Interpreting The Blues

What John Mayall did from 1964–66 probably couldn’t be attempted today: He launched a band of mostly-younger players, each of whom became a major force in English music over the next four decades.

- John Mayall

That batch of Bluesbreakers—with Eric Clapton, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Jack Bruce, Peter Green and Mick Taylor at various times—may be his most celebrated era, but it was only one of many dozen, wildly diverse blues bands he’s fronted over the years. The latest incarnation, now a trio without drums and with the new addition of Texas guitar firebrand Carolyn Wonderland, hits the Fest this year.

It seems remarkable now that a bunch of English kids would revere and play the blues as well as they did. “We didn’t think of them as kids—they were grown men, even though they were 17 and 18 years old,” Mayall says now. “Trad jazz had been ruling the roost for ten years before that, thanks to people like Chris Barber. And then we had bluesmen like Big Bill Broonzy coming over to England. So it was definitely more than a fad.”

Mayall wound up largely abandoning the guitar-band format just as bands like Cream and Fleetwood Mac were starting to catch on—and to a great extent, that’s where his catalogue gets interesting. The 1969 album The Turning Point, still one of his best sellers, bucked convention by using an acoustic band—guitar, flute, bass and harmonica, no drums. That album also introduced “Room to Move,” his signature tune for decades to come.