Bluesman cometh
JOHN MAYALL
In concert: 6:30 p.m. tomorrow, gates open an hour earlier.
By Burl Burlingame
Star-BulletinJohn Mayall is pretty sure he's played Honolulu before. "I must have," he mused. "Maui sounds familiar."
When you're playing something like 120 dates a year for 40 years -- airport, hotel, soundcheck, dinner, gig, hotel, airport -- things kind of blur together.
Mayall is headlining the Hawaiian Islands Rhythm and Blues Mele, which starts at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center today, before arriving for concerts tomorrow at the Honolulu Zoo and Saturday at Brewhouse Oasis in Kona on the Big Island.
The man who gave focus to the emerging British-blues culture of the early '60s hasn't slowed down, even in his 60s. Still on the road, still recording albums -- the latest, "Padlock on the Blues," is No. 45 or so -- Mayall is known as an artist in his own right, as well as a kind of father figure to British bluesmen such as Eric Clapton, John McVie, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood and Mick Taylor.
Ironically, Mayall's son Rik became an actor, not a bluesman.
Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, asked if he is too old to continue his craft, observed that no one ever asks that of older blues and jazz musicians. Mayall's latest records, such as "Blues for the Lost Days," have actually gotten some of the best reviews of his career.
"We go into the studio every time the record company wants another record, every other year or so," said Mayall.
And despite also having a reputation as a kind of finishing school for blues musicians, Mayall's "Bluesbreakers" bands have matriculated many of England's best musicians.
"I do have a reputation for going through musicians that's unwarranted," said Mayall, speaking from his home in California.
"The current band has been with me for some time. Joe Yuele (drummer) has been with us, let's see, 14 years. Buddy Whittington (guitarist) has been with us for six years. John Paulus (bassist) has been on board for three years. Lots of bands haven't been together that long!"
Mayall plans tours as efficiently as possible, trying to score an average of 120 dates a year. "We get there about 3 or 4 p.m., check into the hotel, drop off our bags and go straight to the gig. Next morning, right on the plane to the next gig.
"We'll try to do 10 or so in a row, play gigs in clumps, and then go home for the rest of the month. We only bring the guitars, the snare drum and cymbals; the rest of the instruments and sound system are up to the promoter. We're conserving energy, as much as possible."
The intense bursts of touring leave the rest of the month free to be home.
"Hey, we're on the road one-third of the year, home for two-thirds to be with the family," Mayall said, observing people with 9-to-5 jobs aren't home that much. "Being home makes the hard touring worth it."
Although proficient on guitar and harmonica, Mayall prefers the keyboards, his original instrument of choice. Growing up in Manchester, England, Mayall picked up a love of Yankee boogie-woogie from his father, a guitarist.
"I listened to my dad's 78s and learned jazz and blues from them. He had a large collection. There weren't any radio stations that played this kind of music in the area, so it's largely self-taught."
Asked if the flood of American servicemen into England during World War II -- the war began when Mayall was 6 -- changed British tastes in music, Mayall demurred. "Rather a large subject to get into," he noted.
Has he, then, ever had the urge to break out of the blues? Be a real blues-breaker?
"It's my idiom," explained Mayall. "When I write songs, I begin with the subject, with the story, and the blues works well for that. And blues is no longer an obscure American music. It's all over the world. It's everywhere. It's part of global culture. Any cross-section of popular music, in any part of the world today, finds an understanding of the blues. Why would I step out of that?"
Indeed. Mayall's blues have helped change the world, not him.
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