Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton [Remastered] [Remaster] (CD - 1966)

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers: John Mayall (vocals, piano, organ, harmonica); Eric Clapton (vocals, guitar); John McVie (bass); Hughie Flint (drums).

Additional personnel: Alan Skidmore (tenor saxophone); John Almond (baritone saxophone); Dennis Healey (trumpet).

Includes original release liner notes by Neil Slaven & reissue liner notes by Paul Trynka.

Personnel: John Mayall (vocals, harmonica, piano, organ); Eric Clapton (vocals, guitar); Alan Skidmore (tenor saxophone); John Almond (baritone saxophone); Dennis Healey (trumpet); Hughie Flint (drums).

Photographer: David Wedgbury.

Arranger: John Mayall.

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. [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

1966's BLUESBREAKERS WITH ERIC CLAPTON is full of portent, as some of its participants would become superstars after its release. Future Cream guitarist Eric Clapton was highly rated enough in the UK blues-rock scene to score second billing, but it wasn't until this recording that he'd had the opportunity to truly stretch out in the studio and show off his awesome soloing skills. Clapton's earlier stint in the Yardbirds had found his ideas largely shouted down by pop-oriented producer/manager Giorgio Gomelsky, but here kindred spirit/producer Mike Vernon simply let Clapton play as he wished. The sympathetic rhythm section of Hughie Flint and future Fleetwood Mac founder John McVie, along with Mayall's best-ever vocals and organ, make BLUESBREAKERS WITH ERIC CLAPTON one of the all-time great British blues albums.

Rarely has any single record album induced such a shift in popular music. Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton not only catapulted Clapton to the helm of the burgeoning British blues-rock scene, it likewise made significant noise on the other side of the Atlantic -- where the blues had literally been born, bred, and buttered. This remastered and revisited edition boasts significantly upgraded sound quality for not only the dozen sides that comprise the original program, but also the bonus tracks. These two additional performances include the A- and B-sides of a rare 45 that Mayall and Clapton cut for producer Mike Vernon's Purdah label nearly a year before recording this disc. Taking a page from the mid-'50s Miles Davis Quintet, it became obvious for those involved that the best way to approach making a studio recording was to document the same material that was concurrently being performed by the band night after night in various London area clubs. In addition to Mayall (guitar/vocals) and Clapton (guitar/vocals), this incarnation of the Bluesbreakers utilizes the talents of John McVie (bass) and Hughie Flint (drums). As a combo, this band was able to reinvent the American blues for a fresh audience whose ultimate response would give rise to subgenres such as heavy metal and other roots-related rock. While their contributions prove immeasurable, they are likewise sadly eclipsed by that of Clapton. In retrospect -- unlike many of the other revolutionary changes occurring in pop music circa the mid-'60s -- the Bluesbreakers are infinitely more subtle in their attack. Their most obvious weapon is the advantage of documenting in-the-studio material from their live performance set. The Bluesbreakers were able to incorporate originals such as "Double Crossing Time" and "Key to Love" with revered blues standards, including Freddie King's "Hideaway" and Robert Johnson's "Ramblin' on My Mind" -- which features Clapton's very first lead vocal. Clapton needed precious little time to gestate the blues. His ability to express himself is uncanny, as if he were a man twice -- if not three times -- his age. The passionate inflections and unforgettable impressions Clapton makes upon these grooves swiftly catapulted him into both international exposure as well as legendary guitar rock idol status. Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton is an invaluable touchstone into primordial pre-metal rock & roll. ~ Lindsay Planer minimize