John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers

Released: July 22, 1966

Songwriter: Ray Charles

Producer: Mike Vernon

Tell your momma, tell your pa
Gonna move you back to Arkansas
Alright
Baby, what'd I say
Well, alright
Baby, what'd I say

Oh, baby
Oh, baby
Alright
Baby, what'd I say
Baby, what'd I say
Oh, alright

Baby, what'd I say
Yay, what'd I say
Baby, what'd I say
Baby, what'd I say
Oh, what'd I say
Baby, what'd I say

Oh well, hey, yay, yay, yay
Yay, yay, yay, yay, yay, yay
Alright, baby, yay

John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers were never superstars in America, but were probably the most influential of the English blues bands on either side of the pond. In the early to mid 1960s, England was undergoing a sort of Blues-inspired musical renaissance, known now as the British Blues. The first keystone band of this era was Blues Incorporated, a live act through which much of the future British Invasion filtered. But as those musicians grew up to become recording artists, they moved on, and one of them, John Mayall, formed a band band that took up the mantle of incubator for much of the movement.

His Bluesbreakers included, at one time or another, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, and Peter Green (who later formed Fleetwood Mac together), Aynsley Dunbar (who played with pretty much everyone else), Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce (later to form Cream), Larry Taylor (Canned Heat), Paul Butterfield (the Butterfield Blues Band, itself a blues-rock birthing center), and others.

The Bluesbreakers had few hits themselves, especially on other side of the Atlantic. But without them, the music world would be a different place, today.

more tracks from the album

Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton

From the album

Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton (1966)

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers popular songs

What’d I SayJohn Mayall & The Bluesbreakers

John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers

Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton