John Mayall

John Mayall has been prominent on the music scene for 50 years and promoted the blues in the UK for that long - he served in Korea for 3 years!

In the sixties he formed the Bluesbreakers and played at the Marquee. They backed John Lee Hookers first UK tour in 1964. In 1965 a certain Eric Clapton joined the lineup - thats when I got interested (I was only 11 then!). The Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton was released in 1965.


I was a little older and more influenced by this


Clapton left to form Cream and was replaced by Peter Green (who left to form Fleetwood Mac after a short stay).

In the 70's John had relocated to the States - working with Albert King and producing Jazz Fusion Blues in 1971.
Albert King & John Mayall 'Call It Stormy Monday'


In 1984 Mayall restored the name Bluesbreakers for a lineup comprising the two lead guitars of Walter Trout and Coco Montoya, bassist Bobby Haynes and drummer Joe Yuele.


I notice he is appearing on June the 14th with BB King in Manchester - I'll have to try and get there!

He plays here with Muddy Waters

Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton

I have been wanting to write about John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers for some time. When I discovered that there were British musicians who could play the blues it amazed me.

I know you are probably wondering what I am talking about, but imagine being a kid in the seventies, growing up down in Louisiana sourounded by the blues, who thought that blues was muscic played only by the people in my neighborhood. LOL.

It took some time to find my way to the Bluesbreakers. So I like to present this CD as proof to myself that others were playing the blues to great effect I might add. According to the notes at Amazon;

Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton is a 1966 electric Blues album by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers featuring Eric Clapton as lead guitarist. It is often referred to as The Beano album because the photograph on the album cover shows Clapton reading The Beano, a well-known British children's comic. Apart from being one of the most overall influential albums in Blues-Rock history, it was likely the first time anyone had heard a Gibson Les Paul guitar through an overdriven Marshall amplifier; this unique sound would become particularly influential.

Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton

click above image

Track Listings
1. All Your Love - John Mayall, Dixon, Willie
2. Hideaway - John Mayall, King, Freddie
3. Little Girl - John Mayall, Mayall, John
4. Another Man - John Mayall, Mayall, John
5. Double Crossing Time - John Mayall, Mayall, John
6. What'd I Say - John Mayall, Charles, Ray
7. Key to Love - John Mayall, Mayall, John
8. Parchman Farm - John Mayall, Allison, Mose
9. Have You Heard - John Mayall, Mayall, John
10. Rambling on My Mind - John Mayall, Johnson, Robert
11. Steppin' Out - John Mayall, Bracken, James
12. It Ain't Right - John Mayall, Little Walter