John Mayall: Breaking the British blues

John Mayall (77) enjoyed a golden period in the 1960s and was a mentor to young musicians such as Eric Clapton. Photo / Supplied

John Mayall is the grand old man of British blues, and the reissue of key albums from the 60s shows why, writes Graham Reid.

Another guitar man done gone, but wait... there's more out there. When British bluesman John Mayall played the Civic last year, the concert was disappointing and crowd-pleasing. Disappointing because, although professionally executed, it didn't take flight. Crowd-pleasing because he played his hits.

The joke is, Mayall never had hits and at 77 it's increasingly unlikely he will. But he did enjoy a golden period in the 60s with acclaimed albums and it was to that era he frequently defaulted, to the delight of an audience largely made up of those there the first time round.

Mayall was a key figure in the British Blues Boom but was a decade older than the young Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and others drawing inspiration from Mississippi Delta blues and tough urban sounds from Chicago.

Mayall was a mentor to young musicians, although his first album John Mayall Plays John Mayall, recorded live in late 64, hardly rattled rafters. But the following three album - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton in 66, A Hard Road and Crusade (both in 67) - were as influential as anything out of Mississippi or Chess studios in Chicago.

In 1965, the young and gifted Clapton, wary of the Yardbirds's direction away from rhythm and blues and into the pop charts, gravitated towards Mayall's band. For sessions in April 66 - using Marshall amps and a secondhand Les Paul guitar - he searched to replicate the tough Chicago style.

The sessions were fast, raw and loud - and Clapton's guitar was prominent on material which included Robert Johnson's Ramblin' On My Mind, Mose Allison's Parchman Farm, Freddie King's Hideaway and the Willie Dixon-Otis Rush song All Your Love. In their version of Ray Charles' What Did I Say Clapton drops in a quote from the Beatles' Daytripper. Known as "the Beano album" - because Clapton is on the cover reading that kids' comic - it sang and stung in ways people hadn't heard in British blues.

Although Clapton - restless, insecure and still only 20 - had quit by the time it was released, the album remains a highpoint in Mayall's career. With Clapton's departure Mayall had to build a new band around bassist John McVie (later the "Mac" in Fleetwood Mac) and drummer Hughie Flint. He chose ascending guitar star Peter Green who had drawn accolades from black Americans and British blues players alike.

The highlights of that album, A Hard Road are when Green steps up, notably on The Supernatural. His tone, very different to that of Clapton, established his name - and Mayall had again picked winning talent. But Green also quit to form his own band, which morphed into Fleetwood Mac when McVie followed to join drummer Mick Fleetwood in the line-up.

Again Mayall looked for a guitarist and on Crusade unveiled a line-up with 17-year old Mick Taylor.

Crusade is stronger than A Hard Road and Mayall contributed one of his most affecting songs in The Death of J.B. Lenoir. But most attention was on the young guitarist burning on material like Oh Pretty Woman and Snowy Wood. Taylor lasted with Mayall into important albums like Bare Wires and Blues from Laurel Canyon (both 1968), then joined the Rolling Stones.

These three reissued Mayall albums - the Clapton, Green and Taylor showcases, in glorious mono and available on vinyl also - were a uniquely British take on the blues, so it's hardly surprising Mayall draws on them even today.

So what became of the gifted guitarists?

Green fell victim to an LSD binge in 70, quit Fleetwood Mac, spent time in mental institutions and slowly returned to playing in the 80s. Taylor didn't fit with the Stones - he quit in 74 - although made great contributions to Sticky Fingers and It's Only Rock'n'Roll. He fell to heroin for a while and two years ago was close to being broke.

And the other one? Against the odds of alcohol and drug addiction, he survived.

Today Eric Clapton CBE, 65, is on the cover of his latest album, playing the blues live in New York's Lincoln Center with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, wearing a suit and tie. The album opens with a New Orleans romp through "you scream. I scream, we all scream for ice cream".

Some might say that was a disappointing, but crowd-pleasing, concert.

Stars: 5/5

Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton

One of the greatest and most raw albums of the British blues boom

Stars: 3.5/5

A Hard Road

Clapton out and a new guitar star making a name

Stars: 4/5

Crusade

- TimeOut