“He taught me that it was OK to play the music you wanted to play. He was my mentor and a surrogate father, too”: Why John Mayall was the godfather of British blues guitar

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Best known for his Bluesbreakers band, which launched the careers of Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor, Mayall was a gifted pianist, guitarist and harmonica player

A black and white action shot of John Mayall onstage playing electric guitar in 1991
(Image credit: Frans Schellekens/Redferns)

On 22 July, blues legend and bandleader John Mayall died at his home in California. He was 90 years old. Mayall was born in Macclesfield in 1933, and first courted music by scouring his father’s imported collection of blues 78s, before teaching himself piano, guitar and harmonica.

After completing national service in Korea, Mayall returned to Britain in the 1950s, unimpressed by, according to Classic Rock magazine, “a monopoly of trad-jazz bands all playing the same tunes.”

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Glenn Kimpton
Glenn Kimpton

Glenn Kimpton is a freelance writer based in the west of England. His interest in English folk music came through players like Chris Wood and Martin Carthy, who also steered him towards alternate guitar tunings. From there, the solo acoustic instrumental genre, sometimes called American Primitive, became more important, with guitarists like Jack Rose, Glenn Jones and Robbie Basho eventually giving way to more contemporary players like William Tyler and Nick Jonah Davis. Most recently, Glenn has focused on a more improvised and experimental side to solo acoustic playing, both through his writing and his own music, with players like Bill Orcutt and Tashi Dorji being particularly significant.