Ep. 19 - JOHN MAYALL ("Find a Way to Care")

Find a Way to Care is John Mayall’s 64th official album, and the most recent release from the 81-year-old singer, keyboardist, guitarist, harmonica player, and composer who’s been dubbed the “Godfather of British Blues.” The Grammy-nominated Mayall is a renowned band leader, with several veterans of his group, the Bluesbreakers, going on to find success in their own right. A short list of those who passed through his band includes Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce, who went on to form Cream; Peter Green, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood, who later formed Fleetwood Mac; Andy Fraser, who formed Free; and Mick Taylor, who went on to join the Rolling Stones. Other notable guitarists who’ve spent time in Mayall’s band include Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, Sonny Landreth, Buddy Whittington, and former Canned Heat member Harvey Mandel. Between 1966 and 1971 Mayall released eleven albums that hit the Top 40 on the UK chart, three of which also reached the Top 40 on the Billboard chart in the U.S. Though he has covered songs by many of his heroes, Mayall’s albums have relied primarily on original material. His own compositions have been recorded by a range of artists, including Richie Havens, Georgie Fame, Them, Mott the Hoople, Dion & the Belmonts, Motorhead, Joe Bonamassa, Albert King, Eric Clapton, Uriah Heep, and the duo of Eric Burdon and Jimmy Witherspoon. Mayall’s album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton appears on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time,” and he was named an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by the Queen of England in 2005. BB King once said, “John Mayall, he was the master of it. If it wasn't for the British musicians, a lot of us black musicians in America would still be catchin' the hell that we caught long before."