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

brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,012
in Other Music
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.
May be an image of 1 person and guitar

“The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













Comments

  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,012
    edited July 24
    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




    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,012
    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.
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • GB281198GB281198 Posts: 461
    edited July 26
    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.
    Post edited by GB281198 on
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,012
    edited July 26
    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:

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

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



    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,012
    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". 

    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,012
    edited July 27
    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
    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,012
    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.


    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • GB281198GB281198 Posts: 461

    Thanks for the recommendations. I started with this one. Good stuff here I'm a big fan of blues rock.
  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,012
    edited July 28
    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):
    Primary

    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













  • brianluxbrianlux Posts: 42,012
    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."

    “The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man [or woman] who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.”
    Variously credited to Mark Twain or Edward Abbey.













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