John Mayall is returning to Mayne!

Blues Breakers Show: John Mayall September 18 XRT welcomes legendary blues singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall at Mayne Stage for one night only. An artist who can definitely be described as a legend in his own time, Mayall has dedicated more than fifty years and fifty albums to hard-hitting interpretations of fierce Chicago-style blues. During his career he has collaborated with other stellar performers, including Jack Bruce, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, John McVie and many more. In the late 60s, Mayall joined forces with Eric Clapton, creating a historic union that culminated in the first hit album for the Bluesbreakers, "Decca" bringing them worldwide recognition. Clapton went on to form the rock and roll band band Cream, as Mayall continued to hone the talents of a succession of great musicians, becoming more and more popular in the US. After a long and successful career, Mayall and the Bluesbreakers disbanded in 2008 in hopes to retire, but Mayall jumped back in the touring scene in 2009 with a trio of guitarist Rocky Athas, bassist Greg Rzab and drummer Jay Davenport. Reaction to this tour was so positive that two tours of Europe were booked, including several shows with BB King. And now this living legend performs at Mayne Stage for one performance only. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a living blues legend, John Mayall, perform at a remarkably intimate venue, Mayne Stage.

1328 W Morse Avenue | Just steps from Morse Red Line Stop! Tickets and full schedule at www.maynestage.com

John Mayall is returning to Mayne!

Blues Breakers Show: John Mayall September 18 XRT welcomes legendary blues singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall at Mayne Stage for one night only. An artist who can definitely be described as a legend in his own time, Mayall has dedicated more than fifty years and fifty albums to hard-hitting interpretations of fierce Chicago-style blues. During his career he has collaborated with other stellar performers, including Jack Bruce, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, John McVie and many more. In the late 60s, Mayall joined forces with Eric Clapton, creating a historic union that culminated in the first hit album for the Bluesbreakers, "Decca" bringing them worldwide recognition. Clapton went on to form the rock and roll band band Cream, as Mayall continued to hone the talents of a succession of great musicians, becoming more and more popular in the US. After a long and successful career, Mayall and the Bluesbreakers disbanded in 2008 in hopes to retire, but Mayall jumped back in the touring scene in 2009 with a trio of guitarist Rocky Athas, bassist Greg Rzab and drummer Jay Davenport. Reaction to this tour was so positive that two tours of Europe were booked, including several shows with BB King. And now this living legend performs at Mayne Stage for one performance only. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a living blues legend, John Mayall, perform at a remarkably intimate venue, Mayne Stage.

1328 W Morse Avenue | Just steps from Morse Red Line Stop! Tickets and full schedule at www.maynestage.com

What is it with all this keeping the Blues alive BS!!! - Bman's Rant

First off I have to ask what is this all about? Why does this question even exist? It is my understanding that Blues Music started in America around 1900 and that it was a derivative of native African culture. Due to the racial conditions present at the time, field hollers, spiritual music and the like was the basis for the black culture and it's music. Blues music evolved from actual feelings inside of a person rather than catchy melodies and lyrics contrived to get airplay on the radio or to sell records. It was conceived to give comfort to those that sang, played and enjoyed it. At this time it was not at all accepted as a form of entertainment outside of the group of people who had been involved with it.... mostly slaves and workmen. It wasn't until WWI that white audiences began to become exposed to this music through the likes of W.C. Handy and Bessie Smith among others.

As free blacks started to immigrate north to the larger cities in search of work, more and more white audiences were becoming exposed to this terrific music but it was still not broadly accepted. Ok. Now lets look back. It has been around a minimum of 40 years to this point with basically no audience and it survives just fine... this is where my question of "Is The Blues Dying" comes in. It's hogwash!!

It took the likes of John Mayall, Peter Green (Fleetwood Mac), the Yardbirds, the Rolling Stones and other British rockers to tell America to wake up and smell the coffee. They produced an updated version of the traditional black blues and audiences were listening. It was this introduction that was the beginning of rock music as we know it. Sure there
was Elvis copying Big Mama and JLL but rock music came out of a real love for the blues. Musical sessions with Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, Otis Spann and others caused an awakening of consciousness of this great music.

It didn't hurt that the introduction of the new Blues Music, being a deep rooted feeling music, coincided with the "album rock" explosion that occurred in the early mid sixties. Guitar players went from making 3 minute songs to expanded 8 minutes songs to play longer instrumental interludes... yes...the blues music fostered that. Look at Led Zeppelin I or the Allman Brothers Live at The Fillmore. These albums are as a result of the adaptation of Blues Music. A broad acceptance of music that was actually constructed for people to listen to...to feel...rather than to hear as background music... like "How Much is that Doggie in the Window"... specifically created as a catchy tune for airplay.

Music runs in cycles. Kids don't want to listen to what their parents listen to...that's not at all cool! The 60/70 generation now has grand children. They are discovering music with meaning as they start to grow up.

What is perceived as the "death of the blues" is just hype! Do you hear anyone worrying that hip hop is going to die? No one cares... that's a good start. But my point is, what is "popular" is called pop music. It is designed for 13 year old kids. It was bubblegum... it died...or did it (Lady gaga and Madonna). The music played on the radio is what ever the music industry thinks will sell. The primary buyer is a little kid...so write little kid stuff (nursery rhymes) and sell a bundle... then all you have to figure out what kind of rhythm to put behind it to dance to and you've got it made. But it's all crap!

When the 60's generation got old (got out of college and had kids) album oriented music "died" ...relegated to the "classic rock" station. But then if you've ever heard classic rock... it's really the pop music from the era. It's the worst of the pop rock guys. That's not saying they never play anything good.... but it's mostly the stuff that sold the most albums...which is to say... the pop portion of the market.... "How Much is That Doggie in the Window" but sung by Journey (where's Beavis and Butt-Head when you need them?).

There was a short interlude in the 80's when Blues Music made a huge impact. It took Stevie Ray Vaughn to hit the scene with his take no prisoners attitude and flaming guitar licks to wake people up... and it spread across the generations. People stopped listening to Ozzie (who once had a decent band called Black Sabbath) and said...WTF is this? SRV is great!

There are a lot of really great blues music players out there right now. I am looking for them and trying to expose you to them. The question isn't will the blues die... it isn't when will the blues die. It is, who will be the next great Messiah of blues music who will again awaken the "sheep" to the music we listen to everyday.

Lets face it...if you ask the average person what kind of music they listen to their replay will be blah blah radio. They don't have a clue. You could play anything and tell them it was good and they would listen to it.

The blues music is alive and well!! We can't do anything to change public opinion.
What we can do is support the artists who are trying to do something different. Those artists who spend their time and energy playing music that isn't "Pop" because they love Blues music... and because we love Blues music. I suspect nobody goes into playing blues music because they think they will make a fortune. Look at

Joe Bonamassa. Here is a guy who has as good a chance to be the next blues leader of his generation. He is doing all types of crossover experiments to try to find an audience. Good for him. It's good for the genre. I have people calling me and asking "Hey have you heard of the Joe Bonamassa guy"? When I tell them I saw him in a club with less than 100 people 10 years ago they are astounded. But Joe is finding his way.

Blues music is alive, well and strong. Embrace it, turn your friends on to it. Don't be surprised when they don't get it. I don't get Madonna ... but she's rich beyond all imagination because she knows how to sell. I've seen Jeff Beck and Albert King in clubs so small that you could meet everyone in the place in 10 minutes. Try doing that at a Jeff Beck concert now. Jeff is my main man so I am thrilled for him. Is Jeff better than he used to be? Hell no! People are waking up. He gave people a reason.

Blues music is alive an well. Don't worry that it isn't popular. When it gets popular it becomes watered down and uninteresting... just listen to a few ZZ Top albums from the middle years... but they made money.

No slam on ZZ Top.... but I'm glad they are back doing the real deal!

I Wrote A Letter - John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers with Sippy Wallace

John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band which has included Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar, Hughie Flint, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser, Johnny Almond, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya and Buddy Whittington.
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Stormy Monday - John Mayall with Albert King

This is a great recording with Albert King and John Mayall's band including Mick Taylor....enjoy!!

John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is a pioneering English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. His musical career spans over fifty years, but the most notable episode in it occurred during the late 1960s. He was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and, as a gifted talent-scout, has been influential in the careers of many instrumentalists, including Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar, Hughie Flint, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser, Johnny Almond, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, and Buddy Whittington.

Chesepeake Bay Blues Fest - Blues Ace Reporting

Blues Aficionado Allen "Blues Ace" Anthony was on the scene for the festival as usual and brought us some great photos as well as short commentary. The picture of

Motor City Josh is of him (left) and his brother bringing the house down at the end of their set. What a pleasant surprise that band was! I had no idea how good that guy was.

Mac Arnold made his guitar out of a gas can. While it’s more of a guitar than many of Super Chikan’s glorified Diddley Bows, it also sounds it’s best when played with a slide rather than any primitive attempts at fretting notes or chords. (More to come on Mac Arnold). He spent a lot of time in the LA music scene for much of his career and has semi-retired back to South Carolina where he bases his band, Plateful of Blues. Another interesting thing about him is that he grew up with James Brown and played in high school bands with “The Godfather of Soul.”

John Mayall played a nice set. Did 3 songs off the Bluesbreakers “Beano” albums. Parchman Farm, and a few others. Also did a song, L&M Blues, aka Ridin’ On The L&M, which I know from other blues artists covers of it. But he introduced it as being a Lionel Hampton composition which I did not know.

Little Feat is always interesting every time I’ve seen them and this was no exception. They called out Nighthawks harpist Mark Wenner to play a couple songs, in particular Dixie Chicken, which is what they were playing when the photo was taken. First time I ever heard them play Dixie Chicken “stand-alone.” All of the half dozen times I’ve seen them they have morphed Dixie Chicken into a medley of some sort which almost always included Tripe Face Boogie. But this was about a 12-14 minute rendition of Dixie Chicken by itself. Their set was cut short by the demands that Kenny Wayne Shepherd take the stage at exactly his scheduled time. Fred Tackett looked like he was ready to break the band into Feats Don’t Fail Me Now as an encore, but they swept their carcases off the stage promptly. They even said, “We’d like to play one more but our time is up.” They were having fun and the crowd was heavily into it.

Then Kenny Wayne came on and played a standard set.

Ray Manzarek-Roy Rogers was very good by my estimation but I don’t think too many people got as excited by them as I did. Manzarek at one point played an instrumental solo of The Crystal Ship that was the highlight of their set. They also did Riders On the Storm where Manzarek sang and the crowd loved that but it was just OK. He also announced some kind of 40th anniversary of Jim Morrison’s death concert in Paris next month where they were going to play.

Roy Rogers did not have his guitar coming through the PA like it should have. It was weak so it’s hard to tell how good he was really. It was the only issue I had with the sound production for the whole two days of the festival.

Ronnie Baker Brooks damn near stole the whole show. He was terriffic! Way better than Lonnie Brooks was a couple years back. Looking forward to seeing him on the Cruise.

The Lee Boys were great. It’s a band of all family, either brothers or nephews, cousins, and uncles. They call their music “Sacred Steel” which is a base of gospel with generous portions of blues, jazz, mixed with part soul, r&b, and country. It’s is much like Robert Randolph. This band is basically a top notch rhythm section in support of their centerpiece, keystone, and focal point, Roosevelt “The Dr.” on pedal steel and lap slide guitar. I got to say, in a head-cuttin’ contest with the Devil on pedal steel, and my soul on the line, I might take Roosevelt over anybody alive including Robert Randolph! That dude was awesome.

Hand Me Down My Walkin Cane

I heard of this guy through "Tonequest Magazine". If you're into gear...you gotta check it out!

Kal David (born 1943) is an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter whose 50-year musical career in Illinois, New York and California extended through various phases, including a highly-regarded stint with Columbia Records in early 1970s.



Born in Chicago, David Raskin began using the performing name "Kal David" in his late teens as the frontman of his neighborhood band, Kal David and the Exceptions, formed in 1962.[1] Its other members were Peter Cetera (bass, vocals), Denny Ebert (drums, vocals), and Marty Grebb (saxophone, keyboards, guitar, vocals). Cetera later joined The Big Thing, which became Chicago, and Grebb joined The Buckinghams.

Kal David left the group to sign a recording contract with King Records and, later, with Vee-Jay Records. In 1965, during his stint at Vee-Jay, he formed a new duo, The Rovin' Kind, with guitarist Paul Cotton, and the two transferred to Dunwich Records. Following a name change to Illinois Speed Press and a move to Los Angeles in 1968, the duo recorded two albums for Columbia, the self-titled Illinois Speed Press and Duet.

In late 1970, as Cotton joined the band Poco as its lead guitarist, David decided to leave the West Coast for the East and moved to Woodstock, the small-town/rural New York area, in the vicinity of previous year's iconic Festival. His new group, The Fabulous Rhinestones featuring ex-Electric Flag bassist Harvey Brooks and ex-Buckinghams' keyboard player Marty Grebb, recorded three albums: Fabulous Rhinestones, Freewheelin' (on Paramount Records) and Rhinestones (on 20th Century Records). Friends advised him to visit a club in Woodstock and it was there that he met his future wife, vocalist Lauri Bono, who subsequently accompanied him back to Los Angeles for the next phase of their career, doing sidework for Etta James and Johnny Rivers.

In the early 1980s, David played lead guitar for John Mayall on an album which would be released a decade later. Two albums for SoulCoast Records, Never a Dull Moment and Double Tuff each met with critical acclaim and worldwide record sales coupled with numerous television appearances, including a one-hour special featuring David in Germany.

At Hollywood's China Club, the Kal David Band headed up the weekly Pro-Jam which drew celebrity performers such as Stevie Wonder, Bobby Brown, John Entwistle, Larry Carlton, Brian Wilson, Stephen Stills, Joe Walsh and Paul Young, as well as blues musicians Sam Taylor and Floyd Dixon.

The early 1990s saw David and Bono move to Palm Springs and form yet another band, Kal David and the Real Deal. This group featured both David and Bono on vocals, along with former Chaka Khan musical director Tony Patler on Hammond B-3 organ and drummer Alan Diaz, formerly with Sérgio Mendes. David tried local radio, hosting the late night "Blue Monday" blues show on Palm Springs soft rock station KEZN.

On July 14, 1998, the couple opened the Blue Guitar blues club above the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, which lasted six years, closing in 2004.

David and Bono continued to tour and frequently played at B.B. King's Blues Club in Los Angeles and the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in Connecticut.

David is the voice of Sonny Eclipse, a singing alien audio-animatronic, who resides at Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. He did another performance for Disney World at Epcot, where he performed the "Unhealthy Living Blues" for the Goofy About Health exhibit at the Wonders of Life pavilion.

Stormy Monday - Albert King

A nice opportunity to see 3 giants on stage together and not just play over each other like a cluster bomb in the concert videos so common. John Mayall, Mick Taylor later of the Stones of course and actually with Albert playing his signature Flying V but not the Gibson but his custom made v made by Dan Erlewine...yeah the Stew Mac guy.
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England Brings the Blues back to America

John Mayall almost single handedly brought the American Delta blues to the forefront in England starting the British Invasion with the Stones, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Fleetwood Mac....

An early John Mayall and the Blues Breakers band of course featured Eric Clapton. It was on this album that Clapton developed that famous "woman tone" with his Marshall Bluesbreakers amp, which is now so sought after. Clapton left the then popular Yardbirds to join Mayall only to be replaced by Jeff Beck. After only a short period of time Clapton moved on and he was replaced by Peter Green, later to form Fleetwood Mac. Mayall always had an eye for talent and the list of incredible musicians going through his band is like the list of incredible musicians going through Miles Davis band.Here are a few. if you don't know them... you gotta check them out. They all bring it!

Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones lead Guitar)
Harvey Mandel (Blues guitarist)
Walter Trout (Solo Blues Guitarist)
Larry Taylor (Canned Heat)
Jon Mark (Mark Almond Band)
Freddie Robinson (Solo Guitarist)
Kal David (Solo Guitarist)
Coco Montoya (Solo Guitarist)
Buddy Whittington (Solo Guitarist)
Jack Bruce (Cream, West Bruce and Lang, Solo Guitarist)
John McVie (Fleetwood Mac)
Anysley Dunbar (Solo Project and Journey)
John Heisman (Colosseum)

You get the point.