The Beano is a British children's comic, published by D.C. Thomson & Co and is arguably their most successful.

The comic first appeared on 30 July 1938,^[1] and was published weekly. During World War II, The Beano and The Dandy were published on alternating weeks because of paper and ink rationing. D. C. Thomson's other publications also suffered, with the Oor Wullie and The Broons annuals falling victim to paper and ink shortages. Paper and ink supplies were fully restored shortly after the end of hostilities and weekly publication of The Beano and The Dandy resumed in 1949. In September 2009, the Beano's 3,500th issue was published.^[2] The Beano is currently edited by Michael Stirling.

Its iconic characters such as Dennis the Menace, Roger the Dodger, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, Calamity James, Ball Boy, Ivy the Terrible and Billy Whizz have become known to generations of British children. Earlier generations will remember other notable characters who have been phased out, such as Biffo the Bear and Lord Snooty. Some old characters, like The Three Bears and Little Plum, have made a return.

The comics were also distributed in some of Britain's colonies or former colonies. As they were sent by sea mail, they would go on sale some weeks after the date shown on the cover.

Strips[link]

A number of strips in the comic have run for a very long time. The top five longest running Beano comic strips are, in descending order, Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, Bash Street Kids, Roger, the Dodger, then the last holder of the title before Dennis, Lord Snooty. Dennis the Menace's famous 'red and black' jersey had formed the colours of a few of the Beano characters' clothes (Minnie the Minx has the same, although the placement of the stripes is a bit different; Ball Boy's was a vertical red and black; Roger the Dodger has a chessboard design top, and Danny (from the Bash Street Kids) has a similar cap), but they have changed for Minnie and Ball Boy (Minnie at one point had a red and yellow top and Ball Boy's strip is now black and blue).

There are frequent fictional crossovers between Beano characters, with most of the characters living in the fictional Beanotown. Many of the comic strips in The Dandy are drawn by the same artists, and crossovers between the two comics also occur occasionally. Quite often, one comic will make a tongue-in-cheek jibe at the other (e.g., a character meeting an elderly lady, and stating that she's "older than the jokes in The Dandy"). In the strips, it is expressed that the two towns are rivals with each other and before The Dandy did a drastic format change they had an embassy in Beanotown which many of the town's citizens attempted to overrun, but failed (the embassy had no existence in The Beano). This rivalry inspired the spin-off computer game Beanotown Racing, in which various characters from both comics could be raced around points in Beanotown, including the Embassy. The game was given a large amount of advance publicity in the comics, with story lines often revolving how the characters each acquired his/her vehicle.

Occasionally there are longer than usual strips for example a strip of sixteen pages rather than the usual two pages. These longer strips include The Bash Street Kids Adventures written and drawn by Kev F Sutherland which since 2004 have featured parodies of famous comic strip images, including Amazing Fantasy's first Spider-Man cover, Action Comics' first Superman cover, and most recently the cover of X Men #100^{[citation needed]}.

Reader Polls[link]

During the 1980s, The Beano ran a 'Readers' Request' feature where readers could request for a particular comic strip to feature in the Beano. This led to the return of dropped characters, including Little Plum, Baby Face Finlayson and The McTickles, but also led to the introduction of new strips such as Little Monkey.

Reader polls started to appear in the 1990s, allowing the readers to rate the strips in the comic. These polls have been quite influential, as they indicate which strips the readers like best, and strips that have performed poorly in these polls were usually dropped.

On a number of occasions the Beano has allowed its readers to vote for which new strips they want to appear in the comic. This usually consists of three new comic strips being run for a number of weeks and the readers can vote on which strips they prefer and the one that receives the most votes stays in the Beano. Readers have been able to cast their votes via telephone, or more recently via the Beano website.

The first such vote occurred in 1995 with Vic Volcano emerging as the winner. In the 1997 competition, two new strips were added permanently, with Tim Traveller winning and Crazy for Daisy the runner-up. By the early 2000s, these competitions were named Comic Idol (in reference to Pop Idol. In the 2004 competition, the margin between winner Joe Jitsu and runner-up Colin the Vet was 1%, so both strips were added to the comic.

The most recent incarnation in 2010 featured three new strips, Meebo and Zuky, Home Invasion, and Uh oh Si Co!. Meebo and Zuky won, with Home Invasion finishing as runner-up, though only Meebo and Zuky were added to the comic. In 2011 the Dandy did a similar competition where readers voted for their favourite out of four strips, entitled Strictly Come Laughing (a reference to Strictly Come Dancing).

History[link]

In 1921, D. C. Thomson had first entered the field of boys' story papers with Adventure. The success of this paper led to five further publications, The Rover and The Wizard in 1922, The Vanguard in 1924, The Skipper in 1930 and The Hotspur in 1933. Although The Vanguard folded in 1926, the others were a great triumph and became known as "The Big Five"; they ended Amalgamated Press's near-monopoly of the British comic industry.^[3]

Another success was the Fun Section of D. C. Thomson's Scottish weekly newspaper The Sunday Post, which included the two strips Oor Wullie and The Broons by lead artist Dudley Watkins, as well as other funnies and various puzzles and adventure stories. This gave R. D. Low, the head of children's publications at D. C. Thomson at the time, the idea to create another Big Five, this time of comics intended for both boys and girls and consisting mainly of 'funnies' and more lighthearted adventure and text stories.^[4]

The first of these publications, The Dandy, commenced in 1937 and was followed by The Beano on 26 July 1938. A third paper, The Magic Comic, aimed at a slightly younger audience, followed in July 1939, but ceased publication in early 1941, due to paper rationing. Wartime shortages also prevented the New Big Five project from being completed.

The Beano comic takes its name from the English word beano which can be loosely interpreted as a good time.^[5]

The first edition of The Beano was dated 30 July 1938,^[6] and the 3000th issue was published in January 2000.^[7] There are only 12 known copies of the first issue in existence, and only 5 known copies of the second issue (not including facsimiles). The first issue's cover could be found on the back of issue 2000.

A copy of this first issue sold for £12,100 on 16 March 2004, which was at the time thought to be the highest price ever paid for a British comic at an auction.^[8] The current highest price is £20,350,^[9] which was paid for the first issue of The Dandy on 7 September 2004. The Beano is now the longest-running weekly comic, since The Dandy became a fortnightly comic in 2007.

The Beano is so popular that it had its own section of the Chessington World of Adventures theme park, "Beanoland". This opened in 2000 and survived for a decade before sponsorship was eventually lost. Most of the major Beanoland attractions remain in operation today but have been rethemed as "Wild Asia".

On March 19th The Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history.^[10] The collection featured The Beano, The Dandy, Eagle, The Topper, Roy of the Rovers, Bunty, Buster, Valiant, Twinkle and 2000 AD.

Editors[link]

The original editor was George Moonie, 1938–1959, followed by Harold Cramond, 1959-84. Euan Kerr was editor from 1984 until he handed over to Alan Digby in early 2006. Alan had been Beano Chief Sub Editor when Euan first became editor, and later edited The Beezer. Euan has returned to edit BeanoMAX as of issue 2 (see below). Following the retirement of Euan Kerr, Alan Digby is now Editor-in-Chief of both titles.

Recently, (28th February 2011) there has been news that Digby has retired leaving Michael Stirling as the new editor of the Beano.

Spin-off Comics[link]

Comic Libraries[link]

Since 1982 the comic, along with The Dandy, has also run "Comic Library" titles. Released monthly, these titles are a feature length (usually about 64 page) adventure, featuring a character from the comic itself. They are available in A5 size only. In 1998, these were replaced by the Fun Size Beano. Fun Size Comics were discontinued in late 2010.

Beano Specials[link]

The comic also ran A4-sized Beano Specials in the late 1980s, which later were replaced by Beano Superstars which ran for 121 issues from 1992-2002. These were similar to the Comic Library series. Some of the last issues were printed versions of episodes from the 1996-1998 Dennis and Gnasher animated TV series. A Beano Poster Comic series was also printed in the early 1990s.

The Beano Specials returned in 2003, and were now published seasonally. The issues were numbered, and the first one was a Dennis and Friends special, the last a Christmas reprint special. These were replaced by BeanoMAX in early 2007.

BeanoMAX[link]

On 15 February 2007, the first issue of a monthly comic entitled BeanoMAX was published. The sister comic features many of the same characters, however the stories in BeanoMAX are written in a longer format meant for 10-13 year olds. The first issue was a Comic Relief special featuring assorted celebrity guests.

Plug[link]

Plug was a comic based on the eponymous character from The Bash Street Kids that began with issue dated 24 September 1977, and is notable for being the first comic to make use of rotogravure printing. The magazine similar in style to I.P.C's Krazy which had started the previous year. It contained uncharacteristically outlandish material for D C. Thomson, as well as later including celebrity appearances in the comic.

The comic revealed Plug's full name to be Percival Proudfoot Plugsley and also gave him a pet monkey by the name of Chumkee. Plug's strip was mostly drawn by Vic Neill but other artists, including Dave Gudgeon drew some later strips. Other strips included Antchester United, Violent Elizabeth, Eebagoom, Hugh's Zoo and D'ye Ken John Squeal and his Hopeless Hounds.

The venture was unsuccessful, in part because the comic cost 9p, with the Beano at the time only costing 4p and most of its rivals priced similarly. It merged with The Beezer on 24 February 1979.

Dennis and Gnasher[link]

The brand new Dennis and Gnasher was launched separately from The Beano in September 2009.

Dennis and Gnasher got their own TV series on CBBC from 7 September 2009 to accompany the comic's new look. This was their second, having also had one in 1996, which ran for two series on CBBC, The Children's Channel, and Fox Kids.

Dennis and Gnasher were presenting their own radio show on Fun Kids from 5 September 2009.

Revamps[link]

The Beano's first major revamp was in the 50th birthday issue of 1988, when the page number was increased, the comic had a wider paper style, and more colour was used throughout. Another occurred in issue 2674, dated 16th October 1993, when the whole comic was now printed in full colour, along with some new strips such as The Numskulls, which had been moved from The Beezer.

No major revamps happened from then until 1998, when Dennis' baby sister Bea was born. The logo was rounded and embossed (but later flattened in February 1999), and there were 8 extra pages. Computers were starting to be used for articles and speech bubbles, rather than the usual hand drawn ones.

Since April 2007, The Beano has had five revamps to help it keep up to date.
The first occurred on 7 April 2007. The logo was made to appear to be jumping out, and was embossed using Photoshop^{[citation needed]}. The website address was looped inside the "O". This logo had been used in the Beano Club for one issue in 2006. Two new comic strips were introduced, these being The Riot Squad and Fred's Bed, reprints from Hoot and The Beezer and Topper respectively. There was a record number of uncredited reprints, with the likes of Ivy the Terrible, Calamity James, Les Pretend also being reprinted. In certain areas of the UK, such as Lancashire, the price was increased to 99p, while elsewhere it remained as 85p.

The second happened on 27 October 2007. The logo was still Photoshop-embossed, but was now back to the rounded style which it had from 1999 to 2006. It was quite similar to the original rounded logo from 1998, which was flattened the following year.
The number of reprint pages was cut from 4 to 2, but more started to appear after about a month. Two new strips were also added, Johnny Bean from Happy Bunny Green and London B412. The price increased to 99p across the whole UK.

The third was the least major revamp. The background was changed from one colour behind the logo and another behind the Dennis strip to one single colour or a pattern, such as red and black stripes. New fonts were being used on the front cover, and the "Pocket money price" logo had been changed to a large "WOW! 99p" which was usually placed in the top corners. No new strips were added this time, but the amount of reprints went up to 5, sometimes lowering back to 4 per week, and an extra Dennis strip was added on the inside back two pages.

The fourth revamp, which happened with the issue dated 18 October 2008 had been the most major revamp to date. There was a return of Billy the Cat inside, as well as a new Super School strip by Lew Stringer. The price rose to £1.25 per issue. Different characters appear on the 'O' each week in a cleaner tidier embossed logo. New headline fonts were introduced (CCZoinks), the balloon font was also changed to Cloudsplitter by Blambot. But the main change was the paper style, which had finally changed from newsprint to a gloss, much in the style of the inside pages of the then companion papers Dandy Xtreme and BeanoMAX. The only difference between these paper styles is the front cover, which was thicker on the Dandy Xtreme and BeanoMAX, but the same as the pages throughout in the weekly Beano.

As of late 2010, The Beano is printed by BGP and the comic is now in an A4 format. A mild revision of style accompanies this with balloon font changed to CCTimeSaleLower, an upper and lower case font and a much larger Beano logo on the cover. The font CCZoinks appears to have less prominence with CreativeBlockBold taking centre stage. The Beano Club was closed down in 2010 and it's pages changed to Beano VIP with more online presence. The paper is still glossy, but the paper stock gives it a matte feel. At the start of 2011, the Beano VIP pages were dropped from the comic, but the online features remain.

In the issue dated 12 October 2011, there was another revamp. The comic was expanded to 36 pages, and the paper stock was made smoother. The Number 13 and The Germs strips returned as reprints. A reader's page was also reintroduced, this time titled the Menace Gallery. After two appearances, this was renamed "The Treehouse".

In the issue dated 28 January 2012, The Beano's cover changed. The logo was now more like the 1972-1998 version, but with the "The" inside the B, like it was mainly since then. The special "O"s that had appeared sometimes in the last year were also kept. The first panel of the Dennis & Gnasher strip also appeared on the cover, like from 1972-2008, but the "This Week In Beanotown" feature still appeared across the bottom.

Gnashional Menace Day and the 70th birthday[link]

As a celebration, in partnership with the CLIC Sargent charity, 2 August 2008 was Gnashional Menace Day, where children were sponsored to behave like Dennis. The anniversary was also celebrated with a 40-page issue (instead of 32 pages; the 60th birthday issue also had extra pages, 48 instead of 24) guest edited by Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park,^[11] price £1.50^[12] (not 99p: this has also happened to The Dandy on one occasion, see here) and an issue of Classics from the Comics devoted to the Beano. There is also a special 64-page book available, The Beano Special Collectors Edition: 70 Years of Fun, giving a brief history of the comic. In the Beano's home city of Dundee, a special exhibition was held at the University of Dundee featuring original artwork and other memorabilia loaned from D.C. Thomson - it ran until 20 September 2008.^[13] In London the Cartoon Museum showed the exhibition Beano and Dandy Birthday Bash! from 30 July to 2 November 2008, featuring original artwork from all eight decades of both 'The Beano' and 'The Dandy', including work by Dudley D. Watkins, David Law, Leo Baxendale and Ken Reid as well as David Sutherland and many contemporary artists. There were events for children throughout August.^[14] There was also a special coffee table book called The History of The Beano: The Story so Far, published by Waverly Books.

See also[link]

Children's literature portal

• The Beano Summer Special
• The Beano Annual
• List of magazines published in Scotland
• British comics
• List of Beano comic strips
• List of Beano comic strips by annual

References[link]

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (August 2008)

"Beano artist in Kidderminster". bbc.co.uk - Hereford & Worcester. http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/content/articles/2006/06/13/beano_artist_0807_event_feature.shtml. Retrieved 6 June 2006. 

"Dennis Without The Menace Bad Idea". Bristol Evening Post. http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/news/Dennis-menace-bad-idea-says-Beano-illustrator/article-1255822-detail/article.html. Retrieved 14 August 2009. 

External links[link]

• Official Beano site

John Mayall
Mayall performing in 2004
Background information
Born	(1933-11-29) 29 November 1933 (age 78) Macclesfield, England
Genres	Blues rock, harmonica blues, British blues, electric blues
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards, piano, synthesizers, organ
Years active	1956–present
Labels	Decca, DJM, ABC, Eagle, Snapper, One-Way Records, Polydor, Silvertone, GNP Crescendo
Associated acts	John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Canned Heat, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, Keef Hartley Band, Mark-Almond, Pure Food and Drug Act
Website	johnmayall.com

John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band which has included Eric Clapton, Jack Bruce, Peter Green, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Don "Sugarcane" Harris, Harvey Mandel, Larry Taylor, Aynsley Dunbar, Hughie Flint, Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith, Andy Fraser, Johnny Almond, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya and Buddy Whittington.

Biography[link]

Mayall's father was Murray Mayall, a guitarist and jazz music enthusiast. From an early age, John was drawn to the sounds of American blues players such as Leadbelly, Albert Ammons, Pinetop Smith, and Eddie Lang, and taught himself to play the piano, guitars, and harmonica.^[1]

Mayall spent three years in Korea for national service and, during a period of leave, he bought his first electric guitar. Back in Manchester, he enrolled at Manchester College of Art (now part of Manchester Metropolitan University) and started playing with semi-professional bands. After graduation, he obtained a job as an art designer but continued to play with local musicians. In 1963, he opted for a full time musical career and moved to London. His previous craft would be put to good use in the designing of covers for many of his coming albums.

Since the end of the 1960s Mayall has been living in the U.S. A brush fire destroyed his house in Laurel Canyon in 1979, seriously damaging his musical collections and archives.

Mayall married twice and has six grand-children. Maggie Mayall is an American blues performer and has, since the early 1980s, taken an active part in the management of her husband's career. Maggie and John divorced in the 2011 summer.

In 2005 Mayall was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the Honours List.

The early years[link]

In 1956, with college fellow Peter Ward, Mayall had formed the Powerhouse Four, which consisted of both men plus other local musicians, with whom they played at local dances. In 1962, Mayall became a member of the Blues Syndicate. The band was formed by trumpeter John Rowlands and alto saxophonist Jack Massarik, who had seen the Alexis Korner band at a Manchester club and wanted to try a similar blend of Jazz and Blues. It also included rhythm guitarist Ray Cummings and drummer Hughie Flint, whom Mayall already knew. It was Alexis Korner who persuaded Mayall to opt for a full time musical career and move to London. There, Korner introduced him to many other musicians and helped them to find gigs. In late 1963, with his band which was now called the Bluesbreakers, Mayall started playing at the Marquee Club. The lineup was Mayall, Ward, John McVie on bass and guitarist Bernie Watson, formerly of Cyril Davies and the R&B All-Stars. The next spring Mayall, obtained his first recording date with producer Ian Samwell. The band, with Martin Hart at the drums, recorded two tracks : "Crawling Up a Hill" as well as "Mr. James."^[2] Shortly after, Hughie Flint replaced Hart, and Roger Dean took the guitar from Bernie Watson. This lineup backed John Lee Hooker on his British tour in 1964.

Mayall was offered a recording contract by Decca and, on 7 December 1964, a live performance of the band was recorded at the Klooks Kleek. A single, "Crocodile Walk", was recorded later in studio and released along with the album, but both failed to achieve any success and the contract was terminated.

In April 1965, former Yardbirds guitarist Eric Clapton replaced Roger Dean and John Mayall's career entered a decisive phase.^[3]

Mid-1960s through 1971[link]

Eric Clapton as guitarist, 1965-66[link]

With Eric as their new guitar player, the Bluesbreakers started to attract considerable attention. That summer the band cut a couple tracks for a single, "I'm Your Witch Doctor" b/w "Telephone Blues" (released in October).^[4] In August, however, Clapton left for a jaunt to Greece with a bunch of relative musical amateurs as the Glands. John Weider, John Slaughter, and Geoff Krivit attempted to fill in as Bluesbreaker guitarist, but finally, Peter Green took charge. John McVie was dismissed, and during the next few months, Jack Bruce, from the Graham Bond Organisation, held the bass.

In November 1965 Clapton returned, and Green had to depart, Mayall having guaranteed Clapton his spot back in the Bluesbreakers whenever he tired of the Glands fiasco.^[5] McVie was allowed back, and Bruce left. Later in the month the band entered the studio to record a single, "On Top of the World". Mayall and Clapton cut a couple tracks without the others (although some sources give this as occurring back in the summer): "Lonely Years" b/w "Bernard Jenkins" was released as a single the next August on producer Mike Vernon's Purdah Records label (both tracks appeared again two decades later in Clapton's Crossroads box set). In a February 1966 session, blues pianist-singer Champion Jack Dupree (originally from New Orleans but in the 1960s living in Europe) got Mayall and Clapton to play on a few tracks. A live date by the whole Bluesbreakers outfit—again with Jack Bruce temporarily on bass—was recorded on Mayall's two-track tape recorder at the Flamingo on 17 March. The rough recording provided tracks that later appeared on the 1969 compilation Looking Back and the 1977 Primal Solos.^[6]

In April 1966 the Bluesbreakers returned to Decca Studios to record a second LP with producer Vernon. The sessions, with horn arrangements for some tracks (John Almond on baritone sax, Alan Skidmore on tenor sax, and Dennis Healey on trumpet), lasted just three days. Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton was released in the UK on 22 July 1966. Several of the 12 tracks were covers of pure Chicago blues (side 1 kicking off strong with Otis Rush's "All Your Love" and Freddy King's hit instrumental "Hide Away" [here spelled without a space as “Hideaway”]); Mayall wrote or arranged 5 (such as "Double Crossing Time", a slow blues with a scorching solo by cowriter Clapton); and Eric debuted as lead vocalist, and began his practice of paying tribute to Robert Johnson, with "Ramblin' on My Mind". The album was Mayall's commercial breakthrough, rising to #6 on the British chart, and has since gained classic status, largely for the audacious aggressiveness and molten fluidity of Clapton's guitar playing. “It’s Eric Clapton who steals the limelight,” reports music mag Beat Instrumental, adding with unintended understatement, “and no doubt several copies of the album will be sold on the strength of his name.”^[7]

In the meantime, on 11 June the formation of the Cream--Clapton, bassist Jack Bruce, and drummer Ginger Baker--had been revealed in the music press, much to the embarrassment of Clapton, who had not said anything about this to Mayall. (After a May Bluesbreakers gig at which Baker had sat in, he and Clapton had first discussed forming their own band, and surreptitious rehearsal jams with Bruce soon commenced.) Eric's last gig with the Bluesbreakers was 25 June at the Flamingo; the Cream made a warmup club debut 29 July in Manchester and its "official" live debut two days later at the Sixth National Jazz and Blues Festival, Windsor.

Peter Green as guitarist, 1966-67[link]

Mayall had to replace Clapton, and he succeeded in persuading Peter Green to come back. During the following year, with Green on guitar and various other sidemen, some 40 tracks were recorded. The album A Hard Road was released in February 1967. Today its expanded versions include most of this material, and the album itself also stands as a classic.

But Peter Green gave notice and soon started his own project, Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, which eventually was to include all three of Mayall's Bluesbreakers at this time: Green, McVie, and drummer Mick Fleetwood.

Mick Taylor as guitarist, 1967-69[link]

Mayall's first choice to replace Green was 18-year-old David O'List, guitarist from the Attack. O'List declined, however, and went on to form the Nice with organist Keith Emerson. Through both a "musicians wanted" ad in Melody Maker on 10 June and his own search, Mayall found three other potential guitarists for his Bluesbreakers, a black musician named Terry Edmonds, John Moorshead, and 18-year-old Mick Taylor. The latter made the band quickly, but Mayall, curiously, also decided to hire Edmonds as a rhythm guitarist for a few days.^[8]

In the meantime, on a single day in May 1967, Mayall had put together a studio album to showcase his own abilities as a multi-instrumentalist. Former Artwoods drummer Keef Hartley appeared on only half of the tracks, and everything else was played by Mayall. The album was released in November with the apt title The Blues Alone.

A six-piece lineup—consisting of Mayall, Mick Taylor on lead guitar, John McVie still on bass, Hughie Flint or Hartley on drums, and Rip Kant and Chris Mercer on saxophones—recorded the album Crusade on 11 and 12 July 1967. These Bluesbreakers spent most of the year touring abroad, and Mayall taped the shows on a portable recorder. At the end of the tour, he had over sixty hours of tapes, which he edited into an album in two volumes: Diary of a Band, Vols. 1 & 2, released in February 1968. Meanwhile, a few lineup changes had occurred: McVie had departed and was replaced by Paul Williams, who himself soon quit to join Alan Price and was replaced by Keith Tillman; Dick Heckstall-Smith had taken the sax spot.

Following a U.S. tour, there were more lineup changes, starting with the troublesome bass position. First Mayall replaced bassist Tillman with 15-year-old Andy Fraser. Within six weeks, though, Fraser left to join Free and was replaced by Tony Reeves, previously a member of the New Jazz Orchestra. Hartley was required to leave, and he was replaced by New Jazz Orchestra drummer Jon Hiseman (who had also played with the Graham Bond Organisation). Henry Lowther, who played violin and cornet, joined in February 1968. Two months later the Bluesbreakers recorded Bare Wires, co-produced by Mayall and Mike Vernon, which came up to #6.

Hiseman, Reeves, and Heckstall-Smith then moved on to form Colosseum. The Mayall lineup retained Mick Taylor and added drummer Colin Allen (formerly of Zoot Money's Big Roll Band / Dantalian's Chariot, and Georgie Fame) and a young bassist named Stephen Thompson. In August 1968 the new quartet recorded Blues from Laurel Canyon.

On 13 June 1969, after nearly two years with Mayall, Taylor left and officially joined the Rolling Stones.

Mark-Almond period, 1969-70[link]

Chas Crane filled in briefly on guitar.^{[citation needed]} Drummer Allen departed to join Stone the Crows. This left as the only holdover bassist Thompson (who would also eventually join Stone the Crows).

Mayall tried a new format with lower volume, acoustic instruments, and no drummer. He recruited acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Jon Mark and flautist-saxophonist John Almond. Mark was best known as Marianne Faithfull's accompanist for three years and for having been a member of the band Sweet Thursday (which included pianist Nicky Hopkins and future Cat Stevens collaborator Alun Davies, also a guitarist). Almond had played with Zoot Money and Alan Price and was no stranger to Mayall's music—he had played baritone sax on 4 cuts of Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton and some of A Hard Road. This new band was markedly different from previous Mayall projects, and its making is well documented both on the 1999 double CD The Masters and on the 2004 DVD The Godfather of British Blues: The Turning Point.

Along with the big change in sound, Mayall decided on a big change in scenery: a move to Los Angeles. The new band made its U.S. debut at the Newport Jazz Festival on 5 July,^[8] whilst the 12 July performance at the Fillmore East provided the tracks for the live album The Turning Point. A studio album, Empty Rooms, was recorded with the same personnel, with Mayall's next bassist, former Canned Heat member Larry Taylor, playing bass in a duet with Thompson on "To a Princess."

Harvey Mandel as guitarist, 1970-71[link]

Mayall continued the experiment of formations without drummers on two more albums, although he took on a new electric blues-rock-R&B band in guitarist Harvey Mandel and bassist Larry Taylor, both plucked from Canned Heat, and wailing violinist Don "Sugarcane" Harris, lately of the Johnny Otis Show. On USA Union (recorded in Los Angeles, 27-28 July 1970), though, Mandel was compelled to make do without his remarkable sustain and usage of feedback as musical, even melodic, technique; and on Memories the band was stripped down to a trio.

Mick Taylor, in 1972

In November 1970 Mayall launched a recording project involving many of the most notable musicians with whom he had played during the previous several years. The double album Back to the Roots features Clapton, Mick Taylor, and Mandel on guitar; Sugarcane Harris on violin; Almond on woodwinds; Thompson and Larry Taylor on bass; and Hartley on drums. Ventures guitarist Jerry McGee came along with Larry Taylor to the L.A. sessions and appears on a couple tracks; Paul Lagos was with Sugarcane and ended up drumming on five. Mayall wrote all the songs and sang all the vocals, as usual by now, plus played harmonica, guitar, keyboards, drums, and percussion. The London sessions took place in January 1971 and as such represent some of Clapton's last work before Derek and the Dominos' attempted Layla follow-up sessions and band disintegration that spring.

Back to the Roots did not promote new names, and USA Union and Memories had been recorded with American musicians. Mayall had exhausted his catalytic role on the British blues-rock scene and was living in L.A. Yet, the list of musicians who benefited from association with him, starting with ruling the London blues scene, remains impressive.^[9]

1970s-1990s[link]

Mayall reunited for a brief tour in the early 1980s

By the start of the 1970s Mayall had relocated in the USA where he spent most of the next 15 years, recording with local musicians for various labels. In August 1971, Mayall produced a jazz- oriented session for bluesman Albert King^[10] and a few months later took on tour the musicians present in the studio.

A live album Jazz Blues Fusion was released in the following year, with Mayall on harmonica, guitar and piano, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Clifford Solomon and Ernie Watts on saxophones, Larry Taylor on bass, Ron Selico on drums and Freddy Robinson on guitar. A few personnel changes are noted at the release of a similar album in 1973, the live Moving On.

During the next decade Mayall continued shifting musicians and switching labels and released a score of albums. Tom Wilson, Don Nix and Allen Toussaint occasionally served as producers. At this stage of his career most of Mayall's music was rather different from electric blues played by rock musicians, incorporating jazz, funk or pop elements and adding even female vocals. A notable exception is The Last Of the British Blues (1978), a live album excused apparently by its title for the brief return to this type of music.^[11]

The return of the Bluesbreakers[link]

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers at the Liri Blues Festival, Italy, in 2001

In 1982 Mayall was reunited with Mick Taylor, John McVie and Colin Allen, three musicians of his sixties lineups, for a two year world tour from which a live album would emerge a decade later.

In 1984 Mayall restored the name Bluesbreakers for a lineup comprising the two lead guitars of Walter Trout and Coco Montoya, bassist Bobby Haynes and drummer Joe Yuele. The mythic name did perhaps something to enhance the interest in a band which by all standards was already remarkable.

A successful world tour and live recordings achieved the rest. In the early 1990s most of the excitement was already spent and Buddy Whittington became the sole lead guitarist in a formation which included then organist Tom Canning.

On the occasion of the 40th year of his career Mayall received carte blanche to invite fellow musicians for the recording of a celebratory album. Along for the Ride appeared in 2001, credited to John Mayall and Friends with twenty names listed on the cover, including some Bluesbreakers, old and new, and also Gary Moore, Jonny Lang, Steve Cropper, Steve Miller, Otis Rush, Billy Gibbons, Chris Rea, Jeff Healey, Shannon Curfman and a few others.

Mayall's "Pistoia Blues", Pistoia, Italy
Photo: Federico Maria Giammusso

To celebrate his 70th birthday Mayall reunited with special guests Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Chris Barber during a fundraiser show. This "Unite for Unicef" concert took place on 19 July 2003 at the Kings Dock Arena in Liverpool and was captured on film for a DVD release. In 2005, Mayall was awarded an OBE in the Honours List. "It's the only major award I've ever received. I've never had a hit record or a Grammy or been in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." commented Mayall.^[12]

In November 2008, Mayall announced on his website he was disbanding the Bluesbreakers, to cut back on his heavy workload and give himself freedom to work with other musicians. Three months later a solo world tour was announced, with: Rocky Athas on guitar, Greg Rzab on bass, and Jay Davenport on drums. Tom Canning, on organ, joined the band for the tour which started in March 2009. An album was released in September 2009. Since then, Mayall has continued to tour with the same backing band, minus Canning, who left due to other priorities.^[13]

Discography[link]

Original John Mayall albums[link]

• 2012: Smokin' Blues (Live recording from Frankfurt 1972/1973) (Secret Records)

Unofficial, limited editions and bootlegs[link]

• 1990: Crocodile Walk
• 1984: Blues Alive (RCA/Columbia)
• 198?: Back to the Roots (Gaha 02)[same as Blues Alive]
• 198?: Dal vivo a Milano (bootleg)[live 26 Nov. 1982]
• 1996: Bulldogs For Sale (bootleg)[same as Crocodile Walk]
• 199?: Beano's Boys (bootleg)
• 199?: The First 5 Years (Pontiac)[Crocodile Walk+BBC Sessions +unreleased]
• 199?: Simply Outstanding, live at the Fillmore West '68 (Vintage Masters VMCDR 107) [same as Wolfgang's Vault]
• 1999: Horny Blues (Massive Attack) [live '72]
• 1999: Mayallapolis Blues (Blues Tune BT09)[live in Minneapolis 3 March 1993]
• 2000: Time Capsule (Private Stash) Limited release (J.Mayall's private archive 57-62)
• 2001: UK Tour 2K (Private Stash) Limited release
• 2001: Boogie Woogie Man (Private Stash) Limited release
• 2001: Archive:live (Rialto)
• 2003: No Days Off (Private Stash) Limited release

DVDs[link]

• 2003: 70th Birthday Concert (Eagle) live '03 CD & DVD
• 2004: Live at Iowa State University DVD live'87
• 2004: Cookin' Down Under DVD (Private Stash) Limited release
• 2004: The Godfather of British Blues/Turning Point DVD (Eagle)
• 2005: Rolling with the Blues (Recall) live'72-82 2CD+DVD
• 2007: Live at the Bottom Line, New York 1992
• 2008: Live At Iowa State University

Singles[link]

• 1964: "Crawling Up The Hill / Mr. James" (Decca F11900)
• 1965: "Crocodile Walk / Blues City Shakedown" (Decca F12120)
• October 1965:^[15] "I'm Your Witchdoctor / Telephone Blues" (Immediate IM012)
• August 1966: "Lonely Years / Bernard Jenkins" (Purdah 453502)
• September 1966: "Parchman Farm / Key To Love" (Decca F12490)
• 1966: "Looking Back / So Many Roads" (Decca F12506)
• 1967: "Sitting In The Rain / Out Of Reach" (Decca F12545)
• 1967: "Curly / Rubber Duck" (Decca F12588)
• 1967: "I'm Your Witchdoctor/ Telephone Blues" (Immediate IM051)
• 1967: "Double Trouble / It Hurts Me Too" (Decca F12621)
• 1967: "Suspicions Pt.1 / Suspicions Pt.2" (Decca F12684)
• 1968: "Picture On The Wall / Jenny" (Decca F12732)
• 1968: "No Reply / She's Too Young" (Decca F12792)
• 1968: "The Bear / 2401" (Decca F12846)^[16]

John Mayall's sidemen[link]

A comprehensive list of musicians who have recorded and/or toured with John Mayall.

A few notable names

• Guitar: Eric Clapton, Roger Dean, Peter Green, Mick Taylor, Harvey Mandel, Freddy Robinson, Jimmy McCulloch, Kal David, Walter Trout, Coco Montoya, Randy Resnick, Sonny Landreth, Buddy Whittington, Eric Steckel, Robben Ford
• Bass: Jack Bruce, John McVie, Steven Thompson, Larry Taylor, Tony Reeves, Hank Van Sickle
• Drums: Hughie Flint, Keef Hartley, Aynsley Dunbar, Soko Richardson, Jon Hiseman, Colin Allen, Mick Fleetwood.

• Keyboards: Dr. John
• Vocals/Harmonica: Paul Butterfield

See also[link]

• John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
• British blues
• Eric Clapton
• Peter Green
• Mick Taylor

References[link]

External links[link]

• John Mayall's website
• Mayall: sessions,concerts
• Concerts in Wolfgang's Vault: Fillmore West '68 [2]; Bottom Line '77 [3]
• ABC Records Press Release
• John Mayall Interview 2007 - by Brian D. Holland
• John Mayall Interview with Jarrod Dicker (2009)
• John Mayall at the Internet Movie Database
• Works by or about John Mayall in libraries (WorldCat catalog)

Buddy Whittington
Performing with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in Pistoia, Italy Photo: Federico Maria Giammusso
Background information
Born	(1956-12-28) 28 December 1956 (age 55) Fort Worth, Texas United States
Genres	Blues, southern rock, blue-eyed soul
Occupations	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals,
Associated acts	John Mayall
Website	Buddy Whittington.com
Notable instruments
1963 Stratocaster Fender Telecaster

Buddy Whittington is an American guitarist. He began playing the guitar inspired by his sister's records of The Beatles, Rolling Stones and, in particular, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton. At the age of 14 he was already a part of the Dallas/Fort Worth music scene and playing regularly in the clubs along Jacksboro Highway. While attending high school, Buddy played in a band called "Short Change" which opened for Point Blank, a band that he would later join, replacing rhythm guitar player Kim Davis. During the early 1980s, he formed and sang with his own band "The Sidemen".^[1] In 1991 they opened for John Mayall and when Coco Montoya left the Bluesbreakers in 1993, Mayall called him to take his place in the band. In Mayall's band Whittington also sings occasionally and contributes to songwriting. 2008 saw the release of his first solo album and touring in Europe with his UK based band which includes Roger Cotton on organ, Pete Stroud on Bass and Darby Todd on drums. He lives in Hurst, Texas with his family.

Buddy Whittington usually plays a 1963 Stratocaster plugged into a Dr. Z amplifier. He also plays a Lentz guitar modeled partially after the Fender Telecaster.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Buddy Whittington on Myspace
• Official Buddy Whittington Website

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