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Lets talk about John Mayall

Bratwurst7s

Bratwurst7s

In The Frying Pan
Subscriber
Last year I rediscovered John Mayal.

Yeah, I had listened to some of his stuff back in the 70's-80's, had/have 2 Lps (Bluesbreakers with EC and Back To The Roots) but mainly skipped on his work until last fall.

The last 10+ years my music direction has shifted to mainly Blues, and last fall I thought to get back to JM. And am now deep into the wormhole, like 23 cd's deep, with more on the way. The guy did something like an incredible 34 (or more?) studio albums during his time. That's not even counting the live albums.

Listening to the breadth of his work he was an amazing talent scout, bandleader and musician.
I did a forum search and was surprised to see that I couldn't find a single thread discussing this fine guy, going back as far as one can see.

So, who has some favorites? Or stories? Or suggestions?

:beerchug:
James
 
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I will start with this: To me it is amazing that (in my not so humble opinion) he actually did his best work with the 2nd generation Bluesbreakers, at a point where he was 52 years old and counting.

Great work before and after, but I strongly believe that 1990 to 2007 were his best years.

:beerchug:
James
 
Sure.

First thing is that he spelled his last name "Mayall".

Second thing is that Mayall was fascinated with pornography and possessed one of the largest collection of print and 8mm and later DVD-based material in the world. For real.
 
Mystic said:
Sure.

First thing is that he spelled his last name "Mayall".

Second thing is that Mayall was fascinated with pornography and possessed one of the largest collection of print and 8mm and later DVD-based material in the world. For real.
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1) You are so right, I should have checked my spelling, thread title corrected. I am leaving the rest of my posts uncorrected as evidence of my ignorance. :biggrin:
2) I didn't know about that. Unfortunately none of the LP's or CD's came with any evidence of that.

:beerchug:
James
 
"A Special Life" from 2014 should be arriving today, and "Crusade" from 1967 by the end of the week. I have "Back To The Roots" (1971) on LP but am looking for a CD.

:beerchug:
 
Fan from the get for me.
Seen him live once in a local bar in the 70's with a few hundred others crammed into the place.
Man he could sure make those ivory keys sing!
 
"Crusade" was my first, back when it came out...'68? Kinda disappointed then but love it now, maybe even more that "Beano."
 
I only saw him once and that was in 1969. It was at The Midwest Rock Festival in Milwaukee and he was on “The Turning Point” tour at the State Fair racetrack. The bands were rolled in and out on flatbed trailers and he played under some makeshift shelter. We got the whole LP, including “Room to Move”

I never saw him again and probably should have hit one of his shows here in the clubs this last decade before he passed. It would have been great to see him in that smaller venue again.

I’ve got at least a dozen of his LPs, but rarely play them. Turning Point and Jazz Blues Fusion probably get the most play, but Laurel Canyon, Beano, and Hard Road get occasionally played.
 
The 70th Birthday Concert (video) is very very good. I have it on DVD and have been searching for it on bluray but they are crazy expensive.

Regardless of format the show is great.

:beerchug:
James
 
"Room to Move" on The Turning Point album was great but the song "California" on the same album really trips my trigger. He also played several instruments and used over-dubbing.

Here's some names he "mentored":

  • Eric Clapton
  • Peter Green
  • Mick Taylor
  • Jack Bruce
  • John McVie
  • Mick Fleetwood
  • Harvey Mandel
  • Walter Trout
  • Coco Montoya
 
55Redneck said:
My fave of his is Tough from 2009. Killer album. :)
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That is a really good album.
His next album, "A Special Life" arrived today. I like it even better than Tough. I think that the new band had had more time to gel and it shows. Recorded in late 2013 he was 80 years old and fit as a fiddle.

:beerchug:
James
 
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meggy said:
"Room to Move" on The Turning Point album was great but the song "California" on the same album really trips my trigger. He also played several instruments and used over-dubbing.

Here's some names he "mentored":

  • Eric Clapton
  • Peter Green
  • Mick Taylor
  • Jack Bruce
  • John McVie
  • Mick Fleetwood
  • Harvey Mandel
  • Walter Trout
  • Coco Montoya
Click to expand...

Add Buddy Whittington to that list. I had never heard of him before, but he is pretty good. Actually, at 15 years, he was the longest running lead guitarist in JM's entire time. That should say something.

This last Sunday I noticed that Buddy W did a one off band/album with Jim Suhler called Texas Scratch. I found and ordered a CD right away. FWIW, Jim Suhler is another lesser known great in my opinion.

:beerchug:
James
 
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