John Mayall
John Mayall - Blues Breakers (with Eric Clapton)
Mono Lp issue in Decca flip back sleeve.
Originally forming at the beginning of 1963, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers proved to be a fertile ground for many future stars of rock and pop, with its ranks at one time or another featuring the Rolling Stone’s Mick Taylor, Peter Green, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, who together would leave the Bluesbreakers to form the initial core of Fleetwood Mac, drummer Aynsley Dunbar, Walter Trout, Free’s Andy Fraser, Jack Bruce and of course Eric Clapton; the latter pair would eventually leave to form Cream in 1966. This line-up’s sole release, and Mayall’s second Bluesbreakers album, …with Eric Clapton was issued by Decca in 1966. Its release followed Clapton quitting the Yardbirds, where he’d been unhappy at their growing commercial direction, as he wished to follow the route of a blues purist. It remains one of the key, seminal releases of the 1960s, and a highly influential record, as the sound of Clapton’s Les Paul through an overdriven Marshall stack provided inspiration to a whole generation of blues-based electric guitarists and groups, from Jimi Hendrix to Led Zeppelin. According to the BBC’s website “to this day, from the first rip into to the final chord of the ‘Beano Album’, as it came to be known, remains just about the defining argument as to why Clapton really was once, God.”
Side A
1. All Your Love
2. Hideaway
3. Little Girl
4. Another Man
5. Double Crossing Time
6. What'd I Say
Side B
7. Key To Love
8. Parchman Farm
9. Have You Heard
10. Ramblin' On My Mind
11. Steppin' Out
12. It Ain't Right