A powerful Blues based Rock band, the Yardbirds may be best known for launching the careers of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.  They did have a string of hits in the mid 60’s that was the beginning of taking guitar rock to new levels with their use of feedback and distortion.  Their place in the Hall can not be argued.

In what essentially was a “supergroup”, the British Blues Rock band Cream could make the case for having the most talent assembled on one stage; a very impressive boast for a band with only three members.  Their work was among the best the last half of the 60’s had to offer and their first two albums (Fresh Cream and Disreali Gears) should be considered required entries to any true album collector.

The first (and to date only) musician to be in the Hall in three separate entries, “Slow Hand” Eric Clapton is recognized as one of the greatest guitarists in the world.  Clapton’s Blues based Rock is legendary and all three of his slots in the Hall (solo, the Yardbirds and Cream) are completely warranted.

A chance for Eric Clapton to receive an unprecedented fourth induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame lies in the brief run of his Blues Rock group, Derek and the Dominoes. The band only produced one studio album, but it spawned one of the most known Rock songs of all time in “Layla” which next to “Smoke on the Water” could have the best known guitar riff of Rock history. Though the album was a flop at the time of its released, it has since been considered by many to be the crown jewel of the Clapton library. Throw in the Duane Allman connection and this could be all the perception needed for Derek and the Dominoes to gain Hall induction.

Probably one of our trickiest artists to rank as there can be doubt that their entire catalogue of music was brilliant; however that catalogue was only one album. Blind Faith’s lone album was the birth of the first ultimate “super group” that comprised of Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, Ric Grech and Steve Winwood (Basically the key components of Cream & Traffic) and it was a landmark effort in Rock and Roll. Artists have gotten in on the strength of one album before, but with all members already in the Hall, we are guessing that Clapton’s fourth induction may not occur.

Considered one of the biggest icons of British Blues, John Mayall may be revered far more as a mentor than as a performer. The large string of British Blues Rock stars that were inspired or taught by Mayall is an endless one. John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers certainly recorded a lot of material, but he will likely go down in history for those he discovered rather than his own ability.