John Mayall
A Random Presents Concert
Tickets: Reserved Seating $23.50, $40.50, $51.75
As 2013 came to a close, and with his 80th birthday mere weeks away, the
godfather of British blues quietly entered a North Hollywood Studio
with his band, special guest C.J. Chenier and co-producer/engineer Eric
Corne. He walked out with one of the finest and most personal records of
his career, A Special Life.
John Mayall was born on the 29th of November 1933 and grew up in a
village not too far from Manchester, England. It was here as a teenager
that he first became attracted to the jazz and blues 78s in his father's
record collection. Initially it was all about guitarists such as Eddie
Lang, Lonnie Johnson, Brownie McGhee, Josh White and Leadbelly. However
once he heard the sounds of boogie woogie piano giants Albert Ammons,
Pete Johnson and Meade Lux Lewis, his desire to play in that style was
all he could think of. At the age of 14 when he went to Manchester's
Junior School of Art, he had access to a piano for the first time and he
began to learn the basics of this exciting music. He also found time to
continue learning the guitar and a couple of years later, the
harmonica, inspired by Sonny Terry, Sonny Boy Williamson and Little
Walter. READ MORE
