Blues in a Box

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John Mayall's inestimable influence on the evolution of British blues stems more from his talents as a bandleader than from his own talents as a musician. While he's a very gifted instrumentalist, particularly on blues harp, and an adequate vocalist, it's his unerring ear for recognizing raw talent that's made John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, in all its incarnations, the legend that it is today.

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Mayall had been playing music professionally since 1955, but it wasn't until he moved to London in 1963 , with John McVieand formed the earliest incarnation of the Bluesbreakers, with John McVie on bass, that his reputation as a live act begain to garner recognition. And it wasn't until 1965, when Eric Clapton left the Yardbirds to join the Bluesbreakers that both became synonymous with the blues in England. The album that followed, Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton catapulted them into blues rock legends.

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Clapton went on to form Cream, and Mayall replaced him with Peter Green, who left to start his own band, Fleetwood Mac. Mick Taylor was brought in to the Buesbreakers, and he soon joined the Rolling Stones. John Mayall's Bluesbreakers was not so much a band as it was a proving ground for raw talent, and the only constant in the lineup over its four-decade span is Mayall himself. He's always known what sound he wanted, and he's never been hesitant in coaxing it out of his proteges.

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Essentially John Mayall is an aptly titled five-disc boxed set that reunites Mayall with some of the guitarists who earned their stripes under him, as well as showcasing his latest charges, most notably Texas guitarist Buddy Whittington. Comprising this set are four discs Mayall released from 1999-2001: Padlock on the Blues, Along for the Ride, Stories and 70th Birthday Concert, as well as a bonus disc of "exclusive live rarities." It's hardly a quintessential collection, but the 59 tracks represented here remind us of the influence Mayall has exerted over the past 40+ years in defining British blues.

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Considering that John Mayall has over fifty albums under his belt, it's unseemly at first glance to call this set Essentially John Mayall, but that's exactly what it is. While some of it could have been called in (particularly Stories and much of Padlock on the Blues), it nonetheless represents the migration of the blues into the mainstream consciousness. Much of the material on these two discs is reminiscent of the boogie-bar band style of blues that encourages patrons to tip the waitresses and bartenders between sets "because they're workin' real hard just for you." By and large, it nestles in the Texas bar band style of blues rock. Some of this no doubt has to do with Buddy Whittington's guitar playing, augmented by Mayall's, vocals, piano and blues harp work. It's blues-based, but it's not exactly the blues. They're serviceable discs, though, including spots with John Lee Hooker, and illustrate Mayall's influence on the evolution of southern rock.

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Any perceived shortcomings of those two discs are more than made up for with 70th Birthday Concert, John Mayall and Friends and Exclusive Live Rarities. Here, Mayall does what he has always done best--let the stars he discovered shine brightly. The roll call of white blues guitar stars is impressive. Besides Eric Clapton and Mick Taylor, there are tracks featuring Peter Green, Jeff Healey, Gary Moore and Andy Fairweather Low and Billy Gibbons., as well as second tier players like Steve Miller, and the unlikely man who introduced Europe to American blues, jazz trombonist Chris Barber. Billy Preston's there, too, as are John McVie, Mick Fleetwood and Coco Montoya. The one commonality between them all is they pay homage to their blues roots and the man who steered them, either directly or by his influence on the evolution of rock, to their individual musical destinies.

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For longtime fans of John Mayall, Essentially John Mayall offers few surprises. Longeivity tends to do that to an artist. The Bluesbreakers albums of the late sixties are among the best white blues ever recorded. It becomes an easy matter to say his best work is behind him. Orson Welles peaked before he turned thirty. Mayall has been doing it for over fifty years now, and, yeah, he's mellowed a bit over the years. Now in his seventies, Mayall is an elder statesman of the blues, particularly the British version of it. That version has become corrupted through the decades, as has the blues in general. It's all become stiff upper lip, playing the riffs all too neatly. .

Mayall, though, has reamained more or less true to his love of Chicago-style blues. That's part of the reason the Bluesbreakers have undergone so many personnel changes. Clapton and Green went on to more mainstream concerns. Whittington hasn't--yet. John Mayall evolves by not evolving. At 73, he's proven that white boys can play the blues.

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