Growing up in Northern England was a far cry from where life has taken him as a blues legend. This father of six and grandfather of six started out in the music business over 45 years ago in the early ‘60’s, heading his infamous band “John Mayall and The Bluesbreakersâ€.
Being influenced by American blues music was a phenomenon of the times for Mayall and many of his peers in late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s. Many bands, such as The Rolling Stones, adopted and adapted from their blues idols, re-tooling their sounds and influence for a pop audience. Black American blues musicians, like John Lee Hooker and others, found they had a large, unbiased audience in England and Europe and that they could make a good living on the other side of the Atlantic. Many of these blues greats would travel to England and hire established bands as their backing bands—such as John Mayall and The Bluesbreakers—as those young English lads would know every note of their music. John Mayall was given that honorable task, backing such notables as Hooker, Sonny Boy Williamson and T. Bone Walker.
John Mayall is affectionately referred to in music circles as “The Godfather of British Blues†because of his influence as a blues purist and because of the long list of great musicians who have cut their musical teeth with him. Those that started their careers with John Mayall include Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, Andy Fraser of Free, Mick Taylor of The Rolling Stones, Coco Montoya, Walter Trout and the great Eric Clapton.
Clapton has stated “John Mayall has actually run an incredibly great school for musiciansâ€, many times crediting Mayall with providing the environment that honed his style. And, to quote B.B. King: “John Mayall, he was the master of it. If it wasn’t for the British musicians, a lot of us black musicians in America would still be catchin’ the hell that we caught long before. So thanks to all you guys, thank you very much!†(quoted from Martin Scorsese's PBS series "The Blues")
At 73, Mayall shows no signs of slowing down. His 57th album, "In The Palace Of The King", is a tribute to one of his heroes—blues great Freddie King. Released April 16, 2007 on Eagle Records.
