My favourite song of the month, March 2021

In the second post of this series, I’m going to talk about The Stumble by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a song which is again related with Fleetwood Mac. Let’s see why.

It was in 1961 when Freddie King released his second studio album called Let’s Hide Away and Dance Away with Freddy King. That album included the first (and original) version of The Stumble which became immediatelly an iconic song that would be recorded by many bands (from that decade and later ones). One of those bands was, of course, John Mayall & the bluesbreakers.

John Mayall’s version of The Stumble belongs to the album A Hard Road from 1967, the first album after Eric Clapton’s departure as lead guitar. And one might have thought that finding a perfect replacement for Eric Clapton would be an impossible task, but it wasn’t. Peter Green joined the band and did a surprising (but expected) job with its 1959 Gibson Les Paul.

The Stumble and other tracks from that same album written by Green himself (e.g.: The Super-Natural) gave him the opportunity to show the world what he was capable of. And after some strengh and experience acquired, he decided to create his own band: Fleetwood Mac. He didn’t just leave John Mayall’s without a lead guitar, but also without a bassist and a drummer.

John McVie and Mick Fleetwood, current bassist and drummer from Fleetwood Mac (and also the reason of its name!), were also members of the Bluesbreakers, but in 1967, Green convinced both of them to accompany him in his new adventure. However, due to some burocracy, McVie couldn’t leave Mayall’s band until the expiration of his contract. Meanwhile, Bob Brunning filled the bassist position temporarily.

The Stumble has been recorded and performed too by other bands and artists such as The Yardbirds or Gary Moore among others.