Culture Society, Identity and Belonging
In 1979 a fire torched everything that would burn on the steep slopes of Laurel Canyon in Hollywood – including a house with spectacular views to downtown LA and the ocean. This was the home of John Mayall, founder of the Bluesbreakers and other bands, a workaholic Brit born in Macclesfield 46 years earlier. With it, up in smoke, went a record collection that had inspired a young Eric Clapton, "rescued from oblivion" and mentored by Mayall as a teenager. Others whose fame eclipsed Mayall's but who owed him a debt as a bandleader and godfather of British blues included John McVie and Peter Green, later of Fleetwood Mac, and Jimmy Page, who went on to form Led Zeppelin. Mayall escaped the fire with only the clothes on his back. Like David Hockney, he'd swapped grey English skies for dazzling California and was smitten. Unlike Hockney, he stayed. He rebuilt his house, and died there this week aged 90, surrounded by his family.
