• By 1965, the British R&B boom was over. Cyril Davies was dead, Alexis Korner was employed as MD on a children’s TV show, and the legion of young acolytes the two men had inspired had drifted away from the blues and into mainstream pop stardom. The more “purist” individuals were out in the cold: Brian Jones was marginalised in the Stones by the emergence of the Jagger/Richards songwriting team, while Eric Clapton had stormed out of the most blueswailing Yardbirds in protest at their recording of winsome pop ditty ‘For Your Love’.
• But things were about to change. In April 1966, club band John Mayall’s Blues Breakers – prominently featuring a still-simmering Clapton – recorded their debut studio album with the aid of producer Mike Vernon. Released in July, the LP was a huge, entirely unexpected success, reaching the UK Top Ten and remaining in the charts for an impressive 17 weeks.
• Suddenly, an astonishing number of virtuoso young British (and Irish) blues guitarists, all of whom rejected the trappings of pop success as fervently as the young Eric, were inspired to form their own bands. In the wake of Clapton, his Yardbirds replacement Jeff Beck and Peter Green (Eric’s replacement in Mayall’s band after he’d split to form Cream) came the likes of Kim Simmonds, Jeremy Spencer, Stan Webb, Paul Kossoff, Alvin Lee, Clem Clempson, Rory Gallagher, Gary Moore and Mick Ronson. Within a year or two of Mayall’s unexpected breakthrough, the second wave of the British blues boom was in full, glorious bloom.
• Featuring all of the above names, Crawling Up A Hill chronicles the development of the British blues scene during that relatively brief but halcyon period, covering both the electric blues bands (Mayall’s Blues Breakers, Fleetwood Mac, Chicken Shack, Savoy Brown, Ten Years After etc) and the acoustic country blues acts (Jo-Ann Kelly, Mike Cooper, Ian A. Anderson and others).
• In addition, we feature a number of more obscure bands from the era, including Levee Camp Moan (responsible for two of the most feverishly-collected albums of the era), pre-Faces outfit Quiet Melon and The Zany Woodruff Operation, now receiving their first-ever public exposure.
• Housed in a clamshell box with a 40-page booklet featuring potted histories and priceless period photos of all the featured acts, Crawling Up A Hill is a fascinating document of a genre that, though relatively short-lived, would have a seismic influence on the subsequent development of rock music.
TRACK LISTING
DISC ONE
1. ALL YOUR LOVE – John Mayall’s Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton
2. CRAWLING UP A HILL – The Zany Woodruff Operation*
3. LOUISE – Anderson Jones Jackson
4. I LOVE YOU – The Graham Bond Organization
5. I’M A MAN (live) – The Yardbirds
6. DON’T WANT YOU NO MORE – The Spencer Davis Group
7. I CAN’T KEEP FROM CRYING, SOMETIMES – Ten Years After
8. JUMPING AT SHADOWS (Demo Version) – Duster Bennett
9. CHARLIE – The Deviants
10. YOU SHOOK ME – Jeff Beck
11. AIN’T NOTHIN’ IN RAMBLIN’ – Jo-Ann Kelly
12. LOVE THAT BURNS – Fleetwood Mac
13. WANG DANG DOODLE – Love Sculpture
14. OPERATOR – Alexis Korner featuring Robert Plant
15. CAN BLUE MEN SING THE WHITES? – The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band
16. WALKING – Dr. K’s Blues Band
17. LITTLE WOMAN YOU’RE SO SWEET – Shakey Vick
18. A STRANGER IN YOUR TOWN – The Climax Chicago Blues Band
19. LORD OF THE RINGS – Downliners Sect
DISC TWO
1. SWEET TOOTH – Free
2. DEATH LETTER – Mike Cooper
3. BLISTER ON THE MOON – The Taste
4. I JUST CAN’T KEEP FROM CRYING – Levee Camp Moan
5. SOMETIME GIRL – Sam Apple Pie
6. SKIN GAME (Live) – John Dummer Blues Band
7. DIAMOND JOE – Quiet Melon
8. NOBODY BY MY SIDE – Killing Floor
9. DEAR JILL – Blodwyn Pig
10. THERE’S AN EASY AND A HARD WAY OF LIVING – Icarus
11. TEARS IN THE WIND – Chicken Shack
12. BRING IT ON HOME – Bakerloo
13. THE SAME FOR YOU – Jaklin
14. TRAIN COMES, TRAIN GOES – Frozen Tear*
15. TELEPHONE BLUES (aka TALK TO ME BABY) – The Rats
16. MADISON BLUES – Angel Pavement
17. IT’S YOU I MISS – Christine Perfect Band
18. THIS LOVE OF OLD – Medicine Head
19. BABY PLEASE DON’T GO – Jasper
DISC THREE
1. I’VE GOT THOSE FLEETWOOD MAC CHICKEN SHACK JOHN MAYALL CAN’T FAIL BLUES – Liverpool Scene
2. RIDE WITH YOUR DADDY TONIGHT – Brunning Sunflower Blues Band featuring Peter Green
3. TIME TO MOVE – Red Dirt
4. A HARD WAY TO GO (Live) – Savoy Brown
5. MEAN BLUES – Jeremy Spencer
6. CHAUFFEUR – Black Cat Bones
7. GARDENER MAN – Siren
8. DUPREE BLUES – Blue Blood
9. PASSING THROUGH – Steamhammer
10. RAINING IN YOUR HEART – Stone The Crows
11. OLD GOPHER – Edgar Broughton Band
12. ROADRUNNER – Stack Waddy
13. TAKE ME DOWN TO THE WATER – Heavy Jelly
14. THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS – Skid Row
15. TAKE YOUR MONEY – Brett Marvin & The Thunderbolts
16. THE SUN IS SHINING – Mungo Jerry
17. BACKLASH BLUES – Linda Hoyle
18. RAILROAD – Status Quo
