John Mayall: Briton Perks Up Moribund Blues
Pete Johnson, Los Angeles Times, April 1968
THE BLUES, that ugly stepsister of rock music, has finally become a commercial force in pop. Groups such as Canned Heat, the Paul Butterfield Band, Big Brother and the Holding Company, the Electric Flag, Steppenwolf, a host of San Francisco combos, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., 10 Years After and hybrids such as Traffic, Blood, Sweat and Tears, the Cream and Jimi Hendrix, have revived a form that was approaching enervation. B.B. King has a single, 'Paying the Cost to Be the Boss', rated at 65 on Cashbox magazine's national Top 100 Chart, and his half-brother Albert has become a headline concert attraction (he will play a Pinnacle show at the Shrine next weekend). Jimmy Reed and John Lee Hooker have appeared on the Sunset Strip.
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