On its own terms, most of this 14-track compilation of 1965-1967 recordings for BBC sessions (all but one of them dating from 1965-1967) is a worthwhile collection of supplementary work by
John Mayall's best
Bluesbreakers lineups. If you're a serious
Mayall fan, however, be aware that you might have already bought this material in some form or another in the year or so previous to the release of this CD in early 2007. For the dozen 1965-1967 cuts all appear as bonus material on the 2006 U.K. expanded CD editions of the John Mayall Plays John Mayall,
Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton, and
A Hard Road albums, all of which also include bonus tracks from non-LP singles, studio outtakes, and the like. If for some reason you do want to zero in on the BBC material exclusively, this has some decent live performances with both the
Eric Clapton and
Peter Green lineups of the
Bluesbreakers. (The liner notes also admit it's likely that the three tracks from October 25, 1965 feature not only
Jack Bruce on bass during his brief
Bluesbreakers stint, but also guitarist Jeff Kribit (sometimes spelled Geoff Krivit in other sources), who was in the group during a brief spell when
Clapton left the band to go to Greece.) The BBC takes here of songs that also appear on
Mayall's official '60s releases aren't as good as the studio versions (and are sometimes very similar), but are still well done, though on the five tracks on which
Clapton appears, he doesn't seem to be playing with as much fire as he was capable of mustering. Of special interest are a few songs that
Mayall didn't put on his official '60s recordings in any form, including a cover of
Willie Dixon and
Sonny Boy Williamson's "Bye Bye Bird" and (from the October 1965 session) two decent original
Mayall compositions, "Cheating Woman" and "Nowhere to Turn." Also note that while
Mayall was leading the
Peter Green version of the
Bluesbreakers on the four songs from a January 23, 1967 session, it's
Mayall playing alone on one of these tracks, "No More Tears," which would appear on his
The Blues Alone LP. The two songs that end the CD are from an October 21, 1975 session, and are of far less interest than the other material, dating from a time where
Mayall was a few years past his creative peak and leading a much less interesting band. ~ Richie Unterberger