Latest Release
- SEP 27, 2024
- 8 Songs
- Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Deluxe Edition) · 1966
- A Hard Road (Deluxe Edition) [2006 Remaster] · 1967
- Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton · 1966
- Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton · 1966
- Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (Deluxe Edition) · 1966
- Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton · 1966
- The Turning Point · 1969
- Blues from Laurel Canyon (Bonus Track Version) · 1968
- Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton · 1966
- Blues from Laurel Canyon (Bonus Track Version) · 1968
Essential Albums
- While Eric Clapton had already reached godlike stature among British musos with his guitar work on the Yardbirds debut album, he was dissatisfied playing what he considered 'bubblegum pop," and jumped at the chance to play with John Mayall's fledgling blues outfit. With this album, Clapton returns to the blues and inspires Mayall to deliver some of his greatest performances ever on vocals and harp. Hear Clapton roar through the instrumental workout on Freddie King's "Hideaway," and gasp with glee as he burns through Robert Johnson's "Ramblin' On My Mind," and the Otis Rush classic "All Your Love." Even the Mayall/Clapton original "Double Crossing Time" is a slow blues mind-blower. If you dig Clapton, but have tired of his more acoustic work of late, check this out. It's solid smoke.
Music Videos
- 2005
Artist Playlists
- He’s the father of British blues, and here are the legacy-defining tunes to prove it.
- His live performances set the blues on fire.
Compilations
- 1969
Appears On
About John Mayall
A sage-like singer and multi-instrumentalist who mentored the likes of Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor, John Mayall is the single most important figure in the emergence of British blues. Born in 1933, Mayall grew up playing and studying American blues and jazz before forming The Bluesbreakers in 1963. The band’s Texas-meets-Chicago attack—documented on landmark albums like 1966’s Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton—not only set the template for modern blues but also impacted the birth of hard rock and heavy metal. While Mayall continued to lead evolving versions of The Bluesbreakers, some of his most exploratory records are filed under his own name. Recorded during his relocation to California, 1969’s Turning Point gently folds acoustic blues into hippie jazz and remains his most popular album in the United States. Yet Mayall never stayed away from the brawny electric blues of his youth for too long. Well into the 21st century, he put out records like 2022’s The Sun is Shining Down, a slab of horns-blaring boogie featuring the elder statesman wailing, pounding keys, and blowing harp alongside a cast of younger players clearly in awe of their hero. Mayall passed away in July 2024 at age 90.
- HOMETOWN
- Macclesfield, Cheshire, England
- BORN
- November 29, 1933
- GENRE
- Blues