Peter actually sounded better than the others, so I hired him, but then Eric came back a week later, and that put him out of a job It’s probably not that well known, but Peter Green actually played with you before Clapton, but apparently his tenure was short lived? So I had to talk with him and convince him that what I was doing was more genuine." I had to dig him out because he was so disenchanted with the whole scene right after he left the Yardbirds. "Because of the low volume he played at, we learned a lot more about the subtleties of the blues than the way we had been playing by ourselves mainly that we didn’t have to do it at full-throttle volume in order to communicate the excitement of the music. We tried our best to support him, but it was sometimes difficult because John Lee didn’t have any sense of where the chord changes would be, so we constantly had to be on our toes. It was also the first time he had come to England to do a real tour, and he was surprised to find out how much he was appreciated. "It was very exciting for us to be playing with somebody that famous. What stands out from your 1964 tour with John Lee Hooker? "I don’t know exactly how to judge my own performance at that time, although I do have to say that having more years to appreciate the American masters of the blues gave me a much wider understanding of the music’s history." Would you say that gave you an advantage in terms of being viewed as a more authentic interpreter of the blues? You were about 10 years older than most of the other bands’ members at the time. It was a bit amateurish, but we felt respectful as we tried our best to deliver our own versions of our blues heroes." We British bands were all doing the best we could to share our own take on American blues. In a sense, he was accurate in his opinion. "I’ve read that quote of Sonny Boy’s so many times that I just regard it as a really good quote that the press in general liked to pick up on. We British bands were all doing the best we could to share our own take on American blues Sonny Boy Williamson, who actually recorded live albums with the Yardbirds and the Animals, was once quoted as saying, “Those British boys want to play the blues real bad… and they do!” Do you think he was being fair, or even joking…? The only person in the band I could relate to was Eric, who seemed to be the only one with a real knowledge of where the blues came from." "The Yardbirds were making a name for themselves in the clubs, although they weren’t exactly my taste. Just watching them, people could tell they were really connecting with audiences. "The Animals caused quite a stir in the London clubs when they began appearing regularly in the south of England. While we're on the subject, how about the Yardbirds and the Animals? I got to be good friends with Brian Jones, who was an enthusiastic blues enthusiast from the very beginning." They were already a very tightknit band, and I could tell right away that they were on the right track to draw people’s attention to where the music came from. "They were full of energy and obviously influenced by people like Jimmy Reed and Chuck Berry, a rock and roll band with blues overtones. This was the kind of music I’d always played and loved, and here was a good opportunity for me to join in."ĭo you recall your initial impression of the Rolling Stones, the first time you ever saw them play? "It was a very well-knit society, really, and it was a very exciting time to hear all these new bands coming up. Everybody was on the same circuit, all just playing at the same clubs up and down the country. It was a new generation that was discovering this music for the first time, and almost overnight, took over club life. "It replaced traditional jazz very quickly. What was the British club scene like in the early and mid '60s when you and so many other young musicians were basing their style on American blues? “So I provide the freedom for them to continue their careers and explore what they can do with the music.”Įverybody was on the same circuit, all just playing at the same clubs up and down the country “I’ve always aimed for quality in the music and picked musicians I like to play with and enjoy listening to,” he says. Besides the holy trinity of guitarists - Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor - the list contains the likes of Buddy Whittington, Coco Montoya, Harvey Mandel, Jeremy Spencer and Walter Trout bassists Jack Bruce, John McVie, Larry Taylor and Andy Fraser and drummers Mick Fleetwood, Jon Hiseman and Colin Allen. Mayall’s bands have been referred to as finishing schools, with more than 100 different lineups over the past 57 years. However, for Telephone Blues, Eric’s playing was really terrific and remains one of his greatest pieces of work at that time.” “He wasn’t interested in doing his feedback thing in the middle. “The recording of Witchdoctor was a real struggle for Eric,” Mayall says.
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