Blues rock pioneer John Mayall has passed.
Text by Dawoud Kringle
John Mayall was born in Macclesfield, Cheshire, UK on 29 November 1933, and grew up in Cheadle Hulme. His father, Murray Mayall, was a guitarist. He taught himself to play the piano, guitars, and harmonica after immersing himself in the music of American blues players such as Lead Belly, Albert Ammons, Eddie Lang, and Pinetop Smith.
While serving in the military, Mayall bought his first electric guitar in Japan. Upon returning to England, he enrolled at Manchester College of Art and started playing with the Powerhouse Four. After graduation, he obtained a job as an art designer but continued to play with local musicians. In 1962 Mayall became a member of the Blues Syndicate, which included trumpeter John Rowlands and alto saxophonist Jack Massarik. Soon, Mayall and his band were frequent and popular artists at all-night R&B sessions at the Twisted Wheel Cellar Club in central Manchester.
Alexis Korner persuaded Mayall to opt for a full-time musical career and move to London. Korner introduced him to many other musicians and helped them to find gigs.
In late 1963, with his band, which was now called the Bluesbreakers, Mayall started playing at the Marquee Club with John McVie (who would form Fleetwood Mac) on bass and guitarist Bernie Watson. Mayall obtained his first recording date. Ian Samwell produced the two tracks: “Crawling Up a Hill” and “Mr. James”. Shortly after some personnel changes, they backed John Lee Hooker on his British tour in 1964.
Mayall was offered a recording contract by Decca and, on December 7th, 1964. The releases failed to achieve any success and the contract was terminated. In April 1965 former Yardbirds guitarist Eric Clapton joined the band. With this, the Bluesbreakers began attracting considerable attention. The following August, however, Clapton went to Greece with an amateur band calling themselves the ‘Glands. After some personnel changes, Peter Green became Clapton’s replacement. John McVie was fired, and replaced by Jack Bruce (who’d left Graham Bond Organization). In November 1965 Clapton returned, and Green departed. McVie returned, and Bruce left to join Manfred Mann.
In April 1966, the Bluesbreakers returned to Decca Studios to record a second LP, Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton. It was released in the UK on 22 July 1966 and garnered considerable success. The following June, Clapton left to form Cream with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker. Mayall asked Peter Green to come back. During the following year, with Green on guitar and various other sidemen, some 40 tracks were recorded. He released the album A Hard Road in February 1967. In early 1967, Mayall released an EP with Paul Butterfield. Soon after, Peter Green left to form Fleetwood Mac with John McVie and Mick Fleetwood.
Many of the alumni of Mayall’s band read like a Who’s Who of British blues rock royalty: Mick Taylor, Terry Edmonds, John Moorshead, Keef Hartley, Keith Tillman, Alan Price, Nicky Hopkins, Don “Sugarcane” Harris, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor, and others.
By the start of the 1970s, Mayall had relocated to the United States where he spent most of the next 15 years, recording with local musicians for various labels. In August 1971, Mayall produced a jazz-oriented session for blues guitar legend Albert King.
In 1974, Mayall recorded The Latest Edition, which was released on Polydor. During the next decade, Mayall continued shifting musicians and switching labels and released a score of albums. At this stage of his career, most of Mayall’s music was, incorporating jazz, funk, pop., and female vocals. In the 80s, Mayall returned to his blues roots.
In celebration of his 40th year in music, Mayall recorded Along for the Ride in 2001. Some of the musicians who played on the album included Gary Moore, Johnny Lang, Steve Cropper, Otis Rush, Billy Gibbons, Jeff Healy, Chris Rea, and others. On his 70th birthday, Mayall reunited with Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, and Chris Barber for a fundraiser show, “Unite for Unicef.”
In November 2008, Mayall permanently disbanded the Bluesbreakers, to cut back on his heavy workload and give himself freedom to work with other musicians. Three months later a solo world tour was announced and an album was released in September 2009. In 2013, Mayall signed with producer Eric Corne’s label, Forty Below Records. The two have produced four studio albums. In 2014, Mayall was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Mayall died at his home in California on July 22nd, 2024, at the age of 90.
Mayall was described as the “godfather of British blues.” His work developed a blues revival among white musicians in England. When his career started, the US was racially segregated, but in England and Europe, he exploited the possibility to expose audiences to the blues. The value of his contribution to blues and rock cannot be calculated.
