London Blues 1964-1969

Personnel: John Mayall (vocals, guitar, 9-string guitar, piano, organ, harmonica); Eric Clapton, Bernie Watson, Roger Dean, Peter Green, Mick Taylor (guitar); Paul Butterfield (harmonica); Ray Warleigh (alto saxophone); Alan Skidmore, Nick Newell (tenor saxophone); Dick Heckstall-Smith (tenor & soprano saxophones); Chris Mercer (tenor & baritone saxophone); John Almond, Rip Kant (baritone saxophone); Henry Lowther (trumpet, cornet, violin); Dennis Healy (trumpet); John McVie, Paul Williams, Tony Reeves, Steve Thompson (bass); Mick Fleetwood, Martin Hart, Hughie Flint, Keef Hartley, Jon Hiseman, Colin Allen (drums); Aynsley Dunbar (drums, percussion).
Producers: John Mayall, Jimmy Page, Mike Vernon.

Compilation producers: Bill Levenson, John Mayall.
Recorded between 1964 and 1968. Includes liner notes by John McDermott.
Composers: Eric Clapton; John Mayall.
Personnel: John Mayall (vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, organ); Roger Dean, Eric Clapton, Bernie Watson, Mick Taylor , Peter Green (guitar); Henry Lowther (violin, trumpet, cornet); Paul Butterfield (harmonica); Dick Heckstall-Smith (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Ray Warleigh (alto saxophone); Chris Mercer, Alan Skidmore, Nick Newell (tenor saxophone); John Almond, Rip Kant (baritone saxophone); Dennis Healey (trumpet); Aynsley Dunbar (drums, percussion); Colin Allen, Martin Hart, Jon Hiseman, Keef Hartley, Mick Fleetwood, Hughie Flint (drums).
Liner Note Author: John McDermott .
Recording information: 04/20/1964-08/28/1968.
Photographers: Jim Marshall ; David Wedgbury; Michael Putland.
Unknown Contributor Role: Dick Heckstall-Smith.
This two-hour-plus compilation of the first five years of the history of John Mayall and his band the Bluesbreakers in their many permutations covers all the expected bases and then some. Eric Clapton, Peter Green, and Mick Taylor are all represented, but so are Bernie Watson and Roger Dean, both of whom preceded Clapton in the guitarist's spot in the band. What's more, they're not bad; they may not have been the assertive soloist that Clapton came to embody, but Dean plays a pretty hot solo on "Crocodile Walk," which was good enough to make the A-side of a single in 1965. Moreover, there was more to any of the Mayall bands than their guitarists, and Mayall's blues harmonica is showcased throughout, on tracks such as "Crawling Up a Hill" and "Blues City Shakedown." The familiar Immediate and Decca/London sides featuring Clapton are here, though the lion's share of space on this set is devoted to the Peter Green version of the lineup, spread over two discs. Other highlights include a handful of tracks from 1967 featuring Paul Butterfield, and a handful of cuts featuring Green working in a lineup that includes saxmen John Almond and Nick Newell as well as trumpeter Henry Lowther. The Mick Taylor lineup, which also includes Dick Heckstall-Smith as one of the reedmen, takes up the bulk of the second disc and shows no diminution of the group's authoritative approach to the blues. Indeed, the Clapton sides represented on this collection, being the most familiar and widely circulated, may well prove to be the least interesting; distilling down the best work of everyone else, including Mayall, on the other hand, is a welcome service and makes this package particularly useful, and short of a Mayall box -- an unlikely prospect -- this is as good an overview as you're likely to see of his early work. ~ Bruce Eder