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Producers: Mike Vernon, John Mayall. Compilation producer: John Mayall. Includes liner notes by John Mayall. All tracks have been digitally remastered by Jon Astley. John Mayall is justly credited with fostering the talents of some of rock's best musicians. Between 1964 and 1968, the personnel of Mayall's Bluesbreakers included young luminaries Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, and Paul Butterfield, not to mention Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Peter Green (later of Fleetwood Mac). But the Bluesbreakers were also a mean blues-rock outfit in their own right and one of the pioneers of Britain's blues-influenced rock revolution. Some of Mayall's output is uneven, which makes AS IT ALL BEGAN, a 20-track best-of compilation from his peak years, an excellent place to see what his band is really about. Sequenced chronologically, the set begins with Mayall's early R&B-influenced material (defined by a high-energy attack, deep groove, and Mayall's contributions on harmonica, organ, and vocals). But the music really takes off with the addition of Clapton (circa 1966) and an emphasis on traditional electric blues in the Chicago style (with searing, virtuoso work from Clapton). The raw-blues mode continues until the late '60s, with Green and Taylor filling Clapton's shoes admirably. As a history lesson in British blues-rock and a sampler of one of the era's most influential bands, AS IT ALL BEGAN is undeniably strong.
