John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers

I recently revisited a couple of John Mayall discs I have and think I need to add some more.

I'm primarily looking for recomendations on his older material from the 60's and early 70's and stuff WITH the Bluesbreakers. If there is anything solo or 80's stuff worth exploring let me know that too.

Right now I have a Best of Comp and the "Beano" album w/Clapton. I also have a few early Fleetwood Mac albums when Peter Green was at the helm that fit into that mold as well.

Basically, if you have any suggestions for 60's British blues bands that are deemed essential, put 'em here. Thanks in advance for your recomendations.   

They're the two albums I have as well. Great stuff!

John Mayall & Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton
A Hard Road (Peter Green)
Blues From Laurel Canyon (Mick Taylor)
Turning Point

Alvin Lee is a good place to start for British Blues and Free-Tons Of Sobs

Honestly if you are going in that direction (Blues) I just go with Magic Sam,Howlin' Wolf, John Lee Hooker, Otis Rush & Buddy Guy for starters, also Elmore James, Gatemouth Brown, Albert King, Albert Collins & Freddie King but that's just me... I have formulated an opinion on Blues after literally studying the Blues for years and years as a youth but it'd be misconstrued so I'd rather not discuss it. With that being said though, there are some good British Blues artists/albums out there but they don't touch the originators nor the greats of the Blues.

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John Mayall & Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton
Free-Tons Of Sobs

I have those 2. I'm probably gonna get A Hard Road next, just looking at the best value. There appears to be several versions of it floating around. Originals, plus remastered versions with bonus tracks.

I have some older blues albums, but something about the British blues artists really strikes a chord with me. Bluesbreakers, Yardbirds, etc.

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Alvin Lee is a good place to start for British Blues

That's the guy from 10 Years After, right?

Yes, it is. I also forgot to recommend Rory Gallagher.

Do you have the Blind Faith album? Or any Traffic?

I was gonna recommend Blind Faith and Traffic as well...good choices, SD.

Couple more Americans you might like are Johnny Winter and Butterfield Blues Band.

Try these British bands:

Keef Hartley Band, Chicken Shack, The Groundhogs (Blues and Psych), Climax (Chicago) Blues Band, Dr. Feelgood, Taste, Juicy Lucy, Savoy Brown, etc.

Whatever Akeldama said in his first post. A good portion of my late teens/early 20's were spent listening to the artists he mentioned and then some. Meeting Buddy Guy and shaking his hand and getting his autograph was about as surreal to me as anything I could have experienced as a 21 year old.

As for the Mayall albums, those are pretty much the same ones I have also, although I think I have something else from the early 00's somewhere.

GrandNational wrote:

Whatever Akeldama said in his first post. A good portion of my late teens/early 20's were spent listening to the artists he mentioned and then some. Meeting Buddy Guy and shaking his hand and getting his autograph was about as surreal to me as anything I could have experienced as a 21 year old.

As for the Mayall albums, those are pretty much the same ones I have also, although I think I have something else from the early 00's somewhere.

What Blues artists did you jam to? I by no means named all the ones I jammed especially in my tens, teens and early 20s. I became so consumed by the Blues cuz it was my first love that I practically took a 10 year sabbatical from it. I'd like to see who else you jammed to since we are the same age. I was just thinking that Buddy Guy is all we got left from that era. His Cobra Records stuff from the mid to late '50s was great as was the stuff from Otis Rush, Magic Sam, Shakey Jake, etc.

My all time favorite is James Cotton, Little Walter, Big Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson I & II, Albert, Freddie, and BB King, Snooky Pryor, Pinetop Perkins, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Jimmy Reed, John Lee Hooker, Junior Wells, Magic Slim, JB Lenoir, Jimmy Rogers, Albert Collins, Lonnie Brooks, Howlin' Wolf, of course the greatest of all time Muddy Waters, the list can go on and on. I took some time off myself for a while, but have slowly gone back to listening to the albums in my collection.

Excellent list, I jammed them all too. I really got into Big Bill Broonzy and Son House as well. Willie Dixon really contributed so much to the Blues and should be noted as well.

A refugee  (or two )from Mayall Bluesbreakers started a band called Fleetwood Mac

I highly recommend this....

James B. wrote:

A refugee  (or two )from Mayall Bluesbreakers started a band called Fleetwood Mac

I highly recommend this....

I don't have that box set, but I do have a single disc "Best Of" that was compiled from that set. I've got a few other Peter Green era-mac discs too. Such a talent, too bad he fried his brain.

S.D. wrote:

Do you have the Blind Faith album?  Or any Traffic?

I've checked out Blind Faith before and almost bought their album, but passed. Maybe I need to reinvestigate. The stuff I've heard from Traffic didn't seem very bluesy to me. More like "jam band" stuff. I can only take so much of that. And flutes. Man, I hate flutes.

The Keef Hartley band sounds promising. I like what I'm hearing there on the Halfbreed album.

akeldama wrote:

Yes, it is. I also forgot to recommend Rory Gallagher.

I have a 2 disc "Essential Collection" of his. Good stuff.

How could I forget T-Bone Walker?   

akeldama wrote:

How could I forget T-Bone Walker?   

I've got my eye on this collection...



2 disc set for under $10. Gotta see what gift card money I have left.

That's a great set. Be sure to also get the album I mentioned earlier, there is no crossover between the two sets because T-Bone Blues is a collection of Atlantic singles from the mid to late 50s recorded after the Imperial sides.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

akeldama wrote:

How could I forget T-Bone Walker?   

I've got my eye on this collection...



2 disc set for under $10. Gotta see what gift card money I have left.

Nice intro to T-Bone Walker as well as the one SD recommended. Snag 'em man!

Bump for Manny and added some Paul Butterfield to my collection

Here is a couple, most are obvious :

The Rolling Stones- Begger's Banquet- Not pure blues, but blues hinged tunes such as 'Salt of the Earth' and few others. 'Let it Bleed' also, but these are not pure blues, but blues influenced tunes on certain cuts on the disc.

Jeff Beck-Truth- The closet to blues Jeff Beck got, Rod Stewart on vox, and an excellent debut by the legendary guitar god

Canned Heat-s/t- I recommend only the first time albums, which these druggies displayed a heavy respect for the blues and also to blame for what future jam bands would do, except these cannabis happy hippies could jam without boring the balls off you. Only recommend the first two albums, everything else, AVOID!!!!

Ten Years After-Sssshhhhh- Great British blues with some impressive finger picking by Mr Alvin Lee

manny wrote:

Here is a couple, most are obvious :

The Rolling Stones- Begger's Banquet- Not pure blues, but blues hinged tunes such as 'Salt of the Earth' and few others. 'Let it Bleed' also, but these are not pure blues, but blues influenced tunes on certain cuts on the disc.

Jeff Beck-Truth- The closet to blues Jeff Beck got, Rod Stewart on vox, and an excellent debut by the legendary guitar god

Canned Heat-s/t- I recommend only the first time albums, which these druggies displayed a heavy respect for the blues and also to blame for what future jam bands would do, except these cannabis happy hippies could jam without boring the balls off you. Only recommend the first two albums, everything else, AVOID!!!!

Ten Years After-Sssshhhhh- Great British blues with some impressive finger picking by Mr Alvin Lee

Beggar's Banquet has been on my "pick that one up one of these days list" for some time, but, well, you know. I know most of the songs on it already, just don't own them.

I have Beck's Truth. Picked that one up awhile ago to replace a long gone tape that I had dubbed from my dad's original vinyl copy.

Don't know much about Canned Heat aside from 'Goin Up The Country' and their appearance at Woodstock. Always thought the singer sounded like Kermit the Frog. I'll have to do some investigating.

I have The Essential Ten Years After collection. I like it well enough, but I never felt the need to dig much deeper. Perhaps I should.

Thanks Manny.

My favorite Canned Heat song...



There is a single disc collection called "The Very Best of Canned Heat" which basically has everything worth having on it.

Oh yea, I know that song. Guess I didn't know it was by Canned Heat. Although I should have recognized those muppet-vocals.

Did you ever snag any Robin Trower?

S.D. wrote:

Did you ever snag any Robin Trower?  

Nothing new. I've had an essential collection and Bridge of Sighs for some time now.