Customer Reviews

Precious Little

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I heard Bitter Lemon and Psychic waste on KLCC (Lane college) a station in Oregon while on a vacation. Ordered the CD and it arrived the same day I returned home. Played it the next day and listened to the whole alblum about 15 times the next 2 days. The music is clean, not overproduced, extremely easy to listen to. There is enough variety in style between songs, that you don't get tired of the same thing after 3-4 songs.

Love the slide guitar on Bitter Lemon and Serene Serena.

If you want something that you can listen to anywhere, get this alblum.

I well recall Jeremy Spencer and his sweet slide guitar from the Fleetwood Mac days and I still think that the Mac put on the best concert I have ever heard that hot and sweaty night back in Detroit when about 300 of us were totally blown away by this unknown and unlikey English blues band. When I tell people today that the Mac were great back then, they think of the post-Green and Spencer group and immediately roll their eyes, but let me tell you the Mac that night were beyond awesome and would have played all night but for Mick Fleetwood finally tiring. Spencer would sit out the occasional number and sit, on the stage, and stare out at the audience. He struck me as an odd duck and so I wasn't too surprised when I heard he quit the group to join the Children of God. And that was the last of Jeremy Spenser.

But, no! Through the years I've trolled search engines for word of him and was jacked to find out, a month ago, that he was releasing a CD. It came the other day and I popped it on, figuring I would hear 12 Elmore James variations, but that wasn't the case at all. The CD starts out slowly, as one reviewer on here has already mentioned. My advice is start listening on track 5, a sweet remake of "Corrine, Corrina," and take it from there. It gets better and better, finally cimaxing with the sublimely soulful "Precious Little." It's been 35 years in the making and it's been worth the wait. Welcome back, Doctor J.

Amazing.35 years after literally dissappearing from the music scene, Jeremy Spencer pops up with a brilliant new album. His voice hasn't suffered and his slide playing is better than ever. Mellow and bluesy, these songs will transport you back to the late sixties when Fleetwood Mac ruled the British blues scene. Reminds me of the Kiln House album and Spencers solo record from the late sixties.The backup band does a great job on all the tracks, but it's Spencers slide guitar and vocals that take center stage. Some blues, some 50's style rock, all Jeremy! One can only hope he decides to tour.

I read that Jeremy Spencer released a CD and I couldn't wait to get to the store. It exceeded ALL my expectations. The slide and that voice, I closed my eyes and heard, with excitement, the sounds I heard when I first got turned onto Fleetwood Mac in 1969.

I've listened to the CD three times already and it gets richer and better each time.

Thank you, and please come back to California. We've missed you....

Precious Little is simply a wonderful blues album. The slide guitar work on it is amazing and Jeremy Spencer's voice has held up remarkably well. After all these years, Spencer seems inspired again. I hope this album is a taste of more good things to come.

Well, ain't it about time? Here's an album to give fans of the old-time Fleetwood Mac something to crow about. The issue of Precious Little finds Jeremy Spencer back from the dead and in a big way. The first few notes make it apparent that this isn't some has-been's lame attempt at cashing in on baby-boomers' nostalgic remembrances of the legendary Fleetwood Mac of the Peter Green-Jeremy Spencer years, but a brilliant new work that should stand on its own and bring Spencer new fans.
I like almost everything on this CD, particularly Spencer's own compositions and his renditions of a couple of Elmore James classics. My favorites here are:
1)Bitter Lemon-Who said white boys can't write real blues? This has Delta written all over it.
2)Psychic Waste-a wry look at the state of the entertainment industry.
3)It Hurts Me Too-An Elmore James classic I first heard 40 years ago performed by another legend, John Mayall.
4)Dr J-A new twist on a classic made famous by the original Fleetwood Mac.
5)Bleeding Heart-Another Elmore James classic, exquisitely rendered here.
6)Trouble and Woe-One of the two best Spencer originals here. Its a stunner!
and,
7)Maria de Santiago-Soulful guitar and vocals with a Latin flavor.
If I had to pick a song I didn't like, it would be Please Don't Stop. The rockabilly is a bit out of place here.
I see that Spencer has issued at least one other solo album since he disappeared after Fleetwood Mac's great Kiln House, but I haven't heard it. After being bowled over by Precious Little, I may have to pick it up.
I recommend Precious Little first to any blues fans, then to anyone who ever was a fan of the first line-ups of Fleetwood Mac. If you are in one of those groups, then you should order this for yourself without hesitation. I'm glad I did!
Welcome back, Jeremy Spencer and thank you for such a fine piece of work.

It's as if he just stepped out for a minute and then returned intact and ready--years later, and even better. The little giant that shook the blues and rocked with Fleetwood Mac is back with slide so effortless that it melts on the guitar strings. Even better, Spencer sounds just as young and refreshed as though he was a kid again. Throw a party: "Dr. J" is back in the studio and his tutors, Buddy Holly and Elmore James, are gonna boogie it up in Heaven when Jeremy plays. This is a must-hear/have CD.

I can't tell you how excited I was after I got a couple songs into this wonderful record. I was a bit skeptical at first after all these years and life changes. Like "Tom from the Foothills" writes above, I was fortunate to see about 8 Mac shows during "the day." I was at Shrine '69 and I was also at the Whiskey the night Jerry went missing. We just loved and lived that band and the music. I've probably listened to this record about 30 times now and really expected to get the old vibe from a Peter Green (he was/is my hero) or Splinter Group record but, I must say, from the first moment of "Please don't Stop" it was back. Then I just fell in love with everything from the liner notes, the band, the dobro work, his vocals, song selection and terrific production. I'm proud and happy for Jeremy and don't hesitate for a second to rave honestly about this. Five stars is not enough!

It looks like there are a lot of positive reveiews here so I'm probably being redundent but I like this enough to want to comment. I love Jeremy's sweet slide tone. His solo lines have matured from being copies of Elmore James into reflecting Jeremy's own musical voice. Too often slide players confine their solos around certain licks and shapes that get recycled on every song (ala Elmore) but here he shows real creativity in his solos and is beholden to nobody.

It is more laid back than old Mac but there is more energy underneath the calm than you see when most old guys make an album 30 years after their fame. I'm not a fan of these in any genre and cite examples like Peter Green, Peter Wolf (from J Geils), Otis Rush, or Charles Lloyd. But this album has enough beat to be fun and enough creativity to be interesting to me.

Last note: the allmusic review says Jeremy is playing a National on the acoustic stuff but in the liner notes he says he is playing an Amistar with a pickup. Just want to give a shout out to Amistar, sort of the poor man's National. I own a single cone Amistar and tricone National and I love them both. The Amistar is about half the price of a similar brass bodied National but I think the quality is very similar. Hard to come by in the US but great stuff.

A long time in coming, but the return of wee Jeremy is a sight for sore ears. Gone from the wax for some thirty five odd years, our lad returns with his slide riffs still crisp, vocal cords still impassioned, and powers of mimicry in tribute to his forebearers still seamless. If you loved it as it was with the Mac's, you'll love it still as Mr. Spencer recreates the sound of Elmore James, 50's rockabilly and ,of course, Jeremy Spencer. Holding up much better than his famed partner in crime, (No offense to Peter Green whose legend still looms large, but is now merely a shadow of his former self) Jeremy still sounds as if he'd just stepped off the tour bus and is plugged in and ready to play in your town. Thank God for the folks in Norway who never let the feeling die and were able to successfully coax our lad out of his self-imposed and long regretted (by the legions of his fans, that is)retirement in order to make this record a reality.

A must have for all fan's of authentic urban blues, the original Fleetwood Mac, and the one and only Jeremy Spencer. If your tastes are suited to any of these categories, run out and by this cd. You will not be disappointed!