John Mayall (1933 - 2024) and Abdul "Duke" Fakir (1935 - 2024) RIP

Two senior citizens died on the same day. Both both were still musically active but also mainly belong to a musical era that is now close to 60 years behind us. Mayall brought together loads of musicians through the decades some of which, especially the lead guitarists, rose to extreme prominence, while also having had three fifth of the original Fleetwood Mac in his band. He never made it big himself. Fakir was one of the founding members of the Four Tops (in 1953!), the singing group that scored a host of hits in the 1960s and incidently into the 1980s.

What are they to me?

John Mayall

For me the man is more a name than an artist I've listened to. In 1970 he scored his only hit in NL, 'Room To Move', a song I now learn is from his 1969 album 'The Turning Point'. I remember being attracted to the song, but also that I did not really understand it. The long solo sequence on the harmonica kept me from the song. Delving into my brain that is what comes out. Listening to it again now for the first time in maybe decades, I notice how weird it really is but also how powerful. A very daring choice for a single, that paid off here. The only other song I knew was on an Australian Polydor compilation album called 'Immortal Hits'. It contained the John Mayall song 'Moving On'. A jazzy blues song, a live recording, just like 'Room To Move' is. The vocal wasn't very strong but I did like the song. It never led to me exploring more though. Only much later I learned about the famous Bluesbreakers album with Eric Clapton. It is the already famous and adored guitarist Clapton, who made Mayall's name beyond the blues scene. I bought the album most likely later in the 90s and remember being disappointed, also after playing it again later in time. Legendary it may be, it does not seem to be for me. In fact, it kept me from exploring further.

I remember that not that long ago John Mayall was to play here again on a tour. 88! I remember being impressed. He will have had his fans who kept coming and maybe even had younger fans joining later, as he was the link to the original blues singers, who he will have met and maybe even played with. He died aged 90 in L.A., where he lived for decades. A blues man has gone.

Duke Fakir

In 1953 lead singer Levi Stubbs, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton formed The Four Aims in Detroit, soon changed to Four Tops. They signed to Tamla/Motown in the 1960s and started to score one hit after the other for a few years, in "competition" with The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Looking on Spotify, you will see that the quartet's biggest hits have been listened to in the hundreds of millions times. That's how popular the band still is. In essence the sound of the various artists are the same, as the songs come from a few Motown songwriters or collectives. It is the voices that make it different. Fakir was the tenor voice in the quartet, supporting bariton Stubbs. When I heard the Four Tops for the first time, I was even younger than when I heard 'Room To Move'. Today these years seem so close together, then it was a lifetime. The difference between hearing songs because of someone else and discovering them myself. Songs like 'Reach Out (I'll Be There)', 'It's The Same Old Song' and 'Bernadette' will have come by on the radio regularly, because I just know the songs for just as long as I can remember. Yet, I do not own a Four Tops record. I should have had a greatest hits compilation. Listening to the music now, that is what it tells me.

Admittedly, I could not have named one of the four original singers. This includes Fakir. A short piece to commemorate him and the already deceased Stubbs, Benson and Payton is in place though. Four Tops have given the world songs that put smiles on the face of many.

Strangely enough Spotify also tells me that Four Tops are touring extensively late in the summer of this year. Fakir only retired this year!, in fact two days before his death. A son of Payton is in the band, giving it some authenticity. No doubt singing the old hits the (newer) Four Tops will put smiles on the faces of the old fans.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght