John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers: The album David Gilmour believes every guitar player needs to know

Ever since the dawn of rock and roll back in the 1950s, the guitar has always been its weapon of choice. Over the decades, countless guitarists have emerged onto the global rock scene, each imbuing the six-stringed instrument with their own unique style, demonstrating the endless adaptability of the guitar. One such player is David Gilmour, whose tireless work with Pink Floyd opened up entirely new worlds of musical inspiration for generations of guitarists and songwriters.

Gilmour first joined the ranks of Pink Floyd back in 1967, at the peak of the psychedelic age that they had helped to usher in. Initially, the guitarist was recruited as a replacement for band leader, songwriter, and artistic visionary Syd Barrett, whose deteriorating mental health and increased dependency on drugs meant his position in Floyd had become difficult to maintain. Still, Gilmour seemed to have no difficulty in filling those colossal shoes, with his diverse guitar skills fitting naturally within the band’s mind-expanding sound.

That period in British music, during the late 1960s, was chock-full of legendary guitarists. Jimmy Page was transitioning from The Yardbirds to Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton was establishing a bold new playing style alongside Cream, and the likes of Jeff Beck were still going strong, creating countless now-iconic guitar licks. This bold landscape of inventive, revolutionary guitarists certainly provided Gilmour with a wealth of musical inspiration, which he carried through into his work with Pink Floyd.

It almost goes without saying that the majority of those guitarists were influenced predominantly by American blues music, and Gilmour was certainly no different. As the years went on, however, these guitarists pioneered an emerging style of British blues. Although Pink Floyd always leaned more towards psychedelia than out-and-out blues, Gilmour was still infatuated by the blues riffs of guitarists like Eric Clapton. Truthfully, it would probably be easier to list all the guitarists who haven’t been influenced by Clapton than those who have.

In 1966, Clapton was deeply immersed in the blues world, performing and recording with John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, who quickly became a favourite of Gilmour’s. Their 1966 debut album represents the pinnacle of the British blues scene, and a key part of the record’s appeal, particularly for Gilmour, lies within the complex guitar stylings of Eric Clapton.

It was this era of Clapton’s extensive career that influenced Gilmour most. Back in 2015, he told Relix, “All of those guys were incredible. I spent time trying to learn how to play their licks perfectly. Any young player should do that—it forces your own style to emerge.”

Adding, “You will wind up knowing how to play their stuff quite well. But eventually, you will find your own style from that. It forces its way out of the copying.”

Without the influence of that early Bluesbreakers record, Gilmour might never have landed upon the stunningly original guitar style which he introduced into the world of Pink Floyd the following year. Of course, his style developed tenfold as Floyd progressed into profound records like The Dark Side of the Moon, but John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers appeared to provide the musician with his essential first step into musical experimentation.