John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers

Released: July 22, 1966

Songwriter: John Mayall

Producer: Mike Vernon

I never realized that you were in pain
I wanna help you honey, let me see you again
Hurts my soul, babe, when I find you feeling rough
Life is so bad, baby, when I find the key to love

Put a smile on your face and dry away your tears
Life is bound to get better as you live your years
Hurts my soul, babe, when I find you feeling rough
Life is so bad, baby, when I find the key to love

Somewhere in this world, the one you waited for
Come along and find you, turn the key your door
Hurts my soul, babe, when I find you feeling rough
Life is so bad, baby, when you find the key to love

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.

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