John Mayall

John Mayall was born on November 29, 1933 , in a small village outside of Manchester, England. His early musical inclinations were encouraged by his father, a guitarist and jazz fan who exposed his son to a wide variety of music. Mayall began playing guitar by the age of twelve and by fourteen, he'd learned to play the piano and had already developed a love for the blues.

After serving with the British army for three years, Mayall entered the Manchester College of Art, and it was there that he formed his first professional band, The Powerhouse Four.
John Mayall was nearly thirty by the time he moved to London to form the Bluesbreakers in 1963. Backing him were guitarist Bernie Watson, drummer Keith Robertson, and a seventeen year old bassist, John McVie. While performing on the London club scene, the Bluesbreakers were noticed by Mike Vernon, who signed them with Decca recording studios.

The Bluesbreakers endured countless incarnations, yet these changes themselves did not seem to faze Mayall in the least.

John Mayall entered the 1970's widely acknowledged as the father of British blues. Apart from having discovered - in Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor - three of the most acclaimed guitarists of the rock era, his "blues school" fostered the talents of a roster of artists who have since profoundly influenced the course of Rock 'n' Roll.

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