England, Mayall spent a couple of years in art school.
Mayall spent a few years in the Army (Royal Engineers) never losing sight of his passion for the blues. In 1962, when he was 29, he found out that Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies had opened up a blues club in Ealing, a neighborhood of London.*
As Mayall’s website says, “After Britain’s ten-year traditional jazz boom had about run its course, a new generation was ready for something new. Out came the amplifiers, guitars, and harmonicas and out came young enthusiasts from all over the country eager to form their own groups.”
This was the break Mayall was looking for. And at the ripe old age of 30 – when most of us are starting to settle into “real” jobs – Mayall left his graphic design gig and went for it. Bear in mind that he had a wife and kid by this time so it wasn’t by any means an easy transition. Most of his peers in music at that time were a good ten years younger. (My guess is that the extra years under his belt made him a good bandleader. Clapton lived with his family for a while.)
Mayall moved from Manchester to London in 1963 and formed the Bluesbreakers. What an exciting time it must have been with burgeoning bluesmen who shared his passion like Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Eric Burdon and Steve Winwood among others.
Wikipedia says it all here: “In late 1963, Mayall started playing at the Marquee Club with his band. The line-up was Mayall, drummer Peter Ward, John McVie (the Mac of Fleetwood Mac) on bass, and guitarist Bernie Watson, formerly of Cyril Davies and the R&B All-Stars.
The next spring Mayall obtained his first recording date. With Martin Hart at the drums, the band recorded two tracks: “Crawling Up a Hill” and “Mr. James.” Shortly after, Hughie Flint replaced Hart and Roger Dean took the guitar from Bernie Watson. This line-up backed John Lee Hooker on his British tour in 1964.
Here’s “Crawlin’ Up a Hill,” primitive but still good.
In April 1965, former Yardbirds guitarist Eric Clapton replaced Roger Dean and John Mayall’s career entered a decisive phase.” (To say the least).
Clapton had famouly quit the Yardbirds when they started doing tunes like “For Your Love” which deviated from his belovied blues. (Ironically, in later years, Clapton was at times responsible for some of the sappiest pop you can imagine).
In July of 1966, the classic Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton album was released. It’s interesting to note that here in the US, we were still in the throes of the so-called British Invasion which really had two streams – the Mersey/Beatles/pop stream and the London/stones/Yardbirds blues stream.
I don’t believe this album had any real mainstream impact in the States as we were still very much in the thrall of the Merseybeat. But we did know the Stones and Eric Burdon. I think it wasn’ t really until Clapton showed up in Cream that that stream took hold. You can read my post on that seminal album here.
However, by the time it was entering the charts, Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce – who, yes, was part of the Mayall revolving door – had left to form Cream. Clapton, of course, couldn’t be replaced. Or could he? A young guy named Peter Green joined the band and well, listen to “The Stumble” for yourself.
“So began a succession of future stars who would define their roots under John’s leadership before leaving to form their own groups. Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood became Fleetwood Mac. Andy Fraser formed Free, and Mick Taylor joined the Rolling Stones.”
Peter Green, of course, couldn’t be replaced. Or could he? In 1967, Mayall found 18-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor. (What the hell was in the water in England back then? If it wasn’t for British albums the only records I’d have in my collection would be Pat Boone and the Partidge Family!)
Here’s “Oh Pretty Woman” with Mick in fine form.
“In 1969, with his popularity blossoming in the USA, John caused somewhat of a stir with the release of a drummer-less acoustic live album entitled The Turning Point, from which his song, ‘Room To Move”‘was destined to become a rock classic. Note – by Federal law you cannot have a Mayall post without doing ‘Room To Move.’
That was recorded at the Fillmore East with Jon Mark on acoustic guitar. He and sax player Johnny Almond later formed the jazz-influenced Mark/Almond band. Mayall moved from England to Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles and worked with many musicians, British and American. If you’re curious, there is actually an entire Wikpedia page called List of John Mayall Band Members
Mayall contined recording, touring and performing but as blues became less of a force, he was more of a niche player for the remainder of his career. He did, however, continue finding and promoting great guitarists. Did you know that future blues greats Walter Trout and Coco Montoya were in the band at the same time?
Wikipedia: “In 1982, motivated by nostalgia and fond memories, John decided to re-form the original Bluesbreakers. Mick Fleetwood was unavailable at the time so John hired drummer Colin Allen to join with John McVie and Mick Taylor for a couple of tours and a video concert film entitled Blues Alive.
Featured greats were Albert King, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and Etta James. By the time Mick and John had returned to their respective careers, public reaction had convinced John that he should honor his driving blues roots. In Los Angeles, he selected his choices for a new incarnation of the Bluesbreakers. Officially launched in 1984, it included future stars in their own right, guitarists Coco Montoya and Walter Trout.
This is 50 minutes of gold from a 1987 concert Live at Iowa State University. Montoya is the somewhat chubby brown-haired guy. I saw him in a small club years ago, sometime before I started this blog in 2015. Trout – who survived some serious health issues – is on my to-see list.
Mayall I was privileged to see back in 2016 and you can read about that here.
When Mayall died, I texted my Mayall friend extraordinaire Steve who said, “He started a lot of careers. Definitely a legend. Bummer.” I said, “Yeah I know you were an especially big fan. But hey, good life and we should all live that long.”
A couple more things – here is Eric Clapton’s tribute to Mayall on hearing of his passing.
And to pull it all together, here are two posts I did a few years back on British blues. You can hear Mayall’s influence all the way through.
An ME Tribute to British (and Some Irish) Blues-rock (part 1 of 2)
Jumping at Shadows – An ME Tribute to British (and Some Irish) Blues-rock (part 2 of 2)
*Wikipedia: Ealing is best known for its film studios, which are the oldest in the world and are known especially for the Ealing comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets, Passport to Pimlico, The Ladykillers and The Lavender Hill Mob. The studios were taken over by the BBC in 1955, with one consequence being that Ealing locations appeared in television programmes including Doctor Who to Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Most recently, Ealing Studios was the set for some of Downton Abbey.
Sources: Wikipedia, John Mayall website
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