John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers

Throughout the '60s, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers acted as a finishing school for the leading British blues-rock musicians of the era. Guitarists <a href="spotify:artist:6PAt558ZEZl0DmdXlnjMgD">Eric Clapton</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3y1DgnVXqckGJrbwOKchdU">Peter Green</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:4tkgLX1wdWoOu2lyeQNYAi">Mick Taylor</a> joined <a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">Mayall</a>'s band in a remarkable succession in the mid-'60s, honing their chops with <a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">Mayall</a> before going on to join <a href="spotify:artist:74oJ4qxwOZvX6oSsu1DGnw">Cream</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:08GQAI4eElDnROBrJRGE0X">Fleetwood Mac</a>, and the <a href="spotify:artist:22bE4uQ6baNwSHPVcDxLCe">Rolling Stones</a>, respectively. <a href="spotify:artist:3IuIXQGupZ89qG162Y5sZ6">John McVie</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:7bRRWmUqERkyOVSSU6MPFu">Mick Fleetwood</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:73ndLgs6jSrpZzjyzU9TJV">Jack Bruce</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:133bGgO12lrbEtxRewzSeb">Aynsley Dunbar</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:7ddT6bounWJRVKKuJ48Jmj">Dick Heckstall-Smith</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:3N9UQPXdiusFPiz3MOf5PW">Andy Fraser</a> (of <a href="spotify:artist:2e53aHBQdCMKWqHDuyJsjC">Free</a>), John Almond, and <a href="spotify:artist:3qDTjWFsO3R4lpvcZEu6N7">Jon Mark</a> also played and recorded with the band for varying lengths of times in the '60s.

<a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">Mayall</a>'s personnel tended to overshadow his own considerable abilities. Only an adequate singer, the multi-instrumentalist was adept in bringing out the best in his younger charges (<a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">Mayall</a> himself was in his thirties by the time the Bluesbreakers began to make a name for themselves). Doing his best to provide a context in which they could play Chicago-style electric blues, <a href="spotify:artist:5s4z3mRAE7nxE3jjft8J3h">Mayall</a> was never complacent, writing most of his own material, revamping his lineup with unnerving regularity, and constantly experimenting within his basic blues format. ~ Richie Unterberger, Rovi