Blues Breakers

by Eric Clapton, John Mayall, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

Overview

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. ~ Bruce Eder

Product Details

Release Date:	11/03/2023
Label:	Proper / Proper Records
UPC:	0805520240680
Rank:	28512

Album Credits

Performance Credits

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers   Primary Artist
Eric Clapton   Primary Artist,Guitar,Vocals,Featured Artist
John Mayall   Primary Artist,Organ,Piano,Vocals,Harmonica
Jack Bruce   Primary Artist
Hughie Flint   Primary Artist,Drums
John McVie   Bass
Johnny Almond   Sax (Baritone)
John Almond   Sax (Baritone)
Alan Skidmore   Sax (Tenor)
Dennis Healey   Trumpet

Technical Credits

T-Bone Walker   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Stephanie Kennedy   Production Coordination
Sonny Boy Williamson II   Composer
Ray Charles   Composer
Bob Irwin   Mastering,Remastering Engineer
Jacobs   Composer
James C. Bracken   Composer
Freddie King   Composer
Eric Clapton   Arranger,Composer
Walter Jacobs   Composer
John Mayall   Arranger,Composer
Julius Edward Dixon   Composer
Rudy Toombs   Composer
Michael Pinder   Composer
Mike Vernon   Producer
Sonny Thompson   Composer
Billy Myles   Composer
L.C. Frazier   Composer
John Lee Hooker   Composer
Little Walter   Composer
Robert Johnson   Arranger,Composer,Composer
Samuel Maghett   Composer
Neil Slaven   Liner Notes
Otis Rush   Composer
Mose Allison   Composer
Gus Dudgeon   Engineer
Willie Dixon   Composer
Randy Cierley   Composer
Tim Livingston   Project Manager
Bill Dhalle   Design
Julius Dixon   Composer
Ernie Campagna   Production Coordination
Brendan Ford   Project Manager
James Bracken   Composer
Freddy King   Composer
Stefan Mihalache   Composer