John Mayall Collection

Having made his best album since 461 Ocean Boulevard with Slowhand, Eric Clapton followed with Backless, which took the same authoritative, no-nonsense approach. If it wasn't quite the masterpiece, or the sales monster, that Slowhand had been, this probably was because of that usual Clapton problem – material. Once again, he returned to those Oklahoma hills for another song from J.J. Cale, but "I'll Make Love to You Anytime" wasn't quite up to "Cocaine" or "After Midnight." Bob Dylan contributed two songs, but you could see why he hadn't saved them for his own album, and Clapton's own writing contributions were mediocre…

Probably best known as a member of the Notting Hillbillies, Brendan Croker was also a well-respected singer/songwriter and session guitarist both before and after his involvement with that band. Drawing on strong folk, blues, and country roots, Yorkshireman Croker brought a strong, Woody Guthrie-ish lyrical outlook to his musical palette, and was equally at home with Van Morrison-style blues or American country music of any era. In fact, his deep knowledge of and affection for American roots music, coupled with his fine singing and guitar playing, at one point gave rise to Croker being hailed as "the British Ry Cooder".

CD pressing of this 1972 album from the British Blues great. Alexis Korner, along with John Mayall, could be called the "father of British Blues". Even though he himself is not necessarily a well known name, he helped launch the careers of many top Rock and Blues stars from the 1960s. Bootleg Him! is a 20 track collection of odds & ends from his early career. Musicians appearing with Alexis on this album include Robert Plant, Jack Bruce, Ginger Baker, Charlie Watts, Graham Bond, Paul Rodgers, Andy Fraser, the list goes on and on.