“The first order of business was to get a new guitar player. I thought that the young Mick Taylor, who I’d remembered for his remarkable takeover at Hatfield on the no-show Eric night, would be the perfect choice. The problem was where to find him. I needed horns too, so I put an ad in Melody Maker for musicians to join an established blues band. I got many, many calls straight away and I swiftly realised that I wouldn’t have the patience to set up formal auditions for everyone. I took down a few numbers and asked a couple of guitarists to come round to the flat to be heard. As luck would have it, Mick Taylor himself then came out of the woodwork—and I told him he’d got the job right away.” — John Mayall

55 years later eight of them are still alive.

Jimi Hendrix, Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Stevie Winwood and Carl Wayne (The Move), 1969.

Jazz fusion and blues rock violinist and guitarist Don "Sugarcane" Harris (June 18, 1938 – November 30, 1999)

Just some of the many musicians we lost in 2024