Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, also known as The Beano Album, is the debutstudio album by the English blues rock bandJohn Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, released in 1966 by Decca. Produced by Mike Vernon, the album was successful in pioneering blues rock. 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 positive 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.
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 on bass. The recordings of the concert, however, were of bad quality and were scrapped.
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 is also called the "Blues Breaker" or "Beano" Les Paul and a replica of which was reissued by Gibson in 2012. 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. 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.
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. 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.
Artwork
The album is also known as The Beano Album because of its cover photograph showing Eric Clapton reading The Beano, a British children's comic. Clapton stated in his autobiography that he was reading The Beanoon the cover because he felt like being "uncooperative" during the photo shoot. The photographer was David Wedgbury and the location was near the Old Kent Road.
Reception
It was voted number 391 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2003 the album was ranked number 195 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list. The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. 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.
Track listing
Original album
Details taken from the original London RecordsLP record album ; other releases may show different information.
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:
