From start to finish, this DVD is a fine example of what John Mayall & his very talented friends are all about. John has been around a long time, so most blues lovers would have heard of him and for those of you who haven't, do yourself a favor and check him out. Mayall was born in 1933 in Manchester, England. His father played guitar and had a great Jazz collection paving the way for Mayall's very successful music career. At the age of 13 he taught himself to play guitar and develop his own style, strongly influenced by such Blues greats as Leadbelly, Albert Ammons, Pinetop Smith and Eddie Lang.
He played on a part-time basis up until the late 60's fronting The Powerhouse Four & later on The Blues Syndicat when he moved to London forming a band called John Mayall & The Blues Breakers. It wasn't until a couple of years later the band earned themselves worldwide legendary status when Eric Clapton joined them after leaving the Yardbirds, resulting in their first hit album. Over the years, some of his musos left to form their own bands like John McVie & Mick Fleetwood starting Fleetwood Mac, Andy Fraser formed Free and Mick Taylor joined the Stones. Eric Clapton was once quoted saying that John Mayall ran an incredibly great school for musicians.
The 70's proved to be a good year featuring many notable performers and backing blues greats like John Lee Hooker, T Bone Walker, and Sonny Boy Williamson.
In 1982 John reformed the original Bluesbreakers and went on tour. From this, came the “The Blues Alive” video which was filmed at one of their concerts, featuring Albert King, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, Etta James and others. After these tours finished the original musos went back to their own bands. John returned to L.A. to form yet another line up of The Bluesbreakers, choosing Coco Montoya, Walter Trout, and drummer Joe Yuele.
The band released several albums in the 90's and Mayall continued to strive, staying true to the blues that first inspired him back in the 40's and 50's when he taught himself the guitar, harmonica and piano.
They've toured extensively this Millennium and in 2003 John decided to celebrate his 70th birthday by having a concert in Liverpool in aid of UNICEF featuring Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Chris Barber and friends. To top the year off the BBC aired an hour- long documentary on John Mayall's life and career, entitled ” The Godfather of British Blues”.
In 2005 John released “Road Dogs” making this his 55th album and was also awarded an OBE (Order Of The British Empire) in this years Queen's Honour list. This 72-year-old Blues Master shows no signs of slowing down.
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