John Mayall
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John Mayall: The Turning Point
Review by Loyd Grossman, Fusion, 17 October 1969
A TURNING POINT in British blues music may have been reached last May when Mick Taylor and Colin Allen left John Mayall's band. Following their ...
Audio interviews
Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages audio, July 1990
British Blues legend John Mayall looks back to the start of the Blues Boom; on his guitar players Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor; revisits the Flamingo in Wardour Street; harp lessons from Sonny Boy Williamson and through to living in the USA and that house fire.
File format: mp3; file size: 107.3mb, interview length: 1h 51' 45" sound quality: ***
List of articles in the library
T-Bone Walker, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers: Flamingo, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 13 March 1965
THE GREAT T-Bone Walker opened at London's Flamingo on Friday with an hour of beefy blues. ...
Eric Clapton: The Yardbird Who Got Left Behind
Interview by Dawn James, Rave, June 1965
His name is Eric Clapton. His nickname in the Yardbirds was "Slow-Hand" because he clapped his hands. He played on the Yardbirds' No. 1 hit ...
Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated: Marquee Club, London
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 6 August 1966
IT WAS AN historic evening at London's Marquee on Monday night when Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated made their first appearance there for nearly four years. ...
John Mayall, Love, Petula Clark et al Albums
Review by Nick Jones, uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 6 August 1966
Single minded blues men ...
Pop Singles inc. the Beatles, Small Faces, John Mayall with Eric Clapton
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 6 August 1966
CUTE & POTTY RINGO ...
John Mayall: Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Decca LK 4804)
Review by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, September 1966
JOHN MAYALL'S voice may not be the greatest example of blues singing there is, but he is sincere, and with blues fans that counts for ...
Player of the Month: Peter Green
Interview by Kevin Swift, Beat Instrumental, December 1966
HE'S NOT yet had the pleasure of being in a chart-jumping group nor has he played with any of the very big names. But, nevertheless, ...
New Singles from the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding et al
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 14 January 1967
Stones old firm back in strength ...
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 21 January 1967
PAUL JONES: 'I've Been A Bad Bad Boy' (HMV). Sounds a bit like Paul Jones. Great — I like this one. I like that 'bad, ...
Platter Chatter: New Albums from Jefferson Airplane, The Byrds, The Doors et al
Review by uncredited writer, Hit Parader, July 1967
SURREALISTIC PILLOW will make anyone with good musical taste a Jefferson Airplane admirer. A beautiful blend of vocal and instrumental harmonies flows through everything this ...
Cream, Jeff Beck Group, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers: Saville Theatre, London
Live Review by Nick Jones, Melody Maker, 8 July 1967
IT'S THE CREAM ALL THE WAY AT THE SAVILLE ...
Fleetwood Mac: Peter Green – The Guitarist Who Won't Forsake The Blues
Interview by Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 19 August 1967
ANYONE WHO in a year has built up the reputation of being Britain's best blues guitarist, must have some interesting things to say, and therefore ...
Interview by Kevin Swift, Beat Instrumental, September 1967
THERE'S A dearth of purists in Britain. What's happened to them all, where have they got to? Most of them have "gone pop", leaving behind ...
John Mayall, Mike Vernon: True Blues?
Interview by Alan Walsh, Melody Maker, 7 October 1967
ALAN WALSH investigates the plight of the British bluesman ...
Loraine Alterman on Pop Records: A Powerful New Kind of 'Suite'
Review by Loraine Alterman, Detroit Free Press, 8 October 1967
TWO EXCELLENT new albums show how far the best contemporary song-writing and record making has come from the June-moon-spoon days. One is Of Cabbages and ...
John Mayall: O, Come And Join All Ye The Blues Faithful Crusade
Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 28 October 1967
ROLL UP! Get your Bluesbreakers masks here. Peter Green 2s 6d, Eric Clapton five bob... ...
The Interesting Story of John Mayall
Profile and Interview by Wesley Laine, Record Mirror, 28 October 1967
MOST BLUES stars have interesting stories to tell about their life and career — and most of them have the ability to tell it in ...
Profile and Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 13 January 1968
THE EVER-growing acceptance of blues during the Sixties has decisively affected the direction in which the popular music business has travelled in country. On the ...
New Albums by John Mayall, Fleetwood Mac, Van Morrison et al
Review by Peter Jones, Norman Jopling, Record Mirror, 2 March 1968
Staunch British blues fans will dig Mayall's Diary LP set ...
Report and Interview by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 July 1968
JOHN MAYALL HAS taken a great leap forward with his Bare Wires suite which takes up one side of his latest Decca album. ...
John Mayall: Mayall's Bare Wires = a progression in attitude
Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 13 July 1968
JOHN MAYALL has taken a great leap forward with his Bare Wires suite which takes up one side of his latest Decca album. ...
Comment by John Sinclair, Fifth Estate, 15 August 1968
NOW THAT things have cooled down a little for the MC5 and myself after all the excitement of recent weeks maybe I can get into ...
NME Reporters Cover the Weekend's Major Event — the Eighth National Jazz and Blues Festival
Live Review by Keith Altham, Richard Green, New Musical Express, 17 August 1968
STARS, SUNSHINE and a SHAMBLES ...
8th National Jazz & Blues Festival: Lazy Sunbury Afternoon...
Live Review by Derek Boltwood, Record Mirror, 17 August 1968
PLAGUED BY DISASTER AND COUNTLESS SETBACKS, THE SUNBURY FESTIVAL PRESENTED SOME OF THE BEST MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT EVER SEEN. RM WAS THERE. ...
Mayall Helps Mac Break Into Singles
Report by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 14 September 1968
ACE BLUESMAN John Mayall went to a concert given by super ace bluesman B.B. King in America, took a tape recording of it and later ...
John Mayall: Blues From Laurel Canyon (Decca)
Review by uncredited writer, Melody Maker, 30 November 1968
THIS IS John's least interesting album for a long time, and the reason is quite simple, and explained best in his own words on the ...
John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers: A Hard Road (London)
Review by Metal Mike Saunders, Rolling Stone, 7 December 1968
This record has some great blues for blues freaks, whether you happen to prefer blues played by whites, blacks, or homosexual Chinese emigrants to the ...
Ten Years After, John Mayall: Fillmore East, New York NY
Live Review by Mike Jahn, The New York Times, 5 March 1969
10 Years After and John Mayall Present Blues at Fillmore East ...
Deep Purple, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Sanpaku: Rose Palace, Pasadena CA
Live Review by John Mendelssohn, Los Angeles Times, 24 April 1969
Rock Shows Held at Pasadena Rose Palace ...
Led Zeppelin, John Mayall, The Nice et al: Bath Festival, Shepton Mallet, Somerset
Live Review by Chris Welch, Melody Maker, 5 July 1969
A ZEPPELIN attacked the City of Bath on Saturday, and gassed 120,000. Airship Commander Jimmy Page kept the most fearsome dirigible in progressive blues aloft ...
Newport Jazz Festival 1969: New Records & Not All That Jazz
Live Review by Ian Dove, Billboard, 19 July 1969
NEWPORT, R.I. — On paper at least the experiment of adding rock music to the Newport Jazz Festival 1969 came from the purest of motives. ...
Chuck Berry, Elvin Bishop, John Mayall: Fillmore East, New York NY
Live Review by Ian Dove, Billboard, 18 October 1969
Berry, Bishop — Musical Brothers ...
Comment by Geoffrey Cannon, The Guardian, 21 October 1969
MEETING JANIS Joplin a few months ago, before her Albert Hall concert, I was staggered to feel how nervous she was. Then she explained. She ...
John Mayall: Turning Point (Polydor mono and stereo 583 571; 37s 6d)
Review by Richard Green, New Musical Express, 1 November 1969
MAYALL MINUS DRUMS ...
John Mayall, Keef Hartley: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Jerry Gilbert, Melody Maker, 29 November 1969
JOHN MAYALL must have fell like the father figure of British blues at the Albert Hall on Thursday as he surveyed Henry Lowther and Keef ...
Profile by Miller Francis Jr., The Great Speckled Bird, 2 April 1970
NO ONE IN the entire world of rock has created a body of music to compare with the work of John Mayall. If the process ...
Can John Mayall Maintain The Legend?
Interview by uncredited writer, Beat Instrumental, May 1970
THE ADVERTISEMENTS for John Mayall's pre-Christmas tour with his new drumless, acoustic guitar group described him as "the legendary John Mayall". While promoters and Promo ...
Profile and Interview by uncredited writer, Hit Parader, July 1971
RECOGNITION AS an outstanding musician hasn't come overnight for Harvey Mandel, but he prefers it that way. He's been moving up slowly and steadily and ...
John Mayall: Town Hall, Auckland
Live Review by Tom McWilliams, Playdate, May 1972
Mayall: music as never before ...
Interview by Max Jones, Melody Maker, 21 June 1973
JOHN MAYALL has been living in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, for four years now, and identifying with California and American people for longer than that. ...
John Mayall: Empty Rooms/The Turning Point
Review by Bob Woffinden, New Musical Express, 7 September 1974
WHAT WE HAVE here is a shrewd exercise in marketing. Two deleted albums reissued as one double package for the apparently reasonable price of £2.99. ...
Baker-Gurvitz Army: Baker Gurvitz Army and John Mayall: The Latest Edition
Review by Charles Shaar Murray, New Musical Express, 11 January 1975
I CANNOT THINK of any legal way in which the Baker-Gurvitz Army can be prevented from Becoming Huge, so maybe there's something to Adrian Ben ...
John Mayall's After-Hours Madness
Interview by Steven Rosen, Rolling Stone, 22 May 1975
CINCINNATI – With the release of his latest album, New Year, New Band, New Company, 41-year-old John Mayall has logged 23 albums in just over ...
John Mayall: Falkshaus, Zurich
Live Review by Tony Stewart, New Musical Express, 21 May 1977
AS A TALENT scout John Mayall is a shrewd, calculating operator with few equals. Now with 26 albums to his credit and almost as many ...
Dick Heckstall-Smith: He Didn't Make A Million...
Interview by Brian Case, New Musical Express, 28 January 1978
Although he paid a lot of dues — with Korner, Bond, Mayall, Colosseum and a handful of Rolling Stones — veteran R 'n' B tenorman ...
John Mayall: This Is Where I Came In
Retrospective and Interview by Mat Snow, Q, August 1990
The Flamingo in Soho, 1964: bearded disciples and pilled-up mods are packed into an airless basement. Brooms are being dusted, mojos worked, as the Hohner-huffing ...
Retrospective by Harry Shapiro, Record Collector, July 1993
THERE ARE many guitarists who produce a sharp intake of breath from their peers and fans, in admiration of their complex technique, speed or innovation. ...
John Mayall: Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, and; The Best Of (As It All Began)
Review by Ian MacDonald, Uncut, August 1998
WANT TO know what the fuss was all about? Drop the old laser-beam on track 21, the stereo version of 'Have You Heard?', John Mayall's ...
Interview by Andy Farquarson, Get Rhythm, May 2001
When John Mayall bounds on stage and launches into a set with physical gusto, it's hard to believe he is 67 years old. The impression ...
School of Rock: Monterey to Altamont
Guide by Barney Hoskyns, iTunes, 2008
BETWEEN 1966 and 1970, there was a seismic change in British and American pop. Within a few short years "pop" became "rock", and teenagers who'd ...
Mike Vernon: Beyond the Blue Horizon
Retrospective and Interview by Alan Clayson, unpublished, 2015
If known chiefly as a blues paladin, Mike Vernon plunged headfirst into many other – often unexpected – musical waters. Alan Clayson investigates. ...
John Mayall: The First Generation, 1965–1974
Review by Tony Burke, Morning Star, 7 January 2021
JOHN MAYALL turned 87 recently, and the Godfather of the British Blues – a national treasure – has a new 35-CD box set out featuring ...
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