“The Yardbirds had no need to worry about Clapton’s departure – they had Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page onboard”: The history of the ’60s British blues boom –the movement that carried a tidal wave of guitar heroes across the Atlantic

The Yarbirds perform with Eric Clapton on the far left with his Telecaster. British playwright Lord Willis and his daughter Sally watch on from lawnchairs.

The recent passing of the ‘godfather of British blues’, John Mayall, marks the closing of an extraordinary chapter in British music history. His 1966 album, Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton, was a pivotal moment between the initial blues scene that produced The Rolling Stones, Manfred Mann and The Yardbirds and the post blues-boom era of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac.

But how did the blues arrive in the UK in the first place and what made so many young musicians fall under its spell to the point that it changed the make-up and sound of music throughout the world?