Fleetwood Mac - Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years CD

Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years CD music A surprise best-seller when it was first released, this mostly improvised pairing of singer/keyboardist/producer Al Kooper with two major guitar heroes of the day sounds fascinating all these years later precisely because of the distance of time--nobody makes records like this any more. The material runs the gamut from folk pop (covers of Donovan and Dylan), to blues ("Albert's Shuffle," "You Don't Love Me"), to heady jams ("His Holy Modal Majesty"), to big-band jazz ("Harvey's Tune"). All the tunes make effective templates for the kind off-the-cuff music-making that in less capable hands might have resulted in simple noodling. In fact, although Bloomfield and Stills don't play together on any of the cuts (Bloomfield played on one side of the original LP, Stills on the other), all three principals get off lots of good licks and producer Kooper has some interesting tricks up his sleeve, as in the over-the-top phasing he lavishes on "You Don't Love Me." The only real disappointment here is that Stills, a far better singer than Kooper, never opens his mouth. Those familiar with the Live Adventures album these two recorded at the Fillmore West know how brilliant they could be on stage, and here's another gem, recorded at the Fillmore East this time and featuring 'One Way Out,' 'It's My Own Fault' (with Bloomfield trading licks with Johnny Winter...Johnny was signed to Columbia after this gig!). Newly remastered & now with 4 bonus tracks, 'Albert's Shuffle' (2002 Remix w/o Horns), 'Season of the Witch.' (2002 Remix w/o Horns), 'Blues For Nothing' (Studio Outtake) & 'Fat Grey Cloud' Previously Unreleased Live Track). Features 12-page booklet with unpublished photos from the recording session, new liner notes by Al Kooper & the Rolling Stone Hall Of Fame review by David Fricke. 60 scintillating minutes! 13 tracks. Colunbia/Legacy. 2003. Includes liner notes by Al Kooper, Michael Thomas. Includes liner notes by Michael Thomas. Full performer name: Mike Bloomfield/Al Kooper/Steve Stills. Personnel: Mike Bloomfield (electric guitar); Al Kooper (vocals, 12-string & electric guitars, piano, organ, ondioline); Steve Stills (electric guitar); Barry Goldberg (electric piano); Harvey Brooks (bass); Eddie Hoh (drums). Personnel: Mike Bloomfield (electric guitar); Al Kooper (piano, organ, ondioline, vocals, 12-string & electric guitars); Steve Stills (electric guitar); Barry Goldberg (electric piano); Harvey Brooks (bass); Eddie Hoh (drums). Reissue producer: Bob Irwin.

Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years buy CD music There were 2 different versions of this LP, each with slightly different tracks. The CD contains all tracks from both versions. Led by singer-guitarist Peter Green, the first version of Fleetwood Mac was one of England's premier bands and possibly the greatest white blues band ever to emerge from the '60s blues revival. 1969's THEN PLAY ON is their best album and Green's pinnacle achievement. Heavily influenced by Otis Rush, Green had an unusually lyrical style for a blues musician, able to draw on flamenco, folk, even classical guitar--all of which make an appearance in the ambitious instrumental coda to his major opus, "Oh Well." Despite the inclusion of superior modern blues songs like "Rattlesnake Shake" and "Show-Biz Blues," THEN PLAY ON is notable for its instrumentals. Standout cuts range from the dream-like voyages "My Dream" and "Underway" to virtuosic three-guitar jams like "Searching For Madge" and "Fighting For Madge," both of which feature Green's inspired guitar work. Additional personnel includes: Christine Perfect (background vocals). Live Recording Personnel: Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer, Peter Green (vocals, guitar); Big Walter Horton (harmonica); Mick Fleetwood (drums). Fleetwood Mac: Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwin (vocals, guitar); John McVie (bass); Mick Fleetwood (drums).

Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years songs Fleetwood Mac's massive pop success often overshadows the group's origins as one of the premier English blues bands of the sixties. Mac's 1972 album, BARE TREES, found the group searching for a new direction, having lost both of their stellar lead guitarists--Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer--to the excesses of the '60s rock lifestyle. Joined by new guitarist/vocalist Bob Welch and bassist John McVie's wife Christine on keyboards and vocals, Fleetwood Mac reinvented itself as a more pop-oriented rock band. The real star of BARE TREES is guitarist/vocalist Danny Kirwan, who contributes the gorgeous guitar instrumental "Sunny Side of Heaven" and "Bare Trees," a funky rocker that was a massive FM radio staple throughout the seventies. It was new guitarist Bob Welch, however, who wrote and sang the modest hit "Sentimental Lady," a haunting, romantic ballad that remains one of Fleetwood Mac's finest moments. Christime McVie's "Spare Me A Little Of Your Love" hints at Fleetwood Mac's future direction. BARE TREES is a rewarding, well-crafted album that stands on its own merits rather than the Fleetwood Mac legend. Live Recording Audio Remasterer: Lee Herschberg. Audio Remixer: Bob Hughes. Recording information: DeLane Lea Music Centre, Hampshire, England (1972). Photographer: John McVie. Fleetwood Mac: Danny Kirwin, Bob Welch (vocals, guitar); Christine McVie (vocals, keyboards); John McVie (bass); Mick Fleetwood (drums). Personnel: Danny Kirwan, Bob Welch (vocals, guitar); Christine McVie (vocals, keyboards); Jeremy Spencer (vocals); Mick Fleetwood (drums).

Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years album for sale Released in 1973 and now regarded as an important transitional album in Fleetwood Mac's long march towards superstardom, MYSTERY TO ME featured the lineup of Mick Fleetwood, John and Christine McVie, singer/guitarist Bob Welch and guitarist Bob Weston. The hiring of Welch had angered original guitarist Danny Kirwan and after a 1972 gig, the volatile Kirwan went berserk backstage and was fired. On MYSTERY TO ME, the follow-up to PENGUIN (1973) and the band's strongest album in years, the luminous elements of the future Fleetwood Mac were falling in place; Bob Welch's rambling, mystical reverie "Hypnotized" became (and remains to this day) a rock radio standard. The Welch-Weston-John McVie-penned "Forever" grooves with an atypical African gloss, and the bluesy growl of Welch's "The City" lashes out at New York, contradicting Lindsey Buckingham's giddy city ode "Empire State" on 1982's MIRAGE. Yet it is Christine McVie's thoughtful, majestic "Why," which unfolds from a backcountry fingerpick to a soaring poem of regret and passage, that marks the transition from early Mac (which officially ended with 1974's HEROES ARE HARD TO FIND) to one of the most influential Anglo-American bands of all time. Fleetwood Mac: Bob Welch (guitar, vocals); Bob Weston (guitar, slide guitar); Christine McVie (keyboards, vocals); John McVie (bass); Mick Fleetwood (drums). Additional personnel: Martin Birch (acoustic guitar). Award Winner

Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years CD music KILN HOUSE was released at a critical juncture for Fleetwood Mac; leader Peter Green had left the band, and guitarist/vocalists Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan were left to pick up the slack. Fortunately, they took the ball and ran with it, taking the opportunity to move beyond the blues-based sound of the group's Green-era work. American roots influences still abound, as on the rockabilly-styled "This is the Rock" and the 3/4-time country tune "Blood on the Floor," but on "Jewel-Eyed Judy" and others, the band moves towards a more progressive, early-'70s British rock sound. The twin guitars and songcraft of Kirwan and Spencer are the driving force behind KILN HOUSE, an album that marked the beginning of an important new chapter in Fleetwood Mac's history. Live Recording Fleetwood Mac: Jeremy Spencer (vocals, guitar, piano); Danny Kirwan (vocals, guitar); Mick Fleetwood (drums). Personnel: Christine McVie (vocals, keyboards); Big Walter Horton (harmonica). Additional personnel: Christine Perfect (background vocals).

Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years buy CD music PETER GREEN'S FLEETWOOD MAC, the band's full-length debut, is miles removed from commercially tailored soft rock of Fleetwood Mac's 1970s incarnation. The '60s version of the band, led by guitarist/singer Peter Green, was edgy, psychedelic, and rooted deeply in the blues. Green's love of revved-up 12-bar jams, raw boogie grooves, and shredding electric leads come together beautifully on this album, with the help of slide guitarist/singer/pianist Jeremy Spencer, drummer Mick Fleetwood, and bassist John McVie. With the exception of Spencer, the members had played together in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, and took the slashing, mercurial sound and lock-step interplay from that outfit and--arguably--improved on it. Though the album is steeped in traditional blues and includes covers of tunes by Robert Johnson ("Hellhound on My Trail"), Howlin' Wolf ("No Place to Go"), and Elmore James ("Got to Move"), the compositions penned by Green and Spencer stand up, especially the subtler singing and playing by Green (as on "Looking for Somebody"). Released at time when the market was glutted with amped-up British blues, PETER GREEN'S FLEETWOOD MAC stands above the competition with its superior musicianship and gutsy punch. It remains a template for hard-driving blues-rock. Liner Note Author: Mike Vernon. Recording information: CBS Studio, London, England (??/??/1967-12/11/1967); Decca Studio, West Hampstead, London, England (??/??/1967-12/11/1967). Fleetwood Mac: Peter Green (vocals, guitar, harmonica); John McVie, Bob Brunning (bass guitar); Jeremy Spencer, Mick Fleetwood. Personnel: Jeremy Spencer (vocals, guitar, slide guitar, piano); Mick Fleetwood (drums).