‘The Godfather’ passed away this morning leaving fans in tears.

Clapton loved Chicago blues as much as Mayall did, and the guitarist later said that Mayall had “the most amazing collection of records I had ever seen.”Mayall put up with Clapton’s wanderings:

he disappeared a few months after joining the band, then reappeared later that same year, pushing new member Peter Green to the back of the line-up, and then he left for good in 1966 with Bruce to form Cream, which became a huge hit, leaving Mayall far behind.In 2003, Clapton was interviewed for a BBC documentary about Mayall.

He said, “to a certain extent I have used his hospitality, his band, and his reputation to launch my own career.”“I think he’s a great musician.” Clapton added, “I just admire and respect how strong he is.”Clapton was encouraged by Mayall to sing, and Green was told to improve his songwriting skills.Mick Taylor, who took over for Green as a Bluesbreaker in the late 1960s, liked how Mayall gave his soloists a lot of freedom.At a 1979 meeting with writer Jas Obrecht, Taylor said, “You’d be free to do whatever you wanted.”“You could also make as many mistakes as you liked.”Mayall’s 1968 album “Blues from Laurel Canyon” marked a move to the US for good and a change of direction.The Bluesbreakers were broken up, and he worked with two guitars and drums.The next year, he put out “The Turning Point,” which was probably his most popular album. It was recorded with an unusual four-man acoustic group that included Mark and Almond.A song from that album called “Room to Move” became a fan favorite over the course of Mayall’s career.Mayall was having a rough time in his personal life in the 1970s, but he was still touring and playing more than 100 shows a year.In a 1990 interview with Dan Ouellette for Down Beat magazine, Mayall said, “In the 1970s, I played most of my shows drunk.”As a result, Mayall tried to jump off a balcony into a swimming pool but missed. He broke one of his heels and now walks with a limp.Mayall said, “That was the one thing that made me stop drinking.”He brought Taylor and McVie back to the Bluesbreakers in 1982, but after two years, the band’s members changed again.Mayall said in 2008 that he was giving up the Bluesbreaker name for good, and by 2013, he was leading the John Mayall Band.There was a divorce between Mayall and his second wife Maggie in 2011. They had been married for 30 years. They had two sons.