John Mayall, the British blues musician whose band was a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and many other superstars, has died aged 90.
A statement on Mayall’s Instagram page said he died on Monday at his home in California.
“Health issues that forced John to end his epic touring career have finally led to peace for one of this world’s greatest road warriors,” the post said.
Mayall is credited with helping develop the English take on urban, Chicago-style rhythm and blues that played an important role in the blues revival of the late 1960s.
At various times, his band the Bluesbreakers included Clapton and Jack Bruce, later of Cream; Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Peter Green of Fleetwood Mac, Mick Taylor, who played for five years with the Rolling Stones, Harvey Mandel and Larry Taylor of Canned Heat and Jon Mark and John Almond, who went on to form the Mark-Almond Band.
Although Mayall never approached the fame of some of his illustrious alumni, he was still performing in his late 80s.
“I’ve never had a hit record, I never won a Grammy Award, and Rolling Stone has never done a piece about me,” he said in an interview with the Santa Barbara Independent in 2013.
“I’m still an underground performer.”
Image: Mayall performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in 2018. Pic: Amy Harris/Invision/AP
Born on 29 November, 1933, in Macclesfield, Mayall once said: “The only reason I was born in Macclesfield was because my father was a drinker, and that’s where his favourite pub was.”
His father also played guitar and banjo, and his records of boogie-woogie piano captivated his teenage son.
Mayall was often called the “father of British blues” but when he moved to London in 1962 he aimed to soak up the blues scene led by Alexis Korner and Cyril Davies.
The Bluesbreakers drew on a fluid community of musicians who drifted in and out of various bands.
His 1968 album Blues from Laurel Canyon signalled a permanent move to the United States and a change in direction.
In 1982, he reformed the Bluesbreakers, recruiting Taylor and McVie, but after two years the personnel changed again.
In 2008, Mayall announced that he was permanently retiring the Bluesbreaker name, and in 2013 he was leading the John Mayall Band.
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