Customer Reviews

Blues Jam in Chicago 2

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Fleetwood Mac's 4th vinyl outing was a double-album called "Blues Jam At Chess" issued on Blue Horizon Records S 7-66227 in the UK and Blue Horizon BH 3801 in the USA. Recorded in one day, 4 January 1969, and released just a few months later, it was produced by MIKE VERNON and MARSHALL CHESS at the Chess "Ter-Mar" Studios in Chicago. The artists involved were FLEETWOOD MAC, OTIS SPANN on Piano, WILLIE DIXON on Bass, WALTER "SHAKEY" HORTON on Harmonica, J.T. BROWN on Tenor Sax, GUY BUDDY on Guitars (Guy Buddy is a pseudonym for Buddy Guy), HONEYBOY EDWARDS on Bass and S.P. LEARY on Drums.

A word about the less than exciting UK and US 'original' artwork and why it 'hasn't' been used on this reissue. The original UK issue had a wavy backdrop and titled sleeve - no real effort in the art department - while the original US copy didn't fare much better either - credited as "Fleetwood Mac - In Chicago" - it was also issued in a dull plain red cover. However, it was reissued again in 1970 in the USA as two separate volumes, "Blues Jam In Chicago, Vol.1 and 2" on BH 4802 and BH 4803 respectively - and it is these two volumes with their far prettier artwork (pictured above) that were used for "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969" 6CD Box Set issued in 1999 - and are now individually issued again here in 2004 as these much extended editions.

Also, in order to show the musical differences, I've detailed the vinyl first, then the extended CD...
(Volume 2 is Side 3 and 4 of the original double; Volume 1 - Side 1 and 2 - is a separate review)

ORIGINAL VINYL TRACK LIST:
Side 3:
1. World's In A Tangle [Jimmie Rogers cover/J Lane]
2. Talk With You [Danny Kirwan song]
3. Like It This Way [Danny Kirwan song]
4. Someday Soon Baby [Danny Kirwan song]
5. Hungry Country Girl [Otis Spann cover]
Side 4:
1. Black Jack Blues [J.T. Brown song]
2. Everyday I Have The Blues [P Chatman cover]
3. Rockin' Boogie [Jeremy Spencer song]
4. Sugar Mama [Sonny Boy Williamson cover]
5. Homework [Clark Perkins song/ Otis Rush cover]

EXTENDED CD TRACK LIST (75:52 minutes):
Tracks 1 to 8 as per the LP above
Track 9 is "My Baby's Gone" (David Edwards cover) - an outtake which first appeared on "The Blue Horizon Story 1965-1970 Volume 1" 3CD Box Set from 1997 (reissued in 2006)
Track 10 is "Sugar Mama" (Sonny Boy Williamson cover) [Take 1 - Incomplete - Previously Unreleased]
Track 11 is "Sugar Mama" [Master Version, as per the LP]
Track 12 is "Homework" (Clark Perkins song/Otis Rush cover) [as per the LP]
Track 13 is "Honey Boy Blues" (David Edwards cover) [Incomplete - Previously Unreleased]
Track 14 is "I Need Your Love" (Jimmie Rogers cover) [Take 1 - Incomplete - Previously Unreleased]
Track 15 is "Horton's Boogie Woogie" (Walter Horton cover) [Take 2 - Previously Unreleased]
Track 16 is "Have A Good Time" (Walter Horton cover) [Previously Unreleased]
Track 17 "That's Wrong" (Walter Horton cover) [Previously Unreleased]
Track 18 is "Rock Me Baby" (Jackson cover) [Previously Unreleased]

The tapes have been digitally remastered to STUNNING SOUND QUALITY - as fresh as a politician's new excuses and the booklet has informative and detailed liner notes by MIKE VERNON.

WALTER HORTON plays Harmonica on 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and sings on 13, 16, 17 and 18
BUDDY GUY, HONEYBOY EDWARDS and WILLIE DIXON are on 9 and 13
J.T. BROWN, HONEYBOY EDWARDS and WILLIE DIXON are on 6, 7 and 8
OTIS SPANN plays Piano and S.P. LEARY plays drums on 1 and 2
OTIS SPANN also plays Piano on 3, 10, 11 and 12 - and has Lead Vocals and Piano on 4 and 5

Compared to Volume 1 - this set gets the lion's share of previously unreleased material - almost doubling the playing time - and while the first Volume is good if not a little dull (see separate review), the second is fantastic. It seems that as the session went on and they settled down and became more comfortable with each other - sparks started to fly. But what sends this half of the double album into the stratosphere is the bonus tracks - which are not incomplete takes or aimless studio chatter - but fully realised songs - albeit a little rough around the edges. One of the keys in their magic is Walter Horton's wonderful harmonica playing and sheer presence.

To sum up - a 5-star presentation to a 4 to 5-star second half - and for fans of Blues, Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac - it's an absolute necessity.

PS: For those wishing for more, the Blue Horizon label Fleetwood Mac UK albums are:
1. Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (1968)
(original album, known as "Fleetwood Mac" in the USA)
2. Mr. Wonderful (1968)
(original album)
3. The Pious Bird Of Good Omen (1969)
(compilation of non-album 7" singles, their B-sides, collaborations and other rarities)
4. Blues Jam At Chess (1969)
(original 20-track 2LP set often referred to as a Various Artists compilation.
Its full credit is to: Fleetwood Mac, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Shakey Horton, J.T. Brown, Guitar Buddy
(Buddy Guy), Honey Boy Edwards, S.P. Leary. Originally a 2LP set on release, it was broken into 2 volumes
for the "Complete" box set and renamed "Blues Jam In Chicago Volume 1" and "Blues Jam In Chicago
Volume 2". It is ONLY these singular re-sequenced releases that are available today.)
5. The Original Fleetwood Mac (1971)
(although released in '71, this LP has recordings from August 1967 through to October 1968, all of which
were previously unreleased at the time)

PPS: I've reviewed about 20 of the excellent Blue Horizon CD reissues - see LISTMANIA for a full list

Fleetwood Mac get it right all the way on this excellent second volume of recordings from January 4th, 1969.
Backed by men like Otis Spann (piano), Willie Dixon (bass), and Big Walter Horton (harmonica), they lay down a terrific set of covers and a few originals, including the appropriately titled "Rockin' Boogie", a shorching, up-tempo romp propelled by three guitars and the braying sax of "Broomdusters" saxist J.T. Brown.

Guitarist Danny Kirwan's voice lacks some power and character, and that detracts a little bit from "Talk With You" and "Like It This Way", and the Jimmy Rogers-cover "World's In A Tangle" in particular. But it's not half bad at all, and if you want you can just close your eyes and listen to Otis Spann's piano, and everything'll be alright...!
Spann himself take a couple of lead vocals as well, by the way, and J.T. Brown plays and sings his own "Black Jack Blues". He also contributes to a great reading of Memphis Slim's "Nobody Loves Me (Every Day I Have The Blues)", sung by Mac's best vocalist, slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer. And David "Honeyboy" Edwards plays gritty slide guitar and sings with power and conviction on a terrific, bare-bones rendition of "My Baby's Gone", which also features Willie Dixon. Pure Delta blues there.

Peter Green takes over on John Lee 'Sonny Boy' Williamson's "Sugar Mama", laying down a very convincing vocal performance and playing some sizzling, hard-edged lead guitar, and Clark Perkins' "Homework" swings and swaggers in the capable hands of Green, Spann and Kirwan.
Big Walter Horton and Honeyboy Edwards own the instrumental "Honeyboy Blues", and this version of "Horton's Boogie Woogie" (there was one on vol. 1 as well) is spiced up even more by the presence of Otis Spann, who also sits in on three numbers sung by Walter Horton, his own "Have A Good Time" and "That's Wrong", and Lil' Son Jackson's "Rock Me". Mmm...! Horton and Spann...!
"I ain't doin' this for the record, I'm just doin' this for myself", says Big Walter Horton into the metallic-sounding harp mike at the start of the warm but utterly disorganized "Rock Me", and, as the liner notes explain, a couple of Horton's performances were indeed left off the original LP release. But here they are, and it's nice to have them, or at least I think so.

Based on the overall quality of the material, I'd have to give "Blues Jam in Chicago vol. 1" a bit of an edge over this one. But there is a lot of great stuff to be found here, and fans of the original Fleetwood Mac (and of Peter Green in particular) will find an awful lot to groove on, as well as an excellent set of liner notes by Mike Vernon.
Highly recommended.

This is the original Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green, not the 70s band that featured Stevie Nicks. The original FM followed the same path as the Yardbirds and the Rolling Stones by covering blues standards and gradually making the transition to rock with original songs.

One of two volumes recorded at the legendary Chess Studios in Chicago, this teams the original FM musicians with the older generation of bluesmen, a popular idea at the time. As is often the case with these all-star matchups, the sessions don't produce anything spectacular, but the playing is solid blues throughout. A standout is Otis Rush's "Homework", which many years later became a staple for Peter Green's Splinter Group (which also started out doing blues covers).

It's not Fleetwood Mac at their best, nor does it feature the best of the "old pros," but I'd recommend this set to fans of Peter Green's incomparable guitar, and those who like Fleetwood Mac's take on the blues.

Again, if you're expecting Stevie Nicks, you'll be disappointed. This is a completely different style of music.

Excellent, thanks a lot! I really enjoy buy it!

Excellent, thanks a lot! I really enjoy buy it!

Excellent, thanks a lot! I really enjoy buy it!

Okay, you really have to be a fan of the Blues here. These are not clean and precise renditions of the songs performed. Just as with Vol. 1, the songs are raw, immediate and performed with the love of the form by not just the band, but their famous guests as well.

In this reissue, you get second takes and additional cuts. The CD format allows more. But more is not necessarily better.

Back in the days of vinyl, time was limited to around 25 minutes or so per side of the record. You had to choose carefully what you were going to include. Albums were a little more cohesive as a result, a little more well thought out. There was a reason cuts were not included, and that generally means they weren't as good.

We don't suffer that here so much, as with a lot of other reissues, where songs are stuffed onto the disc because they can be. We get to hear alternate takes of songs, often the practice in the recording process, especially when recording a live event. Then the best cut is chosen to include (back in the vinyl days).

So, while it is nice to have alternate takes and the inclusion of songs that didn't make the cut the first time around, I think I would have preferred a straight reissue of the original on this one.

Great CD a must have for any Peter Green and fans of the original Fleetwood Mac!

Something happened. A Jewsih kid from England got it. Easy in fact. And the proof is in this smooth pudding. We'r etalking the quintesential post-war Chicago sound of the heavy symbols, the up beat, and the solid rythm that make this the one esential album to include in your Chcago Blues library. Throw in Otis Spann and his famous piano "trill" and you've got what has been delegated to the ranks of musical perfection. But how did it all come together? After all we're talking English kids playing with the greatest blues piano player to ever come out of Chicago and Muddy Waters' cousin/brother-in-law to boot. Otis'voice, eirly reminicent of Muddy's, only more restrained and sweeter, delivers such prefect phrasing and tonal control as to furhter establish, along with the suberb rythm section, the finest example of recorded Chicago Blues. If you haven't heard this, it's probably the only reason you don't own it. Do, by all means.

this project had great potential-team up fleetwood mac with some of chicago's best musicians. but the british band is awful-sounds like the brits are bored,especially the drummer .Get Magic sam (black Magic) J.B. Hutto (hawk squat) Big Walter Horton (fine cuts) for some real blues.