Paul McCartney is the latest musician to pay tribute to legendary British blues/rock guitarist John Mayall, who passed away Monday at the age of 90.
“In the 1960’s we would meet at one of the late-night music clubs and often go back to his house where he had a huge and glorious collection of records,” McCartney writes on Instagram. “During these moments he became a mentor and would educate me on a lot of the blues guitarists playing at the time.”
“I would lounge back in the armchair, and he would play tracks by people like BB King, Buddy Guy, Albert King and many other great players. He would then play me tracks by Eric Clapton who was later in his band The Bluesbreakers,” McCartney continued. “The more he played the more I could see the links between all these great guitarists. Besides being very entertaining, it was a great education noticing the similarities between these stunning players.”
He concludes the post by sharing, “John was a lovely, down to earth man from the North of England so we found it easy to relate to each other and I will always thank him for his love of music, the blues and his willingness to turn others on to what he knew.” He ended the post with a simple, “Thanks John, love you!”
Mayall’s band Bluesbreakers was a breeding ground for future well-known rock stars. Different incarnations of the band featured such artists as Clapton, Fleetwood Mac’s John McVie, Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green, The Rolling Stones’ Mick Taylor and Cream‘s Jack Bruce.
Mayall is due to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in October in the Music Influence category.
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