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 several decades. - AllMusic Review by Bruce Eder
Personnel:
John Mayall – lead vocals, piano, Hammond B3 organ, harmonica / Eric Clapton – lead guitar, lead vocals on "Ramblin' on My Mind" / John McVie – bass guitar / Hughie Flint – drums
Additional musicians:
Geoff Krivit – guitar (disc two tracks 8–10, not featured on original album) / Jack Bruce – bass (disc two tracks 14–19, not featured on original album) / Alan Skidmore – tenor saxophone / Johnny Almond – baritone saxophone / Derek Healey – trumpet
trax:
01 All Your Love 02 Hideaway 03 Little Girl 04 Another Man 05 Double Crossing Time 06 What'd I Say 07 Key To Love 08 Parchman Farm 09 Have You Heard 10 Rambling On My Mind 11 Steppin' Out 12 It Ain't Right
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8 comments:
John Mayall "Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton"
gitit! no pw
https://www72.zippyshare.com/v/5KMOCbme/file.html
A great album. It's a shame that the guitar player turned out to be a dangerous moron.
Thanks for another year of music sharing. Have a good new year RYP & Gyro.
Eric Clapton could have (and some say 'should have')retired after this record. Sounds as good today as it did back then.
"perhaps the best British blues album ever cut, and the best LP ever recorded by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers"
Well, all I can say is that Bruce Eder hasn't listened to enough Mayall.
For my money, A Hard Road is a much better album.
For one thing, Peter Green is way more intense on that record than Clappo.
Check out "Another Kinda Love" or his searing instrumental "The Supernatural" (if this doesn't give you goose bumps, check your pulse... you may be dead).
Mayall's vocals are more intense too (the title track is just one example), and Aynsley Dunbar is way rounder, funkier, beafier, juicier and tastier than Hughie Flint.
Of course, this is only my opinion, but I think a comparative listen to both albums will make you a "Hard Road" believer!
Happy New Year to all!
P.S.: The Turning Point is a mighty fine Mayall album too.
I think the "Beano" LP is overrated, frankly, and somewhat stiff.
"A Hard Road" and "The Turning Point" both feel more relaxed, more natural and more "organic" to me.
Anyway, I encourage anyone who likes the "Beano" to check out at least these two and let their ears be the judge.
Marc, no, it's not just your personal opinion! You speak to me with everything you say from the heart! Clappo is very overrated and Peter Green is undervalued! Thank you for your assessment!
Although they are the exact same recordings, the mono and stereo versions sound completely different from each other. Did you know they were released three years apart, with the mono dropping in 1966 and the stereo dropping in 1969?
I've been considering this for Mono Monday.
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