British blues pioneer John Mayall dies aged 90 – BBC News

John Mayall was born on 29 November 1933 in the town of Macclesfield in Cheshire.

His father, Murray, was a talented guitarist and jazz enthusiast, and young Mayall was quickly drawn to the sound of Mississippi Delta blues musicians.

During his teenage years he took a self-taught ukulele course from George Formby and also taught himself to play the piano.

He completed his military service, which included a tour in Korea, before enrolling at Manchester College of Art.

Mayall quickly gained a reputation as something of an eccentric, building a huge treehouse in his grandparents’ garden, where he lived with his fiancée Pamela.

He also bought an electric guitar and began playing with a series of local bands, which he continued to do when he found a full-time job at a local commercial art studio.

In 1956 he founded the Powerhouse Four, which made a name for itself at local dances.

He joined a group called Blues Syndicate in 1962, heavily influenced by Alexis Korner, whose Blues Incorporated pioneered what would become the British blues revival of the 1960s.

Korner persuaded Mayall to move to London and devote himself to music full-time. He also introduced Mayall to key contacts in the London club scene and helped him find gigs.

In 1963, Mayall’s band, now renamed the Bluesbreakers, began performing regularly at the Marquee Club, a venue that would serve as a springboard for many famous bands, including the Rolling Stones and the Who.

A shrewd businessman, Mayall often stood outside the venue counting the number of spectators to ensure he was receiving a fair share of the ticket prices.

Mayall had already proven himself adept at spotting talented musicians and his lineup included John McVie on bass, who would later help form Fleetwood Mac.

His first album, John Mayall plays John Mayall, released in 1965, was a live set recorded at a West Hampstead R&B club. The album was unsuccessful and his short-term contract with Decca expired.

At the same time, he recruited Eric Clapton, who had just left the Yardbirds following their decision to abandon the blues for a more commercial style.

The presence of Clapton, already a recognized star, raised the profile of Mayall’s group.

However, the frequent arrival and departure of musicians began to take their toll on the Bluesbreakers.

Clapton took an unplanned three-month trip to Greece in August 1965, leaving Mayall with the problem of finding a new guitarist.

His troubles multiplied in October when bassist John McVie was fired due to heavy drinking and was replaced by Jack Bruce.

Mayall eventually found a guitarist in Peter Green, who spent only three days as Bluesbreaker before Eric Clapton returned and Green was summarily fired.

At the same time, Jack Bruce left his post after a dispute over his pay and Mayall was forced to rehire John McVie.

In March 1966, Decca were persuaded to re-sign the Bluesbreakers and they recorded what would be Mayall’s first studio album.

Determined to capitalize on the popularity of their talented guitarist, the album was titled Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton.

Fans later nicknamed it The Beano Album because of the comic strip Clapton is shown reading on the record’s cover.

The album was well received, reaching number six in the album charts and providing Mayall with the commercial breakthrough that had previously eluded him.

The album was still in its prime when Clapton announced he was leaving the group to form Cream with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker.

Mayall persuaded an initially reluctant Peter Green to join the band and he played the role of guitarist on Mayall’s next album, Hard Road, released in 1967.

It was to be Green’s only appearance on a Bluesbreakers album, the cover of which featured a painting of the band by Mayall himself.

The band’s lineup continued to change as musicians left for other projects and Mayall discovered new talent.

Mick Fleetwood, Aynsley Dunbar, Mick Taylor and Keef Hartley were just a few of the names that passed through the band in 1967, although many of them had left the group by the time Mayall released a solo album, The Blues Alone.

Eric Clapton once said: “John Mayall actually ran an incredibly great school of musicians.”

A strict disciplinarian, Mayall ruthlessly dismissed members of the group who he felt did not live up to his exacting standards.

In 1968, the group embarked on a US tour that included a concert at the legendary Fillmore West in San Francisco alongside Jimi Hendrix.

After the release of Blues from Laurel Canyon in April 1969, Mayall dropped the Bluesbreakers name and his new lineup experimented with playing without drums.

The acoustic album, The Turning Point, recorded at the Fillmore East in New York by the new lineup, earned Mayall his only gold record.

In the 1970s, Mayall moved to the United States and formed a series of groups with American musicians.

He moved away from the electric blues that made him famous and began experimenting with funk, pop and jazz.

He continued to tour the UK, however, often accompanying American blues legends such as John Lee Hooker and Sonny Boy Williamson.

In 1979, a fire destroyed his home in Laurel Canyon and he lost his original recordings, journals and much of his career memorabilia.

The influence of blues had waned in the UK but, in 1982, Mayall decided the time was right to reform the Bluesbreakers.

John McVie and Mick Taylor joined their former boss for a short period and the enthusiastic reception the group received encouraged Mayall to form a more permanent line-up.

Mayall continued to tour and record throughout the 1990s and the arrival of Texas guitarist Buddy Whittington in 1993 added a new dimension to the band’s sound.

In 2003, Mayall celebrated his 70th birthday with a concert in Liverpool featuring some of his former musicians, including Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor.

In a career spanning seven decades, John Mayall released more than 50 albums and included some of the greatest musicians of the era in a series of bewildering lineups.

He never achieved great commercial success, but his dedication to keeping the blues alive had a major influence on the rock explosion of the ’60s and ’70s.

Mayall is credited with helping to develop a blues revival among white musicians in England – and has been described as the “godfather of British blues”.

Mayall told the Guardian in 2014 that “at the time the American scene was racially segregated” – but that in Europe and England “black blues began to be heard by audiences who weren’t listening to it in America”.

Following their 1966 album with guitarist Clapton, the Bluesbreakers were hailed by music critics as one of the most influential blues bands in the world.

He told the Guardian that he had “managed to select some pretty special people”, choosing the band members based on the specific sound he was looking for.

He was appointed OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 2005.

Mayall is survived by his six children, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren, the family statement said.

“He is also surrounded by love by his previous wives, Pamela and Maggie, his devoted secretary, Jane, and his close friends,” he added.

“We, the Mayall family, cannot thank his fans and the long list of band members enough for the support and love we have been fortunate to receive over the past six decades.”