A friend of mine (now passed) went to see the Bluesbreakers with Clapton around this time at The Toby Jug, in Tolworth, Surrey. After their set he was stood next to Clapton at the bar and said "How the hell do you play like that, Eric?". "I dunno" (says Eric)...can I get you a beer?" Awesome!
Just about anyone can develop technical ability, but this is beyond technique. Like you said the creativity and feel is off the chart. 60 years later and most slow blues solos won’t touch this. Very gifted musician
@@Xeyedjohn Clapton said he got those licks from saxophone players - if you listen to Dick Heckstall-Smith on the Bluesbreakers album, on tracks such as 'Have You Heard About My Baby? - there it is!
No one played the electric guitar like he did in '65. He sang the guitar. Have been listening to this masterpiece for more than half a century and it still give me the shivers.
Freddie King , you will find, was often note for note copied by Clapton.. irrefutable fact. Another fact is that UK music fans had virtually zero access to Freddie Kings music thereby making comparison with Clapton impossible at the time. Anyway, who cares, Clapton and King are great blues guitarists… another fact.
Right on. And that's all you need. Always makes me chuckle when I see those guys at Andertons trying to emulate this kind of sound with a plethora of effects pedals and modern crummy amps, not to mention not having the chops in the first place...
@@slownoman I'm pretty sure that Clapton was using a Marshall JTM-45 combo amp in that band as the vid shows. He wasn't a Vox guy then or after. Absolutely right right about "No pedals. No tricks. Just a young man and his guitar. Skip the pedals. Learn to play."
@@Glicksman1 You are so right, and I am so old! I saw Clapton on Cream's first tour, and he was still playing a Marshall, only bigger. The tone he got on that "Beano" album is as good as it gets. It's why my first electric guitar was a Les Paul '59 sunburst (not a reissue- this was 1972). Beatles did Vox. Duh.
Sunday nights at the Boat Club, Nottingham, watching Bluesbreakers. No one had ever heard the guitar played like that in 1966. At that moment in time, Clapton WAS God.
Yep, 1966 and Nottingham was buzzing. I was 18 and waiting to go to Uni in the autumn. The nights in the Boat club, (and next door), will stay with me forever. The music was incredible and there was stacks of crumpet!
I used to see Eric a lot with John Mayalls’s Bluesbreakers in the small clubs in North London,way back in the mid sixties.I can tell you it was mind blowing.My ears are still ringing to this day.Great memories.
Closest I've been to this was seeing Buddy Guy at Theresa's Club (Chicago's Southside) at 3AM on a Sat. night just wailing from deep inside the blues - magnificent!!
I was a teenager when I bought the first Bluebreakers album in 1966 at Tower Records in Sacramento. I still have it. I'm amazed it's not worn flat, it still brings tears to my eyes.
never, ever has there been better guitar playing and tone. period. Can't be duplicated, he is forever the original who even says he can't duplicate what he did in the 60's. Totally amazing 56 years later
Bullshit. Hendrix put him out to pasture, on blues too, but especially on rhythm playing where Eric could never venture. And eric knew it and admitted all of this many times.
I am going to politely disagree and ensure you’re familiar with Albert Collins: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jRY7ALEyqIo.htmlsi=o9VtpKzTG12hsu9r
FAO Ricardo Landi, Dear Mr.Landi, obviously you weren't around in 65/66....…, To say Jeff Beck wasn't around back then is Ludicrous, have you never heard the records he made with The Yardbirds in 1965? Peter Green was known on the London scene with several bands and yes Jimi didn't reach these shore until 1967 when I saw him live three times all in London, but he was making records long before he came to the U.K, maybe spend a little time on google/Wikipedia to research these iconic artists., and incidentally I saw Eric Clapton live many times with the Yardbirds, John Mayalls and Cream and he was a formidable guitarist back then.
awesom guitar by Clapton , I actually did not discover John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers till after Cream , no youtube internet back then made it difficult sometimes to be aware of all the different bands ... RIP Mr Mayall
And what has "Slowhand" done since 1970? Slowed to a crawl as a guitarist. Listen to this intensity and recommend something since 471 Ocean Boulevard that comes within a lightyear of this. Now Clapton is just a crotchety anti-vaxxer with a five-year record of greatness and decades of lassitude.
This is wonderful. I met Eric Clapton in Toronto in June 6, 1968 when he was playing with Cream but I had been listening to his records with John Mayall since the 60's because I was a big blues music fan listening to Robert Johnson and women blues singers. I went to visit Eric at the Royal York Hotel and we watched Bobbe Kennedy's murder aftermath on TV together. He was very soft spoken and polite and told me about starting to play guitar late, he was interested in art. He drew a doddle while we talked and he smoked cigarettes and gave it to me with his autograph. He was a gentleman and one of the nicest rock stars I have met.
I'm always amazed on hearing these very early Clapton recordings at how good his technique was to be so young and not having played that long---all the more so given there was no one to teach him other than listening to records---no tabs, no videos, and probably no one teaching guitar in England who could really play this stuff. He was just blessed with a special talent obviously.
+univibe23 Thats true, but a couple of years later a dude named James Marshall Hendrix came to London and taught Eric a lesson in playing the blues.....a compostion called "Killing Floor" by Robert Johnson...legend has it that God smoked a few cigarettes whilst learning that one...
+univibe23 Clapton was known to spend a whole day practicing a single phrase. He also pioneered that thick tone which has evolved into today's standard overdrive sound.
Nahh - Listen to Cream Live vol 2 - Steppin out. Thats mindblowing. Plus there some epic versions of Double Trouble from 78-85 and also Old Love on 24 nights has to be up there
YES!! First heard it myself about 35 years ago and still love it, cannot beat it , except I would throw Peter Green in there as well. Of course then there's Mike Bloomfield but I better quit while I'm ahead.
@@romancultist6089 That was Mr. Macallan who used the word invent. I find it hard to dispute. Who then? Link Wray..Lonnie Mack? Neither Page nor Beck were cranking Les Paul thru Marshall before Eric.. as far as I know..not trying to be argumentative just sayin'
Alex Gramm Is a cranked Les Paul with humbuckers through a Marshall what makes blues rock guitar though? Not imo. I could list quite a few blues rock songs that predate the Beano album. Hideaway was a Freddy King song, and to this day you can't get much more blues rock than that. The heavy wood humbucking guitar paired with a pushed high powered amplifier was a cosmic discovery, no doubt. But musically, blues rock existed years before that magnificent combination. The music was there, Clapton would tell you as much. He discovered blues rock's most profound iteration, but imo he didn't "invent" blues rock, just like Elvis isn't "The King" of rock.
This is the finest, the best, blues that was ever played. Not just the incredible guitar, but the organ, bass and drums - it all came together on this night in April. Maybe the stars were aligned. Who knows. Listen to every single note and be amazed!
Andy great taste. It's amazing my ex, Michelle and I were struck by THIS song and not others with PRECISELY the same thoughts. And it's doubly amazing that folks around the world react the same way to this. Love to time travel to 66' to see this. (66' and not the more famous 67' was THE ace year.) I've always said if guitar never evolved beyond this; gods came from the planet M21 and said "no more guitar," that would be fine. With all due respect to Hendrix this is FAR more important. And I'm certain Jimi would agree.
@@Allan-et5ig Anyone who plays an instrument will know the feeling of "being in the zone" where the instrument seems almost to be playing itself, and you're flying along for the ride. Clapton was in that zone, I'm certain, and so were John Mayall, Hughie Flint and John McVie. Where technical ability is at such a level that he's not playing notes, he's expressing emotion.
@@Allan-et5ig And only a couple of times for me in my entire time playing keyboards, when you just know you can't put a note wrong! It is interesting though, as you said, to find someone else had the same reaction to this piece of music history!
Got lucky..living in Singapore 64 to 67..this kind of music wasn't allowed on Singapore radio..!!!!..Some Navy guy off a visiting UK ship brought the Beano album up to our club...we blasted it..!!...Bought the album returning to UK 67....Cliff Richard turned up for concerts in Singapore around 66...and was REFUSED permission to perform...because the Authorities said....His hair was too long...!!!.....Believe....!!!!!!!!..I was there...!!!!!
Extremely aggressive and powerful in time. Yes there are mistakes, for being his age, his talent is fucking fantastic and I love the rawness of this. It's beautiful in every way and he is one of the best ever. Bless this man.
Those "mistakes" are what playing the blues truly is. All the greatest players made "mistakes". That's where so many players go wrong nowadays when trying to emulate the blues. It was never meant to be a perfectly clean, extremely articulate style. There's rawness and edginess and that's what gives it character. Somewhere along the way players tried to be too perfect and focused too much on technique rather than expression and feel...
That DARK TONE!! The Bark, the Bite, the Pain, the Aries Mindset, the Great Passion - everything fused and driven thru a great guitar and great amp! Thunder & Lightning from the 2nd magnitude, rarely has this ever happened.
To me this doesn’t compare to Duane’s Stormy Monday solo on At Fillmore East. It’s great but in comparison, it lacks the genius melody’s Duane strings together. Then add in Duane’s fire and Wow!
This is why I love Clapton - this is a brilliant off the cuff composition. Too many so called blues players just play a ton of riffs and licks with no real beginning or end or story -- you can't remember them - but you do with Clapton.
Bluesbreakers used to regularly perform at the Boat Clubs by the River Trent in Nottingham. Spent many a Sunday watching Bluesbreakers and Clapton. IMO he has never played better than those days. Grown men used to be in tears listening to a guitar played like they’d never heard before. He even wore the fur coat he’s pictured in on the Beano album.
I remember my brother bought this album(J M Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton. We used to love listening to it. I still have this LP and got all his 32 John Mayall records when he passed away long time ago
I've had this recording since 1973 when I was 13 and it's still the greatest ever blues guitar solo in my book. I love the involuntary sheep noises Mayall starts making at 1.07.
Nope, this was recorded in March 1966 at the Flamingo, London. It was one of the very few times Clapton and Bruce played together before they formed Cream a couple of months later. I saw Clapton with Mayall many times in 1965/66 and his development between November 1965, when he rejoined Mayall, and Spring 1966, when this was taped, was just astonishing.
Sure there was other great guitarists before Clapton, but he was the first guitar hero. Every guitarist of the 60s spent the latter half of the decade playing catch up with Clapton. You can thank him for every hard rock solo you've ever heard.
Jesus Christ!! I'm 67 and NEVER heard THIS style of E.C before.....RAW/TIGHT/BLUES all the way....Man those Brits REALLY Worshipped the Delta Blues......
It's an expression of pure anger on the part of Eric here . An angry young man was he ! I'm grateful for his efforts throughout entirely from then until now ! Thank's for posting !
Is Have You Heard on the Beanp album! At least it was. You need to hear the two blues breakers ‘67 live doubles with Peter green. Quite soon I’d say! Green is just awesome…..every night!
@@andythomas706 Stormy Monday was not on Canadian version of the Beano Lp. It came out a little later on the Looking Back album of early stuff. I know the Peter Green live Bluesbreakers.
His Gibson tone was unique and thrilling but everyone started copying it and meanwhile he was moving in other directions. I have to say he sounds pretty good on a Strat too! It's a thinner more fluid sound, more adaptable to a variety of styles. I guess you can't keep playing Beano and Cream forever, great as that was.
This man should have been knighted years ago, for what its worth. has developed logically through his life, never afraid to try something different. Wont see his like again, thank god that hes still here!
+Milena Dimitrijevic The same thing happened to me. It changed my life. The early years of EC are legendary. I would tell you to read his autobiography...his book is even better than his playing or his singing,such is his funny way to tell things :-)
I still think that Eric was at the top of his game during this period. His playing was inspired, bristling & damn near perfect. Don't get me wrong, he IS a genius, but just listen to these runs.
Absolutely right! And just think what treasures were lost when Mayall's Laurel Canyon house burned down - he used to tape most of his performances so some priceless archive material of Clapton, Green, Taylor went up in smoke. Thankfully some of this material has survived.
This was on a cheap LP entitled "The Blues World of Eric Clapton" which I treasure to this day! I think it went under the logo, Music For Pleasure. What an introduction to Clapton!
Kris Magi Moral? Never cross any woman, never mind the sign. It don't matter if you cross them or not. They'll cross you and then fuck you up. No matter how evil and lying and deceitful she is, it's all your fault. Found out the hard way there's somethings you just can't get when I fell in love with a woman I wish I'd never met. Lots of people talking, few of them know, that the soul of a woman was created below. Literally, women are forged in the fires of hell.
+Mike Yeates hell yeah my my mom picked that record up for me ayear ago from some record shop and it was the first time i heard this recording. and strictly because of this fantastic performacnce features on the record it is one of my most treasured vinyls
June 14, 2019 ... didn't know if John Mayall was still alive or not. Happened to be in Seattle when he was playing at Jazz Alley. Blew me away, at 85 as good as I remember him fifty years ago!
This is a recording, never released as a single, faded into in mid-performance, released in America on a compilation LP, that changed guitar-playing forever. (Try to tear your ears away, for a moment, from Clapton's precocious virtuosity, and try to appreciate how good the band, as a BAND, is.) (Happy 70th, EC: You were 21 here... Keep on Keepin' on.)
this Stormy Monday ( John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers ) with the Eric Clapton solo is clean, groundbreaking blues, and it helped a generation of new blues lovers, aficionados, myself included. I think Eric with Jack Bruce/Pete Brown compositions ( AND Ginger Baker DRUMS ) is just beyond words SUPER GREAT!!!!!!
Although it was recorded on 66 no one got to hear it until three years later. By the time it was released in 1969 it was of historical interest only. Hendrix had happened by then…so had the first two Zeppelin albums!
I would die for more songs of this gig... It is such a pity Blues breakers were so little famous at 65 and early 66 that nobody recorded anything, not even bootlegs
Laura Alexander Clapton even inspired Hendrix. Clapton was cranking Marshalls, utilizing feedback, and aggressively playing long before Hendrix and Hendrix even loved the Beano album.
Dagger 323 That's debatable, Page obviously got sloppy but in the late 60s and early 70s he was right up there with Hendrix and Clapton. Just watch the RAH 1970 performance and that should say it all.
Gaming Guitar Player Page wrote some great riffs and songs but his lead playing was always inferior to Clapton and Hendrix in my eyes. He was one of the first guitarists that chose speed over feel and it showed. His lead playing never had the same effect on me as what I consider superior players like Paul Kossoff or Peter Green.
Jimmy Witherspoon back in 1974 way down in los Angeles had a beautiful radio show of his own on KMET 94.7 F.M. -he came on live and pitching fireballs every Sunday night at 11:00 P.M.........he was outright progressive (,) he played this particular version of Stormy Monday Blues -and bless his heart (,) -Old Spoon endorsed this Mayall, Clapton,Bruce, Flint version as "A Tough Blues" Forever and Forever
Long Live Eric Clapton ..Say what you wan´t This was the Beginning of a DREAM Carreer ,i Love nearly all of his stuff , He was always a Great Great Artist and a BIG Idol of mine A GODDAMM Legend !
At the very beginning..................in his early twenties, and one of the great classics! It sounds like a myriad of almost random notes that work so beautifully well! I guess he just about knocked everyone out, as the recording of this song still does the same to little old me! How did he do it?..........WOW!
I've been listening to the Allman Brothers version of this for 35+ years. And I think this version is EVERY BIT as good as any the ABB has done. Just my opinion.
No need to apologise. If anyone provides updated info, I usually try and incorporate it in my background info. I am pretty sure I did that in this case. All the best.
