Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton

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Blues Breakers
Studio album by John Mayall with Eric Clapton
Released July 1966 (1966-07)[1]
Recorded April 1966 at Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, England[2]
Genre Blues rock, Electric blues, British blues
Length 37:06
Label Decca (UK)
London (US)
Producer Mike Vernon
John Mayall chronology
John Mayall Plays John Mayall
(1965)		 Blues Breakers
(1966)		 A Hard Road
(1967)
Eric Clapton chronology
Having a Rave Up with The Yardbirds
(1965)		 Blues Breakers
(1966)		 Fresh Cream by Cream
(1966)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 5/5 stars.... [3]

Blues Breakers is a 1966 electric blues album credited to John Mayall with Eric Clapton.

The band name John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers that was used by the band subsequently is derived from the title of this album; no original issues mention the Bluesbreakers as band name. The album was also known as The Beano Album because of its cover photograph showing Clapton reading The Beano,[4] a British children's comic. Clapton stated in his autobiography that he was reading Beano on the cover because he felt like being "uncooperative" during the photo shoot.[2]

Contents

[edit] Background

Originally, John Mayall intended for his second album to be a live album in order to capture the guitar solos performed by Eric Clapton. A set was recorded at the Flamingo Club, with Jack Bruce (with whom Clapton would subsequently work in Cream) on bass. The recordings of the concert, however, were of bad quality and were scrapped.[5]

[edit] Recording

With the original plan of a live album now discarded, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers recorded Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton at Decca Studios, West Hampstead in March 1966. The guitar that Eric Clapton used during the sessions was a 1960 Gibson 'sunburst' Les Paul with two PAF (Patent Applied For) 'humbucker' pickups. This guitar, whose whereabouts are currently unknown, is also known as the "Beano" Les Paul, a replica of which has recently been reissued by Gibson. Clapton's innovative style of playing on this LP was nothing short of brilliant[who said this?] and influenced many young guitarists for years[citation needed].

The band on this album included Mayall on piano, Hammond organ, harmonica and a majority of the vocals; bassist John McVie; drummer Hughie Flint; and Clapton. Augmenting the band on this album was a horn section added post production, with Alan Skidmore, John Almond, and Derek Healey (misrepresented on the sleeve as Dennis Healey).

[edit] Songs and song styles

Much of the album was composed of blues standards by long-established artists such as Otis Rush, Freddie King and Robert Johnson, as well as a few originals penned by Mayall or Mayall and Clapton. The majority of the songs serve as showcases for the young Clapton's playing, apart from "Another Man", "Ramblin' On My Mind", "Parchman Farm" and "What'd I Say". Although he sang on several Yardbirds' recordings, "Ramblin' On My Mind" was Clapton's first recorded solo lead vocal performance which Eric had been reluctant to do because he did not feel his singing was good enough.[2]

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Original album

Side one
  1. "All Your Love" (Willie Dixon/Otis Rush) – 3:36
  2. "Hideaway" (Freddie King/Sonny Thompson) – 3:17
  3. "Little Girl" (Mayall) – 2:37
  4. "Another Man" (Mayall) – 1:45
  5. "Double Crossing Time" (Clapton/Mayall) – 3:04
  6. "What'd I Say" (Ray Charles; interpolating "Day Tripper" by John Lennon/Paul McCartney) – 4:29
Side two
  1. "Key to Love" (Mayall) – 2:09
  2. "Parchman Farm" (Mose Allison) – 2:24
  3. "Have You Heard" (Mayall) – 5:56
  4. "Ramblin' on My Mind" (Robert Johnson/Traditional) – 3:10
  5. "Steppin' Out" (James Bracken) – 2:30
  6. "It Ain't Right" (Walter Jacobs) – 2:42

[edit] 1998 remastered European reissue on the Deram label

This edition includes all tracks in both mono and stereo: 1-12 as above in mono, 13-24 as 1-12 above in stereo.

This version of the album was also issued by Universal Japan, on the Decca label, in 2001

[edit] 2001 American reissue on the Deram label

This release added two bonus tracks from a single:

  1. "Lonely Years" (Mayall) – 3:21
    • Single released August 1966.[6]
  2. "Bernard Jenkins" (Clapton) – 3:48
    • Released as b-side of "Lonely Years".[6]

[edit] 2006 40th anniversary Deluxe Edition (Decca)

  1. "Crawling up a Hill" (Mayall) – 2:08
  2. "Crocodile Walk" (Mayall) – 2:23
  3. "Bye Bye Bird" (Sonny Boy Willamson, Willie Dixon) – 2:49
  4. "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (Mayall) – 2:11
    • Single released October 1965.[6]
  5. "Telephone Blues" (Mayall) – 3:57
    • B-side of "I'm Your Witchdoctor".[6]
  6. "Bernard Jenkins" (Clapton) – 3:49
  7. "Lonely Years" (Mayall) – 3:19
  8. "Cheatin' Woman" (Mayall) – 2:03
  9. "Nowhere To Turn" (Mayall) – 1:42
  10. "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (Mayall) – 2:10
  11. "On Top of The World (stereo mix)" (Mayall) – 2:34
  12. "Key To Love" (Mayall) – 2:02
  13. On Top of The World" (Mayall) – 2:34
  14. "They Call It Stormy Monday" (T-Bone Walker) – 4:35
  15. "Intro Into Maudie" (John Lee Hooker, Mayall) – 2:27
  16. "It Hurts To Be In Love" (Dixon, Toombs) – 3:22
  17. "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" (Myles) – 6:44
  18. "Bye Bye Bird" (Williamson, Dixon) – 3:51
  19. "Hoochie Coochie Man" (Dixon) – 3:53

28, 29, 30, and 31 appeared as singles; 39-43 appeared on Primal Solos with Jack Bruce on bass; 38 is on Looking Back; the remaining are BBC sessions

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Additional musicians

[edit] Production

[edit] Charts

Year Chart Position
1966 UK Album Chart #6[7]

[edit] Legacy

In 2003, the album was ranked number 195 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[8]

Apart from being one of the most influential blues albums, it also started the now-legendary combination of a Gibson Les Paul guitar through an overdriven Marshall Bluesbreaker amplifier.[4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Overview: Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers". Allmusic. United States: Rovi Corporation. http://www.allmusic.com/album/bluesbreakers-with-eric-clapton-r12580. Retrieved December 11, 2010. 
  2. ^ a b c Clapton, Eric (2007). "Chapter 4: Cream". Clapton: The Autobiography (1st ed.). United States: Broadway Books. pp. 72, 73. ISBN 978-0-385-51851-2. 
  3. ^ Planer, Lindsay. "John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers: Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton [Remastered] at Allmusic. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  4. ^ a b Maloof, Rich (2004). Jim Marshall, father of loud: the story of the man behind the worlds most famous guitar amplifiers. Hal Leonard. pp. 48–49. ISBN 9780879308032. http://books.google.com/books?id=mLmpGbR_n0AC&pg=PA49. 
  5. ^ Schumacher, Michael (1995). "Chapter 3: Deification (1965-66)". Crossroads: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton (1st ed.). New York City, New York: Hyperion. pp. 64–66. ISBN 078686074X. 
  6. ^ a b c d "Yardbirds & Bluesbreakers". The Eric Clapton Lyric Archive. eric-clapton.co.uk. http://www.eric-clapton.co.uk/ecla/discography.html. Retrieved 27 September 2011. 
  7. ^ "Chart Stats - John Mayall With Eric Clapton". www.chartstats.com. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=11083. Retrieved 2010-06-17. 
  8. ^ Posted Nov 01, 2003 12:00 AM (2003-11-01). "195) Blues Breakers". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6599352/195_blues_breakers. Retrieved 2010-03-19. 

[edit] External links

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
Studio albums
John Mayall solo
Live and compilation albums
Production
Record labels
Related artists
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