Editing Mike Oldfield (section)

===1968–1972: Early career===
After leaving school Oldfield accepted an invitation from his sister Sally to form a folk duo [[the Sallyangie]], taking its name from her name and Oldfield's favourite Jansch tune, "Angie".{{sfn|Moraghan|1993|p=12}} They toured England and Paris and signed a deal with [[Transatlantic Records]], for which they recorded one album, ''[[Children of the Sun (The Sallyangie album)|Children of the Sun]]'' (1969). After they split in the following year Oldfield had a [[nervous breakdown]]. He auditioned as bassist for [[Family (band)|Family]] in 1969 following the departure of [[Ric Grech]], but the group did not share [[Roger Chapman]]'s enthusiasm towards Oldfield's performance.<ref name=TS12>{{cite AV media notes|url=https://tubular.net/articles/2012_08c/Two-Sides-Sleeve-Notes|title=Two Sides: The Very Best of Mike Oldfield|year=2012|publisher=Mercury Records|id=5339182}}</ref> Oldfield spent much of the next year living off his father and performing in an electric rock band named Barefoot that included his brother Terry on flute, until the group disbanded in early 1970.{{sfn|Moraghan|1993|p=13}}<ref name=G97>{{cite web |url=http://tubular.net/articles/1997_07 |title=Not Totally Tubular |first=Dave |last=Thompson |work=Goldmine|via=Tubular.net |date=18 July 1997 |access-date=2 April 2008}}</ref>

In February 1970, Oldfield auditioned to become the bassist in the Whole World, a new backing band that former [[Soft Machine]] vocalist [[Kevin Ayers]] was putting together. He landed the position despite the bass being a new instrument for him, but he also played occasional lead guitar and later looked back on this time as providing valuable training on the bass.{{sfn|Moraghan|1993|p=14}}<ref name=SOS13/> Oldfield went on to play on Ayers's albums ''[[Shooting at the Moon (album)|Shooting at the Moon]]'' (1970) and ''[[Whatevershebringswesing]]'' (1971), and played mandolin on ''[[Edgar Broughton Band (album)|Edgar Broughton Band]]'' (1971).<ref name=G97/> All three albums were recorded at [[Abbey Road Studios]], where Oldfield familiarised himself with a variety of instruments, such as orchestral percussion, piano, [[Mellotron]] and [[harpsichord]], and started to write and put down musical ideas of his own.<ref name=SOS13/> While doing so Oldfield took up work as a reserve guitarist in a stage production of ''[[Hair (musical)|Hair]]'' at the [[Shaftesbury Theatre]], where he played and gigged with [[Alex Harvey (musician)|Alex Harvey]]. After ten performances Oldfield grew bored of the job and was fired after he decided to play his part for "Let the Sunshine In" in [[Time signature|7/8 time]].<ref name=SOS13>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.soundonsound.com/people/classic-tracks-mike-oldfield-tubular-bells|title=Classic Tracks: Mike Oldfield Tubular Bells|date=April 2013|first=Richard|last=Buskin|magazine=Sound on Sound|access-date=25 February 2019}}</ref><ref name="bbc.co.uk"/>