| Fleetwood Mac in Chicago | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 5 December 1969 | |||
| Recorded | 4 January 1969 | |||
| Studio | Chess Ter-Mar, Chicago | |||
| Genre | Chicago blues | |||
| Length | 103:28 | |||
| Label |
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| Producer | ||||
| Fleetwood Mac chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
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Blues Jam in Chicago is a studio recording by the British rock bandFleetwood Mac, originally released in two single-LP volumes byBlue Horizon in December 1969.[1][2] It was the result of a recording session in early 1969 atChess Records inChicago with Fleetwood Mac, then a youngBritish blues band, and a number of famousChicago blues artists from whom they drew inspiration.[3][4] The album has also been released, with slightly different track listings, under the titlesBlues Jam at Chess Volumes One and Two[5][6] andFleetwood Mac in Chicago, the latter bySire Records in 1976.[7][8]
The members of Fleetwood Mac at the time of this recording werePeter Green (guitar, vocals),Jeremy Spencer (guitar, vocals),Danny Kirwan (guitar, vocals),Mick Fleetwood, (drums), andJohn McVie (bass guitar). The Chicago blues musicians who played at this session wereOtis Spann (piano, vocals),Willie Dixon (upright bass),Shakey Horton (harmonica, vocals),J.T. Brown (tenor saxophone, vocals),Buddy Guy (guitar),Honeyboy Edwards (guitar, vocals), and S.P. Leary (drums).
In December 2022, a book of Jeff Lowenthal's photographs of the session was published asFleetwood Mac in Chicago: The Legendary Chess Blues Session, January 4, 1969. The book also contains forwards by session producersMarshall Chess andMike Vernon and texts by Robert Schaffner and some of the participating musicians.[9]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Christgau's Record Guide | B+[10] |
Writing inRolling Stone in 1976,Greil Marcus said, "Thanks to the near-permanent success of the currentFleetwood Mac LP, virtually all the band's pre-Warner Bros. material – featuring guitarists Peter Green, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer – is back on the market. The best stuff is to be found onFleetwood Mac in Chicago (Sire), a double album cut in '69 at the Chess studios, with real-life black bluesmen sitting in.... The Fleetwood Mac that cut this album was a rough, derivative band, full of enthusiasm and committed to their music... The shade ofElmore James smiled on the band, and never more so than onChicago..."[3]
AllMusic said, "Put together on short notice, and recorded in one day, the sessions have something of a ramshackle feel, but the energy of the performances transcends any shortcomings on this date...."[7] "Given that the Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac was already deeply rooted in Chicago blues, the project proved to be a natural for the group..."[8]
Robert Christgau wrote, "Knowledgeable song selection, expressive playing – especially by Peter Green, who filters B.B. King through Santo & Johnny with a saxophonist's sense of line – and lots of help from Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Shakey Horton, and others makes the thinness of the singing seem like a tribute to a new tradition."[10]
On Analog Planet,Michael Fremer said, "Whatever you think of the blues, you gotta love the sound of these recordings, and more importantly the spirited playing as the veterans join in the fun of playing with the white youngsters from across the sea. These are jams – surprisingly tight ones – with snippets of producer Mike Vernon's communication between the recording booth and the studio left in between the music to help give you an indication of how the tunes were conceived."[5]
Side A
Side B
Side C
Side D
Fleetwood Mac
Chicago blues artists
Production
| Chart (1969) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| USBillboard 200[11] | 118 |
