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FOUND: Bluesbreakers - What They Never Told You

Why Jeff Beck said no to replacing Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers: “He called my mum several times. She said, ‘That John Mayall sounds very nice!’”

Beck was asked to follow Slowhand’s footsteps out of the Yardbirds and into the Bluesbreakers before he decided to go solo

Guitar World

“Listening to him had an effect on me similar to what I might feel if I were to meet an alien from outer space”: How Eric Clapton’s mission to spread the blues gospel was the making of the first guitar ‘god’

The discovery of Freddie King was the Eureka! moment in the origin story of Slowhand's ascent as the British blues scene's greatest player

MusicRadar

"We were playing to capacity crowds, six or seven nights a week, everywhere we went. So we figured something was about to happen." The story of 1966, the year that built rock

Before 1966, the blues was tired, worn out and unsexy. But then Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Jimi Hendrix created the modern guitar hero too

Louder

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"People used to say to me, 'Oh, you're better than Eric Clapton.' I didn’t know where to put myself." The triumph and tragedy of Peter Green, the man who founded Fleetwood Mac

Peter Green was one of the greatest guitarists of the late 60s British blues boom – but he never truly conquered his demons

Louder

“Nobody had ever made that kind of noise on record before”: The life and times of Mike Vernon, the British blues legend who got Eric Clapton his Bluesbreakers tone

The producer of vintage Fleetwood Mac and Bluesbreakers was one of British blues’ towering figures

Guitar World

"I said Never Take Me Alive should be the single and the record company looked at me like, ‘That's commercial suicide!’ Luckily, it was a hit…” Spear Of Destiny's Kirk Brandon on hits, heart attacks and Theatre Of Hate

The indestructible Kirk Brandon on the unlikely origins of Theatre Of Hate and Spear Of Destiny and why he really is a dead man walking

Louder

“Rock’n’roll is like Italian operetta. Everybody dies and loses.” Kirk Brandon looks back on Theatre Of Hate, Spear Of Destiny, heart attacks and his unlikely influences

The indestructible Kirk Brandon on the unlikely origins of Theatre Of Hate and Spear Of Destiny

Louder

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“I bumped into Eric in a club and I thought we were going to get into a fight! But he went, ‘Hello, man!’ and gave me a big hug”: Jeff Beck took the Yardbirds in a new direction, but the constant Eric Clapton comparisons took years to shake

In the first stages of his career, Beck's relationship with Clapton was just as much (if not more) defined by Clapton's already-legendary reputation than it was by the man himself

Guitar World

Liam Payne, Dave Myers and Maggie Smith among those lost in 2024

Liam Payne, Michael Mosley, Alex Salmond and Maggie Smith were among the celebrities we lost in 2024 ...

The National (Scotland)

“People used to say to me, ‘Oh, you’re better than Eric Clapton.’ I didn’t know where to put myself”: The triumph and tragedy of Peter Green, the man who founded Fleetwood Mac

Peter Green was one of the greatest guitarists of the late 60s British blues boom – but he never truly conquered his demons

Louder

“The tone EC achieved on that record has become one of the classic archetypes for how an electric guitarshould sound”: How Eric Clapton got his tone on John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers’ ‘Beano’ album

The ‘Beano’ album has become a benchmark for how a Les Paul ’Burst and a Marshall could sound together. But how Clapton got that tone is a little more complex than that...

Guitar World

“John Mayall’s ability to nurture blues guitar prodigies is comparable to Yoda’s knack for training hot Jedi prospects”: From Eric Clapton to Peter Green, Mick Taylor and more – a guide to blues legend John Mayall’s ’60s guitarists

The Bluesbreakers remained a unique force in British blues throughout the decade, thanks to its late leader’s unfailing ability to pick breathtaking bandmates

Guitar World

“He taught me that it was OK to play the music you wanted to play. He was my mentor and a surrogate father, too”: Why John Mayall was the godfather of British blues guitar

Best known for his Bluesbreakers band, which launched the careers of Eric Clapton, Peter Green and Mick Taylor, Mayall was a gifted pianist, guitarist and harmonica player

Guitar World

“Peter Green is tasked with filling the shoes of Clapton, the man referred to as God”: Tracking the phenomenal guitar lineage of John Mayall in 12 essential releases

We trace the evolution of the six-string linchpin behind the British blues rock boom of the 1960s

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“It never dawned on me that I could make a living playing music. For many years, it was just a hobby, a way I could express myself”: John Mayall changed blues music forever – and introduced the world to some of its greatest guitar players

“The Godfather of British Blues” left us in July at age 90. We look back at his many achievements, triumphs and essential releases

Guitar World

“Thank you for rescuing me when I decided that I was going to quit music”: Eric Clapton pays emotional tribute to his Bluesbreaker bandmate and blues mentor John Mayall

Clapton and Mayall joined forces in the 1960s to record one of British blues' most iconic records, which further established Slowhand as an up-and-coming blues great

MusicRadar

"He was my mentor and a surrogate father": Eric Clapton shares moving eulogy for John Mayall

"I want to say thank you for rescuing me from oblivion," he says in a candid video in tribute to his blues mentor, who has passed away at the age of 90

The Guardian - UK

John Mayall obituary

Bandleader, composer, instrumentalist and singer who nurtured players such as Eric Clapton and put British blues on the map

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Guitar World

“A wonderful guy that changed the game for all of us”: John Mayall, 1933-2024 – the guitar world pays tribute

Joe Bonamassa, Mick Jagger and Walter Trout have led tributes to the influential British blues pioneer, who has died at the age of 90

Guitar World

“Keep on playing the blues somewhere, John. We love you”: John Mayall, the Godfather of British Blues, dies aged 90

The pioneering guitarist masterminded one of the most influential blues collectives ever formed, and helped catapult the career of countless guitar greats

Evening Standard

Jon Mayall: Hugely influential British blues musician dies aged 90

John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers was a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and many other superstars

MusicRadar

"When he felt the spirit, he was untouchable" – the story of Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton and Peter Green

Two legendary players. Two near-mythical Les Pauls.Two all-time-great blues albums and the greatest guitar handover in blues history

The Independent UK

John Mayall death: Influential British blues pioneer dies aged 90

Musician’s band the Bluesbreakers was a training ground for Eric Clapton, Mick Fleetwood and many other superstars

Guitar World

He gave B.B. King “the cold sweats”, replaced Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers and founded Fleetwood Mac – how Peter Green changed the course of British blues-rock guitar playing

Peter Green was one of the all-time greats, and influenced everyone from Gary Moore to Joe Bonamassa and Kirk Hammett. This soloing masterclass unpacks his peerless phrasing, rhythmic approach and string bending

Louder

"There wasn't too much talking about who should play what, it was a very instinctive kind of relationship": Mick Taylor on life in the Rolling Stones, Altamont and leaving the band

The Rolling Stones’ secret weapon throughout their golden period looks back on his time with the band

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