After Years, Mayall Off His Rampage but Still on a Mission : Blues: The impassioned British bandleader and his Bluesbreakers, with a new album due out in the spring, will play at the Coach House tonight and Sunday.

About 22 years ago, John Mayall spoke in interviews of the blues music he loved in terms of a crusade, and indeed was pictured on his “Crusade” album of 1968 marching with picket signs demanding greater recognition for the blues.

At 56, the British bluesman remains no less impassioned about his music, though he’s a bit less confrontational. “I was definitely on a rampage then,” Mayall said by phone this week from his Laurel Canyon home. “At that time, I was coming from the point that the American blues artists who originated the music were not very much known or talked about. I was trying to stir up some interest in the source of the music people were hearing.

“Today, I think everyone is pretty much aware of the blues. For me, it’s less of a crusade now, and more of a mission to make sure that we do the music justice and do it honestly, to play it creatively and keep the blues alive.”

Mayall’s Bluesbreakers band has been a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Mick Fleetwood, Jack Bruce, Peter Green and, by Mayall’s rough estimation, nearly 100 others. His 1966 “Bluesbreakers” album with Clapton both initiated and epitomized the notion of the guitar hero in popular music. Since then his bands have assayed every variety of blues styles extant, and created one or two, such as the nylon-stringed guitar and flute experiments of his 1969 “Turning Point” LP.

If record labels have since become less open to such out-of-the-mainstream efforts, Mayall is fairly unperturbed, even though he just passed through a decade with practically no domestically released discs.

“Basically, I’m not affected by whether there’s a record out or not,” he said, “because I’ve never relied on records for my livelihood. They have been good to have by way of making sure our followers have something to take home with them, and a successful record might help get us into larger venues. But without them we’ve still played 100 to 120 shows a year in about 16 countries.”

Still, he is pleased to have a new studio album due out this spring on the major Island label. To be titled “A Sense of Place,” the album will feature the current Bluesbreakers lineup of guitarist Coco Montoya, bassist Bobby Haynes and drummer Joe Yuele, who perform with Mayall tonight and Sunday at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. Added to that roster on the record is John Hiatt band slide guitarist Sonny Landreth, who wrote two of the album’s songs.

“It has a very rural flavor, very bluesy,” Mayall said, “a bit different from the usual run-of-the-mill album. It’s very special to me, because there’s a certain mood about it. Each song has a definite feel, but I find it very hard to describe music in words.”

He finds it equally difficult to assess how it might fare in the marketplace.

“I’ve never known the answer to that one because I always treat music and recording from an artistic point of view. Sometimes something will stick to the ceiling, like the ‘Turning Point’ album or the ‘Bluesbreakers’ album with Clapton. But at the time of doing these things you never have any idea what will become of them. You don’t approach them with the idea of trying to get a hit. You try to come up with a valid piece of music that will stand the test of time. If it catches a wider audience, that’s fantastic.”

Although he thinks 100 is a fairly accurate figure, Mayall isn’t really sure how many Bluesbreakers he’s had. “I made a list on one of my albums 10 years ago, and it filled a page then. It would be a nice job for somebody with nothing better to do.”

He doesn’t entirely agree with the conception that he’s been a mentor and teacher to his many graduates.

“Well, that gets talked about a lot. I’ve always regarded myself as a bandleader, and it’s my tastes and ideas I suppose that put and hold it together. But I’ve also always seen it as a creative environment for whoever is involved, including myself. I think we all look to the music to have a creative evening, as a means of self-expression.”

Where most of Mayall’s previous aggregations lasted little more than a year, his current band is nearing its sixth year together and he’s pretty happy with it. When asked if there are any younger blues players he enjoys, he immediately said: “Yes, and I think most of them are in my band. I know that the more people we reach, the more are realizing how great Coco Montoya is.”

Another musician Mayall is keen on is Orange County guitarist Walter Trout, who will open the Coach House shows.

“Up until last summer he was in the Bluesbreakers, but Walter left to lead his own band. I first heard him when I was backed on a tour by Canned Heat in 1983, and he was with them then. He joined us in 1985. But he found he was building up a large audience in Europe as a result of our gigs. He released an album over there last fall and is doing quite well on his own. This should be something of a fun reunion.”

Mayall visited with Clapton when the guitarist was in town guesting with the Stones--”It was really nice to see them all again, and to see them in such good shape too”--but he said he generally sees little of his old band members. He gets a much more frequent reminder of his past efforts when he tours, he said.

“I don’t think a gig goes by without fans coming up and saying, ‘I saw you in ‘68,’ or ‘64, and that they have all the albums and things like that. At the same time there’s always new people getting turned on to us.

“I don’t see any one particular performance or instance as being the high point of my career. The more time goes by, the more it is a thrill for me to realize how long this has been going on, and how devoted people are to it, hearing from these fans. That’s the biggest thrill of all, finding the dedication people have to my music.”

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and the Walter Trout Band play tonight and Sunday at 9 p.m. at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. Tickets: $15. Information: (714) 496-8930.