R.I.P. The Godfather of British Blues, John Mayall

brianlux

This is a really hard one.  John Mayall had an amazing career and a long life (90).  He was an eccentric, a creative force, he wrote music about everything, and modern rock blues benefited beyond measure through his fine work and talents. 

Going back to around 1966, John Mayall was one of my first really big heroes of music. I loved his music, and in my mid to late teens, I memorized all the song titles off each album (there were many), knew who played what instrument on each song, and even knew in what what key many of those songs were played in.  Like anyone, he had his flaws, but his musical legacy is massive and he was tireless and creative in his musical endeavors.

R.I.P. John Mayall.  Thank you for so many years of great music.

brianlux

Here's a partial list of some of the great musicians who played in John Mayall's bands over the years, many of them who got their start under Mayall's guidance and tutelage:

Eric Clapton
Peter Green
Mick Taylor
John McVie
Hughie Flint
Roger Dean
Jack Bruce
Mick Fleetwood
Ansley Dunbar
Keef Hartley
Dick Heckstall-Smith
Henry Lowther
Tony Reeves
John Hiseman
Colin Allen
Jon Mark
Johnny Almond
Duster Bennett
Larry Taylor
Harvey Mandell
Don "Sugarcane" Harris
Jesse Ed Davis
Rick Vito
Henry "Coco" Montoya
Walter Trout
Buddy Whittington

brianlux

I'm kind of surprised there seems to be no John Mayall fans here.  His legacy is huge.  This was big news on other music sites.  Strange.

GB281198

I knew Clapton was in the Blues Breakers but wasn't aware of all the others that played with Mayall. I'll have to give them a listen.

brianlux

GB281198 said:

I knew Clapton was in the Blues Breakers but wasn't aware of all the others that played with Mayall. I'll have to give them a listen.

Clapton on Mayall's passing is excellent though sad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cujG_O4KA4

Mayall also "discovered" Mick Taylor who still in his teens joined The Bluesbreakers and helped make this one of Mayall's greatest albums:

Here's one of my favorite song featuring Taylor with Mayall's Bluesbreakers (from the Bare Wires album):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su6jIL1hUP4

brianlux

As well as the aforementioned Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor, another  amazing guitarist Mayall brought to the world of music was Peter Green who went on to form Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, later shortened to just Fleetwood Mac.  Here's an amazing cut from the Mayall album that featured Green, a number written by Green himself called "The Supernatural". 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pjl931Rd__A

brianlux

I suppose it might seem like I'm doing this thread for my own self-indulgence, but I hope maybe someone will pick up on some of this great music.

That said, although (to my knowledge) John Mayall never recorded with J. B. Lenoir, that blues great and Mayall were good friends, and Mayall recorded a beautiful but sad blues in honor of J. B. after Lenoir's tragic death (he was run over by a car in Chicago at the age of 38).  That song is called 'The Death of J. B. Lenoir.

Here is Lenoir performing the title track from one of his best albums, Alabama Blues:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzpA6h04I44

brianlux

Another excellent musician Mayall introduced to the world of music was the excellent drummer Keef Hartley.  Here's Hartley's band featuring the excellent vocalist/ guitarist Miller Anderson.  These guys were big in England but, to our loose, not so much here in the U.S.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsLJjNLx9Mw

GB281198

Thanks for the recommendations. I started with this one. Good stuff here I'm a big fan of blues rock.

brianlux

GB281198 said:

Thanks for the recommendations. I started with this one. Good stuff here I'm a big fan of blues rock.

Ah yes, the good old "Beano" album.  A must have in any  Mayall Collection.  

I feel the same about Bluesbreakers Crusade album.  The song selection is excellent (some Mayall originals and some nice  interpretations by the band of several classic blues numbers).    There is also a live album by that same group of musicians that was lo-fi recorded by Mayall on a tape recorder, but the performances, particularly Mick Taylor's contributions, are marvelous.  This is a good one to watch for (volume one, that is.  Vol. 2, not so much):

brianlux

I thought this was very cool:

Paul McCartney on his relationship with John Mayall:

“John Mayall, the great British blues pioneer, has died aged 90 and I thought a couple of words from me would be appropriate.

In the 1960’s we would meet at one of the late-night music clubs and often go back to his house where he had a huge and glorious collection of records. During these moments he became a mentor and would educate me on a lot of the blues guitarists playing at the time.

I would lounge back in the armchair, and he would play tracks by people like BB King, Buddy Guy, Albert King and many other great players. He would then play me tracks by Eric Clapton who was later in his band The Bluesbreakers. The more he played the more I could see the links between all these great guitarists. Besides being very entertaining, it was a great education, noticing the similarities between these stunning players."

He added: “John was a lovely, down to earth man from the North of England so we found it easy to relate to each other and I will always thank him for his love of music, the blues and his willingness to turn others on to what he knew."