John Mayall
“The Godfather of British Blues”
RIP John Mayall who passed away on July 22 at age 90. John was an English blues , rock musician, songwriter, and producer who had a career that spanned nearly seven decades. In the 1960s, he formed the band, John Mayall and The Bluesbrakers and through the decades the group had some of the greatest English rock musicians, including Eric Clapton. Clapton joined Mayall for two years after playing in The Yardbirds. He was depressed and lacking in self confidence. Mayall encouraged him to ignore the commercial pressures and to follow his own creative juices, which soon lead to his breakthrough success with Cream.
Other noteworthy musicians that played with Mayall include Jack Bruce, Mick Fleetwood, blues pianist Champion Jack Dupree, saxophonist John Almond, drummer Ginger Baker, bassist John McVie, and guitarists Peter Green, Harvey Mandell, and future Rolling Stone, Mick Taylor.
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. Mayall’s autobiography, Blues From Laurel Canyon: My Life As A Bluesman, co-written with author Joel McIver was published in 2019.