Almost 40 years into his career, you might think blues legend John Mayall wouldn't find much to be surprised about anymore.
After all, his seminal 1960s Bluesbreakers lineups launched the careers of several acclaimed artists — Eric Clapton, former Rolling Stone Mick Taylor, and Fleetwood Mac founders John McVie, Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood — and since then he's played with just about every blues great under the sun.
But even Mayall is surprised by how happy he is with his latest album, Along for the Ride, which came out May 8. In addition to appearances by Taylor and the first recorded McVie-Green-Fleetwood collaboration since 1969, the album features ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Steve Miller, Otis Rush and two of the blues' rising stars, Shannon Curfman and Jonny Lang.
"It's a dream list, really," Mayall said. "I was hoping to round up people old and new, and that 'let's go for it' attitude carried over into the vibe on the album." That's why the album is credited to "John Mayall & Friends." And it's also why the album's got such an effortless feel, Mayall said, from the hard-rocking "If I Don't Get Home" to the shuffling "Early in the Morning" to the bouncy "Yo Yo Man," which brought McVie, Green and Fleetwood back together, at least on record.
The three played together in Mayall's Bluesbreakers from 1966 to 1967 before forming Fleetwood Mac. When the British-born Mayall asked bassist McVie and drummer Fleetwood to play on the project, they signed on immediately, he said. "They only live 5 miles away, so it was easy. Peter was another story." Green left Fleetwood Mac in 1970, and mental illness and his disdain for the music business kept him out of the limelight until the mid-1990s, when he started recording again. After Mayall, McVie, Fleetwood and Miller recorded "Yo Yo Man" in Los Angeles, Green added his sprightly acoustic slide guitar fills and solos in London.
"It was hard hooking up with him, but once we got him, he nailed it after hearing the song once," Mayall said.
In addition to letting him reunite with old friends, Mayall said the album turned into a mutual admiration society of sorts. Miller showed up at a Bluesbreakers gig and asked to be on the track, while working with the young Lang and Curfman offered Mayall a chance to play with two of his favorite new artists.
"There's a bond and a loyalty and great admiration between everyone who's on the album, both for each other and for the blues itself," Mayall said, adding that the age gamut on the album runs from 15-year-old Curfman to 73-year-old saxophonist Red Holloway, who blows on "California." "The thing about the blues is that it doesn't have anything to do with chronological age," Mayall said. "When you hear Jonny Lang, and particularly Shannon, you'd swear that they all had as much experience as Red." Mayall and his current Bluesbreakers still play 120 shows a year and are now wrapping up a string of U.S. dates. After six weeks in Europe they'll return to the States for more shows starting in late August.
