John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
London  (1966)
British Blues

In Collection

7*
CD  37:38
12 tracks
   01   All Your Love             03:38
   02   Hideaway             03:17
   03   Little Girl             02:36
   04   Another Man             01:47
   05   Double Crossing Time             03:03
   06   What'd I Say             04:29
   07   Key to Love             02:07
   08   Parchman Farm             02:24
   09   Have You Heard             05:57
   10   Ramblin' on My Mind             03:09
   11   Steppin' Out             02:31
   12   It Ain't Right             02:40
Personal Details
Details
Country United Kingdom
Spars DDD
Sound Stereo
Notes
Original Master Recording

Date of Release Jul 1966

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton was Eric Clapton's first fully realized album as a blues guitarist — more than that, it was a seminal blues album of the 1960s, perhaps the best British blues album ever cut, and the best LP ever recorded by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Standing midway between Clapton's stint with the Yardbirds and the formation of Cream, this album featured the new guitar hero on a series of stripped-down blues standards, Mayall pieces, and one Mayall/Clapton composition, all of which had him stretching out in the idiom for the first time in the studio. This album was the culmination of a very successful year of playing with John Mayall, a fully realized blues creation, featuring sounds very close to the group's stage performances, and with no compromises. Credit has to go to producer Mike Vernon for the purity and simplicity of the record; most British producers of that era wouldn't have been able to get it recorded this way, much less released. One can hear the very direct influence of Buddy Guy and a handful of other American bluesmen in the playing. And lest anyone forget the rest of the quartet: future pop-rock superstar John McVie and drummer Hughie Flint provide a rock-hard rhythm section, and Mayall's organ playing, vocalizing, and second guitar are all of a piece with Clapton's work. His guitar naturally dominates most of this record, and he can also be heard taking his first lead vocal, but McVie and Flint are just as intense and give the tracks an extra level of steel-strung tension and power, none of which have diminished across four decades. In 1998, Polygram Records issued a remastered version of this album on CD, featuring both the stereo and mono mixes of the original tracks and new notes. — Bruce Eder

1. All Your Love (Rush) - 3:35
2. Hide Away (King/Thompson) - 3:14
3. Little Girl (Mayall) - 2:33
4. Another Man - 1:44
5. Double Crossing Time (Clapton/Mayall) - 3:00
6. What'd I Say (Charles) - 4:26
7. Key to Love (Mayall) - 2:05
8. Parchman Farm (Allison) - 2:21
9. Have You Heard (Mayall) - 5:54
10. Rambling on My Mind (Johnson) - 3:07
11. Steppin' Out (Frazier) - 2:27
12. It Ain't Right (Little Walter) - 2:40


John Mayall - Organ, Guitar, Harmonica, Piano, Arranger, Keyboards, Vocals, Performer, Layout Design
Alan Skidmore - Saxophone, Sax (Tenor)
John Almond - Saxophone, Sax (Baritone)
Mike Vernon - Producer
John McVie - Bass, Guitar (Bass), Performer
Eric Clapton - Guitar, Vocals, Performer
Gus Dudgeon - Engineer
Hughie Flint - Drums
Dennis Healey - Trumpet
Neil Slaven - Liner Notes
John Tracy - Coordination, Research
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers - Performer
Jackie Stansfield - Assistant Coordinator

CD Deram 800086
198? LP Mobile Fidelity MFSL-1-183
1965 LP London 492
1994 CD Mobile Fidelity 616
1994 CD Mobile Fidelity 616
LP Deram 800086-1
1966 Deram 800 086
CS Deram 800086-4