In 1968, Taj Mahal was onstage at the Whisky a Go Go in Los Angeles when he looked out and realised he was performing to a who’s who of British rock music. “Three of the Stones were dancing, along with three of The Animals,” he remembers. “Eric Clapton was in the back of the room. There was a current going back and forth.”
The young stars of the British Invasion all borrowed heavily from the blues, and were intoxicated by Mahal’s thrillingly electrified version of American roots music. In turn, the then 26-year-old had grown up in the States tuning in to UK radio shows. After his set, he approached Mick Jagger and asked him to let him know if there was ever an opportunity for his band to play in England.
“Three months later, they sent us eight first class round-trip tickets,” remembers Mahal. “We went over and they treated us absolutely the best we’d ever been treated by anybody.” The Rolling Stones invited him to perform at their Rock and Roll Circus, a star-studded concert also featuring John Lennon and The Who. “It was wonderful,” recalls Mahal. “We were travelling with the Stones and wherever they went, it was happening.”
Almost six decades later, Mahal, now 83, is backstage in Los Angeles again, preparing for a show at the grand Art Deco venue The Wiltern. In the intervening years, the seasoned bluesman has become a Grammy winner five times over and released more than 40 records, and he’s not slowing down yet. His breezy, upbeat new album, Time, has him collaborating with his old friend Bob Marley’s son Ziggy and recording a previously unheard Bill Withers tune.
We meet a couple of hours before showtime. Mahal is dressed in a black baseball jacket and dark circular shades, with a red neckerchief tied under his snowy white beard. It appears he’s lost none of his enthusiasm for life on the road as he happily holds court from his leather armchair, speaking in a low, resonant drawl. “It’s all about the music,” he says nonchalantly. “I love the people, and like to see them enjoying it.”
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