Eric Clapton's period with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers was short lived, but spawned such great material that a rare gem like this 45 seeing its own re-release is cause to celebrate.
These two tracks were recorded in 1965 for the producer Mike Vernon's mail-order only Purdah label, shortly before the seminal Bluesbreakers With Eric Clapton album with one microphone in the studio room, capturing the Clapton sound in its rawest form.
This re-release of the original Purdah 45 was available on Record Store Day 2011, limited to 1000 copies, and like most of the good stuff, was gone nearly immediately. However, the deluxe version of the Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton album has both tracks on the second CD of the set along with some other great tracks and live versions of favorites.
'Bernard Jenkins' is one of the few Clapton/Mayall songs I keep coming back to and I absolutely dig it. The atmospheric mic picks up a lot of highs and lows and that rawness only highlights the dynamic range and touch of Clapton and his famous Marshall combo.
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