Fleetwood Mac in Chicago
Fleetwood Mac's 1969 Chicago blues session with local legends.
Fleetwood Mac in Chicago is a compilation of studio recordings made by the British rock band Fleetwood Mac in early 1969 at Chess Records in Chicago, featuring several prominent Chicago blues musicians. Originally released in December 1969 as Blues Jam in Chicago on Blue Horizon, it was later issued under this title by Sire Records in 1975. The sessions captured the band, then a young blues group, playing alongside artists who had inspired them.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Fleetwood Mac
- Released
- 5 December 1969
- Recorded
- 4 January 1969
- Studio
- Chess Ter-Mar, Chicago
- Genre
- Chicago blues
- Length
- 103:28
- Label
- Blue Horizon
- Epic
- Sire (US)
- Producer
- Mike Vernon, Marshall Chess
Facts from the source article.
Background
In January 1969, Fleetwood Mac were in Chicago opening for Muddy Waters at the Regal Theater. Producer Mike Vernon learned that Chess Record Studio was about to close and contacted Marshall Chess to arrange a recording session. Melody Maker reported on January 11, 1969, that Buddy Guy, Shakey Horton, and Willie Dixon participated, with Dixon also organizing the sessions. The band was still under contract with Blue Horizon at the time of recording, but by the December release they had signed with Reprise Records. After the band's deal with Blue Horizon ended, they bought most of their catalogue, though the material with Dixon from the Chess sessions stayed with Blue Horizon. Peter Green later expressed disappointment that Blues Jam was released soon after Then Play On, which was still charting; he felt the album was inferior and that many blues fans had lost interest. In a 1999 interview, Green dismissed the sessions as a non-event, saying the rest of the band was not engaged and they did not play well.
Critical reception
Greil Marcus, writing in Rolling Stone in 1976, praised Fleetwood Mac in Chicago as the best of the band's pre-Warner Bros. material, noting the band was rough and derivative but full of enthusiasm. He remarked that the spirit of Elmore James was present on the recording. AllMusic described the sessions as put together on short notice and recorded in one day, giving a ramshackle feel, but said the energy of the performances overcame any shortcomings. The site added that the project was natural for the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac given their deep roots in Chicago blues. Robert Christgau highlighted knowledgeable song selection and expressive playing, especially by Peter Green, and noted that contributions from Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, and Shakey Horton made the thin singing seem like a tribute to a new tradition. Michael Fremer of Analog Planet commented that the recordings sound excellent and the spirited playing shows the veterans enjoying playing with the young British musicians, with producer Mike Vernon's studio communication left in to show how the tunes were conceived.
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