Acting

John Mayall

Born — Died

1933-11-29 — 2024-07-22

Place of birth

Macclesfield, Cheshire, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

25 titles

John Mayall, OBE, was an English blues singer, guitarist, organist and songwriter, whose musical career spans over fifty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band which has counted among its members some of the most famous blues and blues rock musicians. They include Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Jack Bruce, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Mick Taylor, Larry Taylor, and Aynsley Dunbar.

Known for

Classic Albums poster
7.7

A documentary series about pop and rock albums that are considered the best or most distinctive of a well-known band or musician or that exemplify a stage in the history of music.

Classic Albums

1997

The Blues poster
7.5

The Blues (2003) is a seven-part documentary series produced by Martin Scorsese that explores the history and influence of blues music. Each episode, directed by a different filmmaker, traces a unique aspect of the genre’s evolution—from its African roots to its global impact. Originally airing on PBS, the series includes Scorsese’s Feel Like Going Home, Wim Wenders’ The Soul of a Man, Richard Pearce’s The Road to Memphis, Charles Burnett’s Warming by the Devil’s Fire, Marc Levin’s Godfathers and Sons, Mike Figgis’ Red, White and Blues, and Clint Eastwood’s Piano Blues.

The Blues

2003

Monochrome: Black, White & Blue poster
NR

Jon Brewer examines the history of blues music in America, marrying startling imagery and expert interviews with archival performances to fill in the gaps about the music itself, its origins and the impact it had and continues to have on popular music today.

Monochrome: Black, White & Blue

2017

Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars poster
7.1

An unflinching and deeply personal journey into the life and work of guitarist Eric Clapton told through his own words and songs.

Eric Clapton: Life in 12 Bars

2018

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band poster
4.4

A small town band makes it big, but loses track of their roots, as they get caught up into the big-time machinations of the music biz. Now, they must thwart a plot to destroy their home town. Built around the music of The Beatles, this musical uses some big name groups like Peter Frampton and Aerosmith.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

1978

Classic Albums: Cream - Disraeli Gears poster
5.9

This addition of Disraeli Gears to the acclaimed Classic Albums series features brand new interviews with Clapton, Baker and Bruce, along with lyricist Pete Brown, Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, John Mayall and Manfred Mann. Also included on the DVDare acoustic performances, original studio tracks and archival live footage. Included are additional interviews and analysis of the tracks, Exclusive acoustic performances, exclusive solo piano performance and previously unreleased full live performances. Though they were only together for two brief years (1966-1968), the London-based power trio Cream changed the face of rock with their jazz-schooled psychedelic blues--and never more so than on their 1967 classic DISRAELI GEARS. This program offers a critical review of the landmark album through archival footage, rare live performance clips, and interviews with rock critics, musicologists, and band members.

Classic Albums: Cream - Disraeli Gears

2006

Film credits

2000s · 10 titles

Classic Albums: Cream - Disraeli Gears poster
5.9

This addition of Disraeli Gears to the acclaimed Classic Albums series features brand new interviews with Clapton, Baker and Bruce, along with lyricist Pete Brown, Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun, John Mayall and Manfred Mann. Also included on the DVDare acoustic performances, original studio tracks and archival live footage. Included are additional interviews and analysis of the tracks, Exclusive acoustic performances, exclusive solo piano performance and previously unreleased full live performances. Though they were only together for two brief years (1966-1968), the London-based power trio Cream changed the face of rock with their jazz-schooled psychedelic blues--and never more so than on their 1967 classic DISRAELI GEARS. This program offers a critical review of the landmark album through archival footage, rare live performance clips, and interviews with rock critics, musicologists, and band members.

Classic Albums: Cream - Disraeli Gears

2006

The Soul of a Man poster
6.6

Wim Wenders looks at the dramatic tension in the blues between the sacred and the profane by exploring the music and lives of three of his favorite blues artists: Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir. Part history, part personal pilgrimage, the film tells the story of these lives in music through an extended fictional film sequence (recreations of '20s and '30s events - shot in silent-film, hand-crank style), rare archival footage, present-day documentary scenes and covers of their songs by contemporary musicians such as Shemekia Copeland, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Garland Jeffreys, Chris Thomas King, Cassandra Wilson, Nick Cave, Los Lobos, Eagle Eye Cherry, Vernon Reid, James "Blood" Ulmer, Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Marc Ribot, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Lucinda Williams and T-Bone Burnett.

The Soul of a Man

2003

Rolling With the Blues poster
NR

Compilation of live performances by various blues artists.

Rolling With the Blues

2007

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers And Friends: 70th Birthday Concert poster
7.5

Not all that many blues musicians (or any other kind, for that matter) live to 70, so British bandleader John Mayall had good reason to celebrate when he reached that milestone in 2003--and celebrate he did, with the admirable, 137-minute John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers: 70th Birthday Concert to show for it. Mayall, a capable if not exactly stellar singer and multi-instrumentalist, is best known for the many fine players who passed through his band over the years, and Eric Clapton, the most renowned of the lot, is on hand here, as is former Mayall/Rolling Stones guitarist Mick Taylor. Clapton sings several tunes in addition to playing his trademark stinging solos on "Hideaway" and "All Your Love" (two of the tunes most responsible for the "Clapton is God" graffiti seen around London in the '60s), while Taylor is mostly impressive as well.

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers And Friends: 70th Birthday Concert

2003

Red, White and Blues poster
7.5

Director Mike Figgis joins musicians such as Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Tom Jones, performing and talking about the music of the early sixties British invasion that reintroduced the blues sound to America.

Red, White and Blues

2003

John Lee Hooker - That's My Story poster
5.4

A teenage runaway who never went to school, John Lee Hooker had trouble spelling his name, even into his eighties. But, despite these humble beginnings, John Lee Hooker is today considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

John Lee Hooker - That's My Story

2001

Peter Green: Man of the World poster
6.0

Legendary blues guitarist BB King named Peter Green as one of the greatest exponents of the blues, and the 'only guitar player to make me sweat'. If Green had only written Black Magic Woman, his name would still have a place in blues rock history forever. His three short years leading Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac saw the band established as one of the biggest-selling groups of the 1960s. Yet at the height of their fame Green left the group, with his life spiralling into turmoil as drug-induced mental health issues took control. Rumours of his demise began to spread, and sightings of him became notorious. After years battling his mental illness, Green wrote and recorded again. Featuring archive performances and interviews with Carlos Santana, Noel Gallagher, founding members of Fleetwood Mac and Green himself, this film tells the story of one of blues rock's living legends.

Peter Green: Man of the World

2009

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Jammin' with the Blues Greats poster
8.0

It was a night when the legends played, when English Blues met Chicago & Memphis Blues, and something magical happened. One hot night in June 1982 at New Jersey's Capitol Theater, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, featuring Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones) on lead guitar, John McVie (Fleetwood Mac) on bass, and Colin Allen (of Rod Stewart's band) on drums, paid homage to and were joined by five blues immortals: Albert King, Etta James, Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, and the 83-year-old Sippie Wallace. Each of the blues greats was backed by the Bluesbreakers, resulting in some amazing musical moments. Awesome is the only word to describe the guitar jams among Albert King, Buddy Guy, and Mick Taylor. New audiences can enjoy every moment of greatness from that special night, when the Bluesbreakers were joined by the blues makers. The night the legends came out to play.

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Jammin' with the Blues Greats

2004

No artwork available
NR

An all-blues program with John Mayall, Buddy Guy, Pinetop Perkins, and others.

Mountain Stage Blues Special

2003

No artwork available
8.0

THE GODFATHER OF BRITISH BLUES: The film biography features contributions from John Mayall himself, his family, fellow musicians, colleagues and friends, in interviews and performances. Rare archival film from all periods of his career marks his achievements and some of the events that formed them. THE TURING POINT: The earliest 'rockumentary' of John Mayall and his musicians filmed in their homes, dressing rooms, mororways, airports, clubs, concert halls and at festivals.

John Mayall - The Godfather of British Blues/The Turning Point

2004

1990s · 2 titles

1980s · 4 titles

Baja Oklahoma poster
6.5

Juanita Hutchins works at Texas bar, but she aspires to be a country songwriter. When she's not looking after her impulsive daughter, Candy, or vouching for her promiscuous friend, Doris Steadman, she's trying to maintain some semblance of a romantic life. As Juanita prepares to make the leap to Nashville, her former boyfriend, Slick Henderson, returns to town, further complicating her situation.

Baja Oklahoma

1988

Sunset Strip poster
2.9

The stage is set for a series of confrontations when photographer Mark Jefferson (Tom Eplin) agrees to help his friend Roger (John Mayall) defend his night club against a handful of organized crime figures. Mark has an added incentive for becoming involved as his ex-girlfriend Carol (Cheri Cameron Newell) sings at the club. But the gangsters are willing to use mayhem and murder in order to take over Roger's business. It appears that the petty mobsters are out to sell illegal weapons to anyone who wants them, especially L.A.'s youth, instead of using the club as a front for a prostitution ring as Roger suspects. Soon Mark and his trusty motorcycle have their work cut out for them.

Sunset Strip

1985

The Big Picnic poster
6.8

Rysiek is an escapee from a reform school. Julek escapes the anger of a fire brigade in a small town from which he embezzled. In search for food Rysiek breaks into a villa and discovers a bundle of cash in the freezer. They team together in Warsaw and decide to go on a rampage through the city.

The Big Picnic

1981

No artwork available
3.8

Live archive release from the British Blues legend. This release features Mayall in a hard-driving, sharp set of original and classic numbers captured live on tour in 1988. This concert serves to remind us of the genius with which this pioneering artist almost single-handedly revived the Blues, and how he has made them his own over a phenomenal career in music. Featuring the paired lead guitars of Walter Trout and Coco Montoya, the band rocks hard in a tight groove that enables searing solos from the featured guitarists as well as from Mayall himself on guitar and keyboards. The guttural power of Mayall's vocals is ever-present. And the songs - most of them Mayall originals - include the classic Room To Move, with which John Mayall once electrified the world of Rock 'n' Roll.

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Live In Germany

1988

Series credits