Bare Wires

For the American band see Matthew Melton

Bare Wires
Studio album by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
Released 21 June 1968[1]
Recorded 3, 9, 24 and 30 April 1968 at 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

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
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Rolling Stone (negative) [3]

Bare Wires is a studio album by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, featuring Mick Taylor on guitar, released in 1968 on Decca Records.[4] 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.[5]

Background

The previous Bluesbreakers album Crusade saw guitarist Peter Green, who left to form Fleetwood Mac, being replaced by Mick Taylor. This album, "Bare Wires", saw bassist Andy Fraser, who would later join Free, being replaced by Tony Reeves, while drummer Keef Hartley was replaced by Jon Hiseman.

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 songs written and composed by John Mayall, except where noted. 

Side one
No. Title Length
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. Title Length
1. "I'm a Stranger"   5:14
2. "No Reply" (Mayall, Mick Taylor) 3:09
3. "Hartley Quits" (Taylor) 2:55
4. "Killing Time"   4:48
5. "She's Too Young"   2:22
6. "Sandy"   3:50

Reissue Bonus Tracks

No. TitleOriginal Release Length
8. "Picture on the Wall"  A-side of Decca Single F12732[6] 3:03
9. "Jenny"  B-side of Decca Single F12732 4:40
10. "Knocker's Step Forward"  From Thru the Years 3:14
11. "Hide and Seek"  From Thru the Years 2:25
12. "Intro-Look at the Girl"  From Primal Solos 6:47
13. "Start Walkin'"  From Primal Solos 8:23

Personnel

John Mayall's Bluesbreakers

on tracks 1 - 7 and 10 - 13:

Production[2]

Charts

Chart (1968) Peak
position
UK (The Official Charts Company)[7] 3
Norway (VG-lista)[8] 9
France (InfoDisc)[9] 1
US Billboard 200[5] 59

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 William Ruhlmann (2010). "Bare Wires - John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers". Allmusic Guide. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "John Mayall's Bluesbreakers* - Bare Wires (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. 2 March 2010. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  3. ↑ Nooger, Danny (12 October 1968). "Records". Rolling Stone.
  4. ↑ "Discography". John Mayall. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "John Mayall > Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  6. ↑ "Artists: J". 45-rpm.org.uk. 10 February 1910. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  7. ↑ "John Mayall - Bare Wires". Chart Stats. 20 July 1968. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  8. ↑ Steffen Hung (21 June 1968). "John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Bare Wires". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  9. ↑ "InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste". Infodisc.fr. Retrieved 2012-01-15.