John Mayall Live in London

A four-disc box set spanning Eric Clapton's entire career – running from the Yardbirds to his '80s solo recordings – Crossroads not only revitalized Clapton's commercial standing, but it established the rock & roll multi-disc box set retrospective as a commercially viable proposition. Bob Dylan's Biograph was successful two years before the release of Crossroads, but Clapton's set was a bona fide blockbuster. And it's easy to see why. Crossroads manages to sum up Clapton's career succinctly and thoroughly, touching upon all of his hits and adding a bevy of first-rate unreleased material (most notably selections from the scrapped second Derek and the Dominos album). Although not all of his greatest performances are included on the set – none of his work as a session musician or guest artist is included, for instance – every truly essential item he recorded is present on these four discs. No other Clapton album accurately explains why the guitarist was so influential, or demonstrates exactly what he accomplished.

Without Alexis Korner, there still might have been a British blues scene in the early 1960s, but chances are that it would have been very different from the one that spawned the Rolling Stones, nurtured the early talents of Eric Clapton, and made it possible for figures such as John Mayall to reach an audience. Born of mixed Turkish/Greek/Austrian descent, Korner spent the first decade of his life in France, Switzerland, and North Africa, and arrived in London in May of 1940, just in time for the German blitz, during which Korner discovered American blues. One of the most vivid memories of his teen years was listening to a record of bluesman Jimmy Yancey during a German air raid. "From then on," he recalled in an interview, "all I wanted to do was play the blues."

Eric Clapton has become one of Britain's most successful guitar heroes of the last three decades, a writer, singer and performer who has consistently produced quality singles and albums which have sold millions around the globe, and whose live shows are always guaranteed standing-room-only events. Clapton has now been a solo performer for so long that it is easy to forget that his formative musical years were spent working with a variety of different blues bands, including John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, and not forgetting the legendary Yardbirds.

Eric Clapton has become one of Britain's most successful guitar heroes of the last three decades, a writer, singer and performer who has consistently produced quality singles and albums which have sold millions around the globe, and whose live shows are always guaranteed standing-room-only events. Clapton has now been a solo performer for so long that it is easy to forget that his formative musical years were spent working with a variety of different blues bands, including John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, and not forgetting the legendary Yardbirds.

Eric Clapton has become one of Britain's most successful guitar heroes of the last three decades, a writer, singer and performer who has consistently produced quality singles and albums which have sold millions around the globe, and whose live shows are always guaranteed standing-room-only events. Clapton has now been a solo performer for so long that it is easy to forget that his formative musical years were spent working with a variety of different blues bands, including John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, and not forgetting the legendary Yardbirds.

The History of Eric Clapton is a compilation double LP, released in 1972 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom, and Atco Records in the United States. It features Eric Clapton performing in various bands between 1964 and 1970, including The Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith and Derek and the Dominos. The compilation is notable for helping Clapton's career when he was battling heroin addiction and making the song "Layla" famous. It is also notable for being perhaps the first compilation in rock music to collect music of a single rock musician that spans time, bands, music styles and record labels. The album cover picture was taken at George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh while Clapton was playing "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on a Gibson Byrdland hollow-body guitar.

Limited seven CD set. Features 67 tracks including the albums Halfbreed, The Battle Of North West Six, The Time Is Near, Overdog, Little Big Band, Seventy Second Brave and Lancashire Hustler plus 15 bonus tracks drawn from rare live recordings and singles. Includes an illustrated book with essay. Keef Hartley first came to prominence as a member of the British R&B group The Artwoods before joining John Mayall's Bluesbreakers in 1967 before leaving to form the first line-up of his own band.