John Mayall's Blues Breakers: Bare Wires (LP)

John Mayall came from Macclesfield, Cheshire, and grew up in Cheadle Hulme. He had already made a name for himself in the Manchester blues scene before moving to London in 1963 at the urging of Alexis Korner. John McVie was the next to leave the Bluesbreakers, joining Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood in their new project, Fleetwood Mac. They were joined by drummer Jon Hiseman of the Graham Bond organization and bassist Tony Reeves, as well as editor Dick Heckstall Smith. The resulting album, "Bare Wires," was Mayall's most successful album, reaching No. 3 in the British charts. If "Blues Breakers With Eric Clapton" can be said to have laid the foundation for British blues-rock, then "Bare Wires" did something similar for jazz-rock. Mick Taylor's playing on the album is simply superb. This reissue is a faithful recreation of the original 1968 Decca Records stereo release with gatefold sleeve and has been pressed on high quality 180g vinyl.