Are you sitting down? this come as a shock...

[davedotco]

personally I wouldn't put pink floyd in any genre, too different, still to this day.

Agreed. I have always felt uneasy when hearing floyd put in a prog rock pigeon hole. To me they weren't trying to fit into any category intentionally, they seemed to be pioneering that laid back soul searching Floyd sound. Letting their minds take them where the music they wanted to play was,and they made that leap from whatever source their inspiration was,to sound groundbreaking and unique. I'd be happier hearing it called psychedelic rock, but that is still a pigeon hole. I think they just played a sound and feeling that they could hear in their heads,and created music around that, no pretence.

I don't think that, at the time, anyone considered Pink Floyd to be 'progressive', the term really did have a specific meaning and referred to a somewhat overblown, self indulgent style of music, quite different from the 'heavy' style of Led Zeppelin or the 'psychedelic' musing of Floyd.

The late 60s and early 70s were a very fast moving period in 'rock' music, particularly in England, large scale 'progressive' rock really only held centre stage for a few years, 71 - 74 or thereabouts before being challenged by the stripped back energy of Pub Rock and finally blown away by Punk in 76.

if you go one step back from Zepelin, say Jeff beck the truth you will hear the overlap from blues to rock.

zeplin was never original, they stole that sound.

i don't like "rock" after zeplin, it lost its soul.....!

All blues music is derivative, it is after all 'traditional folk music' and has a very long history. It is the innovations on this traditional base that makes blues music so evolved and vibrant. Blues was largely ignored by white people until the 1950s when radio and the record industry started to get interested, Presley stole the rythms in the late 50s and set down the template for 'pop' music for decades.

The 'white' blues scene in England in the 60s was huge fun and although almost entirely white musicians playing to white audiences the movement was deeply respectfull of the black musicians whose music they were playing. This lead to a great interest in the blues among young english music fans, much more so than there american counterparts. Black blues players who were brought to the uk were astonished to find themselves playing to large white audiences and treated like musical royalty.

'Deeply respectful'? No. Having deep respect for the original blues artists would mean bending over backwards to make sure that they received writing credits and ensuing royalties: I'm sure you're well aware that this didn't happen in every instance, even when songs were 'composed' with little effort to disguise their origins.

Fair point Jim, but the period I was talking about was the mid 60s when the original musicians were credited, though whether they received much in the way of royalties is a different matter.

Black blues artists were brough over and often played with britsh backing bands, it often surprised the US stars to find that their newly aquired backing bands already knew all their songs....!

Pop music has always been derivative, but some bands, Led Zeppelin for instance, really did take the pish.

 

[Vladimir]

Hope it was violator, that albums in my top ten and worthy of warming some cones...!

Violator and Ultra.

 

[letsavit2]

personally I wouldn't put pink floyd in any genre, too different, still to this day.

Agreed. I have always felt uneasy when hearing floyd put in a prog rock pigeon hole. To me they weren't trying to fit into any category intentionally, they seemed to be pioneering that laid back soul searching Floyd sound. Letting their minds take them where the music they wanted to play was,and they made that leap from whatever source their inspiration was,to sound groundbreaking and unique. I'd be happier hearing it called psychedelic rock, but that is still a pigeon hole. I think they just played a sound and feeling that they could hear in their heads,and created music around that, no pretence.

I don't think that, at the time, anyone considered Pink Floyd to be 'progressive', the term really did have a specific meaning and referred to a somewhat overblown, self indulgent style of music, quite different from the 'heavy' style of Led Zeppelin or the 'psychedelic' musing of Floyd.

The late 60s and early 70s were a very fast moving period in 'rock' music, particularly in England, large scale 'progressive' rock really only held centre stage for a few years, 71 - 74 or thereabouts before being challenged by the stripped back energy of Pub Rock and finally blown away by Punk in 76.

if you go one step back from Zepelin, say Jeff beck the truth you will hear the overlap from blues to rock.

zeplin was never original, they stole that sound.

i don't like "rock" after zeplin, it lost its soul.....!

All blues music is derivative, it is after all 'traditional folk music' and has a very long history. It is the innovations on this traditional base that makes blues music so evolved and vibrant. Blues was largely ignored by white people until the 1950s when radio and the record industry started to get interested, Presley stole the rythms in the late 50s and set down the template for 'pop' music for decades.

The 'white' blues scene in England in the 60s was huge fun and although almost entirely white musicians playing to white audiences the movement was deeply respectfull of the black musicians whose music they were playing. This lead to a great interest in the blues among young english music fans, much more so than there american counterparts. Black blues players who were brought to the uk were astonished to find themselves playing to large white audiences and treated like musical royalty.

'Deeply respectful'? No. Having deep respect for the original blues artists would mean bending over backwards to make sure that they received writing credits and ensuing royalties: I'm sure you're well aware that this didn't happen in every instance, even when songs were 'composed' with little effort to disguise their origins.

Agreed, early black artist didn't have themselfs on their own album covers to sell more albums.

we stole their music, changed the name to rock then f**ked it up...!

 

[Vladimir]

Agreed, early black artist didn't have themselfs on their own album covers to sell more albums.

we stole their music, changed the name to rock then f**ked it up...!

You need to think in terms of jumping stones. Robert Johnson > Muddy Waters > Jimi Hendrix > SRV > Gary Clark Jr.

 

[davedotco]

I've pop-ed few speakers with this one. Couldn't do it with Depeche Mode.

yes man, that has soul. we was pretty funky us white folk with rock a the start....then we f**ked it all up

Hope it was violator, that albums in my top ten and worthy of warming some cones...!

Ahhhh, Southern Boogie. The 12 bar has a lot to answer for.

If you like that try 'Idlewild South', though I think the live album 'Fillmore East' is better.

A post Duane Allman Brothers played the first Knebworth in 1976.

They were fairly late onstage, hence one of the great rock and roll quotes from I think, Dickie Betts.....

"There ain't no curfew, we can play all f**king night".

 

[Vladimir]

 

[Freddy58]

I've pop-ed few speakers with this one. Couldn't do it with Depeche Mode.

Most excellent, always loved that

 

[plastic penguin]

This is real alternative music. *crazy*

 

[DIB]

This is real alternative music. *crazy*

Keith Emerson?

.

 

[plastic penguin]

This is real alternative music. *crazy*

Keith Emerson?

.

Think so. Bloody mind boggling, though.

 

[relocated]

personally I wouldn't put pink floyd in any genre, too different, still to this day.

Agreed. I have always felt uneasy when hearing floyd put in a prog rock pigeon hole. To me they weren't trying to fit into any category intentionally, they seemed to be pioneering that laid back soul searching Floyd sound. Letting their minds take them where the music they wanted to play was,and they made that leap from whatever source their inspiration was,to sound groundbreaking and unique. I'd be happier hearing it called psychedelic rock, but that is still a pigeon hole. I think they just played a sound and feeling that they could hear in their heads,and created music around that, no pretence.

I don't think that, at the time, anyone considered Pink Floyd to be 'progressive', the term really did have a specific meaning and referred to a somewhat overblown, self indulgent style of music, quite different from the 'heavy' style of Led Zeppelin or the 'psychedelic' musing of Floyd.

The late 60s and early 70s were a very fast moving period in 'rock' music, particularly in England, large scale 'progressive' rock really only held centre stage for a few years, 71 - 74 or thereabouts before being challenged by the stripped back energy of Pub Rock and finally blown away by Punk in 76.

if you go one step back from Zepelin, say Jeff beck the truth you will hear the overlap from blues to rock.

zeplin was never original, they stole that sound.

i don't like "rock" after zeplin, it lost its soul.....!

All blues music is derivative, it is after all 'traditional folk music' and has a very long history. It is the innovations on this traditional base that makes blues music so evolved and vibrant. Blues was largely ignored by white people until the 1950s when radio and the record industry started to get interested, Presley stole the rythms in the late 50s and set down the template for 'pop' music for decades.

The 'white' blues scene in England in the 60s was huge fun and although almost entirely white musicians playing to white audiences the movement was deeply respectfull of the black musicians whose music they were playing. This lead to a great interest in the blues among young english music fans, much more so than there american counterparts. Black blues players who were brought to the uk were astonished to find themselves playing to large white audiences and treated like musical royalty.

I went to see Champion Jack Dupree in the mid sixties in a Corn Exchange outside of London. Certainly no-one in our crowd knew who he was, but his music amazed people. People who would normally be 'bouncing around' to the likes of Zoot Money or Geno Washington, listened, then went and got chairs and sat down to listen to this guy. He held the crowd, just him and his piano, absolutely and seemed genuinely shocked at the reception he got. The crowd wouldn't let him go and he played on and on. One of the most satisfying musical experiences of my life.

 

[davedotco]

personally I wouldn't put pink floyd in any genre, too different, still to this day.

Agreed. I have always felt uneasy when hearing floyd put in a prog rock pigeon hole. To me they weren't trying to fit into any category intentionally, they seemed to be pioneering that laid back soul searching Floyd sound. Letting their minds take them where the music they wanted to play was,and they made that leap from whatever source their inspiration was,to sound groundbreaking and unique. I'd be happier hearing it called psychedelic rock, but that is still a pigeon hole. I think they just played a sound and feeling that they could hear in their heads,and created music around that, no pretence.

I don't think that, at the time, anyone considered Pink Floyd to be 'progressive', the term really did have a specific meaning and referred to a somewhat overblown, self indulgent style of music, quite different from the 'heavy' style of Led Zeppelin or the 'psychedelic' musing of Floyd.

The late 60s and early 70s were a very fast moving period in 'rock' music, particularly in England, large scale 'progressive' rock really only held centre stage for a few years, 71 - 74 or thereabouts before being challenged by the stripped back energy of Pub Rock and finally blown away by Punk in 76.

if you go one step back from Zepelin, say Jeff beck the truth you will hear the overlap from blues to rock.

zeplin was never original, they stole that sound.

i don't like "rock" after zeplin, it lost its soul.....!

All blues music is derivative, it is after all 'traditional folk music' and has a very long history. It is the innovations on this traditional base that makes blues music so evolved and vibrant. Blues was largely ignored by white people until the 1950s when radio and the record industry started to get interested, Presley stole the rythms in the late 50s and set down the template for 'pop' music for decades.

The 'white' blues scene in England in the 60s was huge fun and although almost entirely white musicians playing to white audiences the movement was deeply respectfull of the black musicians whose music they were playing. This lead to a great interest in the blues among young english music fans, much more so than there american counterparts. Black blues players who were brought to the uk were astonished to find themselves playing to large white audiences and treated like musical royalty.

I went to see Champion Jack Dupree in the mid sixties in a Corn Exchange outside of London. Certainly no-one in our crowd knew who he was, but his music amazed people. People who would normally be 'bouncing around' to the likes of Zoot Money or Geno Washington, listened, then went and got chairs and sat down to listen to this guy. He held the crowd, just him and his piano, absolutely and seemed genuinely shocked at the reception he got. The crowd wouldn't let him go and he played on and on. One of the most satisfying musical experiences of my life.

This sort of response was not unusual, brithish blues fans, musicians too, were in awe of these musicians. They were very well treated in the uk, far better than in their far more racist homeland.

In fact, Jack Dupree was so impressed by his reception in the uk that he moved to europe, (common among black jazz musicians at this time) living for a while in Halifax of all places.

Britsh blues musicians would regularly credit the original artists during live shows and these were examples of the respect that was shown at that time, that was what I was talking about in my earlier post.

That black musicians at this time were poorly treated and routinely 'ripped off' by the US media companies is important but not the issue here. It was the way that they influenced british musicians of the 60s that lead directly to the largely british blues based 'heavy' rock movement, american rock music was much more influenced by white american folk and popular music, ie country and western.

 

[Vladimir]

Sixto Rodriguez was discriminated by black jazz musicians, black owned/managed record companies, jazz clubs and even the jazz audience in the US. Afro-americans were the bosses of the jazz/blues scene and thought what kind of name is Rodriguez? They didn't want a Mexican in their ethnic music. Funny thing, he went big in the most racist countries, South Africa and Australia. You've all seen the epic Wikipedia

 

[letsavit2]

Looks like I'm going beng having some new CDs added to my amozon basket tonnight when I get home...!

 

[letsavit2]

personally I wouldn't put pink floyd in any genre, too different, still to this day.

Agreed. I have always felt uneasy when hearing floyd put in a prog rock pigeon hole. To me they weren't trying to fit into any category intentionally, they seemed to be pioneering that laid back soul searching Floyd sound. Letting their minds take them where the music they wanted to play was,and they made that leap from whatever source their inspiration was,to sound groundbreaking and unique. I'd be happier hearing it called psychedelic rock, but that is still a pigeon hole. I think they just played a sound and feeling that they could hear in their heads,and created music around that, no pretence.

I don't think that, at the time, anyone considered Pink Floyd to be 'progressive', the term really did have a specific meaning and referred to a somewhat overblown, self indulgent style of music, quite different from the 'heavy' style of Led Zeppelin or the 'psychedelic' musing of Floyd.

The late 60s and early 70s were a very fast moving period in 'rock' music, particularly in England, large scale 'progressive' rock really only held centre stage for a few years, 71 - 74 or thereabouts before being challenged by the stripped back energy of Pub Rock and finally blown away by Punk in 76.

if you go one step back from Zepelin, say Jeff beck the truth you will hear the overlap from blues to rock.

zeplin was never original, they stole that sound.

i don't like "rock" after zeplin, it lost its soul.....!

All blues music is derivative, it is after all 'traditional folk music' and has a very long history. It is the innovations on this traditional base that makes blues music so evolved and vibrant. Blues was largely ignored by white people until the 1950s when radio and the record industry started to get interested, Presley stole the rythms in the late 50s and set down the template for 'pop' music for decades.

The 'white' blues scene in England in the 60s was huge fun and although almost entirely white musicians playing to white audiences the movement was deeply respectfull of the black musicians whose music they were playing. This lead to a great interest in the blues among young english music fans, much more so than there american counterparts. Black blues players who were brought to the uk were astonished to find themselves playing to large white audiences and treated like musical royalty.

I went to see Champion Jack Dupree in the mid sixties in a Corn Exchange outside of London. Certainly no-one in our crowd knew who he was, but his music amazed people. People who would normally be 'bouncing around' to the likes of Zoot Money or Geno Washington, listened, then went and got chairs and sat down to listen to this guy. He held the crowd, just him and his piano, absolutely and seemed genuinely shocked at the reception he got. The crowd wouldn't let him go and he played on and on. One of the most satisfying musical experiences of my life.

much respect, I can only discuss from what I have watched and read, me I was born in 1974, ironically when my blues/rock collection stops..........

edit; I will be buying pink floyds new album because that's not rock.

 

[Vladimir]

I like this cover from the BB King original.

Chicken Shack / Stan Webb - The Thrill is gone

Very SRV-ish.

 

[davedotco]

Popular music has always had it's issues, racism, plagiarism and downright theft. Some of the rip offs by british R&B groups of the 60s and 70s are pretty embarrasing but there were plenty of artists who gave the original black artists credit and were instrumental in bringing them to a wider audience.

One of my earliest gigs was the Stax/Volt tour in '67, a revue style show featuring vocalists like Sam and Dave, Don Covay, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Frankling and Otis Reading all performing in front of Booker T. Jones legendary Memphis Group.

Despite the overwhelmingly black nature of the music and the lead artists, the Memphis Group featured guitarist Steve Cropper and Donald Dunn, a white man playing bass in one of the greatest black bands of all time.

Naturally I knew all the songs, I had learned them from this......

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Solid-Gold-Soul/release/1923441

 

[plastic penguin]

Orthodox blues, with the old boy sitting in a rocking chair, blowing the harmonica or plucking an acoustic guitar, doesn't appeal. Much prefer the British faux-blues, such as Dr. Feelgood, Andrew Rochford, Oasis, Clapton (to a point) and so on and suchlike is more in keeping with what I associate with blues.

Although there is some suggestion, a few years ago, that the blues started not in the southern States, but Russia.

 

[davedotco]

Orthodox blues, with the old boy sitting in a rocking chair, blowing the harmonica or plucking an acoustic guitar, doesn't appeal. Much prefer the British faux-blues, such as Dr. Feelgood, Andrew Rochford, Oasis, Clapton (to a point) and so on and suchlike is more in keeping with what I associate with blues.

Although there is some suggestion, a few years ago, that the blues started not in the southern States, but Russia.

If you go back to the 60s there are tons of british bands playing 'blues', try Alexis Korner, John Mayall, early Yardbirds among many others. There are parallels between the britsh blues scene and the rise of american 'urban' blues in the late sixties, check out The Butterfield Blues Band of the mid/late 60s. In fact check out Butterfield some more, particularly his first lead guitarist, the finest white blues guitarist in history, the late, great Mike Bloomfield.

American urban and 'white' blues was not that popular, they quickly moved on to 'heavy' music, much more mainstream. If you have never heard it, try 'Cheap Thrills' by Big Brother and the Holding Company. The ultimate repackaging of blues music for the white audience and, despite that, a really fine album.

 

[plastic penguin]

Orthodox blues, with the old boy sitting in a rocking chair, blowing the harmonica or plucking an acoustic guitar, doesn't appeal. Much prefer the British faux-blues, such as Dr. Feelgood, Andrew Rochford, Oasis, Clapton (to a point) and so on and suchlike is more in keeping with what I associate with blues.

Although there is some suggestion, a few years ago, that the blues started not in the southern States, but Russia.

If you go back to the 60s there are tons of british bands playing 'blues', try Alexis Korner, John Mayall, early Yardbirds among many others. There are parallels between the britsh blues scene and the rise of american 'urban' blues in the late sixties, check out The Butterfield Blues Band of the mid/late 60s. In fact check out Butterfield some more, particularly his first lead guitarist, the finest white blues guitarist in history, the late, great Mike Bloomfield.

American urban and 'white' blues was not that popular, they quickly moved on to 'heavy' music, much more mainstream. If you have never heard it, try 'Cheap Thrills' by Big Brother and the Holding Company. The ultimate repackaging of blues music for the white audience and, despite that, a really fine album.

Wasn't keen of John Mayall or much of that 60's blues movement. The groups that had an crdibility (IMHO) were Cream, Spencer Davis Group, The Who... otherwise, most of the others were okay to hear on the radio. That's it really.

The only proper US blues artist I ever gravitated to was Hendrix: He was off the scale.

 

[Covenanter]

I like this cover from the BB King original.

Chicken Shack / Stan Webb - The Thrill is gone

Very SRV-ish.

Chicken Shack were a great band with the lovely Christine Perfect (latterly Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac fame) who I was rather in love with at the time. Well worth seeking out their recordings.

Chris

 

[Vladimir]

LSD UNDERGROUND 12 [/b](Lysergia-2513 re) NEW 329:-
Before there was psychedelic music, there was LSD Underground 12. Recorded under mysterious circumstances in Los Angeles in the Summer of 1966, this mind-blowing musical journey represents the earliest known case of musicians recording while under the effect of LSD. The result is a pioneering aural kaleidoscope of shifting moods and complex atmospheres unlike anything done before and hardly since. Recorded at a time when psychedelic music did not yet exist as a genre, it is not surprising that the music flows freely across genres, from eerie Middle Eastern desert moods and nocturnal west-coast jazz grooves into full-blown acid-rock guitar soloing, while the hallucinogenic tension is sustained and released through outbursts of piercing Avant Garde, Fluxic chaos and minimalist stasis. Sold briefly via mail-order, the 1966 record was only rumored to exist until Lysergia’s recent research verified its existence. In view of its pioneering historical status and outstanding musical quality, “LSD Underground 12” should rank as one of the greatest psychedelic music discoveries of the past 20 years. A pioneering acidhead sound unlike anything that came before it and hardly anything since... a musical riddle rising from the psychedelic catacombs. Presented by Patrick Lundborg and Lysergia, LSD UNDERGROUND 12 is available in an exclusive LP edition of 500 copies, 180 gram virgin vinyl, housed in a deluxe case wrapped tip-on-sleeve, and including a insert with in-depth liner notes.

Audio sample

 

[Vladimir]

MUSHROOM CEREMONY OF THE MAZATEC INDIANS OF MEXICO[/b] (Folkways FR-8975 US 1957) M-/Vg++ ss sbc 1200:-
Blue cover 1st press issued in 1957. Includes the stapled booklet in Ex shape. ”A field recording of substantial interest, both as the earliest known vinyl docu- ment of people under the influence of hallucinogens, and as part of the Wasson couple‘s legendary forays into remote Mexican mountains on the trail of an ancient surviving mushroom cult. Gordon Wasson‘s exploits became the subject of a massively influential 1957 Life magazine article, complete with a full color spread showing various psilocybe mushrooms. This album features curandera Maria Sabina eating the shrooms and setting out on a transcendental journey to invoke the mushroom spirit, reporting with a steady flow of words her experiences, mixing Catholic and local religious elements. The reports are spoken in her native Mazatec dialect, but an ambitious translation- transcription attempt can be found on the accompanying booklet. Her voice is an old woman‘s, often tired, sometimes venturing into sing-songy nursery rhyme structures, and during the beginning of side 2 (where she‘s peaking, bro) moving into a very rapid, unbroken flow of words. Rather remarkable, and according to those who have tripped with it, an efficient guide. Sounds of nature, night- birds, barking dogs, and frequent mutterings from Sabina‘s fellow Mazatec traveler are also audible.

Audio sample

 

[plastic penguin]

LSD UNDERGROUND 12 (Lysergia-2513 re) NEW 329:-Before there was psychedelic music, there was LSD Underground 12. Recorded under mysterious circumstances in Los Angeles in the Summer of 1966, this mind-blowing musical journey represents the earliest known case of musicians recording while under the effect of LSD. The result is a pioneering aural kaleidoscope of shifting moods and complex atmospheres unlike anything done before and hardly since. Recorded at a time when psychedelic music did not yet exist as a genre, it is not surprising that the music flows freely across genres, from eerie Middle Eastern desert moods and nocturnal west-coast jazz grooves into full-blown acid-rock guitar soloing, while the hallucinogenic tension is sustained and released through outbursts of piercing Avant Garde, Fluxic chaos and minimalist stasis. Sold briefly via mail-order, the 1966 record was only rumored to exist until Lysergia’s recent research verified its existence. In view of its pioneering historical status and outstanding musical quality, “LSD Underground 12” should rank as one of the greatest psychedelic music discoveries of the past 20 years. A pioneering acidhead sound unlike anything that came before it and hardly anything since... a musical riddle rising from the psychedelic catacombs. Presented by Patrick Lundborg and Lysergia, LSD UNDERGROUND 12 is available in an exclusive LP edition of 500 copies, 180 gram virgin vinyl, housed in a deluxe case wrapped tip-on-sleeve, and including a insert with in-depth liner notes.

Audio sample

Not particularly

If this doesn't give you goose bumps, I'd check for a pulse. Blues at it's best. Hugely atmospheric.

 

[davedotco]

Orthodox blues, with the old boy sitting in a rocking chair, blowing the harmonica or plucking an acoustic guitar, doesn't appeal. Much prefer the British faux-blues, such as Dr. Feelgood, Andrew Rochford, Oasis, Clapton (to a point) and so on and suchlike is more in keeping with what I associate with blues.

Although there is some suggestion, a few years ago, that the blues started not in the southern States, but Russia.

If you go back to the 60s there are tons of british bands playing 'blues', try Alexis Korner, John Mayall, early Yardbirds among many others. There are parallels between the britsh blues scene and the rise of american 'urban' blues in the late sixties, check out The Butterfield Blues Band of the mid/late 60s. In fact check out Butterfield some more, particularly his first lead guitarist, the finest white blues guitarist in history, the late, great Mike Bloomfield.

American urban and 'white' blues was not that popular, they quickly moved on to 'heavy' music, much more mainstream. If you have never heard it, try 'Cheap Thrills' by Big Brother and the Holding Company. The ultimate repackaging of blues music for the white audience and, despite that, a really fine album.

Wasn't keen of John Mayall or much of that 60's blues movement. The groups that had an crdibility (IMHO) were Cream, Spencer Davis Group, The Who... otherwise, most of the others were okay to hear on the radio. That's it really.

The only proper US blues artist I ever gravitated to was Hendrix: He was off the scale.

I am going to be a bit pedantic here, apologies in advance, but the bands that you are commenting on were not, in any shape of form, blues bands, not even white blues.

British 'pop' music in the 60s, from the Beatles to Spencer Davis was heavily influence by american R&B but it wasn't blues, that was something else. Hendrix may have started as a blues player but his recorded work is far too experimental and varied to be put into any category. Cream of course were primarily a Jazz band as Baker and Bruce have said many times, they just didn't tell Eric.

If you want to take a look at blues music in a british context the famed 'Beano' album, officially just 'John Mayall's Bluesbreakers' is a good example. The band have moved on from straight copies of the american originals and are putting there own character into the music. Eric has never played better blues than he did on that album. (if you can find the '40th Anniverary' edition there are a load of extra tracks that show Mayall's early work, the 'authenticity' of this material stands in stark contrast to the more developed rock stylings of the 'Bluesbreakers' tracks.)

Contrast that if you will with Paul Butterfields eponymous first album, again the defining moment in 'Chicago' urban blues and very different to the britsh style which was arguably more 'authentic'. Butterfield's band, like Mayall's, continued long after there most famous members had left, try 'Born under a Bad Sign', featuring Elvin Bishop, it's on 'The Resurection of Pigboy Crabshaw', the best version I have heard.

Both bands had great guitarists and both progressed rapidly onto other styles, Clapton to Cream and beyond, Bloomfield to the experimental, blues/jazz/rock of Electric Flag.