Father figure
Richard Burnett
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Mayall still headlines over 100 shows a year
photo: Courtesy Spectra
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The lasting influence of British bluesman John Mayall
When it comes to the blues in Britain, only two men really matter: Long John Baldry, who discovered Elton John and Rod Stewart, and John Mayall, whose Bluesbreakers gave us Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood and Mick Taylor.Baldry passed away a couple years back with Rod and Elton pretty much by his side, and Mayall's own "kids" have stuck by their mentor all their lives too.
"Years and years pass and you don't see them and then you run into them. That communication is set for life," says Mayall, 76. "A good illustration of that was my 70th birthday concert. I hadn't seen some of these guys for 20 years and we stepped on stage and locked right in. That's the thing about the blues, it's a language we all have in common."
As a kid Mayall listened to the records of Leadbelly and Pinetop Smith. After serving three years in Korea, he bought his first electric guitar, enrolled at Manchester College of Art (he would design his own album covers) and moved to London in 1963 where he founded the Bluesbreakers. The rest, as they say, is history.
"The first blues concert I attended was T-Bone Walker and John Lee Hooker in Germany in 1962," Mayall recalls. "It wasn't a revelation - I knew their music almost backwards. But it was a great thrill to meet them in person... This past summer B.B. King and I did a couple of big shows in England and the response
was overwhelming. The blues is a language that keeps on going."Mayall - inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in 2007 - has never had a hit record, one reason his new album is called Tough. Now his 50-year-old son runs a basement blues-rock club in London, and Mayall's Bluesbreaker kids love him. "I take it as an honour that I helped provide an environment to start these great musicians and helped stretch their feet."
John Mayall
At Métropolis (59 Ste-Catherine E.), Nov. 22
