Mick Fleetwood, once a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, paid tribute to the British blues legend who died Tuesday at the age of 90.
Although Fleetwood’s stint in the Bluesbreakers lasted less than a year, the drummer’s tenure in the band had a lasting impact on music history as he and two fellow members of Mayall’s group — bassist John McVie and guitarist Peter Green — would soon form their own group, Fleetwood Mac.
“The news of John Mayall’s passing … in many ways hit me as losing a musical father!,” Fleetwood wrote on social media Wednesday. “John Mayall was a guiding light to so many of us young English players! To have spent time as part of his band the ‘Blues Breakers’ led the three of us, Peter Green, John McVie, and myself to form Fleetwood Mac back in 1967!! He is owed much gratitude from so many in the musical world.”
While Stevie Van Zandt never spent time as a Bluesbreakers member, the E Street Band guitarist recognized the legacy of “the extraordinarily important Godfather of British Blues” in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“He elevated Eric Clapton to permanent God status, gave us (and Fleetwood Mac) Peter Green, gave us (and the Stones) Mick Taylor, and left us lots and lots of soulful, diverse, great music,” Van Zandt said.
“[Alexis] Korner, (1928-1984), the Brahman of British Blues, who gave us the Rolling Stones, Cream, Manfred Mann, Free, Led Zeppelin, Rod Stewart, and a dozen more variations of the British Invasion, encouraged and mentored the young Mayall early on, convincing him to continue the good fight and stick with the Blues because that tribe was tiny and an endangered species from the start. Mayall would take what Korner accomplished live and translate it onto records where it would spread the Blues Gospel worldwide.”
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As Van Zandt noted, both Mayall and Korner will be inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame this year.
Eric Clapton and Mick Jagger are also among the artists who have paid tribute to the influential Mayall following his death Tuesday.
