John Mayall
b. 29 November 1933, Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. The
career of England's premier white blues exponent and father of British blues has now
spanned five decades and much of that time has been unintentionally spent acting as a
musical catalyst. Mayall formed his first band in 1955 while at college, and as the
Powerhouse Four the group worked mostly locally. Soon afterwards, Mayall enlisted for
National Service. He then became a commercial artist and finally moved to London to form
his Blues Syndicate, the forerunner to his legendary Bluesbreakers. Along with Alexis
Korner ,Cyril Davies and Graham Bond, Mayall pioneered British
R&B. The astonishing number of musicians who have passed through his bands reads like
a who's who. Even more remarkable is the number of names who have gone on to eclipse
Mayall with either their own bands or as members of highly successful groups. Pete Frame,
author of Rock Family Trees, has produced a detailed Mayall specimen, which is
recommended. His roster of musicians included John McVie, Hughie Flint, Mick
Fleetwood, Roger Dean, Davey Graham, Eric
Clapton , Jack
Bruce , Aynsley
Dunbar , Peter
Green , Dick Heckstall-Smith, Keef
Hartley , Mick
Taylor , Henry Lowther, Tony Reeves, Chris Mercer, Jon Hiseman,
Steve Thompson, Colin Allen, Jon
Mark , Johnny Almond, Harvey
Mandel , Larry Taylor, and Don 'Sugercane' Harris.
His 1965 debut, John Mayall Plays John Mayall, was a
live album which, although badly recorded, captured the tremendous atmosphere of an
R&B club. His first single, 'Crawling Up A Hill', is contained on this set and it
features Mayall's thin voice attempting to compete with an exciting, distorted harmonica
and Hammond organ. Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton is now a classic, and is highly
recommended to all students of white blues. Clapton enabled his boss to reach a wider
audience, as the crowds filled the clubs to catch a glimpse of the guitar hero. A Hard
Road featured some clean and sparing guitar from Peter Green, while Crusade
offers a brassier, fuller sound. The
Blues Alone showed a more relaxed style, and allowed Mayall to demonstrate his
musical dexterity. Diary Of A Band Vol. 1and Vol. 2were released during 1968
and capture their live sound from the previous year; both feature excellent drumming from
Keef Hartley, in addition to Mick Taylor on guitar. Bare
Wires , arguably Mayall's finest work, shows a strong jazz leaning, with the
addition of Jon Hiseman on drums and the experienced brass section of Lowther, Mercer and
Heckstall-Smith. The album was an introspective journey and contained Mayall's most
competent lyrics, notably the beautifully hymn-like 'I Know Now'. The similarly packaged Blues
From Laurel Canyon (Mayall often produced his own artwork) was another strong
album which was recorded in Los Angeles, where Mayall lived. This marked the end of the
Bluesbreakers name and, following the departure of Mick Taylor to the Rolling
Stones , Mayall pioneered a drumless acoustic band featuring Jon Mark on acoustic
guitar, Johnny Almond on tenor saxophone and flute, and Stephen Thompson on string bass.
The subsequent live album, The Turning Point, proved to be his biggest-selling album
and almost reached the UK Top 10. Notable tracks are the furious 'Room To Move', with
Mayall's finest harmonica solo, and 'Thoughts About Roxanne' with some exquisite saxophone
from Almond. The same line-up plus Larry Taylor produced Empty Rooms, which was more
refined and less exciting. The band that recorded USA
Union consisted of Americans Harvey Mandel, 'Sugercane' Harris and Larry Taylor.
It gave Mayall yet another success, although he struggled lyrically. Following the double
reunion Back To The Roots, Mayall's work lost its bite, and over the next few years
his output was of poor quality. The halcyon days of name stars in his band had passed and
Mayall suffered record company apathy. His last album to chart was New
Year, New Band, New Company in 1975, featuring for the first time a female
vocalist, Dee McKinnie, and future Fleetwood
Mac guitarist Rick Vito. Following a run of albums that had little or no exposure,
Mayall stopped recording, playing only infrequently close to his base in California. He
toured Europe in 1988 to small but wildly enthusiastic audiences. That same year he signed
to Island Records and released Chicago
Line . Renewed activity and interest occurred in 1990 following the release of his
finest album in many years, A
Sense Of Place . Mayall was interviewed during a short visit to Britain in 1992
and sounded positive, happy and unaffected by years in the commercial doldrums. Wake
Up Call changed everything once more. Released in 1993, the album is one of his
finest ever, and became his biggest-selling disc for over two decades. The 90s have so far
been kind to Mayall; the birth of another child in 1995, and a solid new release, Spinning
Coin . The replacement for the departing Coco Montoya is yet another highly
talented guitarist (a fortune with which Mayall is clearly blessed) - Buddy Whittington is
the latest, continuing a tradition that started with Clapton and Green. As the sole
survivor from the four 60s UK R&B/blues catalysts, Mayall has played the blues for so
long without any deviation that it is hard to think of any other white artist to compare.
He has outlived his contemporaries from the early days (Korner, Bond and Davis), and
recent reappraisal has put the man back at the top of a genre that he can justifiably
claim to have furthered more than any other Englishman. |
