John Mayall: Looking Back (1990 Decca/Deram) CD

John Mayall – Looking Back

Label:Deram – 820 331-2 Decca

Format:CD, Compilation

Country:Europe

Released:1990

Genre:Blues

Tracklist

1 Mr. James

Bass – John McVie

Drums – Martin Hart

Guitar – Bernie Watson

Harmonica – John Mayall

Piano – John Mayall

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – John Mayall

2:44

2 Blues City Shake Down

Bass – John McVie

Drums – Hughie Flint

Guitar – Roger Dean (2)

Harmonica – John Mayall

Written-By – John Mayall

2:17

3 They Call It Stormy Monday

Bass – Jack Bruce

Drums – Hughie Flint

Guitar – Eric Clapton

Organ – John Mayall

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – T-Bone Walker

4:23

4 So Many Roads

Bass – John McVie

Drums – Aynsley Dunbar

Guitar – Peter Green (2)

Piano – John Mayall

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – Marshall Paul, Paul Williams (10)

4:36

5 Looking Back

Bass – John McVie

Drums – Aynsley Dunbar

Guitar – John Mayall, Peter Green (2)

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – Johnny Guitar Watson

2:29

6 Sitting In The Rain

Bass – John McVie

Drums – Aynsley Dunbar

Guitar – John Mayall, Peter Green (2)

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – John Mayall

2:49

7 It Hurts Me Too

Bass – John McVie

Drums – John McVie

Guitar – Peter Green (2)

Guitar [9 String] – John Mayall

Organ – John Mayall

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – Mel London

2:46

8 Double Trouble

Bass – John McVie

Drums – John McVie

Guitar – Peter Green (2)

Guitar [9 String] – John Mayall

Organ – John Mayall

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – Otis Rush

3:12

9 Suspicions (Part 2)

Bass – Paul Williams (10)

Drums – Keef Hartley

Guitar – John Mayall, Mick Taylor

Saxophone [Tenor] – Chris Mercer, Dick Heckstall-Smith

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – John Mayall

5:16

10 Jenny

Guitar – John Mayall, Peter Green (2)

Piano – John Mayall

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – John Mayall

4:28

11 Picture On The Wall

Drums – Keef Hartley

Guitar – John Mayall

Guitar [Steel] – Peter Green (2)

Vocals – John Mayall

Written-By – John Mayall

2:54

Companies, etc.

• Phonographic Copyright ? – The Decca Record Company Limited
• Copyright © – The Decca Record Company Limited

Credits

• Coordinator – John Tracy
• Design – Shoot That Tiger!
• Design [Original Album] – John Mayall
• Photography By [Front Cover] – Bob Gordon (7)
• Producer – John Mayall, Mike Vernon
• Remastered By – Anthony Hawkins
• Research – John Tracy

Notes

Printed on back cover:
"Total Timing: 37:54
(MUSIC APPROX + 0.03 APPLAUSE TRACK 3)".
Made in W-Germany (CD face and back cover)?

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

John Mayall in 1970, the year the Bluesbreakers broke up

Background information

OriginLondon, England

Genres

• British blues
• blues rock

Years active

• 1963–1970
• 1982–2008
• 2020–present

Labels

• Decca
• London
• Deram

Spinoffs

Fleetwood Mac
Cream
Journey

Members

John Mayall
Greg Rzab
Jay Davenport
Carolyn Wonderland

Past membersList of band members

Websitejohnmayall.com

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter John Mayall. The band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues musicians. Many of the best known bands to come out of Britain in the 1960s and 1970s had members that came through the Bluesbreakers at one time, forming the foundation of British blues music that is still played heavily on classic rock radio. Among those with a tenure in the Bluesbreakers are Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce (both later of Cream), Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, and John McVie (the three of whom would form Fleetwood Mac), Mick Taylor (the Rolling Stones), Aynsley Dunbar (Frank Zappa, Journey), Jon Hiseman, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Tony Reeves (these three would form Colosseum), and numerous others.

Mayall used the band name between 1963 and 1970, then dropped it for twelve years. In 1982, a 'Return of the Bluesbreakers' was announced, and the name was used until the band again dissolved in 2008. The name has become generic, without a clear distinction between recordings by Mayall alone and those by Mayall and his band.

History[edit]

The band that would evolve into the Bluesbreakers in 1965[1] was formed in February 1963 and became an ever-changing lineup of more than 100 combinations of musicians performing under the name.[2] Eric Clapton joined in April 1965, a few months after the release of their first album. Clapton brought guitar-led blues influences to the forefront of the group; he had left The Yardbirds in order to concentrate on the blues.

The first single released by John Mayall and his band, in May 1964, was the song "Crawling Up a Hill", with "Mr. James" as the B-side. The band on the single was composed of Peter Ward, John McVie on bass, Bernie Watson on guitar, and Martin Hart on drums.[3] After the release, Watson was replaced by Roger Dean, and Hart by Hughie Flint. This lineup played on the album John Mayall Plays John Mayall, recorded in December 1964 and released in 1965. After this, the band released a single called "Crocodile Walk", with "Blues City Shakedown" as the b-side, which was produced by Tony Clarke of Decca Records.[4] Dean then left the group and was replaced by Clapton.[5]

The group lost their record contract with Decca that year, which also saw the release of a single called "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (produced by Jimmy Page) in October 1965, the first credited to John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers,[1] followed by a return to Decca in 1966. Then in August 1966 John Mayall and Eric Clapton released the single "Lonely Years", with the b-side "Bernard Jenkins",[1] which was released by Purdah Records.[6] The album Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton was released in July;[1] it reached the Top Ten in the UK.

Shortly after Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton was released, Eric Clapton saw Buddy Guy in concert, and being impressed by his trio, the idea for Cream was formed, and he left to form this new group with Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce.[7] Clapton was replaced by Peter Green for the album A Hard Road, which was recorded with McVie on bass and Aynsley Dunbar on drums. Then the same line-up served as backing band for the album Eddie Boyd and His Blues Band Featuring Peter Green. After this, Green left to form Fleetwood Mac.

Mick Taylor then joined the group, and they recorded Crusade on 12 July 1967. Soon after, McVie joined Fleetwood Mac and was replaced by Tony Reeves for the album Bare Wires, which was their highest-charting UK album. Then Reeves, Dick Heckstall-Smith and Jon Hiseman left to form Colosseum. Following a further album, Blues from Laurel Canyon, Taylor then left to join the Rolling Stones, and the name "Bluesbreakers" was dropped from John Mayall albums.

By the time the 1960s were over, the Bluesbreakers had finally achieved some success in the United States.

Joe Yuele, drummer with the band, 2008

With some interruptions, the Bluesbreakers have continued to tour and release albums (over 50 to date), though they never achieved the critical or popular acclaim of their earlier material. In 2003, Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor and Chris Barber reunited with the band for John Mayall's 70th Birthday Concert in Liverpool—the concert was later released on CD and DVD. In 2004, their lineup included Buddy Whittington, Joe Yuele, Hank Van Sickle and Tom Canning, and the band toured the UK with Mick Taylor as a guest musician.

In November 2008, Mayall announced on his website he was disbanding the Bluesbreakers, to cut back on his heavy workload and give himself freedom to work with other musicians. A 2009 solo tour with Rocky Athas (formerly of Black Oak Arkansas) was the first musical venture Mayall undertook after disbanding the band.[8] Former band member Johnny Almond died on 18 November 2009 from cancer, aged 63.[9]

In 2009, Eagle Records asked Mayall for a new album, and he put together a solo band including Rocky Athas (guitar), Tom Canning (keyboard), Greg Rzab (bass) and Jay Davenport (percussion) and produced the album Tough the same year. After a year, Canning left because of other priorities.[10]

Members[edit]

Main article: List of John Mayall band members

Main lineup

• John Mayall – vocals, keyboards, harmonica, rhythm guitar (1963–present)
• Jay Davenport – drums, percussion (2009–present)
• Greg Rzab – bass, double bass (1999–2000, 2009–present)
• Carolyn Wonderland – lead guitar, vocals (2018–present)

Discography[edit]

Main article: John Mayall discography

Studio albums

• Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966)
• A Hard Road (1967)
• Crusade (1967)
• Bare Wires (1968)
• Empty Rooms (1969)
• Return of the Bluesbreakers (1985)
• Chicago Line (1988)
• A Sense of Place (1990)
• Cross Country Blues (1992)
• Wake Up Call (1993)
• Spinning Coin (1995)
• Blues for the Lost Days (1997)
• Padlock on the Blues (1999)
• Stories (2002)
• Road Dogs (2005)
• In the Palace of the King (2007)

See also[edit]

• Category: John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers albums
• Marshall Bluesbreaker

References[edit]

^ Jump up to:a b c d "The Eric Clapton Lyric Archive – Search By Album". Eric-clapton.co.uk. Retrieved 15 October 2011. ^ The Complete Rock Family Trees, Omnibus Press (Dec 1983, ISBN 978-0-7119-0465-1) lists 109 different lineups ^ Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 134. CN 5585. ^ "John Mayall And The Bluesbreakers – Crocodile Walk". YouTube. 8 July 2008. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2011. ^ "Roger Dean – Bluesbreaker, Bluejay, Guitarist and more – Timeline". Rogerdean.info. 16 March 1943. Archived from the original on 8 February 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2011. ^ "Artists: J". 45-rpm.org.uk. 10 February 1910. Retrieved 15 October 2011. ^ Clapton, Eric (2007). Clapton: The Autobiography. Broadway. ISBN 9780385518512. ^ "Newsletter". John Mayall. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 15 October 2011. ^ Doc Rock. "The Dead Rock Stars Club". Thedeadrockstarsclub.com. Retrieved 15 October 2011. ^ "Mayall History". John Mayall. Archived from the original on 26 December 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2012.

External links[edit]

• Official John Mayall website
• John Mayall Interview with Jarrod Dicker (2009)
• (in French) John Mayall Interview (2010) published in the magazine Guitar Part

John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers

• John Mayall

• Eric Clapton
• Jack Bruce
• Peter Green
• John McVie
• Mick Fleetwood
• Hughie Flint
• Mick Taylor
• Colin Allen
• Don "Sugarcane" Harris
• Harvey Mandel
• Larry Taylor
• Aynsley Dunbar
• Dick Heckstall-Smith
• Andy Fraser
• Alan Skidmore
• Keef Hartley
• Jon Hiseman
• Rick Vito
• Henry Lowther
• Tony Reeves
• Greg Rzab

Studio albums

• Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966)
• A Hard Road (1967)
• The Blues Alone (1967)
• Crusade (1967)
• Bare Wires (1968)
• Blues from Laurel Canyon (1968)
• Empty Rooms (1970)
• USA Union (1970)
• Back to the Roots (1971)
• Ten Years Are Gone (1973)
• Bottom Line (1979)
• Wake Up Call (1993)
• Spinning Coin (1995)
• Road Dogs (2005)
• Tough (2009)
• A Special Life (2014)
• Find a Way to Care (2015)
• Talk About That (2017)
• Nobody Told Me (2019)
• The Sun Is Shining Down (2022)

Live albums

• John Mayall Plays John Mayall (1965)
• The Turning Point (1969)
• Jazz Blues Fusion (1972)
• Ten Years Are Gone (1973)
• The 1982 Reunion Concert (1992)
• 70th Birthday Concert (2003)
• Live from Austin, TX (2007)

Compilation
albums

• Looking Back (1969)
• Thru the Years (1971)

Singles

• "Crawling Up a Hill" (1964)
• "I'm Your Witchdoctor" (1965)
• "Parchman Farm" (1966)
• "All Your Love" / "Hideaway" (1967)

Related groups

• Discography
• Band members
• Cream
• Fleetwood Mac
• Rolling Stones
• Canned Heat