{{Short description|1968 album by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers}} {{For|the American band|Matthew Melton}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Use British English|date=July 2012}} {{italic title}} {{Infobox album | name = Bare Wires | type = studio | artist = John Mayall's Bluesbreakers | cover = Bare_Wires.jpg | alt = | released = 21 June 1968<ref name="AM1">{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/bare-wires-mw0000197486 |title=Bare Wires - John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers |author=William Ruhlmann |year=2010 |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=27 October 2010}}</ref> | recorded = 3, 9, 24 and 30 April 1968 | venue = | studio = Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London, England<ref name="discogs">{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/John-Mayalls-Bluesbreakers-Bare-Wires/release/1929774 |title=John Mayall's Bluesbreakers* - Bare Wires (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs |publisher=Discogs|date=2 March 2010 |accessdate=2012-01-15}}</ref> | genre = Blues, blues-rock, jazz rock | length = 45:20 | label = Decca | producer = Mike Vernon, John Mayall | prev_title = Crusade | prev_year = 1967 | next_title = | next_year = | misc = {{Extra chronology | artist = John Mayall | type = studio | prev_title = Crusade | prev_year = 1967 | title = Bare Wires | year = 1968 | next_title = Blues from Laurel Canyon | next_year = 1968 }} }} {{Album reviews | rev1 = Allmusic | rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref name="AM1"/> | rev2 = Rolling Stone | rev2Score = ''(negative)''<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Records |author=Nooger, Danny |date=12 October 1968 |work=Rolling Stone}}</ref> | rev3 = ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' | rev3Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th|isbn=978-0857125958|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music}}</ref> |rev4 = ''The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings'' |rev4score = {{Rating|3|4}}<ref name="Penguin">{{cite book |last1=Russell |first1=Tony |last2=Smith |first2=Chris |title=The Penguin Guide to Blues Recordings |year=2006 |edition=|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-140-51384-4|page=428}}</ref> }}
'''''Bare Wires''''' is a studio album by John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, featuring Mick Taylor on guitar, Chris Mercer and Dick Heckstall-Smith on saxophones, Jon Hiseman on drums, Henry Lowther on cornet and violin, and Tony Reeves on bass. It was released in 1968 on Decca Records.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.johnmayall.com/disco.html |title=Discography |publisher=John Mayall |accessdate=2012-01-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121145259/http://www.johnmayall.com/disco.html |archive-date=21 January 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The album was the last John Mayall studio album to feature the name "Bluesbreakers".<ref name=AM1 /> The album was also Mayall's first successful U.S. album, reaching #59 on the ''Billboard'' 200.<ref name=AM2>{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=john-mayall-p4860/charts-awards/billboard-albums|pure_url=yes}}|title=John Mayall > Billboard Albums|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=2012-01-15}}</ref>
It was voted number 566 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' (2000).<ref>{{cite book|title=All Time Top 1000 Albums|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2006|edition=3rd|isbn=0-7535-0493-6|page=192}}</ref>
== Background and recording == Guitarist Peter Green left the Bluesbreakers to form Fleetwood Mac, and was replaced by Mick Taylor. Shortly before recording sessions for the album, bassist Andy Fraser, who would later join Free, also left the group, while drummer Keef Hartley was replaced by Jon Hiseman. Mayall asked if anyone knew someone who could play bass guitar, and Hiseman informed him that his friend Tony Reeves, who had played double bass for most of his career, had recently bought a bass guitar.<ref name=LiRReevesint>{{cite web|date=July 2003 |url=https://dmme.net/interviews/reeves |title=Interview with Tony Reeves |website=Let it Rock |accessdate=September 2, 2023}}</ref> 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 the ''Bare 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."<ref name=LiRReevesint/>
Following the album, Mayall pared down the group from a seven-piece to a three-piece band and ultimately dropped the Bluesbreakers entirely.<ref name=LiRReevesint/> Reeves, Hiseman and Dick Heckstall-Smith went on to form Colosseum.
=== Songs === 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 a medley. Some CD issues of ''Bare 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 in ''Melody Maker'' about Keef Hartley's departure from the Bluesbreakers.<ref name=LiRReevesint/>
== Track listing == 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".
=== Original album === {{tracklist | headline = Side one | all_writing = John Mayall, except where noted. | title1 = Bare Wires | length1 = 1:25 | title2 = Where Did I Belong | length2 = 3:05 | title3 = I Started Walking | length3 = 2:20 | title4 = Open Up a New Door | length4 = 3:00 | title5 = Fire | length5 = 3:45 | title6 = I Know Now | length6 = 5:35 | title7 = Look in the Mirror | length7 = 2:51 }}
{{tracklist | headline = Side two | title8 = I'm a Stranger | length8 = 5:14 | title9 = No Reply | note9 = Mayall, Mick Taylor | length9 = 3:09 | title10 = Hartley Quits | note10 = Taylor | length10 = 2:55 | title11 = Killing Time | length11 = 4:48 | title12 = She's Too Young | length12 = 2:22 | title13 = Sandy | length13 = 3:50 }} {{tracklist | headline = Reissue bonus tracks | extra_column = Original release | title14 = Picture on the Wall | extra14 = B-side of Decca Single F12732<ref name=45rpm>{{cite web|url=http://www.45-rpm.org.uk/artists-j.htm |title=Artists: J |publisher=45-rpm.org.uk |date=10 February 1910 |accessdate=2012-01-15}}</ref> | length14 = 3:03 | title15 = Jenny | extra15 = A-side of Decca Single F12732 | length15 = 4:40 | title16 = Knockers Step Forward | extra16 = ''Thru the Years'' | length16 = 3:14 | title17 = Hide and Seek | extra17 = ''Thru the Years'' | length17 = 2:25 | title18 = (Intro) Look at the Girl | extra18 = ''Primal Solos'' | length18 = 6:47 | title19 = Start Walkin' | extra19 = ''Primal Solos'' | length19 = 8:23 }}
== Personnel == ;John Mayall's Bluesbreakers * John Mayall – vocals, harmonica, piano, harpsichord, organ, harmonium, guitar on tracks 1–13 and 16–19: * Mick Taylor – lead guitar, Hawaiian guitar * Chris Mercer – tenor, baritone saxophone * Dick Heckstall-Smith – tenor, soprano saxophone * Jon Hiseman – drums, percussion * Henry Lowther – cornet, violin * Tony Reeves – string bass, bass guitar on tracks 14 and 15: * Peter Green – guitar * Keef Hartley – drums
;Production<ref name="discogs"/> * Mike Vernon, John Mayall – producers * Derek Varnals – engineer * Pete Smith, Jan Persson – photography
== Charts == {| class="wikitable sortable" |- !scope="col"|Chart (1968) !scope="col"|Peak<br />position |- |UK (The Official Charts Company)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/archive/official-albums-chart/ |title=John Mayall - Bare Wires |publisher=Official Charts Company |date=20 July 1968 |accessdate=2012-01-15}}</ref> |style="text-align:center;"|3 |- |Norway (VG-lista)<ref>{{cite web|author=Steffen Hung |url=http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=John+Mayall+%26+The+Bluesbreakers&titel=Bare+Wires&cat=a |title=John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers - Bare Wires |publisher=norwegiancharts.com |date=21 June 1968 |accessdate=2012-01-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160326010857/http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=John+Mayall+&+The+Bluesbreakers&titel=Bare+Wires&cat=a |archivedate=26 March 2016}}</ref> |style="text-align:center;"|9 |- |France (InfoDisc)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infodisc.fr/Albums_Detail.php |title=InfoDisc : Tout les Titres par Artiste |publisher=Infodisc.fr |accessdate=2012-01-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715183553/http://www.infodisc.fr/Albums_Detail.php |archivedate=15 July 2015 }}</ref> |style="text-align:center;"|1 |- |US ''Billboard'' 200<ref name="AM2" /> |style="text-align:center;"|59 |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers}}
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Category:1968 albums Category:John Mayall albums Category:Decca Records albums Category:London Records albums Category:Albums produced by Mike Vernon (record producer) Category:John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers albums Category:Albums produced by John Mayall