Godfather of British Blues at Brixton
by Jeff Vincent/ www.dirtyhippieradio.com
The legendary John Mayall plays Brixton Friday night.
During the mid-late ‘60s in England, a blues revival was booming. Jolly good English boys (and gals) were pulling directly from African-American roots and pumping out their own exciting brand of blues and blues-fusions. John Mayall is known as The Godfather of British Blues.
He usually went by John Mayall & The Blues Breakers. Even though the multi-talented musician and blues harp man produced 23 albums between 1965 and 1975 alone, many of us non-blues-aficionados scratch our heads at the mention of Mayall’s name, thinking, “Yeah, I know of John Mayer.” Actually, Mayall has no real hits or catchy songs that have become part of our common tongue, nor are any played over the FM airwaves at the exhaustive rate which Boston’s “More Than A Feeling” is pounded into our heads. Yet he did posses an uncanny knack for finding hot young talent, and combined with a restless yearning to explore musical boundaries and constantly changing line-ups, Mayall left behind a lengthy legacy of co-musicians and band mates. For instance, Eric Clapton is a household name; however, the majority of households do not know that Eric Clapton was an original Blues Breaker in 1966, nor that a ticked-off Mayall replaced Clapton with Peter Green, who eventually left with fellow BB’s John McVie and Mick Fleetwood to form Fleetwood Mac. Slightly impressive stuff here, without even mentioning that Mick Taylor was Mayall’s lead guitarist for a few albums in the late 60’s (Mick Taylor, the guy who became lead guitarist for The Rolling Stones with the Sticky Fingers album).
The list goes on and on, but the point is: whether you know who John Mayall is or not, he is a legend who filtered through his musical paws a great number of fledgling legends who you’ve come to know reflexively. With a career spanning over 50 years, and a lexicon of nearly 80 albums, it’s incredible that The Godfather is still rocking at the age of 76!
Yes, even though you may have thought you were reading a eulogy for a minute, the John Mayall, the legendary blues man, The Godfather of British Blues himself, will be performing Friday night at Brixton in Redondo Beach. Just thought you should know.
So Many Shows, Where to Go?
There’s a lot of music going on in the South Bay right now. With Saint Rocke and Brixton leading the charge, Cafe Boogaloo still pulling some good acts, and myriad other establishments catering to the hungry community, i.e., Suzy’s, Light House, Starboard Attitude, The Shore, (and just about any bar that can cram a band), a person might be torn between shows. This weekend is absolutely buzzing with music and Sunday will inevitably present one of these paradoxical quandaries. It’s enough to drive a person crazy, leaving them caught in the indecisive middle, like a bouncing record needle, or a scratched and skipping CD.
The White Buffalo comes to Saint Rocke Sunday night.
Sunday night, May 2, Saint Rocke welcomes the return of The White Buffalo. Lead singer, guitarist, and front man Jake Smith boasts a booming voice which could aptly be described as an astral meeting between the voices of Eddie Vedder and Richie Havens. The White Buffalo has been winning over crowds of fans with their Americana-folk based cowboy-rock music. Their performances vibrate a special energy, captivating audiences with storytelling, waltz, and passionate rocking.
The White Buffalo gig will open with a CD release party for Redondo Beach’s Tim Matson. Matson will be sharing his brand of folky acoustic music with us just this once before taking off on tour for the rest of the year.
Now comes the hard part…
New Zealand’s premier reggae band Katchafire will be performing at Brixton – also on Sunday night, May 2!
This will be a heavy not-to-miss show for reggae skankers as well as other music fans. The Kiwi Rastafarians haven’t toured in a while, and to catch them in Redondo Beach is just outrageous. And as if Katchafire’s renowned live performances aren’t enough to draw a crowd, their good friends from Hawaii, Rebel Souljahz, will be taking stage before them. Opening the whole gig is South Bay’s own Fortunate Youth. What a great stoke for one of our local bands to be opening for such legendary artists and what will undoubtedly prove to be an incredible show.
One question resounds: Do you go hither or thither? I think I’ll call up my quantum physicist friend and ask if they’ve mastered travel within the multiverse yet; but at any rate, I’m going to both (somehow). Whatever you do, don’t stay home Sunday night with all this good music right under your nose!
To purchase John Mayall and Katchafire tickets in advance, go to tickets.brixtonsouthbay.com/. For Katchafire info, see www.katchafire.co.nz/. To hear The White Buffalo, Tim Matson, and Fortunate Youth, check out www.DirtyHippieRadio.com. Listen, learn, read on…
High fives and sucker punches to dirtyhippie@dirtyhippieradio.com. ER