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HISTORICAL FACTS: 2 | History Defined

“It never dawned on me that I could make a living playing music. For many years, it was just a hobby, a way I could express myself”: John Mayall changed blues music forever – and introduced the world to some of its greatest guitar players

“The Godfather of British Blues” left us in July at age 90. We look back at his many achievements, triumphs and essential releases

Guitar World

John Mayall obituary

Bandleader, composer, instrumentalist and singer who nurtured players such as Eric Clapton and put British blues on the map

The Guardian - UK

"When he felt the spirit, he was untouchable" – the story of Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton and Peter Green

Two legendary players. Two near-mythical Les Pauls.Two all-time-great blues albums and the greatest guitar handover in blues history

MusicRadar

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"Keep on playing the blues somewhere, we love you": John Mayall, British blues pioneer, dies aged 90

Bluesbreaker was one of the most influential rock musicians of the '60s

MusicRadar

“Eric called and said, ‘Buddy Guy, George Harrison and I are playing tonight. You’re going to come and jam’”: Richie Sambora recalls receiving Eric Clapton’s spontaneous invite to a star-studded jam session

Sambora once asked Slowhand to feature on one of his singles, and it wasn't long before the pair were trading licks at the Roxy with a couple of other blues greats

Guitar World

“The producer showed me a great recording trick – he covered my pick with a thin layer of paper. The sound was pure Bowie”: He played with John Squire and KT Tunstall. Now George Vjestica is exploring his experimental side as one of Nick Cave’s Bad Seeds

You may not know him at first glance, but the work of Stoke-on-Trent native George Vjestica has probably appeared on some of your favorite albums and movies

Guitar World

“So well-versed in the art of blues that B.B. King said ‘he was like another one of my sons’”: 12 blues guitar albums that chart the genre – and the instrument’s – evolution

From Son House to Eric Gales, John Lee Hooker to Albert Collins, these classics highlight how blues guitar has changed over the years – its stories, tones and techniques all passed down and reinvented

Guitar World

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John Lee Hooker: "Eric Clapton, John Mayall and all those other people over in England made the blues a big thing. In the States, people didn't want to know"

Legendary bluesman on his latter-day fame

MusicRadar

"I remember him coughing and spitting up blood, probably from smoking too many cigarettes. But in my mind, Jim was indestructible": Robby Krieger looks back on the making of The Doors' LA Woman

Classic interview: Revisiting a 2012 chat on the album where The Doors produced themselves for the first time and Jim Morrison's health decline became clear – "It was a stressful time"

MusicRadar

"Saucy enough to flavour a thousand barbecues": How a fabled Texan brothel inspired a ZZ Top classic

Celebrating a real-life Texan brothel, the visiting of which was in its day "a rite of passage", La Grange is still one of ZZ Top's best-loved songs and a must-play at shows

Louder

“If I ended up in jail, I knew I wouldn’t be able to play guitar”: the secret history of Jimi Hendrix’s pre-fame years

Although I don’t eat every day, everything’s going all right for me. It could be worse than this

Louder

“All these older blues players would come to Detroit to play local clubs. I was too young to get in, so I’d cut my hair short and glue a mustache on my face”: Tony Newton on playing with Gary Moore, Allan Holdsworth, and holding down the pocket at Motown

A blues, fusion, and studio veteran, Tony Newton is a low-end titan who has covered incredible stylistic ground over the decades, but to him, it's all about simplicity. He recalls the lessons James Jamerson taught him, his experiences playing with guitar legends John Lee Hooker and T-Bone Walker, and what…

Guitar World

Walter Trout and his guitar fell in love with Australia in 1981

Lizotte's date in January

Newcastle Herald

In Oak Park mural, Ken Reif’s towering tree takes centerstage because ‘I love trees and nature’

The Berwyn artist also likes to feature blues legends like John Lee Hooker, a family dog and Chicago bungalows in his public artwork.

Chicago Sun-Times

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Louder

"A ferocious shot across the bows": How Love's Da Capo album blew the 60s wide open

Love's second album was a seismic shift from their rock’n’roll roots: a mix of blues jamming, jazz freakouts and baroque folk that laid down a gauntlet to their peers...

Louder

"Success certainly beats obscurity. I have an incredible life, and I know it" - the epic journey of Bonnie Raitt

Bonnie Raitt has played with everyone, from Ray Charles to Bruce Springsteen to Elton John and Aretha Franklin - and she's still winning awards

The Independent UK

Carlos Santana: 'My guitar is my best lover, ever'

“Take no prisoners — peacefully,” Carlos Santana sometimes tells his bandmates before taking the stage

The Guardian - UK

Tony McPhee obituary

Influential British blues guitarist and singer with the rock band the Groundhogs

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The Guardian - UK

The Groundhogs’ Tony McPhee will remain a hero for the musically adventurous

Influencing Arctic Monkeys to Underworld, with music that spanned blues with John Lee Hooker to avant-garde synth experiments, the late musician was an astonishing British great

Guitar World

The Groundhogs guitarist and frontman Tony McPhee dies aged 79

The influential British rock guitarist backed John Lee Hooker, recorded with Jimmy Page and played with Eric Clapton and John Mayall

Louder

How a psychotic reaction inspired The Groundhogs' revolutionary classic Split

In 1971 The Groundhogs released Split, a savage, four-part suite titled documenting a traumatic brush with drugs experienced by frontman Tony McPhee

Louder

Groundhogs founding guitarist and frontman Tony McPhee dead at 79

The death of Groundhogs' leader Tony McPhee has been confirmed by the band

The Guardian - UK

Tony McPhee, singer and guitarist for rock band the Groundhogs, dies aged 79

Musician who led acclaimed band on and off between 1962 and 2015 – and scored three UK top 10 albums – had suffered a fall last year and a series of strokes

MusicRadar

Learn 7 of the greatest blues guitar licks of all time

Featuring classics by Hendrix, BB King, Cream, Led Zeppelin, Freddie King, Buddy Guy and John Lee Hooker

The Independent UK

Bill Lee, jazz musician who worked with Bob Dylan and on son Spike Lee's early movies, dies at 94

Bill Lee, a well-regarded jazz musician who accompanied such artists as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel and Harry Belafonte and scored four of his son Spike’s early films, has died

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