John Mayall Quotations

I get most of my news from the Jon Stewart Daily Show. It's the most level commentary you can find. You have to laugh, because it's all so true. It's the closest thing to a counterculture.

Joe's been my drummer for 14 years, and we've been buddies for six years.

I think initially people like Johnny Lang, they seemed to be a novelty at the time but nowadays there are so many blues guitarists.

I write songs about real things, ... The subject dictates the mood and it goes from there, really.

To me, they are equally important, as they represent a certain period in my life and times. With that in mind, it really is impossible to pick favorites.

You have to pack as much as you can in an hour or 70 minutes. This time around it was 15 songs, so it was a challenge to get them all the right length so you could get them all on.

what came from Manchester; Stevie Winwood and Spencer Davis were the Birmingham contingent and then from the North we had The Animals, Eric Burdon -- and further up north was the Alex Harvey Band from Scotland. We all converged on London, we all had our own different styles, and it just became the London melting pot, really.

The way I look at it, they're all part of my musical diary, and I can listen to any one of them and it will bring up memories of what was going on at that time.

Once you start collecting records you learn more and more about jazz and blues.

They're steppingstones, markers to whatever's going on in your life, at that moment, ... There's no pain in any of them. They're memories and recollections of time we spent together as musicians, and the stories that were going on at the time. They're diaries, really. They all have pleasant memories.

The biggest change I have seen is that it seems the audiences are getting younger and there are more people starting to play at an earlier age.

I don't think the biggest change has been in the music itself but of course it has developed over the years in terms of integrating different sounds.

I always make it a point to pick songs on which players really shine.

I also went to art school and learned to play a piano there, but I play by ear.

I keep healthy and I'm always very active and always have been so. I don't really see any signs of aging yet. Music keeps you young.

Working with people, the musical part is one thing but the personal part is totally different and just as critical. If the friendship is there and it's a lasting friendship, then it will take care of itself.

I never really thought about becoming a professional musician.

Everybody I know in England was raised on Mose Allison.

I do the best I can with any instrument I get attracted to. But they're just tools in order for you to express yourself and that's really the upshot of it.

I get most of my news from the Jon Stewart Daily Show.It's the most level commentary you can find.You have to laugh, because it's all so true.It's the closest thing to a counterculture.

I write songs about real things... The subject dictates the mood and it goes from there, really.

Check out the albums, ... Check out the live performances. That's the reality of it all. Music is such an energizing thing.