John Mayall,
OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English
blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...
, a band that has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and
blues rock musicians.
Personal life
Born in
Macclesfield, Cheshire, in 1933, Mayall grew up in
Cheadle Hulme
Cheadle Hulme () is a suburb in the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England,. Historically in Cheshire, it is south-west of Stockport and south-east of Manchester. It lies in the Ladybrook Valley, on the Cheshire Pla ...
. He was the son of Murray Mayall, a guitarist and
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
enthusiast. From an early age he was drawn to the sounds of American blues players such as
Lead Belly,
Albert Ammons,
Pinetop Smith
Clarence Smith (June 11, 1904 – March 15, 1929), better known as Pinetop Smith or Pine Top Smith, was an American boogie-woogie style blues pianist. His hit tune "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" featured rhythmic "breaks" that were an essential i ...
and
Eddie Lang, and taught himself to play the piano, guitars, and harmonica.
Mayall was sent to Korea as part of his
national service
National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939.
The ...
,
and during a period of leave bought his first electric guitar in Japan. Back in England, he enrolled at
Manchester College of Art and started playing with a semi-professional band, the Powerhouse Four.
After graduation, he obtained a job as an art designer, but continued to play with local musicians. In 1963, he opted for a full-time musical career and moved to London.
His previous craft would be put to good use in the designing of covers for many of his coming albums.
Mayall began living in the US part time in the late 1960s, living there full time by the early 1970s. A brush fire destroyed his house in
Laurel Canyon
Laurel Canyon is a mountainous neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills region of the Santa Monica Mountains, within the Hollywood Hills West district of Los Angeles, California. The main thoroughfare of Laurel Canyon Boulevard connects the neighb ...
in 1979, seriously damaging his musical collections and archives.
Mayall has been married twice, and has six children and six grandchildren. His second wife, Maggie Mayall, is an American blues performer, and since the early 1980s she has taken part in the management of her husband's career. They married in 1982, and divorced in 2011.
In 2005, Mayall was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Honours List.
Career
In 1956, with college fellow Peter Ward, Mayall had founded the Powerhouse Four, which consisted of the two men and other local musicians with whom they played at local dances.
In 1962 Mayall became a member of the Blues Syndicate.
The band was formed by trumpeter John Rowlands and alto saxophonist Jack Massarik, who had seen the
Alexis Korner
Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...
band at a Manchester club and wanted to try a similar blend of jazz and blues. It also included rhythm guitarist Ray Cummings and drummer
Hughie Flint
Hughie Flint (born 15 March 1940, Manchester, Lancashire) is an English drummer, known for his stint in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, for his group McGuinness Flint in the early 1970s and for his subsequent association with The Blues Ba ...
, whom Mayall already knew. In 1962 John 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
Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner (19 April 1928 – 1 January 1984), known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major in ...
persuaded Mayall to opt for a full-time musical career and move to London, where 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
The Marquee Club was a music venue first located at 165 Oxford Street in London, when it opened in 1958 with a range of jazz and skiffle acts. Its most famous period was from 1964 to 1988 at 90 Wardour Street in Soho, and it finally closed wh ...
.
The lineup was Mayall, Ward,
John McVie
John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fle ...
on bass and guitarist Bernie Watson, formerly of
Cyril Davies
Cyril Davies (23 January 1932 – 7 January 1964) was an English blues musician, and one of the first blues harmonica players in England.
Biography
Born at St Mildred's, 15 Hawthorn Drive, Willowbank, Denham, Buckinghamshire, he was the son ...
and the R&B All-Stars. The next spring Mayall obtained his first recording date with producer
Ian Samwell
Ian Ralph Samwell (19 January 1937 – 13 March 2003) was an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the writer of Cliff Richard's debut single " Move It", and his association with the rock band America, wit ...
. The band, with Martin Hart at the drums, recorded two tracks: "
Crawling Up a Hill
"Crawling Up a Hill" is the debut single by English blues rock band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, released in 1964. It was written by the band's founder and singer-songwriter John Mayall. A live version is included on the band's 1965 live alb ...
" and "Mr. James".
Shortly after, Hughie Flint replaced Hart and
Roger Dean took the guitar from Bernie Watson. This lineup backed
John Lee Hooker on his British tour in 1964.
Mayall was offered a recording contract by Decca and, on 7 December 1964, a live performance of the band was recorded at the Klooks Kleek. A later studio-recorded single, "Crocodile Walk", was released along with the album, but both failed to achieve any success and the contract was terminated.
In April 1965 former
Yardbirds guitarist
Eric Clapton replaced Roger Dean and John Mayall's career entered a decisive phase.
Mid-1960s through 1971
Eric Clapton as guitarist, 1965–66
In 1965, with
Eric Clapton as their new guitar player, the Bluesbreakers began attracting considerable attention. That summer the band cut a couple of tracks for a single, "
I'm Your Witchdoctor
"I'm Your Witchdoctor" is a 1965 single by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers composed by Mayall, produced by Jimmy Page, and issued on the Immediate label. The exact date or London studio for the recording session has not been determined, but in ...
" b/w "Telephone Blues" (released in October). In August, however, Clapton left for a jaunt to Greece with a bunch of relative musical amateurs calling themselves the 'Glands'. John Weider, John Slaughter, and Geoff Krivit attempted to fill in as Bluesbreaker guitarist but, finally,
Peter Green took charge. John McVie was dismissed, and during the next few months
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of British rock band Cream. After the group disband ...
, from the
Graham Bond Organisation
The Graham Bond Organisation (GBO) were a British jazz/rhythm and blues group of the early 1960s consisting of Graham Bond (vocals, keyboards, alto-saxophone), Jack Bruce (bass), Ginger Baker (drums), Dick Heckstall-Smith (tenor/soprano saxoph ...
, played bass.
In November 1965 Clapton returned, and Green departed as Mayall had guaranteed Clapton his spot back in the Bluesbreakers whenever he tired of the Glands. McVie was allowed back, and Bruce left to join
Manfred Mann
Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two diffe ...
, but not before a live date by the Mayall-Clapton-Bruce-Flint line-up was recorded on Mayall's two-track tape recorder at London's Flamingo Club in November. The rough recording provided tracks that later appeared on the 1969 compilation ''Looking Back'' and the 1977 ''Primal Solos''.
The same line-up also entered the studio to record a planned single, "On Top of the World", which was not released at that time. Mayall and Clapton cut a couple of tracks without the others (although some sources give this as occurring back in the summer): "Lonely Years" b/w "Bernard Jenkins" was released as a single the next August on producer
Mike Vernon's Purdah Records label (both tracks appeared again two decades later in Clapton's ''
Crossroads
Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to:
* Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet
Film and television Films
* ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa
* ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...
'' box set). In a November 1965 session, blues pianist-singer
Champion Jack Dupree
William Thomas "Champion Jack" Dupree (July 23, 1909 or July 4, 1910 – January 21, 1992) was an American blues and boogie-woogie pianist and singer. His nickname was derived from his early career as a boxer.
Biography
Dupree was a New Orleans ...
(originally from New Orleans but in the 1960s living in Europe) got Mayall and Clapton to play on a few tracks.
In April 1966, the Bluesbreakers returned to Decca Studios to record a second LP with producer Vernon. The sessions, with horn arrangements for some tracks (John Almond on baritone sax, Alan Skidmore on tenor sax, and Dennis Healey on trumpet), lasted just three days. ''
Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton'' was released in the UK on 22 July 1966.
Several of the 12 tracks were covers of pure Chicago blues (side 1 kicking off strong with
Otis Rush's "
All Your Love" and
Freddy King's hit instrumental "
Hide Away"
ere spelled without a space as "Hideaway"; Mayall wrote or arranged five (such as "Double Crossing Time", a slow blues with a scorching solo by co-writer Clapton); and Clapton debuted as lead vocalist, and began his practice of paying tribute to
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His landmark recordings in 1936 and 1937 display a combination of singing, guitar skills, and songwriting talent that has influenced later generati ...
, with "
Ramblin' on My Mind". The album was Mayall's commercial breakthrough, rising to No. 6 on the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
, and has since gained classic status, largely for the audacious aggressiveness and molten fluidity of Clapton's guitar playing.
"It's Eric Clapton who steals the limelight," reports music mag ''Beat Instrumental,'' adding with unintended understatement, "and no doubt several copies of the album will be sold on the strength of his name."
In the meantime, on 11 June the formation of
Cream
Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...
—Clapton, bassist
Jack Bruce
John Symon Asher Bruce (14 May 1943 – 25 October 2014) was a Scottish bassist, singer-songwriter, musician and composer. He gained popularity as the primary lead vocalist and bassist of British rock band Cream. After the group disband ...
, and drummer
Ginger Baker
Peter Edward "Ginger" Baker (19 August 1939 – 6 October 2019) was an English drummer. His work in the 1960s and 1970s earned him the reputation of "rock's first superstar drummer", for a style that melded jazz and African rhythms and pi ...
—had been revealed in the music press, much to the embarrassment of Clapton, who had not said anything about this to Mayall. (After a May Bluesbreakers gig at which Baker had sat in, he and Clapton had first discussed forming their own band, and surreptitious rehearsal jams with Bruce soon commenced.) Clapton's last scheduled gig with the Bluesbreakers was 17 July in Bexley, south-east of London; Cream made a warmup club debut 29 July in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
and its "official" live debut two days later at the Sixth National Jazz and Blues Festival,
Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
.
Peter Green as guitarist, 1966–67
Mayall had to replace Clapton, and he succeeded in persuading Peter Green to come back. During the following year, with Green on guitar and various other sidemen, some 40 tracks were recorded. The album ''
A Hard Road
''A Hard Road'' is the third album (and second studio album) recorded by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, released in 1967. It features Peter Green on lead guitar, John McVie on bass, Aynsley Dunbar on drums and John Almond on saxophone. Tr ...
'' was released in February 1967.
Today its expanded versions include most of this material, and the album itself also stands as a classic. In early 1967, Mayall released an
EP recorded with American
blues harpist Paul Butterfield
Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...
.
But Peter Green gave notice and soon started his own project, Peter Green's
Fleetwood Mac, which eventually was to include all three of Mayall's Bluesbreakers at this time: Green, McVie, and drummer
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of t ...
who was a Bluesbreaker for only a few weeks. Two live albums, ''Live in 1967'' Volumes I and II, featuring this lineup were released on Forty Below Records in 2015 and 2016.
Mick Taylor as guitarist, 1967–69
Mayall's first choice to replace Green was 18-year-old
David O'List
David O'List (born 13 December 1948) is an English rock guitarist, vocalist and trumpeter.
He has played with The Attack, The Nice, Roxy Music (before being replaced by Phil Manzanera), and Jet (replaced by Ian Macleod). He also briefly deputi ...
, guitarist from the
Attack. O'List declined, however, and went on to form
the Nice
The Nice were an English progressive rock band active in the late 1960s. They blended rock, jazz and classical music and were keyboardist Keith Emerson's first commercially successful band.
The group was formed in 1967 by Emerson, Lee Jack ...
with organist
Keith Emerson. Through both a "musicians wanted" ad in ''
Melody Maker'' on 10 June and his own search, Mayall found three other potential guitarists for his Bluesbreakers, a black musician named Terry Edmonds, John Moorshead, and 18-year-old
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on: ''Let It Bleed'' ...
. The last made the band quickly, but Mayall also decided to hire Edmonds as a rhythm guitarist for a few days.
In the meantime, on a single day in May 1967, Mayall had assembled a studio album to showcase his own abilities. Former
Artwoods drummer
Keef Hartley
Keith "Keef" Hartley (8 April 1944 – 26 November 2011)
was an English drummer and bandleader. He fronted his own band ...
appeared on only half of the tracks, and everything else was played by Mayall. The album was released in November titled ''The Blues Alone''.
A six-piece line-up—consisting of Mayall,
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on: ''Let It Bleed'' ...
as lead guitarist, John McVie still on bass,
Hughie Flint
Hughie Flint (born 15 March 1940, Manchester, Lancashire) is an English drummer, known for his stint in John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, for his group McGuinness Flint in the early 1970s and for his subsequent association with The Blues Ba ...
or Hartley on drums, and Rip Kant and Chris Mercer on saxophones—recorded the album ''
Crusade'' on 11 and 12 July 1967.
These Bluesbreakers spent most of the year touring abroad, and Mayall taped the shows on a portable recorder. At the end of the tour, he had over sixty hours of tapes, which he edited into an album in two volumes: ''Diary of a Band, Vols. 1 & 2'', released in February 1968.
Meanwhile, a few line-up changes had occurred: McVie had departed and was replaced by Paul Williams, who himself soon quit to join
Alan Price and was replaced by Keith Tillman;
Dick Heckstall-Smith
Richard Malden Heckstall-Smith (26 September 1934 – 17 December 2004) was an English jazz and blues saxophonist. He played with some of the most influential English blues rock and jazz fusion bands of the 1960s and 1970s. He is known for pri ...
had taken the sax spot.
Following a US tour, there were more line-up changes, starting with the troublesome bass position. First Mayall replaced bassist Tillman with 15-year-old
Andy Fraser
Andrew McIan Fraser (3 July 1952 – 16 March 2015) was a British musician and songwriter, best known as the bassist and co-composer for the rock band Free, which he helped found in 1968 when he was 15. He also founded the rock band Sharks ...
. Within six weeks, though, Fraser left to join
Free and was replaced by Tony Reeves, previously a member of the New Jazz Orchestra. Hartley was required to leave, and he was replaced by New Jazz Orchestra drummer
Jon Hiseman
Philip John Albert "Jon" Hiseman (21 June 1944 – 12 June 2018) was an English drummer, recording engineer, record producer, and music publisher. He played with the Graham Bond Organisation, with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and later for ...
(who had also played with the Graham Bond Organisation). Henry Lowther, who played violin and cornet, joined in February 1968. Two months later the Bluesbreakers recorded ''
Bare Wires
''For the American band see Matthew Melton''
''Bare Wires'' is a studio album by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, featuring Mick Taylor on guitar, released in 1968 on Decca Records. The album was the last John Mayall studio album to feature ...
'', co-produced by Mayall and Mike Vernon, which came up to UK No. 6.
Hiseman, Reeves, and Heckstall-Smith then moved on to form
Colosseum
The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world t ...
. The Mayall line-up retained Mick Taylor and added drummer Colin Allen (formerly of
Zoot Money's Big Roll Band
Zoot Money's Big Roll Band is a British rhythm and blues and soul group, also influenced by jazz, formed in England by Zoot Money, in the early autumn of 1961. The band has had a number of personnel changes over the years and was still performing ...
/
Dantalian's Chariot
Dantalian's Chariot was a British psychedelic rock band formed in 1967,
led by keyboardist and bandleader Zoot Money, and also featuring Andy Summers (later of The Police). They are best remembered for their single "Madman Running Through the F ...
, and
Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the on ...
) and a young bassist named Stephen Thompson. In August 1968 the new quartet recorded ''
Blues from Laurel Canyon''.
On 13 June 1969, after nearly two years with Mayall, Taylor left and joined the
Rolling Stones.
Mark-Almond period, 1969–70
Chas Crane filled in briefly on guitar. Drummer Allen departed to join
Stone the Crows
Stone the Crows were a Scottish blues rock band formed in Glasgow in late 1969. They are remembered for the onstage electrocution of guitarist and founding member Les Harvey.
History
The band were formed after Maggie Bell was introduced to L ...
. This left as the only holdover bassist Thompson who would also eventually join Stone the Crows.
Mayall tried a new format with lower volume, acoustic instruments, and no drummer. He recruited acoustic
fingerstyle guitar
Fingerstyle guitar is the technique of playing the guitar or bass guitar by plucking the strings directly with the fingertips, fingernails, or picks attached to fingers, as opposed to flatpicking (plucking individual notes with a single plect ...
ist
Jon Mark
Jon Mark (born John Michael Burchell; 8 May 1943 – 10 February 2021) was an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his recordings with Marianne Faithfull, Sweet Thursday, John Mayall and Mark-Almond. Mark, who received a ...
and flautist-saxophonist
John Almond. Mark was best known as
Marianne Faithfull
Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...
's accompanist for three years and for having been a member of the band
Sweet Thursday (which included pianist
Nicky Hopkins
Nicholas Christian "Nicky" Hopkins (24 February 1944 – 6 September 1994) was an English pianist and organist. Hopkins performed on many popular and enduring British and American rock music recordings from the 1960s to the 1990s, most notably ...
and future
Cat Stevens collaborator
Alun Davies, also a guitarist). Almond had played with Zoot Money and
Alan Price and was no stranger to Mayall's music—he had played baritone sax on four cuts of ''Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton'' and some of ''
A Hard Road
''A Hard Road'' is the third album (and second studio album) recorded by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, released in 1967. It features Peter Green on lead guitar, John McVie on bass, Aynsley Dunbar on drums and John Almond on saxophone. Tr ...
''. This new band was markedly different from previous Mayall projects, and its making is well documented both on the 1999 double CD ''The Masters'' and on the 2004 DVD ''The Godfather of British Blues/The Turning Point''.
Along with the big change in sound, Mayall decided on a big change in scenery: a move to Los Angeles. The new band made its US debut at the
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is an annual American multi-day jazz music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island. Elaine Lorillard established the festival in 1954, and she and husband Louis Lorillard financed it for many years. They hir ...
on 5 July,
whilst the performance of 12 July at the
Fillmore East
The Fillmore East was rock promoter Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue near East 6th Street in the (at the time) Lower East Side neighborhood, now called the East Village neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan of New York City. I ...
provided the tracks for the live album ''
The Turning Point''.
A studio album, ''
Empty Rooms'', was recorded with the same personnel, with Mayall's next bassist, former
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...
member
Larry Taylor
Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee L ...
, playing bass in a duet with Thompson on "To a Princess".
Harvey Mandel as guitarist, 1970–71
Mayall continued the experiment of formations without drummers on two more albums, although he took on a new electric blues-rock-R&B band in guitarist
Harvey Mandel
Harvey Mandel (born March 11, 1945) is an American guitarist best known as a member of Canned Heat. He also played with Charlie Musselwhite and John Mayall as well as maintaining a solo career.
Early life
Mandel was born in Detroit, Michigan, ...
and bassist
Larry Taylor
Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee L ...
, both plucked from
Canned Heat
Canned Heat is an American band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1965. The group is noted for its efforts to promote interest in blues music and its original artists and rock music. It was founded by two blues enthusiasts Alan Wilson and Bob ...
, and wailing violinist
Don "Sugarcane" Harris
Don Francis Bowman "Sugarcane" Harris (June 18, 1938 – November 30, 1999) was an American blues and rock and roll violinist and guitarist. He is considered a pioneer in the amplification of the violin.
Career
Harris was born and raised in P ...
, lately of the
Johnny Otis Show and formerly with
The Mothers of Invention
The Mothers of Invention (also known as The Mothers) was an American rock band from California. Formed in 1964, their work is marked by the use of sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows.
Originally an R&B band ...
.
On ''
USA Union
''USA Union'' is a 1970 album by blues musician John Mayall, featuring Harvey Mandel on guitar, Larry Taylor on bass and Don "Sugarcane" Harris on violin. The album was recorded on July 27 & 28th, 1970 at Larrabee Studios in LA and released b ...
'' (recorded in Los Angeles, 27–28 July 1970), though, Mandel was compelled to make do without his remarkable
sustain
In sound and music, an envelope describes how a sound changes over time. It may relate to elements such as amplitude (volume), frequencies (with the use of filters) or pitch. For example, a piano key, when struck and held, creates a near-immedi ...
and usage of
feedback as musical, even melodic, technique; and on ''Memories'' the band was stripped down to a trio with Taylor and
Ventures guitarist
Gerry McGee.
In November 1970, Mayall launched a recording project involving many of the most notable musicians with whom he had played during the previous several years. The double album ''Back to the Roots'' features Clapton, Mick Taylor, Gerry McGee and Harvey Mandel on guitar; Sugarcane Harris on violin; Almond on woodwinds; Thompson and Larry Taylor on bass; and Hartley on drums.
Paul Lagos was with Sugarcane and ended up drumming on five. Mayall wrote all the songs and sang all the vocals, as usual by now, plus played harmonica, guitar, keyboards, drums, and percussion. The London sessions took place in January 1971 and as such represent some of Clapton's last work before Derek and the Dominos' attempted ''
Layla
"Layla" is a song written by Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon, originally recorded by Derek and the Dominos, as the thirteenth track from their only studio album, ''Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs'' (1970). Its contrasting movements were compos ...
'' follow-up sessions and band disintegration that spring.
''Back to the Roots'' did not promote new names, and ''USA Union'' and ''Memories'' had been recorded with American musicians.
Mayall had exhausted his catalytic role on the British blues-rock scene and was living in Los Angeles. Yet, the list of musicians who benefited from association with him, starting with ruling the London blues scene, remains impressive.
1970s
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 bluesman
Albert King
Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...
and a few months later took on tour the musicians present in the studio.
A live album ''
Jazz Blues Fusion'' was released in the following year, with Mayall on harmonica, guitar and piano,
Blue Mitchell
Richard Allen "Blue" Mitchell (March 13, 1930 – May 21, 1979) was an American trumpeter and composer who worked in jazz, rhythm and blues, soul, rock and funk. He recorded albums as leader and sideman for Riverside, Mainstream Records, and ...
on trumpet, Clifford Solomon and
Ernie Watts on saxophones, Larry Taylor on bass, Ron Selico on drums and
Freddy Robinson on guitar. A few personnel changes are noted at the release of a similar album in 1973, the live ''Moving On''.
In 1974, Mayall recorded The Latest Edition, produced by
Tom Wilson for the
Polydor
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...
label. The group featured jazz saxophonist
Red Holloway
James Wesley "Red" Holloway (May 31, 1927 – February 25, 2012) was an American jazz saxophonist.
Biography
Born in Helena, Arkansas,Daniel E. Slotnik"Red Holloway, Swinger of the Sax, Dies at 84" ''The New York Times'', February 28, 2012 ...
, drummer
Soko Richardson
Eulis Soko Richardson (December 8, 1939 – January 29, 2004) was an American rhythm and blues drummer. His career spanned almost fifty years, during which he performed and recorded with seminal groups including John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and ...
, bassist
Larry Taylor
Samuel Lawrence Taylor (June 26, 1942 – August 19, 2019) was an American bass guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Canned Heat from 1967. Before joining Canned Heat he had been a session bassist for The Monkees and Jerry Lee L ...
, and two guitarists,
Randy Resnick
Randy Resnick is an American guitarist and saxophonist who has played with many prominent blues and jazz musicians, such as Don "Sugarcane" Harris, John Lee Hooker, John Mayall, Canned Heat and Freddie King. He was developing both one- and two- ...
and Hightide Harris. The band toured Europe and Asia that year.
During the next decade Mayall continued shifting musicians and switching labels and released a score of albums.
Tom Wilson,
Don Nix
Don Nix (born September 27, 1941, Memphis, Tennessee, United States) is an American songwriter, composer, arranger, musician, and author. Although cited as being "one of the more obscure figures in Southern soul and rock", he is a key figure in ...
and
Allen Toussaint occasionally served as producers. At this stage of his career most of Mayall's music was rather different from electric blues played by rock musicians, incorporating jazz, funk or pop elements and even adding female vocals. A notable exception is ''The Last of the British Blues'' (1978), a live album excused apparently by its title for the brief return to this type of music.
Return of the Bluesbreakers
In 1982, Mayall was reunited with
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on: ''Let It Bleed'' ...
,
John McVie
John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fle ...
and
Colin Allen
Colin Eric Allen (born 9 May 1938) is an English blues drummer and songwriter.
Career
Allen spent the first ten years of his adult life working in aircraft engineering. He became interested in jazz at the age of 16 and two years later starte ...
, three musicians of his 1960s line-ups, for a two-year world tour from which a live album would emerge a decade later.
In 1984, Mayall restored the name Bluesbreakers for a line-up comprising the two lead guitars of
Walter Trout
Walter Trout (born March 6, 1951 in Ocean City, New Jersey, United States) is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter.
Biography
Trout's career began on the Jersey coast scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. He then decided to rel ...
and Coco Montoya, bassist Bobby Haynes and drummer Joe Yuele.
In the early 1990s, most of the excitement was already spent and Buddy Whittington became the sole lead guitarist in a formation which included then organist Tom Canning.
2000s
On the occasion of the 40th year of his career, Mayall invited fellow musicians for the recording of a celebratory album. ''Along for the Ride'' appeared in 2001, credited to John Mayall and Friends with twenty names listed on the cover, including some Bluesbreakers, old and new, and also Gary Moore, Jonny Lang, Steve Cropper, Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller,
Otis Rush, Billy Gibbons, Greg Rzab, Chris Rea, Jeff Healey and Shannon Curfman.
To celebrate his 70th birthday, Mayall reunited with special guests
Eric Clapton,
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on: ''Let It Bleed'' ...
and Chris Barber during a fundraiser show. This "Unite for Unicef" concert took place on 19 July 2003 at the Liverpool Arena, and was captured on film for a DVD release.
In 2005, Mayall was appointed an OBE in the British honours system, Honours List.
In November 2008, Mayall announced on his website he was disbanding 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, with: Rocky Athas on guitar, Greg Rzab on bass, and Jay Davenport on drums. Tom Canning, on organ, joined the band for the tour which started in March 2009. An album was released in September 2009. Since then, Mayall has continued to tour with the same backing band, minus Canning, who left due to other priorities.
In 2015, Dinu Logos published ''John Mayall: The Blues Crusader'', the first biography of Mayall to include exhaustive details of every band he put together and every recording he made. In 2018, Mayall made a new addition to his band; his first female lead guitarist, Carolyn Wonderland.
Forty Below Records period
In 2013, Mayall signed with producer Eric Corne's label, Forty Below Records. The two have produced 4 studio albums together, ''A Special Life'' featuring accordionist C.J. Chenier, ''Find a Way to Care'', ''Talk About That'' featuring Joe Walsh and ''Nobody Told Me''. Corne also re-mastered some live recordings from 1967 featuring Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood released as ''Live in 1967'' Volumes I and II. In 2016, Mayall was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
Mayall's autobiography, ''Blues From Laurel Canyon: My Life As A Bluesman'', co-written with author Joel McIver, was published by Omnibus Press in August 2019.
Band members
Current members
*John Mayall – Singing, vocals, Keyboard instrument, keyboards, harmonica, rhythm guitar
(1963–present)
*Greg Rzab – Bass guitar, bass, occasional Percussion instrument, percussion
(1999–2000, 2009–present)
*Jay Davenport – Drum kit, drums, percussion
(2009–present)
*Carolyn Wonderland – lead guitar, backing vocals
(2018–present)
as of 2020.
Discography
Studio albums
See also
*
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...
*British blues
*
Eric Clapton
*
Peter Green
*
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, he appeared on: ''Let It Bleed'' ...
References
External links
John Mayall's website* Concerts in Wolfgang's Vault: Fillmore West '68; Bottom Line '77
John Mayall Interview 2007 – by Brian D. Holland
John Mayall Interview with Jarrod Dicker (2009)
*
*
*
published in the French magazine Guitar Part
John Mayall Interview for the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchants) Oral History Program
July 3, 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mayall, John
John Mayall,
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers members
1933 births
Living people
Military personnel from Cheshire
British Army soldiers
Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University
Blues revival musicians
Blues rock musicians
British blues (genre) musicians
Electric blues musicians
Harmonica blues musicians
English blues musicians
English blues singers
English male singers
English songwriters
British harmonica players
Officers of the Order of the British Empire
British expatriates in the United States
British Army personnel of the Korean War
People from Macclesfield
British rhythm and blues boom musicians
English blues guitarists
Eagle Records artists
Blue Thumb Records artists