John Mayall

While John Mayall - born November 29, 1933, in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England - was never a household name nor did he achieve significant mainstream success, yet his influence on contemporary British music was massive. Often referred to as the ‘godfather of the British blues movement,’ John Mayall was effectively the catalyst for many great guitarists, including Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor. The son of a jazz guitarist, he was inspired by American blues icons Leadbelly, Pinetop Smith, Albert Ammons, and Eddie Lang and taught himself to play guitar, piano, and harmonica. After a spell at the Manchester College of Art, he joined the Blues Syndicate and was persuaded by Alexis Korner to move to London to pursue a career in music. Korner introduced him to other like-minded musicians and out of that came the first incarnation of his band, the Bluesbreakers, which included John McVie (who went on to form Fleetwood Mac) on bass. They backed John Lee Hooker on tour and earned a recording contract with Decca, releasing their first single, “Crocodile Walk,” in 1964. Eric Clapton joined the Bluesbreakers the following year and created much interest with bluesy jazz tracks like “I'm Your Witchdoctor,” which led to the classic and massively influential Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton album in 1966. Other important musicians who spent time in Mayall's band included Peter Green (later of Fleetwood Mac), Jack Bruce (Cream), Mick Taylor (The Rolling Stones), Andy Fraser (Free), Jon Hiseman (Colisseum) and Hughie Flint (McGuinness Flint). John Mayall released three more successful albums with the Bluesbreakers – A Hard Road (1967), Crusade (1967), and Bare Wires (1968) – before going solo with albums like Blues from Laurel Canyon (1968), Empty Rooms (1970), and USA Union (1970). By the 1970s, John Mayall had moved to the US and put together a new band, although he reformed a version of the Bluesbreakers in 1982 and celebrated his 70th birthday with an all-star charity show in 2003. He finally split the Bluesbreakers in 2008 but continued touring with other musicians and recording albums such as Tough (2009), A Special Life (2014), Find a Way to Care (2015), Nobody Told Me (2019), and The Sun is Shining Down (2022). John Mayall died on July 22, 2024, at the age of 90.