John Mayall has initiated blues-rock’s greatest guitarists in four decades of Bluesbreakers.By Stuart Thornton Nov 15, 2007
Superstar guitarist “Slowhand” Eric Clapton once said, “John Mayall has actually run an incredibly great school for musicians.” Clapton should know, having spent a stint playing with Mayall’s groundbreaking British blues-rock band the Bluesbreakers during his own early years, from 1965 to 1966.
During Clapton’s tenure, when the band also included future Fleetwood Mac member John McVie, Mayall’s outfit released their immensely popular self-titled album. The 12-song work featured the Freddie King instrumental “Hideaway,” in which Clapton’s spiky guitar interacted with Mayall’s washes of organ, and Robert Johnson’s “Ramblin’ On My Mind,” which is notable for being the first track Clapton ever sung on.
Although playing with the Bluesbreakers catapulted Clapton to the top tier of guitar players, the young musician left the band soon after the release of Bluesbreakers to form the definitive ‘60s group, Cream. To fill the new vacancy for lead guitar in his group, Mayall quickly recruited another great player named Peter Green, who left after a year to form Fleetwood Mac.
With an acute eye for spotting young talent, Mayall then filled the void in the Bluesbreakers with guitarist Mick Taylor. But, just two years later, Taylor left Mayall’s group for a gig in the Rolling Stones.
After three of the most popular guitar players of the time passed through the Bluesbreakers, Mayall went in a different direction when Taylor left the band. The British blues-rock icon moved to Los Angeles in the late ‘60s and recorded The Turning Point, a live album that eschewed drums and electric guitar in favor of acoustic guitar and flute.
While Mayall kept recording and playing live during the ‘70s, he didn’t have a notable backing band until the mid-‘80s. Then he discovered another great guitarist named Coco Montoya playing a small L.A. club. After seeing Montoya do a searing “All Your Love,” which was the first track on Mayall’s legendary Bluesbreakers album, Mayall hired the guitar player for his new backing band.
Montoya spent almost a decade in the Bluesbreakers before he left the group to embark on a successful solo career. His 1995 solo debut Gotta Mind to Travel garnered a W.C. Handy Award for Best New Blues Artist.
Once again, in the mid-‘90s, Mayall found himself in the position of having to recruit new talent for the coveted lead guitar position in the Bluesbreakers. The veteran musician recalled a Texas guitarist named Buddy Whittington who had been in a band that once opened for the Bluesbreakers. A couple of years had passed since the two had seen each other, but Mayall decided to ring him up and offer him the spot in his legendary band.
Whittington had grown up in Texas listening to British acts including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Bluesbreakers. He remembers that he admired the way the Bluesbreakers “presented” and “re-imported” the blues.
Of course, Whittington accepted the gig and has now been in the band for 14 years. “We are the longest running Bluesbreakers,” he says. “All the famous guys were in and out in a year and a half.”
Whittington believes that one of Mayall’s strongest assets as a bandleader is his ability to create an atmosphere where musicians can explore their abilities. “For the most part, he lets us run and play,” Whittington says. “He’s really good at letting us see where it’s going to go.”
One of Whittington’s high points as a Bluesbreaker came in 2003, when he got to perform at a Liverpool concert celebrating Mayall’s 70th birthday. Onstage alongside Whittington were guitarists Clapton and Taylor. “What am I doing with my Texas self with all these legendary guys?” Whittington recalls thinking.
More recently, Whittington played on Mayall’s 56th album In the Palace of the King, which is a 14-song tribute to bluesman Freddie King. The CD includes King numbers like the harmonica-drenched “I’d Rather Be Blind” along with a couple Mayall originals. One Mayall composition is a re-working of King’s “The Welfare (Turns It Back on You)” called “Time to Go,” where the bandleader mourns the passing of his mother. On “Time to Go,” Mayall sings questions including “what are you going to do when your mother is not around for you?” before yielding the song to a tasty three minute long guitar solo by Whittington.
Now, like past Bluesbreakers, Whittington is releasing a solo project. Though he is still in the band, the guitarist issued a self-titled debut with nine originals and a cover of ZZ Top’s “Sure Got Cold After the Rain Fell.” Time will tell if the CD will make him as famous as past Bluesbreakers alumni.
www.johnmayall.com/