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John Mayall may not be a household word like many of his contemporaries, but trust me on this, he influenced your life.<\/p>\n
Seems like at his age he would have long retired from the rock and roll scene, but his last concert was in 2022 at age 88. And you thought Skinny Mick and Keith Richards were old.<\/p>\n
John led the British Blues revival in the ’60s. Even great bluesmen like BB King and Buddy Guy credited them with rescuing blues from obscurity.<\/p>\n
The blues star BB King is said to have remarked that if it had not been for Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, \u201ca lot of us black musicians in America would still be catchin\u2019 the hell that we caught long before.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The Telegraph<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
John wasn’t the “let’s be notorious and trash the place” kind, rather a hard-driving perfectionist, which probably helps explain the high turnover of supporting musicians in his bands.<\/p>\n
And John had an eye for talent – noted artists like Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce,John MacVie, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Mick Fleetwood, and Jimmy Page played with him (moving on to other groups like Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Free, and Led Zeppelin later.) It\u00a0 almost seemed a rite of passage to play with John back then.<\/p>\n
Musicians attested to what it meant to play with Mayall. \u201cAs far as being a blues-guitar sideman, the Bluesbreakers gig is the pinnacle. That\u2019s Mount Everest,\u201d said Walter Trout. \u201cYou could play with B.B. King or Buddy Guy, but you\u2019re just gonna play chords all night. This guy features you. You get to play solos. He yells your name after every song, brings you to the front of the stage, and lets you sing. He creates a place for you in the world.\u201d\u00a0 Variety<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Remember when I said he was a vet? He was drafted in the early ’50s and went to Korea.<\/p>\n
After training at art college, Mayall did his National Service with the Army in Korea, where he managed to avoid frontline duties by learning to type. On his return he found work as a graphic designer and his music took a back seat while he established a home for his wife and three children.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
After teaching himself piano, harmonica, and guitar, I suspect typing was a breeze.<\/p>\n
Try to think of\u00a0 music uninfluenced by the British Invasion and\/or blues – and realize that pretty much no matter what you listen to, somehow Sir John (he was awarded the OBE in 2005) touched your life.<\/p>\n