JOHN McVIE LEETWOOD Mac's bass player is pleased that he doesn't get F much publicity as he believes that a bass player should remain a background figure. Musically, anyway. "We act as a foundation for the group." Despite John's lack of personal glory, he is generally regarded as Britain's leading blues bass, and will probably be ·the strongest challenger to Jack Bruce's :poll title this year. All this has come from dedication and loyalty ... John has only played in two groups pro­ fessionally-John Mayall, and now Fleetwood Mac. He savs be owes most of his musical expe;ience to John MayaU. "I'd played semi-pro from the age of 17, even with John. He taught me : about the blues, and told me to keep my parts as simple as possible, which is what I've always done". Many ex-John Mayall musicians have formed groups, using themselves as named leaders, but John has deliberately avoided this. "I'm not a 'leader' type of person," he says. "As I said, I see my role in the background. It's the part I play more successfully than any ( ther". With the Fleetwood Mac, he's more than happy. They play his music-call it what you will-and he's been part of a group which has gh'en him commercial success. "It's something everyone secretly hopes for". He says secretly, because there's still a barrier between blues and commerciality. But Fleehmod Mac have had two top 50 singles, and a best selling album, and they still play blues. Apart from the music John's been brought up on, he likes the Fugs . • "I'd like to play their sort of stuff sometime" . Chicken Shack, Big Brother and the Holding Company, and 1I's A Beautiful Day, a group he caught up with on their recent American tour. "They reall)' have their own thing," he says. His influences range from Eddie Taylor, Howlin' Wolf to B. B. King's various bass players ... "Particularly on that 'LITe at tbe Regal' album". He is currently playing a Fender Precision, which is five years old . "but looks 10," he admits. He's tried Gibson, and an Ampeg fretless bass. But he says that was like starting from scratch again. "The Fender's like an old friend now. You get used to an instrument, and sta~ · with it". He's self taught, "lth the help of John Mayall, and remembers Lead­ belly as the first blues artist he listened to, and learned from. John McVie is quiet and reserved, but he has more enthusiasm for music than most people on the scene. And it's this enthusiasm which has given him Ihe reputation he won'l admit to. .