The “Godfather of British Blues” and a longtime crusader for American blues originators, John Mayall joins many of his idols, as well as a famous former band member, with his induction into the Blues Hall of Fame. Eric Clapton, guitarist with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers in the 1960s, was inducted in 2014, while the bluesmen who inspired Mayall, including Sonny Boy Williamson, J.B. Lenoir, Otis Rush and Freddie King, were among the first inductees.
Born November 29, 1933, in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, Mayall inherited an early interest in blues, boogie woogie, and jazz from his father, Murray Mayall, a trombonist, guitarist, and record collector. Mayall took up piano, guitar, and harmonica, formed his first band in 1962, and founded the legendary Bluesbreakers in London in 1963. The band featured a succession of guitarists who went on to greater blues/rock fame, including Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor, as well as future Fleetwood Mac founders Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. The Bluesbreakers’ 1966 LP with Clapton was a Top 10 album in England. In the liner notes to his 1967 album Crusade, Mayall wrote, his goal was “to campaign for some of my blues heroes,” and he later devoted a whole album to songs by one of them, Freddie King.
Mayall moved to California to continue his blues journey stateside and has recorded prolifically and toured steadily with only a rare hiatus, still recruiting hot young sidemen such as Coco Montoya and Walter Trout, and making his mark as a songwriter as well as a devoted interpreter. His studio albums number more than 60, augmented by a growing catalog of live recordings. Buddy Guy, Otis Rush, Albert Collins, and other Blues Hall of Famers have taken guest spots on some, and along the way Mayall also produced an album by another, Albert King. Numerous Mayall albums have appeared on the Billboard pop charts over the years, including The Turning Point, Bare Wires, Empty Rooms, U.S.A. Union, and Back to the Roots, and his later releases have scored high on the magazine’s blues charts. As Mayall’s odyssey continues, the words he wrote for Crusade in 1967 still resonate decades later: ” I have dedicated my life to the blues … I hope you’ll join forces with me.”