Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton

Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, also known as The Beano Album, is the debut studio album by the English blues rock band John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, released in 1966 by Decca. Produced by Mike Vernon, the album was successful in pioneering blues rock.

Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
Studio album by
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
Released22 July 1966 (1966-07-22)[1]
RecordedMarch–April 1966
StudioDecca, London[2]
Genre
Length37:39
LabelDecca
ProducerMike Vernon
John Mayall chronology
John Mayall Plays John Mayall
(1965)		 Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
(1966)		 A Hard Road
(1967)

After the release of their live album, John Mayall Plays John Mayall, they hired Eric Clapton as the band's lead guitar player, who left the band after this recording to form Cream. The recording session for this album started in March 1966 in Decca. The album was viewed positively by most critics. The album is considered by many as one of the greatest blues albums of all time. In 2003 and 2012, Rolling Stone ranked it number 195 on their list of "500 Greatest Albums of All Time". It was voted number 391 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).

Background

Originally, John Mayall intended for his second album to be also a live one in order to capture the guitar solos performed by Eric Clapton. A set was recorded at the Flamingo Club, with Jack Bruce (with whom Clapton would subsequently work in Cream) on bass. The recordings of the concert, however, were of bad quality and were scrapped.[4]

Recording

With the original plan of a live album now discarded, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers recorded Blues Breakers at Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London in March 1966. The guitar that Eric Clapton used during these sessions was a sunburst 1960 Gibson Les Paul Standard with two PAF humbucking pickups. This guitar (which was stolen in 1966; its whereabouts remain unknown)[5] is also called the "Blues Breaker" or "Beano" Les Paul and a replica of which was reissued by Gibson in 2012.[5] Critics consider Clapton's guitar tone and playing on this album to be influential in the artistic and commercial development of rock-styled guitar playing.[6]

The band on this album includes Mayall on piano, Hammond organ, harmonica and most vocals; bassist John McVie; drummer Hughie Flint; and Clapton. Augmenting the band on this album was a horn section added during post-production , with Alan Skidmore, Johnny Almond, and Derek Healey (misrepresented on the sleeve as the then-Secretary of State for Defence, Dennis Healey).

Musical style

The album consists of blues standards by long-established artists such as Otis Rush, Freddie King and Robert Johnson, as well as a few originals penned by Mayall and Clapton. Most tracks serve as a showcase for Clapton's playing. Although he sang on several Yardbirds' recordings, "Ramblin' on My Mind" was Clapton's first recorded solo lead vocal performance, which Eric had been reluctant to record.[2]

In 'What I'd Say,' a cover of a Ray Charles song, Clapton includes the opening riff from the Beatles' Day Tripper in the latter part of the song.[7]

Artwork

The album is also known as The Beano Album because of its cover photograph showing Eric Clapton reading The Beano,[8] a British children's comic.[9] Clapton stated in his autobiography that he was reading The Beano on the cover because he felt like being "uncooperative" during the photo shoot.[2] The photographer was David Wedgbury and the location was near the Old Kent Road.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
About.com[3]
The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues[11]
BBC(Highly Positive)[12]
Chicago Tribune[13]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[14]

It was voted number 391 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[15] In 2003 the album was ranked number 195 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,[16] maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list.[17] The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[18] Apart from being one of the most influential blues albums, it also started the now-legendary combination of a Gibson Les Paul guitar through an overdriven Marshall Bluesbreaker amplifier.[8]

Track listing

Original album

Details taken from the original London Records (US) LP record album[19] (the Decca (UK) album does not list running times); other releases may show different information.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."All Your Love"Otis RushJohn Mayall3:33
2."Hideaway"Freddie King, Sonny Thompson 3:15
3."Little Girl"MayallMayall2:35
4."Another Man"MayallMayall1:45
5."Double Crossing Time"Eric Clapton, MayallMayall3:02
6."What'd I Say"Ray CharlesMayall4:25
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Key to Love"MayallMayall2:06
2."Parchman Farm"Mose AllisonMayall2:20
3."Have You Heard"MayallMayall5:55
4."Ramblin' On My Mind"Robert JohnsonClapton3:07
5."Steppin' Out"Memphis Slim 2:30
6."It Ain't Right"Little WalterMayall2:40

1998 remastered European reissue on the Deram label

This edition includes all tracks in both mono and stereo: 1–12 as above in mono, 13–24 as 1–12 above in stereo.

This version of the album was also issued by Universal Japan, on the Decca label, in 2001

2001 American reissue on the Deram label

This release added two bonus tracks from a single:

  1. "Lonely Years" (Mayall) – 3:21
    • Single released August 1966.
  2. "Bernard Jenkins" (Clapton) – 3:48
    • Released as B-side of "Lonely Years".

40th anniversary Deluxe Edition (Decca) (2006)
Disc one
1–12 Original Album in Mono
13–24 Original Album in Stereo
Disc two
  1. "Crawling up a Hill" (Mayall) – 2:08
  2. "Crocodile Walk" (Mayall) – 2:23
  3. "Bye Bye Bird" (Sonny Boy Willamson, Willie Dixon) – 2:49
  4. "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (Mayall) – 2:11
    • Single released October 1965.
  5. "Telephone Blues" (Mayall) – 3:57
    • B-side of "I'm Your Witchdoctor".
  6. "Bernard Jenkins" (Clapton) – 3:49
  7. "Lonely Years" (Mayall) – 3:19
  8. "Cheatin' Woman" (Mayall) – 2:03
  9. "Nowhere to Turn" (Mayall) – 1:42
  10. "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (Mayall) – 2:10
  11. "On Top of the World (Stereo mix)" (Mayall) – 2:34
  12. "Key to Love" (Mayall) – 2:02
  13. "On Top of the World" (Mayall) – 2:34
  14. "They Call It Stormy Monday" (T-Bone Walker) – 4:35
  15. "Intro into Maudie" (John Lee Hooker, Mayall) – 2:27
  16. "It Hurts to Be in Love" (Dixon, Toombs) – 3:22
  17. "Have You Ever Loved a Woman" (Myles) – 6:44
  18. "Bye Bye Bird" (Williamson, Dixon) – 3:51
  19. "Hoochie Coochie Man" (Dixon) – 3:53
Recording locations (disc two)
  • 1–3: BBC Saturday Club session
  • 4–7: appeared as singles (A and B sides)
  • 8–10: BBC Saturday Club session
  • 11: unreleased track (stereo mix)
  • 12–13: BBC Saturday Club session
  • 14: live track from Looking Back
  • 15–19: live tracks from Primal Solos

    • Personnel
    Additional musicians
    Production

    Charts
    Chart (1966) Peak
    position
    UK (UK Album Chart) 6[20]

    Certifications
    Region CertificationCertified units/sales
    United Kingdom (BPI)[21] Gold 100,000^

    ^shipments figures based on certification alone

    gollark: <@390553328053911552> what for?
    gollark: So, they do?
    gollark: If so, we shall usher in a new age of spying.
    gollark: Yes, I do mean that.
    gollark: The same message? Probably good enough.

    References
    1. Eder, Bruce. "John Mayall: Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 December 2010.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    2. Clapton 2007, pp. 72, 73.
    3. Gordon, Keith. "Review of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton Album". About.com. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
    4. Schumacher 2003, pp. 64–66.
    5. "Gibson Eric Clapton 1960 Les Paul". Gibson.com. Archived from the original on 4 July 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
    6. "Music – Review of John Mayall – Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton". BBC.com. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 13 June 2014.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    7. Damian Fanelli, Guitar World, "Flashback: Eric Clapton Injects 'Day Tripper' Riff Into a Ruy Charles Cover" May 11, 2016 https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/eric-clapton-borrows-beatles-day-tripper-riff-cover-ray-charles-whatd-i-say
    8. Maloof 2004, pp. 48–49.
    9. The Beano comic is #1242 and dated 7 May 1966
    10. Planer, Lindsay. "John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers: Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton [Remastered] at AllMusic. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
    11. Larkin, Colin (30 September 2013). "The Virgin Encyclopedia of the Blues". Random House. Retrieved 13 November 2017 – via Google Books.
    12. Jones, Chris. "BBC – Music – Review of John Mayall – Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton". Bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
    13. Kot, Greg (21 February 1993). "It's a Roller-coaster Career from Blues to Pop and Back". Chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 19 May 2018.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
    14. Larkin, Colin (2011). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. p. 3074. ISBN 978-0857125958.
    15. Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 148. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
    16. "195 Blues Breakers". Rolling Stone. 1 November 2003. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
    17. "500 Greatest Albums of All Time – Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
    18. Dimery & Lydon 2010.
    19. Slaven 1966, Back cover.
    20. "Blues Breakers: John Mayall with Eric Clapton". Official Charts. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
    21. "BPI Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 January 2016.

    Sources
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.