While Eric Clapton had already reached godlike stature among British musos with his guitar work on the Yardbirds debut album, he was dissatisfied playing what he considered 'bubblegum pop," and jumped at the chance to play with John Mayall's fledgling blues outfit. With this album, Clapton returns to the blues and inspires Mayall to deliver some of his greatest performances ever on vocals and harp. Hear Clapton roar through the instrumental workout on Freddie King's "Hideaway," and gasp with glee as he burns through Robert Johnson's "Ramblin' On My Mind," and the Otis Rush classic "All Your Love." Even the Mayall/Clapton original "Double Crossing Time" is a slow blues mind-blower. If you dig Clapton, but have tired of his more acoustic work of late, check this out. It's solid smoke.