The Blues Breakers Album John Mayall with Eric Clapton.

Forget the pallid interpretations of Chuck Berry’s Roll Over Beethoven as recorded by the Beatles or Willie Dixon’s I Just Want to Make Love to You by the Rolling Stones — Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton released in England on the 22nd of July in 1966 is the album that woke American guitar players to their forgotten heritage.

John Mayall was (and still is) a deeply serious collector and connoisseur of original American blues records amassing a huge collection of 78’s and sourcing material in a much more authoritative manner than his English contemporaries who skimmed the surface of blues releases they could find in England. Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton represents a treasure trove of material from American musicians such as Otish Rush, Freddie King, Ray Charles, Moser Allison, Robert Johnson, L. C. Frazier and Little Walter. That line-up alone is enough to set you hair on edge. The album was Mayall’s second release but first studio recorded album release. It’s often referred to as the “Beano” album because Clapton is seen reading (or pretending to read) a copy of the English weekly children’s comic book. Clapton has since admitted he did this to express his indifference to the photo shoot. The core band for this album was John Mayall on keyboards vocals and harmonica, Eric Clapton on guitar, John McVie (yes the same John McVie who went on to…