John Mayall
Blues legend John Mayall was born at Macclesfield in 1933. At the tender age of 13 he began to learn piano, guitar and harmonica emulating his Blues hero's Leadbelly, Eddie Lang, Albert Ammons and alike...
In 1956 he was fronting "The Powerhouse Four" and later "The Blues Syndicate" on a semi pro basis playing around the North of England Etc, then in the late 1960s "Father of British Blues" Alexis Corner invited John down to London where "John Mayalls Bluesbreakers" were born.
John met Eric Clapton who joined the band and the rest is history. Later after Clapton and bass player Jack Bruce left to form "Cream" other subsequently big names joined The Bluesbreakers. Peter Green, Andy Fraser, Mick Taylor, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie all passed through the bands ranks.
In 2004 John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers are still cutting albums and playing concerts around the World.
Check out: johnmayall.com
LOCAL GIGS INCLUDED:
The Magic Village (John Mayalls Bluesbreakers - featuring Mick Taylor)
In 1957 or thereabouts I was working in an advertising agency on Grosvenor Street in Ardwick and playing in a skiffle group. One of my mates from the group, Ray Cummings, was a student at the Regional College of Art, a little further down Grosvenor Street, got me to go to the college in my lunch hour to see this guy who was doing lunchtime sessions in the lecture theatre.
It was, of course, John Mayall, playing piano, guitar and harmonica and singing the blues. He had a little band, The Powerhouse Four which usually consisted of Pete Ward on drums, sometimes Roger Woodburn on acoustic (gut string) guitar and sometimes Ray on electric guitar (a Framus archtop through a Selmer Truvoice amp) and Ricky Blears on double bass. Ricky later became famous (or infamous) on the music scene through his association with Brinsley Schwarz.
I remember that John use to wear a small knife in a jewelled sheaf on his belt and he obviously bought his footwear from the same shoeshop that Jesus patronised. He had a Japanese single pickup archtop guitar (possibly the first, but by no means the last, Japanese guitar to be seen in this country) that he'd bought in Japan whilst serving in Korea with the army.
He played this through a battered tape recorder that emitted an ominous smell of burning insulation. This same tape recorder was also his PA system and he had a microphone on a sort of stick that he sang and played his harp through.
A couple of years later, Ray and I did a gig with John at the Domestic and Trades College ('The Toast Rack') and John turned up on his bike with the self same tape recorder strapped to his back. He was wearing a ripped boiler suit and an old trilby hat. I think that he mostly played guitar that night but the machine heads were so rusted up that it was all he could do to get the guitar in tune with itself let alone bring it up to concert pitch.
It was a case of -
John: "We'll do 'Too Close Together'"
Me: "What key?"
John: "I don't know. (he plays a chord) That key."
We played in some unusual keys that night.
So, he'll be 76 in November, he's just fired his band (including the fabulous Buddy Whittington) and he's put yet another version of the 'Blues Breakers' together and he's off on yet another marathon tour including some gigs supporting B.B. King.
I don't know what he's on but I wonder if you can get it on the NHS...
Pete Crooks
11/3/09
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