| Bare Wires | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 21 June 1968[1] | |||
| Recorded | 3, 9, 24 and 30 April 1968 | |||
| Studio | Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, England[2] | |||
| Genre | Blues,blues-rock,jazz rock | |||
| Length | 45:20 | |||
| Label | Decca | |||
| Producer | Mike Vernon,John Mayall | |||
| John Mayall's Bluesbreakers chronology | ||||
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| John Mayall chronology | ||||
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| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Rolling Stone | (negative)[3] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [4] |
| The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings | [5] |
Bare Wires is astudio album byJohn Mayall's Bluesbreakers, featuringMick Taylor on guitar, Chris Mercer andDick Heckstall-Smith on saxophones,Jon Hiseman on drums,Henry Lowther oncornet and violin, andTony Reeves on bass. It was released in 1968 onDecca Records.[6] The album was the lastJohn Mayall studio album to feature the name "Bluesbreakers".[1] The album was also Mayall's first successful U.S. album reaching #59 on theBillboard 200.[7]
It was voted number 566 in the third edition ofColin Larkin'sAll Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[8]
GuitaristPeter Green left the Bluesbreakers to formFleetwood Mac, and was replaced byMick Taylor. Shortly before recording sessions for the album, bassistAndy Fraser, who would later joinFree, also left the group, while drummerKeef Hartley was replaced byJon Hiseman. Mayall asked if anyone knew someone who could play bass guitar, and Hiseman informed him that his friendTony Reeves, who had playeddouble bass for most of his career, had recently bought a bass guitar.[9] The album included more jazz influences than usual.
Reeves recalled of the album's making, "Rehearsals with John Mayall weren't really rehearsals; we didn't play very much, for a lot of the rehearsal time you sat around listening to what he wanted to do. He played records to demonstrate the feel or a style, or a sound that he was looking for. All of the things on theBare Wires album were worked out in the studio – we must have done one or two rehearsals actually playing the music, but I can’t remember that. Seems to me, most of the work took place in the recording studio."[9]
Following the album, Mayall pared down the group from a seven-piece to a three-piece band and ultimately dropped the Bluesbreakers entirely.[9] Reeves, Hiseman andDick Heckstall-Smith went on to formColosseum.
The songs "No Reply" and "She's Too Young" were released as a single by Decca. The seven songs on the album's A-side ("Bare Wires", "Where Did I Belong", "I Started Walking", "Open Up a New Door", "Fire", "I Know Now" and "Look in the Mirror") are arranged into amedley. Some CD issues ofBare Wires combine these seven songs onto a single track with the title "Bare Wires Suite", seemingly inspired by the headline "Bare Wires: A Suite by John Mayall" which appears on the album's inner gatefold.
According to Reeves, the song "Hartley Quits" was titled after a front-page headline inMelody Maker about Keef Hartley's departure from the Bluesbreakers.[9]
The individual track times are those printed on the original vinyl releases. Some CD issues of the album combine tracks 1–7 onto a single track under the title "Bare Wires Suite".
All tracks are written byJohn Mayall, except where noted.
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bare Wires" | 1:25 |
| 2. | "Where Did I Belong" | 3:05 |
| 3. | "I Started Walking" | 2:20 |
| 4. | "Open Up a New Door" | 3:00 |
| 5. | "Fire" | 3:45 |
| 6. | "I Know Now" | 5:35 |
| 7. | "Look in the Mirror" | 2:51 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 8. | "I'm a Stranger" | 5:14 |
| 9. | "No Reply" (Mayall,Mick Taylor) | 3:09 |
| 10. | "Hartley Quits" (Taylor) | 2:55 |
| 11. | "Killing Time" | 4:48 |
| 12. | "She's Too Young" | 2:22 |
| 13. | "Sandy" | 3:50 |
| No. | Title | Original release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14. | "Picture on the Wall" | B-side ofDecca Single F12732[10] | 3:03 |
| 15. | "Jenny" | A-side of Decca Single F12732 | 4:40 |
| 16. | "Knockers Step Forward" | Thru the Years | 3:14 |
| 17. | "Hide and Seek" | Thru the Years | 2:25 |
| 18. | "(Intro) Look at the Girl" | Primal Solos | 6:47 |
| 19. | "Start Walkin'" | Primal Solos | 8:23 |
on tracks 1–13 and 16–19:
on tracks 14 and 15:
| Chart (1968) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK (The Official Charts Company)[11] | 3 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[12] | 9 |
| France (InfoDisc)[13] | 1 |
| USBillboard200[7] | 59 |
| Studio albums |
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| Live albums |
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| Compilation albums |
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| Singles |
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| Related groups | |
