John Mayall. 1933 - 2024.

One of the greatest white bluesmen of all time, John Mayall, died on July 22nd of this year. Throughout his decades-long concert and record-laden career, he was often referred to as the godfather of British blues. He managed to form some outstanding bands and discover and introduce many great musicians to the music scene. He was particularly lucky in his choice of guitarists. Some of the biggest names he has teamed up with are Mick Taylor, Peter Green, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya and Harvey Mandel. It would be a mistake to leave out the lesser-known American Buddy Whittington, who made seven excellent albums with John between 1997 and 2007. But it wasn't just guitarists, Mayall's bands were filled with excellent drummers, bassists and brass players. The major moments that shaped the career of walking blues encyclopedia John Mayall came in the 1960s. In 1965 he hired Eric Clapton for twenty pounds a week, a salary that included all the gigs he played. Although Eric claims in his biography that it was £35 a week, whether it was twenty or thirty-five, it was remuneration for an enormous amount of music. A large number of gigs all over Britain, often 'doubles' played many hundreds of miles apart, taught Britain to listen to quality blues with working rhythms, brilliantly mastered guitar and unmistakable, high pitched vocals. John was forced to change the line-up of the band many times, and individual musicians often left to join major ensembles or form them themselves. This includes such greats as Fleetwood Mac, Cream, Colosseum, and the Rolling Stones, to name a few. John Mayall was not only the bandleader but also the manager of his bands and also the producer of their albums. It was always easy to make a record - you just go into the studio and do it, he claimed. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2005 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2024 in the category of musical influence. John Mayall played his last concert at the age of eighty-nine in March 2022 in California. After nearly forty albums released and an endless number of shows played (many of them in the Czech Republic), the journey of blues enthusiast, pianist, harmonica player, guitarist and singer John Brumwell Mayall has come to a close.

by David Sinclair (CR)