Summary
A spectacular harmonica-player and a terrific conductor of ensembles,
John Mayall was for several years the main reference point for the British
blues scene.
His band, the Bluesbreakers, played the role of a transmission belt between the
blues revival of the 1950s and the blues-rock of the 1960s, raising
talents that would make the history of rock music.
One of the events that changed the British music scene in a dramatic way in
1966 was the release of
the album
Bluesbreakers (1966), featuring the former Yardbirds guitarist Eric
Clapton, that defined a genre of rhythm'n'blues played by white European
musicians, the epitome of "blues-rock", which soon became one of the strongest
undercurrents of British rock music. It also laid the foundations for
progressive-rock:
Hard Road (Decca, 1967), featuring new guitarist Peter Green,
the lush jazz arrangements of the Bare Wires Suite (1968),
off the album Bare Wires (1968) that was almost entirely composed by Mayall himself,
the sophisticated lounge-music of the concept-album
Blues From Laurel Canyon (1969), entirely composed by Mayall, and of his
masterpiece, The Turning Point (1969), featuring
guitarist Jon Mark and saxophonist Johnny Almond,
the prelude to an ambitious Jazz-Blues Fusion (1972).
The Fleetwod Mac, the Colosseum and Mark-Almond (formed by
those cohorts) would be the logical consequences of Mayall's continuing
experiment with the blues.
Mayall's limit is that he may have been a better talent scout than musician.
Full bio
(Translated from my original Italian text by Ornella C. Grannis)
Spectacular harmonica player and great band leader, John Mayall was
for years the principal point of reference of the English blues scene.
His band, the Bluesbreakers, acted as a conveyor belt between the 50s
blues revival and 60s blues rock, raising many talents that made history
in British rock. In fact, perhaps Mayall made more history as a talent
scout that as a musician.
In 1963, with a visceral passion for the electric blues of Chicago, after
years of obscure apprenticeship in his native Manchester, Mayall moved to
London, The Bluesbreakers picked the right format: a very rhythmic blues,
enhanced by audacious solos, often catchy, enhanced by rhythm and blues
horns, that were the trademark of his teacher, Alexis Korner. Crawling Up
The Hill (1964), Mayall's first single, remains to date one of his most
original compositions, later included in the collection Thru The Years
(Deram, 1971).John Mayall Plays John Mayall (Decca, 1965) is not much of
a record, especially when compared to the Stones' debut album, but it
documents an era, and shows that Mayall wrote his own material at a time
when white blues men limited themselves to the re-elaboration of black
material.
In 1965 Mayall had the good fortune to discover a young guitarist named Eric
Clapton, who had gathered experience with the Yardbirds. Not only were
Clapton's solos faithful to the blues tradition, they were also improvised,
a fact that in those days seemed revolutionary. Bluesbreakers (Decca, 1966),
also known as the "Beano" album,
is an epoch making album. The best original cuts are Double Crossing Time,
the extended Have You Heard, and the lively rhythm and blues Key To Love.
However, the signature songs from their concerts are covers: Willie Dixon's
and Otis Rush's All Your Love (with the first great solo by Clapton) and Freddie King's instrumental Steppin Out.
In 1967, with the more creative Peter Green at the guitar and Ainsley
Dunbar at the drums, Mayall created Hard Road (Decca, 1967), perhaps the
masterpiece of blues revival. Supernatural presages the first glimmerings
of a fantastic defection from the standard blues format. Peter Green also
recorded with Mayall some singles subsequently released on Thru The Years
(Deram, 1971), the album that includes the legendary Out Of Reach.
By the end of the year, when the leader began to show signs of megalomania,
the band renewed itself, hiring eighteen-year-old guitarist Mick Taylor
and two horns. The result of that renewal is Crusade (Decca, 1967), a more
conventional album entirely devoted to covers of black music arranged by
Mayall in his style. At the end of that intense year Mayall released his
first solo work, Blues Alone (Deram, 1967), an album that shows how much
of his success was owed to his associates, most of whom had moved on to
become stars, forming groups such as Cream, Colosseum and Fleetwood Mac.
With Mick Taylor at the guitar, Dick Heckstall-Smith at the sax and Jon
Hiseman at the drums, the Bluesbreakers took an historic step with Bare
Wires (1968), burying blues under layers of jazz refinements, especially
in the 23 minute long Bare Wire Suite. Blues From Laurel Canyon (Polydor,
1969) is a concept album dedicated to Los Angeles, played with the precious
tone of a cocktail lounge combo. The title is a reference to Frank Zappa's
address where Mayall stayed.
Looking Back (Deram, 1969) is an anthology of singles. It includes Jenny,
one of Mayall's songwriting gems. London Blues (Polydor, 1992) is a great
anthology of the 1966-69 period.
Taylor joined the Rolling Stones and the others formed the Colosseum. With
Jon Mark at the guitar and Johnny Almond at the sax, Mayall released
The Turning Point (Polydor, 1969), perhaps his masterpiece, a purely acoustic
album
that adopts a style half way between free-form and sophisticated, granting
each cut more structural freedom, and offering for the first time original
compositions by the group: the rhythmic Room To Move, one of his greatest
performances on harmonica, and the swinging acoustic ballad California,
with a jazz sax solo and an Arabic flute solo, both by Almond. Mayall named
his next album for the concept he was pursuing: Jazz-Blues Fusion (Polydor,
1972) but his vision was perhaps too ambitious for his composing limits,
although the record does provide some suggestive hints for others to
follow.
The experiment without drums and with a velvety sound was continued with
less success on Empty Room (Polydor, 1970), which includes the hit Don't
Waste My Time. Mark and Almond continued the project with their band, Mark
Almond.
With USA Union (1971), his first American album, featuring Harvey Mandel on
guitar, Mayall returned to a
more traditional format and, thanks to deluxe sideman jazz violinist Don
Sugarcane Harris, he managed to create some brilliant jazz-blues ballads,
like Night Flyer and Deep Blue Sea, and other faithful blues portraits,
such as Took The Car. The idea of the "jazz-blues fusion" was continued on
Memories (1971), an album recorded with a more humble trio.
Back To The Roots (1971) is an album/event were the entire dynasty of
Mayall's bands comes together to pay tribute to the leader. Moving On
(1972) is an other album of jazz-blues fusion. The commemorative period
ended with Ten Years Are Gone (1973), a double album; the live side
contains two of Mayall's best jams: Dark Of the Night and Harmonica Free
Form.
Latest Edition (Polydor, 1974) was the last album of Mayall's golden era.
It was followed by an avalanche of recordings (mostly live) of questionable
quality, beginning with New Year, New Band, New Company (ABC, 1975). Room
To Move (Polydor, 1992) is a very good anthology of the period 1970-74.
Mayall reconstituted the Bluesbreakers for Behind The Iron Curtain (GNP,
1985), recorded in Hungary, and for his first studio album in the longest
time, Chicago Line (Island, 1988), followed by A Sense of Place (Island,
1990), Wake Up Call (Silvertone, 1993), and Blues For The Lost Days
(Silvertone, 1997).
Along For The Ride (Eagle, 2000) finds Mayall leading an all-star cast as
in the good old days.
Altogether John Mayall's monumental work has no equal in the history of
modern blues. Mayall has created more music than any other bluesman and
is the only musician who has tried, albeit irregularly, and managed
fusion with both rock and jazz. But regardless of how finely tuned, the
numerous classics of the "King Lear" of English blues didn't fly very high,
and all his followers sooner or later deserted the cause, some for jazz,
some for hard-rock, and some for pop music.
Mayall died in 2024 at the age of 90.