In the pantheon of British blues music, few have had as much influence as John Mayall.  As the leader of The Bluesbreakers in the '60s and '70s (and through to today), he's sought out and nurtured talented musicians who'd go on to become as legendary as Mayall himself.  Indeed, the roster of future legends that passed through the ranks of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers is immense.  John McVie, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Paul Butterfield, Aynsley Dunbar, Mick Taylor, Keef Hartley, and Jack Bruce all made sizable contributions to the band's direction, with Mayall building an environment for everyone to thrive.

On January 29, 2021, that classic period will anthologized with The First Generation: 1965-1974, a mammoth, limited-edition box set from Snapper Music.  The 35-CD collection boasts newly remastered editions of 24 albums - many supplemented with bonus tracks - plus a trio of CD singles and plenty of unreleased material.  Among that rare audio are 7 concert recordings recorded in Europe from 1967 to 1970 making their CD debut, as well as 28 unreleased tracks from the BBC archives.  The box set will also include a hardbound book with rare images and memorabilia, a book of fan club correspondence, two replica posters, a replica press pack for John Mayall Plays John Mayall, and a signed photograph.

The First Generation: 1965-1974 is a fitting celebration of the first chapter of John Mayall's career and an essential purchase for any big fan.  But it's limited to only 5,000 copies, so you'll want to act fast to add this immersive celebration of the Godfather of British Blues to your music library!  You can find order links and the complete track listing below, as well as an unboxing video to whet your appetite.

John Mayall, The First Generation: 1965-1974 (Snapper Music, 2020) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Your Local Record Shop)

Disc 1: John Mayall Plays John Mayall

1. Crawling Up A Hill
2. I Wanna Teach You Everything
3. When I'm Gone
4. I Need Your Love
5. The Hoot Owl
6. R&B Time: Night Train/Lucille
7. Crocodile Walk
8. What's The Matter With You
9. Doreen
10. Runaway
11. Heartache
12. Chicago Line
13. Crocodile Walk (Single Version)

Disc 2: "I'm Your Witchdoctor" b/w "Telephone Blues"

1. I'm Your Witchdoctor
2. Telephone Blues

Disc 3: "Lonely Years" b/w "Bernard Jenkins"

1. Lonely Years
2. Bernard Jenkins

Discs 4 and 5: Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton [CD 4 mono, CD 5 stereo + bonus tracks]

1. All Your Love
2. Hideaway
3. Little Girl
4. Another Man
5. Double Crossing Time
6. What'd I Say
7. Key To Love
8. Parchman Farm
9. Have You Heard
10. Ramblin' On My Mind
11. Steppin' Out
12. It Ain't Right
    Bonus tracks on CD 5 (stereo)
13. Intro / Maudi
14. It Hurts To Be In Love
15. Have You Ever Loved A Woman
16. Bye Bye Bird
17. I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man

Disc 6: All My Life EP

1. All My Life
2. Ridin' on the L and N
3. Little By Little
4. Eagle Eye

Disc 7: A Hard Road

1. A Hard Road
2. It's Over
3. You Don't Love Me
4. The Stumble
5. Another Kinda Love
6. Hit the Highway
7. Leaping Christine
8. Dust My Blues
9. There's Always Work
10. The Same Way
11. The Supernatural
12. Top of the Hill
13. Someday After A While (You'll Be Sorry)
14. Living Alone

Disc 8: Crusade

1. Oh, Pretty Woman
2. Stand Back Baby
3. My Time After A While
4. Snowy Wood
5. Man of Stone
6. Tears in My Eyes
7. Driving Sideways
8. The Death of J.B. Lenoir
9. I Can't Quit You Baby
10. Streamline
11. Me and My Woman
12. Checkin' Up on My Baby
    Bonus track:
13. Rubber Duck

Disc 9: The Blues Alone 

1. Brand New Start
2. Please Don't Tell
3. Down the Line
4. Sonny Boy Blow
5. Marsha's Mood
6. No More Tears
7. Catch That Train
8. Cancelling Out
9. Harp Man
10. Brown Sugar
11. Broken Wings
12. Don't Kick Me
    Bonus tracks:
13. Brand New Start (first version)
14. Marsha's Mood (first version)

Disc 10: The Diary of a Band, Vol. 1 

1. Blood on the Night
2. Edmonton / Cook's Ferry Inn (Impromptu)
3. I Can't Quit You Baby
4. Medley: Anzio Annie, Snowy Wood, The Lesson, Keef Hartley & John Interviews
5. My Own Fault
6. God Save The Queen

Disc 11: The Diary of a Band, Vol. 2 

1. Gimme Some Lovin / The Train
2. Crying Shame
3. Local Boys Makes Good - Speech Only / Impromptu
4. Help Me
5. Blues In B Flat
6. Soul Of A Short Fat Man

Disc 12: Bare Wires

1. Bare Wires Suite
2. I'm A Stranger
3. No Reply
4. Harley Quits
5. Killing Time
6. She's Too Young
7. Sandy
8. Intro / Look At the Girl
9. Start Walkin'

Disc 13: Blues From Laurel Canyon 

1. Vacation
2. Walking on Sunset
3. Laurel Canyon Home
4. 2401
5. Ready To Ride
6. Medicine Man
7. Somebody's Acting Like A Child
8. The Bear
9. Miss James
10. First Time Alone
11. Long Gone Midnight
12. Fly Tomorrow
    Bonus tracks:
13. 2401 (single version)
14. Wish You Were Mine (live)

Disc 14: Looking Back

1. Mr. James
2. Blues City Shake Down
3. They Call It Stormy Monday
4. So Many Roads
5. Looking Back
6. Sitting In The Rain
7. It Hurts Me Too
8. Double Trouble
9. Suspicions
10. Jenny
11. Picture On The Wall

Disc 15: The Turning Point

1. The Laws Must Change
2. Saw Mill Gulch Road
3. I'm Gonna Fight For You J.B.
4. So Hard To Share
5. California
6. Thoughts About Roxanne
7. Room To Move
8. Sleeping By Her Side
9. Don't Waste My Time
10. Can't Sleep This Night

Disc 16: Empty Rooms

1. Don't Waste My Time
2. Plan Your Revolution
3. Don't Pick a Flower
4. Something New
5. People Cling Together
6. Waiting for the Right Time
7. Thinking of My Woman
8. Counting the Days
9. When I Go
10. Many Miles Apart
11. To A Princess
12. Lying In My Bed

Disc 17: USA Union 

1. Nature's Disappearing
2. You Must Be Crazy
3. Night Flyer
4. Off The Road
5. Possessive Emotions
6. Where Did My Legs Go
7. Took The Car
8. Crying
9. My Pretty Girl
10. Deep Blue Sea

Discs 18 and 19: Back To the Roots

1. Prisons on the Road
2. My Children
3. Accidental Suicide
4. Groupie Girl
5. Blue Fox
6. Home Again
7. Television Eye
8. Marriage Madness
9. Looking at Tomorrow
10. Dream With Me
11. Full Speed Ahead
12. Mr. Censor Man
13. Force of Nature
14. Boogie Albert

 

1. Goodbye December
2. Unanswered Questions
3. Devil's Tricks
4. Travelling
   Bonus tracks:
5. Accidental Suicide (remix)
6. Force Of Nature (remix)
7. Boogie Albert (remix)
8. Television Eye (remix)
9. Prisons On The Road (remix)
10. Home Again (remix)
11. Mr. Censor Man (remix)
12. Looking At Tomorrow (remix)

Disc 20: Thru The Years

1. Crocodile Walk
2. My Baby Is Sweeter
3. Crawling Up a Hill
4. Mama, Talk To Your Daughter
5. Alabama Blues
6. Out of Reach
7. Greeny
8. Curly
9. Missing You
10. Please Don't Tell
11. Your Funeral and My Trial
12. Suspicions
13. Knockers Step Forward
14. Hide and Seek

Disc 21: Memories

1. Memories
2. Wish I Knew A Woman
3. The City
4. Home in a Tree
5. Separate Ways
6. The Fighting Line
7. Grandad
8. Back from Korea
9. Nobody Cares
10. Play the Harp

Disc 22: Jazz Blues Fusion

1. Country Road
2. Mess Around
3. Good Times Boogie
4. Change Your Ways
5. Dry Throat
6. Exercise In C
7. Got To Be This Way

Disc 23: Moving On

1. Worried Mind
2. Keep Our Country Green
3. Christmas '71
4. Things Go Wrong
5. Do It
6. Moving On
7. Red Sky
8. Reasons
9. High Pressure Living

Discs 24 and 25: Ten Years Are Gone

1. Ten Years Are Gone
2. Driving Till The Break Of Day
3. Drifting
4. Better Pass You By
5. California Campground
6. Undecided
7. Good Looking Stranger
8. I Still Care
9. Don't Hang Me Up

 

1. Introduction
2. Sitting Here Thinking
3. Harmonica Free Form
4. Burning Sun
5. Dark of the Night

Disc 26: The Latest Edition

1. Gasoline Blues
2. Perfect Peace
3. Going To Take My Time
4. Deepdown Feelings
5. Troubled Times
6. The Pusher Man
7. One of the Few
8. Love Song
9. Little Kitten
10. A Crazy Game

Discs 27 and 28: BBC Recordings (1964-1968)

1. Crawling Up A Hill
2. Heartache
3. Crocodile Walk
4. Bye Bye Bird
5. I'm Your Witchdoctor
6. Cheatin' Woman
7. Big Town Playboy
8. Parchman Farm
9. Nowhere To Turn
10. Little Girl
11. Hideaway
12. Tears in My Eyes
13. Parchman Farm
14. Burning My Fingers
15. All Your Love
16. Stepping Out
17. On Top Of The World
18. Key To Love
19. Leaping Christine
20. Sitting In The Rain
21. Curly
22. Ridin' on the L and N
23. Dust My Blues

 

1. No More Tears
2. Curly
3. The Last Time
4. Suspicions
5. Worried Love
6. Supermarket Day
7. Snowy Wood
8. Jenny
9. Sweet Sixteen
10. Interview with Alexis Korner
11. Another Man's Land
12. Picture On The Wall
13. Knockers Step Forward
14. The Last Time
15. Rock Me Baby
16. Oh, Pretty Woman
17. Long Gone Midnight
18. It Hurts Me To Leave

Disc 29: Bromley Technical College 1967

1. Brand New Start
2. Tears In My Eyes
3. Bye Bye Bird
4. Mama, Talk To Your Daughter
5. Double Trouble
6. Your Funeral and My Trial
7. Stand Back Baby
8. Some Day After A While (You'll Be Sorry)
9. Looking Back

Disc 30: Live 1967

1. Chicago Line (unedited)
2. Your Funeral and My Trial
3. Four Million Knobs
4. Mama, Talk To Your Daughter
5. Intro / Chicago Line
6. Hi-Heel Sneakers
7. San-Ho-Zay
8. Curly
9. Mama, Talk To Your Daughter
10. Telephone Blues
11. Brand New Start
12. Your Funeral and My Trial
13. Bad Boy
14. The Stumble

Disc 31: The 7th National Jazz and Blues Festival 1967

1. Driving Sideways
2. I Can't Quit You Baby
3. Sonny Boy Blow
4. Stand Back Baby
5. Oh, Pretty Woman
6. It's My Own Fault
7. Ridin' On The L and N

Disc 32: Gothenburg 1968

1. Oh Baby
2. Baby You're Wrong
3. Worried About You
4. Somebody's Acting Like A Child
5. Ooh Wee Baby (Don't Know What To Do)
6. It Hurts Me To Leave
7. Hey Little Girl (Walking Down The Street)

Disc 33: Berlin 1969

1. Intro
2. Variation on Somebody's Acting Like A Child
3. Baby Child
4. Checkin' Up On My Baby
5. When I Lost My Baby Child
6. 2401
7. Treat Me This Way
8. Goin' Down The Road
9. Ready To Ride
10. Help Me Baby
11. When I See My Baby

Disc 34: Bremen 1969

1. Got A Pretty Baby
2. Checkin' Up On My Baby
3. Parchman Farm
4. The Time Has Come
5. 2401

Disc 35: Fillmore West 1970

1. Everybody Wants To Know
2. Band Intros
3. What's The Matter With You
4. Travelling Man
5. I've Got To Be With You Tonight
6. Honey Hush