An Anthology of British Blues (Vinyl record album review)

Album name: An Anthology of British Blues

Group name: Various, including John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Eric Clapton, T.S. McPhee, Savoy Brown Blues Band, Jo-Ann Kelly, Stone’s Masonry

Year: 1968

Number of discs: one

Label: Immediate Records

Collection: Friedman

Buy it on Amazon: $130.98

My review

Level of familiarity before listening

I’m not familiar with this compilation, though I do know some of the artists on it, and the song Tribute to Elmore, credited to Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page, is likely to be one and the same as Tribute To Elmore James on Second Album by Roy Buchanan.

What I expected

Electric blues.

What it was actually like

This was outstanding and I loved it.

The best songs were the faster ones with a lot of energy: I’m Your Witchdoctor; I Tried, which was very piano heavy; I Feel So Good, which also had a lot more piano and a very prominent harmonica; and Flapjacks, an organ-led instrumental.

I also loved Tribute to Elmore. When reviewing Roy Buchanan’s Second Album, I wrote:

My favorite, though, was Tribute To Elmore James, which may have been exactly why the electric blues was invented in the first place.

And that’s still true.

Snake Drive and West Coast Idea were both slow Eric Clapton instrumentals. The former was the most barbecue restaurant song on the record, and the latter was much more complex with harmonica and guitars playing against each other.

Cold Blooded Woman was also much slower, as was Ain’t Gonna Cry No More, which had a great guitar solo, and I liked the harmonica that really added a lot without grabbing too much attention. Telephone Blues was similar, with amazing guitar and percussion.

To my delight, I was not even bothered by the horns on You Don’t Love Me.

Grade

5/5: love it