Songs and Musicians
Many of the world's greatest rock bands and blues artists have come out of Great Britain. Rock and pop legends like the Rolling Stones, the Beatles, Fleetwood Mac, Jeff Beck, and Eric Clapton all found significant inspiration in the blues and bluesmen of the early to mid twentieth century. The Rolling Stones even took their name from the Muddy Waters song "Rolling Stone," one of his many recordings for Chicago's legendary Chess Records. Learn more about Great Britain's most important blues-influenced musicians and their music, below:

Jeff Beck
Eric Clapton
Cream
Tom Jones
John Mayall
The Rolling Stones

Jeff Beck
Born: June 24, 1944, Surrey, England

Jeff Beck is a musician's musician — he never reached the mainstream superstardom of many of his contemporaries, probably partly due to his sporadic presence on the music scene and the fact that he is not a vocalist. Regardless, Beck is an innovative master of electric guitar and as such he has been idolized by other guitarists for decades. Among other virtuoso qualities of his playing, he is known for the stunning power, authority and control of his fretwork as well as for his somewhat erratic versatility. Beck took his initial place in British rock by joining the Yardbirds as Eric Clapton's replacement. He later formed his own self-named group, with then unknown vocalist Rod Stewart and bassist Ron Wood (who would later join the Rolling Stones as a guitarist). The Jeff Beck Group put out some blisteringly rocking versions of blues classics such as Willie Dixon's "I Ain't Superstitious" and "You Shook Me," influencing both blues-rock and hard rock devotees in the process, including Led Zeppelin and Cream. Beck's later work reflects a continuous evolution and includes superb jazz-fusion. He continues to record and tour, and his latest album includes a cover of Muddy Waters's "Rollin' and Tumblin."

Essential listening: "You Know What I Mean," "Led Boots," "Escape," "Cause We've Ended As Lovers," "I Ain't Superstitious," "You Shook Me"

Eric Clapton
Born: March 30, 1945, Ripley, England
Also known as: Eric Patrick Clapp

Eric Clapton's talent has graced some of the best bands in rock and blues history: the Yardbirds, John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Cream and Blind Faith. He is a rock and blues star in his own right, maintaining a reputation for decades as one of Great Britain's finest guitarists. Clapton reportedly left the Yardbirds in order to immerse himself in blues with the Bluesbreakers; his subsequent forays into blues-rock with Cream and Blind Faith did a lot to merge the two genres in popular music. He has moved between rock, blues and pop throughout his career, but his major influences include Muddy Waters, B.B. King, and Robert Johnson, and his renditions of blues classics — especially his cover of Johnson's "Crossroads" — are among his best-known recordings. He is a master of painfully expressive guitar work, matched by his emotional vocal delivery. Although much of his work is outstanding, he is probably best known for the album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, which is commonly considered to be a masterpiece. Among other brilliant work, that album includes the rock classic "Layla."

Essential listening: "Have You Ever Loved A Woman," "Bell-Bottom Blues," "Crossroads," "Key to the Highway," "Layla"

Cream
Eric Clapton, born March 30, 1945, Ripley, England; Ginger Baker, born August 19, 1939, Lewisham, England; Jack Bruce, born May 14, 1943, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Cream combined the superb musicianship of bassist Jack Bruce, drummer Ginger Baker, and guitarist Eric Clapton, and became a powerhouse of blues-rock that had an enormous influence on the future of rock and heavy metal. They were all groundbreaking musicians known for their innovative, aggressive styles, and when they played together as a band they inspired one another to new heights of brilliance. They brought to the blues a jazz-inspired flair for improvisation, and although they were sometimes criticized for their seemingly endless jam sessions, at their best their competitive instrumental assaults showcased their unique gifts. Eric Clapton raised the blues guitar solo to a high art form; Jack Bruce's fervent and often melodic bass playing could pass for a second lead guitar; and rock had never seen the likes of Ginger Baker's percussive mastery (and it's possible that no one has matched him to this day). The trio covered blues classics from legends such as Albert King, Skip James, and Willie Dixon in addition to original material, and in the process introduced the blues to a new audience and broke ground for subsequent heavy blues-rock bands such as Led Zeppelin. Cream formed in 1966 and broke up in 1968. All of their releases are classics.

Essential listening: "Sunshine of Your Love," "Crossroads," "Strange Brew," "Tales of Brave Ulysses"

Tom Jones
Born: June 6, 1940, Pontypridd, South Wales

Tom Jones is a stunning vocalist with a powerful, emotionally expressive baritone-tenor range matched by a legendarily charismatic stage presence that has often been compared to that of Elvis Presley — Presley, in fact, regarded him as one of the world's finest vocalists. Jones's first hit, "It's Not Unusual," reached number one in the U.K. and placed in the U.S. top 10 in 1965. He followed that up with a steady string of hits throughout the sixties, and eventually landed his own TV series. Jones's prolific recording career has encompassed everything from gospel to rockabilly to funk to electronic and dance music — in the late eighties he collaborated with techno group Art of Noise, and had a big hit with a tongue-in-cheek cover of Prince's, "Kiss," a recording that showcased Jones's enduring talent and appeal as well as his sense of humor. Other milestones include a superb recording collaboration with the Chieftains and an acclaimed performance at the legendary Glastonbury Festival, both in the early nineties. Jones remains an esteemed performer worldwide, and continues to tour and record; his latest release, Mr. Jones, is a collaboration with acclaimed hip hop artist Wyclef Jean.

Essential listening: "Tennessee Waltz," "Kiss," "Green, Green Grass of Home," "She's a Lady," "I Who Have Nothing"

John Mayall
Born: November 29, 1933, Manchester, England

John Mayall's considerable talent as a composer and performer is often overshadowed by the influence of his ever-changing band, the Bluesbreakers, which has been in existence since the early 1960s, and early on gained a prestigious reputation that has endured to the present day. Mayall brought together a stunning array of talent in the groundbreaking group, which mined the annals of American blues history in addition to performing original music. The group was partly experimental, and as a result its sound was inconsistent, but much of it was outstanding. Many members of the Bluesbreakers subsequently became superstars. Even a short list of the band's veterans reads like a who's who in enduring sixties and seventies blues-rock: Eric Clapton and bassist Jack Bruce, who left to form the supergroup Cream; guitarist Mick Taylor, who left to join the Rolling Stones; and guitarist Peter Green, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood, who with others co-founded Fleetwood Mac (originally conceived as a pure blues band). Mayall continues to perform, often with longtime Bluesbreakers veterans and other blues legends.

Essential listening: "All Your Love," "Room to Move," "Ramblin' On My Mind," "Parchman Farm," "It Ain't Right"

The Rolling Stones

Original and later band members: Mick Jagger, born July 26, 1943, Dartford, England; Keith Richards, born December 18, 1943, Dartford, England; Brian Jones, born February 28, 1942, Cheltenham, England, died July 3, 1969, London, England; Charlie Watts, born June 2, 1941, Islington, London, England; Bill Wyman, born October 24, 1936, London, England; Ron Wood, born June 1, 1947, Hillingdon, London, England

The Rolling Stones melded blues and R&B with classic rock and roll, and eventually lived up to their self-proclaimed moniker "the World's Greatest Rock and Roll band." As rock and roll's quintessential bad boys, in the beginning the Stones were the antithesis of the clean-cut Beatles, and their sound was a gritty, edgy departure from the sounds of the time. The band took their name from a Muddy Waters song, a testament to the fact that they were avid fans of classic blues. As a young man, outrageously charismatic front man and songwriter Mick Jagger was a regular mail-order customer of the Chicago blues label Chess Records (the band would later record there and work for years with the co-founder's son Marshall). Guitarists Brian Jones and Keith Richards (who formed a notoriously brilliant songwriting partnership with Jagger) were both heavily influenced by Delta blues; Jones idolized legendary blues slide guitarist Elmore James and Richards's highly influential playing made considerable use of the genre's open chord tunings. Drummer Charlie Watts and bassist Bill Wyman were a formidable rhythm section; Watts had previously played with one of Great Britain's esteemed blues band, Blues, Inc. Jones left the band just before his death 1969 and was replaced by Mick Taylor, a veteran of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Taylor left in 1975, and in 1976 was replaced by Ron Wood, who had played with the Jeff Beck Group as well as Small Faces. Wyman left the group in 1991, and was replaced in 1994 by Daryl Jones. The Rolling Stones, who continue to tour, are commonly regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of music.

Essential listening: "Loving Cup," "Moonlight Mile," "Love in Vain," "I Just Want to Make Love to You"