Woke Up This Morning! Part 2 - The Top 40 British Blues Boom Albums: Ranked!

From Humble Beginnings To World Domination - How The British Blues Boom Changed Music Forever

by Stuart Penney

Part Two: The Top 15

Concluding our trawl through the British Blues Boom we arrive at the top 15 albums.  This is where the big guns really make their presence felt.  For the most part these are the bands who came up through the ranks but would soon leave the blues behind to take the leap into 70s rock, arena shows and million-selling albums.

15. Rory Gallagher – Live! In Europe

Polydor 2383 112

Released: May 14, 1972

Rory Gallagher: Vocals, guitars, mandolin, harmonica

Gerry McAvoy: Bass

Wilgar Campbell: Drums

Plus:

Producer: Rory Gallagher

Recording Engineers: Alan Perkins, Gerhard Henjes

Rory’s third solo outing after disbanding Taste, Live! In Europe is often said to feature some of his best work.  Recorded during February and March 1972 at various locations in Italy, Germany and, er, Luton, Gallagher plays with an intensity he never quite matched on his studio LPs.  Nowhere is this more apparent than on the opening track “Messin’ With The Kid” where Rory delivers a stunning performance of the 1960 Junior Wells classic with a guitar solo of epic proportions - pinch harmonics abound!  Surely his battered 1961 Fender Stratocaster and Vox AC30 amp never sounded better than on this track. 

The tempo is a little wayward at times, especially during “Messin’ With The Kid” as the band noticeably speeds up and slows down but, hey, this was authentic live rock music in the 70s and there were no click tracks then.  This is surely a performance for the ages. 

Record Collector Notes: 

• The US LP release dropped the “Europe” and was titled, simply, Rory Gallagher Live! (Polydor PD 5573).  It also came in a non-foldout sleeve with a different back cover

• Of the seven cuts “Laundromat” and “In Your Town” had appeared in studio form on the albums Rory Gallagher and Deuce respectively, but everything else was previously unreleased 

• The 1999 CD release added "What in the World" and "Hoodoo Man" at the end, while the later 2011 CD reissue slotted the bonus tracks between “In Your Town” and “Bullfrog Blues” 

• Standout track: Messin’ With The Kid

• Blues highlight: Bullfrog Blues

• Blues boom score: 7.6/10

  
  
  

14. Chicken Shack - OK Ken?

Blue Horizon 7-63209 (mono) / S 7-63209 (stereo)

Released: January 1969

Stan Webb: Vocals, guitar

Christine Perfect: Vocal, piano, organ

Andy Silvester: Bass

Dave Bidwell: Drums

Plus:

Roderick Lee – trumpet

Terry Noonan – trumpet

Steve Gregory – tenor saxophone

Buddy Beadle – alto and baritone saxophones

Johnny Almond – tenor saxophone

Don Fey – tenor saxophone

Walter Shakey Horton – harmonica

Producer: Mike Vernon

Recording Engineer: Mike Ross

Those who think the Blues Boom took itself a little too seriously should lend an ear to the second Chicken Shack album.  Stan Webb is a very funny man and an excellent mimic to boot and he provided a range of chucklesome impersonations alongside his usual searing guitar work.  Many of the voices Stan inserted between tracks will undoubtedly baffle younger listeners, but nearly all were household names back in the late 60s.

So, we heard impressions of John Peel, Hughie Green, Max Wall, Kenneth Williams, Harold Wilson, Steptoe and Son, plus a “Radio 5 announcer” and Chris Wood.  Even at the time few would have recognised Stan’s impersonation of the Traffic sax player and flautist, but there was a real connection.  Chris Wood had been in the Stourbridge band Sounds of Blue with Stan, Andy Silvester and Christine Perfect circa 1964, so his inclusion was clearly an in-joke.  BBC Radio 5 Live didn’t exist until 1990, so Stan was two decades ahead of the game with his imaginary announcer. 

More than half of the 11 tracks were written by Stan and Christine this time out, with covers of Little Walter (“Mean Old World”), B.B. King (“Sweet Sixteen”), Freddie King (“Remington Ride”) and Howlin’ Wolf (“Tell Me”) making up the numbers.  Hank Penny’s “Remington Ride” started life circa 1952 as an up-tempo Western swing instrumental, but Webb’s slower blues treatment a la the Freddie King version worked just fine. 

Although it wasn’t included on either of their LPs with Christine, Shack’s biggest hit came with their cover of the Etta James song “I’d Rather Go Blind”, which made the UK top 20 singles chart in 1969. 

The expanded brass section gave OK Ken? a bigger sound than its predecessor and the album sold well, reaching #9 in the UK, their highest chart placing.  But it would prove to be their finest hour and following Christine Perfect's April 1969 departure, Chicken Shack would soon leave the blues (and the charts) behind.  While solo, Christine received the Melody Maker Best Female Vocalist award two years running in 1969 and 1970. 

• Standout track: Tell Me

• Blues highlight: Mean Old World

• Blues boom score: 7.7/10

  
  
  

13. Jethro Tull - This Was

Island ILP 985 (mono) / ILPS 9085 (stereo)

Recorded: June - July 1968

Released: October 1968

Ian Anderson: Lead vocals, flute, mouth organ, claghorn, piano

Mick Abrahams: Vocals, guitar

Glenn Cornick: Bass guitar

Clive Bunker: Drums, percussion

Plus:

Dee Palmer: French horn and orchestral arrangements

Producer: Terry Ellis

Recording Engineer: Victor Gamm

Jethro Tull’s debut album was their only serious brush with the blues.  It was also their only LP to feature lead guitarist Mick Abrahams, who left the band almost before This Was hit the shops.  Abrahams moved on to modest commercial and critical success with Blodwyn Pig while Tull enjoyed worldwide fame and fortune with Mick’s replacement Martin Barre.  Them’s the breaks.

Even so, This Was is a damn fine album and it still holds up well today.  “Beggar’s Farm”, “A Song For Jeffrey”, “Move On Alone” and “My Sunday Feeling” are as good as anything from the early Tull catalogue and the instrumental “Cat’s Squirrel” gave Abrahams a chance to show off his guitar chops - even if Clapton had already pulled the rug out from under him with his version on Fresh Cream.  The original 1961 recording by Doctor Ross featured vocals, but the UK Blues Boom boys turned “Cat’s Squirrel” into a guitar instrumental extravaganza.  Abrahams would continue to perform it onstage with Blodwyn Pig. 

Record Collector Notes:

• 2001 CD reissues feature three bonus tracks in the shape of two B-sides and the A-side of Tull’s first two Island singles: “One For John Gee”, “Love Story” and “Christmas Song”

• This is the only Tull LP originally released in both mono and stereo, with the mono Island pressing featuring a different mix.  The mono version was reissued in 2008 on the This Was 40th Anniversary double CD edition together with nine bonus BBC tracks recorded for the John Peel sessions plus other oddities

• Standout track: Beggar’s Farm

• Blues highlight: It’s Breaking Me Up 

• Blues boom score: 7.8/10

  
  
  

12. Fleetwood Mac - Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac

Blue Horizon 7-63200 (mono) / (S)7-63200 (stereo)

Recorded: November-December 1967

Released: February 24, 1968

Peter Green: Vocals, guitar, harmonica

Jeremy Spencer: Vocals, slide guitar, piano

John McVie: Bass guitar 

Mick Fleetwood: Drums

Plus:

Bob Brunning: Bass guitar on "Long Grey Mare"

Producer: Mike Vernon

Often dubbed “The dog and dustbin album” because of the cover photo, the eagerly anticipated debut Fleetwood Mac LP proved to be a mixed bag of styles and techniques, highlights and frustrations.  If fans were expecting a surfeit of guitar histrionics from Peter Green, they were disappointed.  No less than five of the 12 tracks were given over to Jeremy Spencer’s Elmore James routine.  It was executed perfectly well, but every song sounded virtually the same.  There are only so many times you can hear variations on a theme of “Dust My Broom” before it starts to pall.  

Although his playing is uncharacteristically restrained throughout his half of the album, Green delivers the goods on “Long Grey Mare” and “Merry Go Round”, while “No Place To Go”, “I Loved Another Woman” and “Looking For Somebody” hinted at the delights to come.  Ironically, some of Green’s fiercest blues guitar work with Mac remained in the vaults until after his untimely departure from the band in 1970 (see #20).  Since then, we’ve seen endless live and archive releases confirming what a tremendous band the original Fleetwood Mac were.  Verdict: there is half of a truly great album here.

Record Collector Notes:

• The best place to hear this record is on the six CD box set Fleetwood Mac – The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967 – 1969.  It features seven alternate takes and the original LP tracks are extended with false starts and fascinating studio chatter

• The album spent 37 weeks of 1968 in the UK LP charts, peaking at #4.  This was Mac’s highest UK placing until Rumours nine years later.  By contrast it barely crept into the US top 200, reaching only #198 

• Standout track: Merry Go Round

• Blues highlight: I Loved Another Woman

• Blues boom score: 7.9/10

  
  
  

11. Ten Years After - Undead 

Deram DML 1023 (mono) / SML 1023 (stereo)

Released: August 16, 1968

Alvin Lee: Guitar, vocals

Leo Lyons: Bass

Chick Churchill: Keyboards

Ric Lee: Drums

Plus:

Producer: Mike Vernon

Recording Engineer: Roy Baker

I often think Ten Years After got a raw deal from the critics.  This was mainly due to their incendiary appearance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival (and the ensuing 1970 movie) which catapulted them from the university and club circuit into the big league virtually overnight.  The blues purists didn’t take kindly to Alvin Lee’s guitar pyrotechnics which, while mightily impressive by any standard, were often deemed overly flashy and lacking in authenticity and emotion by the denim and greatcoat brigade.  

It was a different story in the band’s early days when TYA were a humble blues band and they never sounded better than on their low key second album.  Recorded on May 14, 1968, at Klooks Kleek, a small club in a room above the Railway Hotel pub in West Hampstead, Undead is a masterclass in low volume blues and jazz ensemble playing.  

This is a fabulous album featuring a frenetic blues/rock version of Woody Herman’s jazz standard “Woodchopper’s Ball”, plus the very first appearance on record of “I’m Going Home” the career-changing track which would earn TYA so much attention at Woodstock the following year.  

Every band needed a drum solo back then, of course, and Ric Lee gave us “Shantung Cabbage” attached here to the Porgy and Bess standard “Summertime”.  Virtually every track features tasteful organ work from Chick Churchill, while Leo Lyons proved almost as dexterous on bass as Alvin Lee was on guitar.  

Klooks Kleek was literally next door to Decca’s West Hampstead studios in Broadhurst Gardens, enabling cables to be run out the window directly into the control room a few yards away.  The pub is still there today (renamed The Railway) but the Decca studios closed in 1980 and the premises are now occupied by the English National Opera and the building renamed Lillian Baylis House.  

As for Ten Years After, their Woodstock appearance elevated them to star status in America where they were able to fill arenas for years to come.  A series of big-selling rock albums followed, and they even scored a 1970 UK hit with the single “Love Like A Man” (their only British singles chart entry).  But, like so many blues outfits who turned to mainstream rock, TYA were not the greatest songwriters and by 1975 the hit albums had dried up.  

Record Collector Notes: 

• The 2002 CD version of Undead contained five bonus tracks, almost doubling the length of the album and featuring what was presumably the entire show in its original running order.  We were dismayed to find that, following the familiar jokey band introduction, the opening track of the set was not “I May Be Wrong, But I Won’t Be Wrong Always” as we had believed since 1968, but actually “Rock Your Mama”.  In fact, of the nine tracks on the CD, the original LP cuts confusingly appeared as tracks 3,4,5,6 and 9  

• A second CD reissue in 2015 restored the original running order of the LP and put the extra tracks on a second disc together with some BBC material, which made a little more sense

• Undead was the first TYA chart entry, peaking at #26 in September 1968 and spending seven weeks in the UK charts

• The Klooks Kleek club was named after a 1956 album by jazz drummer Kenny Clarke titled Klook's Clique (Savoy Records 12006)

• Standout track: Woodchopper’s Ball

• Blues highlight: Spider In Your Web

• Blues boom score: 8/10

  
  
  

10. Fleetwood Mac - Mr. Wonderful

Blue Horizon 7-63205 (mono) / (S)7-63205 (stereo)

Released: 23 August 1968

Peter Green: vocals, guitar, harmonica

Jeremy Spencer: vocals, slide guitar

John McVie: bass guitar

Mick Fleetwood: drums

Plus:

Christine Perfect: keyboards, piano, vocals

Duster Bennett: harmonica

Steve Gregory: alto saxophone

Dave Howard: alto saxophone

Johnny Almond: tenor saxophone

Roland Vaughan: tenor saxophone

Producer: Mike Vernon

Recording Engineer: Mike Ross

It’s often said that democracy has no place in a rock band and nowhere is this more evident than on the first couple of Fleetwood Mac albums.  Before Danny Kirwan joined the group in August 1968 the guitar and vocal duties were shared between Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer with each man taking lead on a roughly equal number of tracks.  But while Green’s songs covered a wide range of blues styles, Spencer’s were almost all variations on Elmore James’ “Dust My Broom”.  

Jeremy’s bottleneck extravaganzas worked well enough in concert where they were certified crowd pleasers, but on record they all sounded alike and soon became repetitious alongside Green’s more adventurous contributions. 

Record Collector Notes:

John Peel was the darling of the late 60s underground and this is just one of many albums he provided sleeve notes for around this time.  The notes (or “ramblings” as they are coyly referred to on the cover) were credited to “John and Biscuit Peel”.  “Biscuit” being, wait for it, Peel’s pet hamster.  Well, it was 1968, after all. But hold on. John had not one, but two hamsters. The second rodent was named "Dandelion", pre-empting the name of Peel's own record label, launched in 1969.

• Standout track: Stop Messin’ Round

• Blues highlight: If You Be My Baby

• Blues boom score: 8.2/10

  
  
  

9. Free - Tons Of Sobs

Island ILPS 9089

Released: 14 March 1969

Paul Rodgers: Vocals

Paul Kossoff: Guitars

Andy Fraser: Bass guitar, piano

Simon Kirke: Drums

Plus:

Steve Miller: Piano

Producer: Guy Stevens

Recording Engineer: Andy Johns

No one else sounded like Free.  They didn’t play fast or punishingly loud, but when they locked onto a groove their mid-tempo sound was unmistakable and their fierce, soulful brand of raw blues unparalleled.  Paul Kossoff’s emotion-drenched guitar playing, if not especially flashy, rivalled the best in the world, while Andy Fraser’s adventurous, walking bass lines made the band sound like they had two guitarists much of the time.  

Fraser had briefly been a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, while Kossoff and Simon Kirke came from Black Cat Bones (see #30), so their blues credentials were impeccable.  Add to this the world-beating vocals of Paul Rodgers and you’ve got a recipe for success.  

It’s hard to think of a more impressive debut album than Tons Of Sobs, especially as none of the band members were yet twenty and the youngest, Andy Fraser, was barely sixteen years old when it was recorded.  All tracks were band originals except Jimmy Oden’s classic “Goin’ Down Slow” and Booker T’s “The Hunter” which had been a 1967 hit for Albert King.  The later Free albums may have been more successful – especially Fire and Water which spawned the worldwide hit “All Right Now” - but none of them tapped into the heart of the blues boom more comprehensively than Tons of Sobs.

Record Collector Notes: 

• The US LP version of Tons Of Sobs on A&M used different sleeve photos taken from the inside sleeve of the UK release 

• The 2001 CD issue contained eight bonus tracks, including three BBC recordings

• Producer Guy Stevens ran the UK branch of Sue records under the wing of Island records, and he was the man who named both Procol Harum and Mott the Hoople.  He also produced records for the band Art (pre-Spooky Tooth), Mighty Baby and, later, The Clash  

• Standout track: I’m A Mover

• Blues highlight: Goin’ Down Slow

• Blues boom score: 8.4/10

  
  
  

8. Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced

Track 612 001 (mono) / 613 001 (stereo) UK

Reprise R 6201 (mono) / RS 6201 (stereo) US

Recorded: October 1966 - April 1967

Released: May 12, 1967 (UK) / August 1967 (US)

Jimi Hendrix: Guitars, vocals

Noel Redding: Bass guitar, backing vocals, rhythm guitar

Mitch Mitchell: Drums; percussion, backing vocals

Plus:

Producer: Chas Chandler

Sound Engineers: Eddie Kramer, Dave Siddle, Mike Ross

Detractors of Jimi Hendrix (yes, there are a few such deluded souls) sometimes claim he was little more than “a glorified blues guitarist”.  Jimi’s guitar style may have been rooted in the pentatonic scale, but he was obviously so much more than just a 12-bar merchant and, in fact, there is really only one bona fide blues number on this album.  

But what an incredible, life-affirming track it is.  That would be “Red House” of course.  This one extraordinary recording blew just about every white boy contender for the blues guitar hero crown out of the water in early 1967.  No one else in Britain or America - not Clapton, Beck, Green, Bloomfield or the rest - was playing electric blues with such casual flamboyance and outrageous technique at that point (and after Hendrix we wouldn't see the like again until Stevie Ray Vaughan came along 16 years later).  On “Red House” it was as if someone had simply opened a tap and those incredible guitar lines just poured out of Jimi.  To this day the track remains unsurpassed and continues to amaze. It really is the blues gift that keeps on giving.

As for the rest of the album.  Let’s just say if there was a competition for the best debut LP of the 60s, Are You Experienced would surely be right up there with the Beatles’ Please, Please Me.  

• Standout track: Are You Experienced

• Blues highlight: Red House

• Blues boom score: 8.6/10

A Confusing Tale of Two Red Houses

Not only do the UK and US versions of the Are You Experienced album differ in many ways, but there are also two very different recordings of “Red House”, which we shall call Version 1 and Version 2.  

Version 1 appeared on the original UK vinyl pressing of Are You Experienced, of course.  The US AYE LP used a different (arguably much better) cover design, but it also removed three tracks - “Can You See Me”, “Remember” and, yes, “Red House” - to make way for the trio of singles Jimi had released up to that point “Hey Joe”, “Purple Haze” and “The Wind Cries Mary”.

The first Hendrix compilation LP Smash Hits appeared in 1968 in the UK and a year later in America.  Again, the UK and US sleeves and track listings differed and the three cuts left off the US AYE LP finally turned up on the American version of Smash Hits.  But here’s where it gets weird.  “Red House” wasn’t the same Version 1 recording from the UK AYE LP at all.  The differences were subtle but very noticeable and it was clearly a different take.  On the UK Version 1 recording Noel Redding backed up Jimi on rhythm guitar and so there was no bass guitar to be heard.  For the US Smash Hits (Version 2) recording Noel was back on bass.  There was also some studio chatter audible on Version 2. 

Things took an even stranger turn when, years later, the AYE CDs began to appear.  The three singles (plus B-sides) were added to the end of the CD (although some variations had them tacked on at the start) and at this point the UK Version 1 of “Red House” was mysteriously switched out for the US Version 2 Smash Hits recording.

After being unavailable for some time, the original UK Version 1 of “Red House” eventually turned up again, this time touted as a “rare track” on the 1994 Hendrix CD Blues, and that was the only place it could be found for several years.  The situation was partially rectified around 2010 when Version 1 was reinstated on the UK AYE CD, while Version 2 remained on the US version of the album.  Around the same time the Smash Hits CD track listing was heavily re-vamped and Version 2 of “Red House” was removed altogether.  Confused? 

 

7. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin

Atlantic 588 171

Released: January 1969

Jimmy Page: Guitars, backing vocal

Robert Plant: Lead vocal, harmonica

John Paul Jones: Bass, organ, backing vocal

John Bonham: Drums, backing vocal

Plus:

Viram Jasani: Tabla drums on “Black Mountain Side”

Producer: Jimmy Page

Recording Engineer: Glyn Johns

It’s impossible to overstate the importance of the debut Led Zeppelin album.  Released in January 1969, it was a towering achievement which swept all before it.  “Communication Breakdown”, “How Many More Times”, “You Shook Me”, “Dazed and Confused” and the rest were new and incredibly exciting (in this context, at least) and they created shock waves which are still felt throughout rock today.

If “The Beano Album” represents the Big Bang of blues rock, then you might say Jimmy Page virtually re-invented the wheel with this LP.  He took an ancient music form (the blues) and turned it into a genuinely new and extremely bankable clean sheet art form which was quickly dubbed heavy rock.  Jeff Beck, Cream and Hendrix had been there before, of course, but Page’s business model was noticeably different.  Jimmy cared little for the scholarly approach, preferring the line of least resistance over authenticity or sophistication.  Take four good looking guys with great haircuts (well, two of them, at least), ditch the greatcoats and dirty jeans in favour of the latest Kings Road threads, turn the amps up to eleven, knock it out at sledgehammer volume and ker-ching!  The kids couldn’t get enough of it.  

That’s not to trivialise the situation, of course.  Zeppelin made truly wonderful, innovative music from the opening note of their first record until they ran out of steam seven albums later around 1976.  Their inspiration came from just about everywhere: Bert Jansch, the Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, North African music, Howlin’ Wolf and Freddie King, to name just a few of their influences.  They mixed it all up and it came out as pure, unadulterated Led Zeppelin.  Along the way they inspired a million other bands, and an entire industry of heavy rock was built up around them, almost none of which could hold a candle to the originators.  

Record Collector Notes:

• The very first UK pressings had the band name/album title and the Atlantic logo on the front cover printed in turquoise.  Within weeks the sleeve was reprinted with the title and logo in the more familiar orange, and it has remained that way ever since.  Those early turquoise sleeve variants now change hands for outrageous sums and prices as high as £7,000 have been seen on eBay 

• The instrumental “Black Mountain Side” was directly inspired (some say “lifted”) from Bert Jansch’s arrangement of the traditional “Black Water Side” on his 1966 album Jack Orion.  But while Bert’s vocal version was played in dropped D tuning, Jimmy Page recorded the Zeppelin track in DADGAD tuning, giving it a quite different feel.  Jimmy often played this as a medley with another instrumental “White Summer” originating from his Yardbirds days.  “White Summer” was taken directly from Davey Graham’s arrangement of the traditional song “She Moved Through The Fair”, also played in DADGAD 

• Surprisingly, considering their next eight albums all instantly raced to #1 in Britain, the first Led Zeppelin record peaked at #6, spending 79 weeks in the UK charts. 

• Standout track: Dazed and Confused

• Blues highlight: I Can’t Quit You Baby

• Blues boom score: 8.8/10

  
  
  

6. Jeff Beck - Truth

Columbia SX 6293 (mono) / SCX 6293 (stereo)

Released: November 1968 (UK) / July 1968 (US)

Jeff Beck: Guitar, bass

Rod Stewart: Vocals

Ronnie Wood: Bass 

Micky Waller: Drums

Plus:

John Paul Jones: Hammond organ

Nicky Hopkins: Piano

Keith Moon: Drums, timpani

Jimmy Page: 12-string guitar

Aynsley Dunbar: Drums

Producer: Mickie Most

Engineer: Ken Scott

It’s hard to believe now, but this is where many of us heard the extraordinary voice of Rod Stewart for the very first time.  And, with no pictures of the band on the LP sleeve, other than Beck himself, in late 1968 we had little or no idea what Rod (or Ron Wood, on bass here, for that matter) looked like, either.  Strange but true.

We knew plenty about the mercurial Jeff Beck, however, and expectations for his first solo album since quitting the Yardbirds were sky-high.  Hitting the record stores several weeks before the debut Led Zeppelin LP, Truth used virtually the same proto metal blueprint and might well have achieved equal commercial success were it not for a distinct lack of focus, probably thanks to producer Mickie Most, who had coerced the late period Yardbirds into recording some of their most unsuitable and lightweight pop material.  

Whereas Page and Co. hit the ground running and went for the jugular on almost every track, Beck’s album was something of a curate’s egg, sometimes hitting the target squarely (“Let Me Love You”, “Beck’s Bolero”, “You Shook Me”, “Blues Deluxe”), but occasionally misfiring badly, too (“Greensleeves”, “Ol Man River”).  The 1969 follow-up Beck-Ola was even less successful in this respect (despite a respectable top 40 showing), suffering from poor material and a muddy production.

When Jeff got it right, however, he was untouchable and “Let Me Love You”, “You Shook Me” and the re-worked “Shapes Of Things” have never been equalled, let alone bettered.

Record Collector Notes:

• The 2006 CD version of Truth contained eight bonus tracks including album outtakes and Beck’s first three solo singles “Hi Ho Silver Lining”, “Tallyman” and “Love Is Blue” 

• Standout track: Let Me Love You

• Blues highlight: Blues Deluxe

• Blues boom score: 9/10

  
  
  

5. Cream - Wheels Of Fire

Polydor 582 031/2 (mono) / 583 031/2 (stereo)

Released: August 9, 1968 (UK) / June 14, 1968 (US)

Ginger Baker: Drums, percussion, vocals

Jack Bruce: Bass guitar, cello, harmonica, vocals

Eric Clapton: Guitar, vocals

Plus:

Felix Pappalardi: Viola, bells, organ, trumpet, tonette

Sound Engineer: Tom Dowd

It’s blues, Jim, but not as we know it.  Cream’s third LP (and the second of only two double albums in this list) is the epitome of a mixed bag.  Nestling alongside the self-penned heavy rock anthems (“White Room,” “Politician”), psychedelic pop (“Those Were The Days”) and the plain bizarre (“Pressed Rat And Warthog”) were blues classics by Albert King, Robert Johnson, Willie Dixon and Howlin’ Wolf.

“Sitting On Top Of The World” is credited here to Chester Burnett (Howlin’ Wolf) but although the Wolf made it famous, the song pre-dates his version by a couple of decades and was originally recorded in 1930 as a guitar and fiddle country blues by the Mississippi Sheiks.  By contrast “Born Under A Bad Sign” was barely a year old when Cream covered it for Wheels Of Fire.  Written by Booker T. Jones and William Bell, it first appeared in 1967 as a Stax single by Albert King. 

Cream had first tackled Willie Dixon’s “Spoonful” two years earlier on their debut Fresh Cream, but it appears here as a 16-minute free form live marathon.  Jack Bruce brought “Traintime” with him from the Graham Bond Organisation and while he receives writing credits, this harmonica tour de force could have been based on any number of traditional blues tunes.

Cream’s “Crossroads” is sometimes described as the greatest live rock ensemble recording ever committed to vinyl and it’s hard to argue with that.  On an album bursting at the seams with wonderful music, this titanic performance of Robert Johnson’s most famous opus towers above all else. Released as a US single, it reached the Billboard top 30.

Record Collector Notes:  

• In the UK double albums were getting prohibitively expensive by the late 60s, so Polydor (one of the main offenders in the LP price wars) came up with the bright idea of splitting some of their doubles and selling them individually in order to soften the financial blow.  Even though the truncated versions sometimes had new and interesting artwork, it was a flawed artistic and commercial concept which didn’t catch on, for obvious reasons.  But for a brief period we saw big-name two-record sets such as Tommy, Electric Ladyland and Wheels of Fire (all released by Polydor or their subsidiary labels) sold separately as parts 1 and 2

• Standout track: Crossroads

• Blues highlight: Sitting On Top Of The World

• Blues boom score: 9.2/10

  
  
  

4. John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers - A Hard Road

Decca LK 4853 (mono) / SLK 4853 (stereo)

Released: February 1967

John Mayall: Vocals, guitar, harmonica, piano, organ

Peter Green: Guitar, vocals

John McVie: Bass

Aynsley Dunbar: Drums

Plus:

John Almond: Saxophone 

Alan Skidmore: Saxophone

Ray Warleigh: Wind instruments

Producer: Mike Vernon

Recording Engineer: Gus Dudgeon

John Mayall’s third LP and the follow-up to the mighty “Beano Album” had some big shoes to fill.  But with Peter Green on board in place of the departed Eric Clapton, and Aynsley Dunbar taking over on drums, A Hard Road was an undisputed triumph and remains one of the truly essential pure blues rock albums of the era. 

Mayall recognised the value of his new guitarist and Green was given acres of space to show off his skills.  He contributed two timeless guitar instrumentals – a masterful version of Freddie King’s “The Stumble” and his own “The Super-Natural”, the latter an ethereal proto-Santana style piece, almost worth the price of admission alone.  Green also took lead vocals on Willie Cobbs’ 1961 song “You Don’t Love Me” (later immortalised by the Allman Brothers) and the self-penned “The Same Way”.  John Mayall wrote eight of the 14 tracks and provided the suitably rustic sleeve artwork. 

The Bluesbreakers was a band in constant flux and during Peter Green’s brief 11-month stint with Mayall, no fewer than five drummers passed through the ranks, all of them still well-known names today.  As well as Aynsley Dunbar, there was “Beano Album” veteran Hughie Flint, who was there when Peter joined and Keef Hartley who arrived just before he quit.  Mick Fleetwood and Mickey Waller also briefly came and went in the interim.  

Record Collector Notes: 

• The 2003 double CD reissue of A Hard Road contained no fewer than 22 bonus tracks, compiling all the non-album studio recordings Peter Green made with the Bluesbreakers between 1966–1968.  These included singles, B sides and the rare UK-only 1967 John Mayall and Paul Butterfield EP collaboration All My Life.  A 2006 single disc CD contained 14 extra tracks, mostly drawn from the same sources but adding four additional BBC recordings  

• A Hard Road reached #8 in the UK in 1967, Mayall’s third highest chart showing overall, after Bare Wires and “The Beano Album”

• BBC Radio 1’s The Friday Rock Show hosted by Tommy Vance in the 80s used the A Hard Road version of “The Stumble” as its theme music for many years

• Standout track: The Super-Natural

• Blues highlight: Someday After A While (You’ll Be Sorry)

• Blues boom score: 9.4/10

  
  
  

3. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II 

Atlantic 588198

Recorded: April-August 1969

Released: October 1969

Jimmy Page: Guitars, theremin, backing vocal

Robert Plant: Lead vocal, harmonica

John Paul Jones: Bass, organ, backing vocal

John Bonham: Drums, backing vocal

Plus:

Producer: Jimmy Page

Recording Engineers: George Chkiantz, Chris Huston, Andy Johns, Eddie Kramer

It ushered in a new age of 70s heavy rock and changed the course of popular music along the way.  And yet the landmark second Zeppelin album was just as bluesy as their first, with tracks borrowed from (although not always credited to) Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolf, Robert Johnson and Sonny Boy Williamson.  Call it what you like, but this album was undeniably next level Blues Boom. 

The key track here is, undoubtedly, the heavy rock anthem with the guitar riff of the century, “Whole Lotta Love”.  Based on the 1962 Willie Dixon song “You Need Love”, Jimmy Page probably first heard it on a 1963 UK four track EP by Muddy Waters on Pye International, the label which handled Chess recordings in Britain during the 60s.  Zeppelin originally credited the song to the four band members, but they were later required to add Willie Dixon’s name to the list of writers.

Interestingly, the Small Faces had earlier covered “You Need Love” (as “You Need Loving”) on their 1966 self-titled debut album and cheekily credited their almost identical version to Steve Marriott and Ronnie Lane.  But this is seldom mentioned when Zeppelin are taken to task for playing fast and loose with their song credits. 

A very similar thing happened with “The Lemon Song”.  This was clearly based on a slowed-down version of Howlin’ Wolf’s 1964 song “Killing Floor” and later pressings of Led Zeppelin II subsequently had the credits amended to include Wolf’s real name Chester Burnett.  That said, this is another highlight of the album.  A great arrangement and recording with a superb call and response vocal/guitar part, it was a giant leap forward for blues rock.

The closing track “Bring It On Home” was based on Sonny Boy Williamson’s 1963 song (unreleased until 1966) of the same name, written by Willie Dixon.  Despite inserting a new and very different heavy rock interlude, Zeppelin were later obliged to add Dixon’s name to the credits. 

Record Collector Notes:

• As with several early Zeppelin releases, lawsuits have dogged this album over the years and composer credits on the three tracks mentioned above were later amended.  The intro and outro guitar passages to John Bonham’s drum solo “Moby Dick” have also been likened to Bobby Parker’s 1961 song “Watch Your Step.” 

• Led Zeppelin II reached #1 around the world, spending 138 weeks in the UK LP charts

• The self-titled UK Muddy Waters EP which probably inspired Jimmy Page to record “Whole Lotta Love” was released in September 1963 (Pye International NEP 44010).  The tracks were “You Shook Me”, “Little Brown Bird”, “You Need Love”, “Muddy Waters Twist”

• Standout track: Whole Lotta Love

• Blues highlight: The Lemon Song

• Blues boom score: 9.6/10

  
  
  

2. Cream - Fresh Cream 

Reaction 593 001 (mono) / 594 001 (stereo)

Recorded: July-November 1966

Released: December 9, 1966

Ginger Baker: Drums, vocals

Jack Bruce: Bass guitar, harmonica, vocals

Eric Clapton: Guitar, vocals

Plus:

Producer: Robert Stigwood

Sound Engineer: John Timperley

“Eric Clapton epitomises all that is ‘blues’.  From far shores he is hailed as brilliant, and he is truly a great guitarist and personality.  Originally a rustic, Eric pursued his musical ideas and became a figurehead with The Yardbirds and John Mayall." 

So reads the rather quaint liner notes to Fresh Cream.  To this day I have no idea what “Originally a rustic” means, but it sure sounded impressive in 1966.  

The moody sleeve photo shows the band in half shadow, decked out in what can only be described as World War II aviator outfits.  Jack has the full works, including a vintage Type B leather pilot’s helmet, complete with goggles and matching flying jacket.  Eric also sports airman's goggles, plus a Leica M3 Rangefinder camera around his neck (state of the art technology in 1966 and a rare collector’s item among camera buffs today).  

Meanwhile, Ginger’s fur hat and military jacket (purchased from the vintage clothing store I Was Lord Kitchener’s Valet in the Portobello Road) foreshadows the Carnaby Street outfit of choice by several months.  In his 2010 autobiography Hellraiser Ginger remembers buying the headgear on a Notting Hill shopping trip with Eric.  “We went to many ‘funny’ shops then and this is when I found the old SS fur hat from the Russian Front complete with skull and crossbones that I wore on the cover of our first album Fresh Cream.”

With the tracks split equally between original material and old blues favourites, the debut Cream album was the perfect jumping-off point for Clapton, Bruce and Baker to completely change the landscape of British blues rock.  There is no tedious “woke up this morning” generic 12 bar material here.  It’s all robust, hard-hitting stuff, bordering on heavy rock, which of course is exactly what their music would become by the time of their second album Disraeli Gears. 

Powerful originals such as “Sweet Wine”, “NSU” and “Sleepy Time Time” sit comfortably alongside supercharged versions of blues standards “Spoonful”, “I’m So Glad” and “Rollin and Tumblin’” providing the blueprint for an entirely new style of music which would arrive shortly with Hendrix and Led Zeppelin.  But lest we forget, Cream got there first with their quite astonishing and vitally important debut album. 

Record Collector Notes:

• Robert Stigwood’s Reaction label released only three albums, one EP and 18 singles during its brief two-year existence.  Fresh Cream was the label’s first LP release, followed by A Quick One by The Who and Cream’s Disraeli Gears

• Fresh Cream sold well in Britain where it peaked at #6 on the LP charts, while in the US, where the single “I Feel Free” replaced “Spoonful” on original pressings, it reached only #39  

• Other tracks recorded during the 1966 sessions, “The Coffee Song” and Cream’s debut single “Wrapping Paper”, were added to later pressings of the album

• In 2017 a four-disc box set of Fresh Cream was issued.  Along with mono and stereo versions of the original UK album, it contained alternate takes, singles, early versions, BBC sessions and a Blu-Ray disc of the album as it appeared for US release.  99 tracks in total 

• Standout track: Sweet Wine

• Blues highlight: Rollin’ And Tumblin’

• Blues boom score: 9.8/10

  
  
  

1. John Mayall with Eric Clapton - Blues Breakers

Decca LK 4808 (mono) / SLK 4804 (stereo)

Recorded: May 1966

Released: July 1966 (mono) / December 1969 (stereo)

John Mayall: Lead vocals, piano, organ, harmonica

Eric Clapton: Guitar, lead vocals on "Ramblin' on My Mind"

John McVie: Bass guitar

Hughie Flint: Drums

Plus:

Alan Skidmore: Tenor saxophone

Johnny Almond: Baritone saxophone

Derek Healey: Trumpet

Producer: Mike Vernon

Recording Engineer: Gus Dudgeon

“Let’s be realistic about this, the guitar can be the single most blasphemous device on the face of the earth.  That’s why I like it.  The disgusting stink of a too-loud electric guitar: now that’s my idea of a good time” - Frank Zappa

They say you never forget the first time.  Something which now seems as natural as breathing was once a strange and unfamiliar experience.  I’m talking about the sound of a distorted electric guitar playing the blues through a powerful, overdriven amplifier.  The dissonance of steel strings bent in and out of pitch as they are coaxed to produce the notes creates a noise like no other.  It’s still the most exhilarating sound imaginable to me and this is the record where I experienced it for the very first time.  

I suppose anyone coming to "The Beano Album" (as it is now known) for the first time today might wonder what all the fuss is about, especially considering the plaudits it receives on an almost daily basis.  After all, it’s been done so much louder, stronger and (dare I say it) better, since 1966.

But the point is, it happened first right here.  No one had made a record which sounded like this before and it opened the door to so many other great things: Cream, Hendrix, the British Blues Boom in general, Free, Savoy Brown, Chicken Shack, Ten Years After, Fleetwood Mac and so on into 70s arena rock and beyond.  It also had a hand in the re-introduction of the Gibson Les Paul guitar, the popularisation of Marshall amplifiers, the growth of light gauge guitar strings and other technical innovations we now take for granted.  I maintain much of that came about directly because of this album.

To the casual observer it may appear to be just a loose collection of blues numbers, but the influence of this record far exceeds the sum of its parts.  Firstly, no guitarist (British or American) had ever played electric blues with the authority and authenticity that Eric Clapton brought to this album.  The slow blues “Double Crossing Time” and “Have You Heard” with their paint-stripping guitar solos and the fearsome instrumentals “Hideaway” and “Steppin’ Out” were simply jaw dropping at the time.  There had been blues records featuring overdriven electric guitars for years, it’s true.  But none of them were recorded at this volume or with such aggression and raw power.  

By insisting on playing his guitar parts at stage volume in the studio, Clapton pushed 60s recording technology to its very limits, sending the VU meters into the red and the lab-coated Decca technicians into meltdown.  Luckily, he had a hip young producer and engineer on hand in the shape of Mike Vernon and Gus Dudgeon who backed him all the way - as, it must be said, did his boss John Mayall.

Before long, every group in the land would seek to record this way and Clapton’s sweet, overdriven tone became the holy grail for guitarists the world over. That guitar sound helped kick-start the entire blues boom of the late 60s which in turn developed into 70s arena rock and subsequently heavy metal.  No “Beano Album”, no Fleetwood Mac, Jethro Tull and Led Zeppelin or even no Van Halen or Metallica, perhaps?

Should that sound like a wildly extravagant claim, let’s remember that Edward Van Halen name-dropped Clapton and “The Beano Album” at every opportunity and even recorded "Blues Breaker", a 13 minute tribute to Eric, on his 1983 Star Fleet Project collaboration with Brian May. Spoiler alert: the resultant cacophony wasn't especially memorable (EVH and May overplayed like crazy) but I guess it's the thought that counts.

"The Beano Album" had some influential fans early on, too.  When Chas Chandler was trying to persuade Jimi Hendrix to come to London in late 1966, the deal-breaker was the promise of an introduction to Eric Clapton.  The then-unknown Hendrix genuinely wanted to meet the man responsible for his current go-to electric blues LP.

Some accuse the 60s white blues bands of exploiting black musicians, but I’d strongly dispute that.  The impact of a bunch of young, good-looking white kids in Carnaby Street clothes playing fiercely authentic blues guitar at high volume, the like of which had never been seen or heard before, was an attractive proposition and it did more to introduce the music to a mass audience than almost anything that had gone before.  

This in turn would benefit an entire generation of black musicians.  B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Albert King and a host of others suddenly found themselves escaping the Chitlin’ Circuit and playing lucrative gigs in front of wildly appreciative white rock audiences at Bill Graham’s Fillmore venues and elsewhere thanks to this new-found awareness.  Black musicians also gained exposure and financial reward when their songs were covered (and yes, admittedly, sometimes stolen) by the new wave of white rock bands.  Above all, “The Beano Album” played a massive part in selling American music back to the Americans, which helped change the course of rock music forever.

The Beano Album - Track Listing (original LP):

Side One:

1. All Your Love

2. Hideaway

3. Little Girl

4. Another Man

5. Double Crossing Time

6. What'd I Say

Side Two:

1. Key to Love

2. Parchman Farm

3. Have You Heard

4. Ramblin' On My Mind

5. Steppin' Out

6. It Ain't Right

Record Collector Notes:  

First of all, let’s discuss the name.  It goes under many titles, but what is this album officially called?  On his 1965 debut LP John Mayall Plays John Mayall, the band is credited as John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (with “Bluesbreakers” as one word).  Likewise, the 1967 third album A Hard Road featuring Peter Green was also credited to John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers.  Not so Mayall’s groundbreaking second LP.

Mayall clearly felt he’d scored quite a coup securing rising star Clapton for his band, so the guitarist received equal billing on the sleeve and label.  Therefore, the official title of the 1966 mono record is, simply, Blues Breakers (two words) and the artist is credited only as John Mayall with Eric Clapton.  That’s it.  Nothing more.  Back in the 60s Decca records didn’t usually print the title of the album on their mono record labels and original copies only show the artist’s name as “John Mayall with Eric Clapton”.  It was a slightly different story with the original 1969 stereo version, however.  Here the title was shown as Bluesbreakers (one word) but again the artist was simply “John Mayall with Eric Clapton”.

Of course, the record has been called many things since 1966 and today it’s more commonly known as “The Beano Album” because of the famous comic Clapton is reading on the front cover picture.  Although I don’t recall that name being used until well into the 70s.

Although the original mono LP was released in July 1966, the stereo version didn’t appear until December 1969, more than 3 years later.

The 2006 Deluxe Edition double CD contained mono and stereo versions of the album on disc one and 19 bonus tracks on disc 2, including early BBC sessions, rare singles and live performances from the Flamingo Club.

• Standout track: All Your Love

• Blues highlight: Have You Heard

• Blues boom score: 10/10

Ten Interesting Facts about The Beano Album

1) The Beano comic Clapton is reading on the front cover is issue #1242, dated May 7, 1966, which was the current edition in the week the LP cover photo was taken

2) During the last track on side one (track #6 on the CD), a cover of the Ray Charles song “What’d I Say”, Clapton launches into the riff from “Day Tripper”.  That’s quite significant when you realise that The Beatles’ single was only six months old when “The Beano Album” was recorded

3) David Wedgbury’s photo shoot for the album cover took place on a back street near the Old Kent Road in south east London.  And, fact fans, Old Kent Road is one of the two cheapest streets in the UK version of Monopoly and the only one south of the River Thames. Wedgbury also took the photos for the Who's My Generation LP sleeve.

4) There was originally some chalk graffiti on the wall behind the band reading “Wilson is a nit”.  Harold Wilson was midway through his second term as UK Labour Prime Minister in 1966 and while it’s hardly the most Wildean of jibes, it was felt the line may cause offence, so Harold’s name was scrubbed off.  It’s still possible to see “a nit” over on the right, however.  “Nit” is a contraction of “nitwit”.  The word comes from nit, "nothing" in dialectical Yiddish, and wit, "sense or intelligence."  Unused photos from the session show more political graffiti including “Up Labour” and “Down Tories” 

5) The 1960 sunburst Gibson Les Paul Standard (henceforth forever known as “the Beano 'burst”) Clapton plays on the record (he’s pictured with it on the back cover) was bought second-hand for 105 guineas (£110.25) from Lew Davies’s guitar shop at 134 Charing Cross Road in 1965.  The Lew Davis store was a branch of the more famous Selmer guitar shop a few doors away and the stock was often considered interchangeable between the two outlets.  In fact, the Lew Davis store was re-named Selmer: The Little Shop in 1966

The story goes that Andy Summers, future guitarist with The Police, then playing with Zoot Money’s Big Roll Band (he’s older than you think, folks) knew Eric was looking for a Les Paul and found two in the Charing Cross Road shop.  He bought one for himself and tipped off Clapton about the other.  Eric’s “Beano 'burst” was later stolen during early Cream rehearsals in late 1966 and, despite many rumours as to its whereabouts, it has never resurfaced.  Should it ever reappear its value is estimated to be several million pounds.  After the guitar was stolen, Clapton persuaded Andy Summers to sell him his own Gibson Les Paul which Eric used on stage and to record some tracks on the Fresh Cream album 

6) “The Beano Album” not only had a profound impact on rock music itself, but it also prompted major changes to the equipment and technology that made it possible.  Along with the Fender Stratocaster, the Gibson Les Paul is undoubtedly the most famous and celebrated electric guitar model of all time.  But did you know that in 1960 the Les Paul went out of production?  That’s right, it fell out of fashion and declining sales consigned it to the scrapheap of guitar history.  The name was briefly transferred to another, very different, guitar but from 1960 to 1968 it’s true to say you simply couldn’t buy a new Gibson Les Paul in its traditional single cutaway form

Then, as the decade ended, Gibson decided to bring the Les Paul back from the dead.  The reason for this momentous U-turn was, in all probability, due in part to Clapton’s use of the guitar on the “The Beano Album” and onstage with John Mayall and Cream.  Suddenly every blues guitarist worthy of the name had to have a Les Paul in order to get that elusive “Beano Album” sound.  Second-hand prices soared and this led to the guitar’s reintroduction in 1968.  Similarly, Clapton’s use of Marshall amplifiers, first with Mayall, then Cream, would also have far-reaching implications, turning the tiny British company into a world-famous brand

Phil Lynott interview Beat Instrumental April 1973

7) “The Beano Album” directly inspired the name of the band Thin Lizzy:  According to Wikipedia: The band’s original guitarist Eric Bell, who was a fan of John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, bought a copy of The Dandy comic after seeing Eric Clapton depicted reading a copy of its sister publication The Beano on the cover of the 1966 album Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton.

He suggested Tin Lizzie, the name of a robot character from the comic, itself named for the common nickname for the iconic Ford Model T car.  Bell also suggested they change ‘Tin’ to ‘Thin’ to play on the Irish accent’s propensity to drop the ‘h’

After a while, (Phil) Lynott and (Brian) Downey agreed to the idea and the name stuck, as they thought the confusion was amusing and would create a talking point. For some of their early gigs, the band were mistakenly promoted as “Tin Lizzy” or “Tin Lizzie”

8) Track five, side two (track #11 on the CD) “Steppin’ Out” started life as a piano and saxophone instrumental on the B-side of the 1959 Memphis Slim single “My Gal Keeps Me Crying (Vee Jay SS1236) and also on his LP At The Gate Of Horn (Vee Jay LP1012) where it was credited to “L.C. Frazier” which was a pseudonym for Memphis Slim.  It was Clapton’s onstage guitar tour de force during his time with John Mayall, and he took it with him to Cream where it became an extended improvisational marathon, lasting 15 minutes or more  

9) It’s difficult to believe now, but after the lukewarm reception for his 1965 debut LP John Mayall Plays John Mayall (see #35), the venerated bluesman was dropped by his record label Decca.  With new guitarist Eric Clapton on board Mayall went off and recorded a couple of independent label singles “I’m Your Witchdoctor” / “Telephone Blues” (Immediate IM 012) and “Lonely Years” / “Bernard Jenkins” (Purdah 45-3502) produced by Jimmy Page and Mike Vernon respectively.  As house producer at Decca, Vernon persuaded the label to re-sign Mayall on the strength of these two singles.  The result was Mayall’s triumphant second LP “The Beano Album”. 

10) In his 2022 book Gary Moore - The Official Biography, Harry Shapiro claims that 60s Irish band Skid Row took their name from sax player Alan Skidmore after seeing him credited on the sleeve of Moore's favourite blues record "The Beano Album."

Clockwise from top left: Beano Album T-Shirt (as modelled by the author); the former Decca studios in West Hampstead with the Railway Hotel which once housed the Klooks Kleek club next door; the Beano Album makes the UK LP charts in August 1966, eventually reaching #6; March/April 1969 flyer for The Toby Jug Blues Club, Tolworth, Surrey