Bare Wires

Bare Wires is a studio album by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, featuring Mick Taylor on guitar, released in 1968 on Decca Records.[5] The album was the last John Mayall studio album to feature the name "Bluesbreakers".[1] The album was also Mayall's first successful U.S. album reaching #59 on the Billboard 200.[6]

For the American band see Matthew Melton

Bare Wires
Studio album by
John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
Released21 June 1968[1]
Recorded3, 9, 24 and 30 April 1968
StudioDecca Studios, West Hampstead, London, England[2]
GenreBlues, blues-rock, jazz rock
Length45:20
LabelDecca
ProducerMike Vernon, John Mayall
John Mayall's Bluesbreakers chronology
The Diary of a Band
(1968)		 Bare Wires
(1968)
John Mayall chronology
The Diary of a Band
(1968)		 Bare Wires
(1968)		 Blues from Laurel Canyon
(1968)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Rolling Stone(negative)[3]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]

It was voted number 566 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[7]

Background

The previous Bluesbreakers album Crusade saw guitarist Peter Green, who left to form Fleetwood Mac, being replaced by Mick Taylor. This album saw bassist Andy Fraser, who would later join Free, being replaced by Tony Reeves, while drummer Keef Hartley was replaced by Jon Hiseman. The album included more jazz influences than usual. Then Tony Reeves, Jon Hiseman and Dick Heckstall-Smith left to form Colosseum.

Songs

The songs "No Reply" and "She's Too Young" were released as a single by Decca. The album's A-side was a medley called "Bare Wires Suite" which featured the individual songs "Bare Wires", "Where Did I Belong", "I Started Walking", "Open Up a New Door", "Fire", "I Know Now" and "Look in the Mirror". The individual track times shown below are those printed on the original vinyl release.

Track listing

Original album

All tracks are written by John Mayall, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Bare Wires Suite" (Medley)
  • a. "Bare Wires" (1:25)
  • b. "Where Did I Belong" (3:05)
  • c. "I Started Walking" (2:20)
  • d. "Open Up a New Door" (3:00)
  • e. "Fire" (3:45)
  • f. "I Know Now" (5:35)
  • g. "Look in the Mirror" (2:51)"
22:58
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."I'm a Stranger" 5:14
2."No Reply"Mayall, Mick Taylor3:09
3."Hartley Quits"Taylor2:55
4."Killing Time" 4:48
5."She's Too Young" 2:22
6."Sandy" 3:50

Reissue Bonus Tracks
No.TitleOriginal ReleaseLength
8."Picture on the Wall"B-side of Decca Single F12732[8]3:03
9."Jenny"A-side of Decca Single F127324:40
10."Knocker's Step Forward"From Thru the Years3:14
11."Hide and Seek"From Thru the Years2:25
12."Intro-Look at the Girl"From Primal Solos6:47
13."Start Walkin'"From Primal Solos8:23

Personnel
John Mayall's Bluesbreakers

on tracks 1 - 7 and 10 - 13:

Production[2]
  • Mike Vernon, John Mayall – producers
  • Derek Varnals – engineer
  • Pete Smith, Jan Persson – photography

Charts
Chart (1968) Peak
position
UK (The Official Charts Company)[9] 3
Norway (VG-lista)[10] 9
France (InfoDisc)[11] 1
US Billboard 200[6] 59

References
  1. William Ruhlmann (2010). "Bare Wires - John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers". AllMusic. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  2. "John Mayall's Bluesbreakers* - Bare Wires (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  3. Nooger, Danny (12 October 1968). "Records". Rolling Stone. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  4. Larkin, Colin (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0857125958.
  5. "Discography". John Mayall. Archived from the original on 21 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  6. "John Mayall > Billboard Albums". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  7. Colin Larkin, ed. (2006). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 192. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  8. "Artists: J". 45-rpm.org.uk. 10 February 1910. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  9. "John Mayall - Bare Wires". Official Charts Company. 20 July 1968. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  10. Steffen Hung (21 June 1968). "John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Bare Wires". norwegiancharts.com. Archived from the original on 26 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  11. "InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste". Infodisc.fr. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
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