"Blues Jam In Chicago, Volume Two" by FLEETWOOD MAC and CHESS PLAYERS (November 1999/July 2004 Sony/Blue Horizon 'Expanded Edition' CD Reissue and Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…I Want You To Rock Me Baby…All Night Long…"

With guests from the famed US Blues and R&B label Chess Records, the two volumes "Blues Jam In Chicago, Volume One" and "...Volume Two" are based around Fleetwood Mac's 4th vinyl outing in December 1969 – the 2LP set "Blues Jam At Chess" (also known as "Fleetwood Mac in Chicago" in the USA). Having a rather convoluted history on all formats - both the original UK and American record issues and their subsequent Remastered 1999 and 2004 CD Reissues require some serious explanation as regards release dates, artwork and even content. So here goes – the records first...

Fleetwood Mac's 4th vinyl outing was a double-album called "Blues Jam At Chess" issued December 1969 on Blue Horizon Records S 7-66227 in the UK and Blue Horizon BH 3801 in the USA (different artwork). 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, GUITAR BUDDY on Guitars (Pseudonym for Buddy Guy), HONEYBOY EDWARDS on Bass and S.P. LEARY on Drums. It was recorded in one day - 4 January 1969 – and has a multiple credited title (the artists listed in block capitols above).

The following year the Stateside double-album was initially split into two single LPs and retitled "Blues Jam In Chicago, Vol.1" and "...Vol.2" – released June and September on Blue Horizon BH 4802 and BH 4803 respectively. They again had different artwork (colour photos of the sessions). Neither charted - but reissued as a double-LP proper under the title "Fleetwood Mac In Chicago" in June 1971 on Blue Horizon BH 3801 – it did chart and peaked at No. 190 on a 6-week run. This double variant sported yet more artwork changes – the title stenciled onto the side door of a blue car/cab. To confuse matters even further and on the back of the success of the Buckingham/Nicks "Fleetwood Mac" Reprise Records LP – it was reissued yet again December 1975 as "Fleetwood Mac In Chicago" on Sire S2X 6009 and charted belatedly for a second time – peaking at No. 118 in a 16-week chart run. This 3rd reissue reverted to a plain sort of eggplant red titled cover - the one used for the original 1969 Blue Horizon double.

The cover of the original 1969 British 2LP set had a wavy backdrop and titled sleeve - no real effort in the art department - while the 1971 and 1975 US doubles didn't fare much better either – a blue car door sleeve for 1971 and a plain red cover for 1975. These new CD remasters however use the much prettier 1970 "Blues Jam At Chicago – Volumes 1 & 2" artwork for both volumes and were first issued inside November 1999's "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969" 6CD Box Set – and are now re-released 12 July 2004 as individual stand-alone single CD reissues (this one is "Blues Jam In Chicago Volume Two" on Columbia/Blue Horizon 5164472 - Barcode 5099751644729). So at last to the rejiggered musical content...

The original American Volumes issued June and September 1970 were simply Sides 1 and 2 of the British and American double-LP on Volume 1 with Sides 3 and 4 put onto Volume 2. But as these July 2004 CDs are taken from "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969" Box Set  – they're the 'Expanded Edition' versions with (in some cases) radically reconfigured tracks. In order to show the musical differences I've detailed the Vinyl Track List first - then the Expanded CD...

ORIGINAL 1969/1970 VINYL TRACK LIST (Sides 3 and 4 of a 2LP set):

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]

1999 and 2004 EXTENDED CD TRACK LIST (75:52 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 8 are as per the LP above (5 from Side 1 and 3 from Side 2)

9. 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)

10. Sugar Mama – Take 1 (Sonny Boy Williamson cover) [Take 1 – Incomplete – Previously Unreleased]

11. Sugar Mama – Take 2 [Master Version, as per the LP]

12. Homework (Clark Perkins song/Otis Rush cover) [as per the LP]

13. Honey Boy Blues (David Edwards cover) [Incomplete – Previously Unreleased]

14. I Need Your Love – Take 1 (Jimmie Rogers cover) [Take 1 – Incomplete – Previously Unreleased]

15. Horton's Boogie Woogie (Walter Horton cover) [Take 2 – Previously Unreleased]

16. Have A Good Time (Walter Horton cover) [Previously Unreleased]

17. That’s Wrong (Walter Horton cover) [Previously Unreleased]

18. Rock Me Baby (Jackson cover) [Previously Unreleased]

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

The tapes were digitally remastered to stunning sound quality by DUNCAN COWELL in 1999 for the Box Set (that’s what’s been used here) - as fresh as a politician's new excuses and the foldout leaf inlay has informative and detailed liner notes by original Producer and label head honcho MIKE VERNON as well as those in the studio photos.

Compared to Volume 1 – this second 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, the adoring Brits and the accommodating Yanks settled down and became more comfortable with each other to the point where sparks started to fly. I mean the mighty tunesmith of Chess – Willie Dixon – is in here – along with Buddy Guy and Otis Spann. How the genuinely in-awe-visitors must have been stoked...

But what chucks this half of the double album up into the stratosphere is the seven bonus previously unreleased cuts (Tracks 10 and 13 to 18) which are not incomplete takes or aimless studio chatter, but fully realised songs – albeit a little rough around the edges. “Rock Me Baby”, the Sonny Boy Williamson cover “Sugar Mama” (a regular in Rory Gallagher’s Taste live shows) and the Horton original “That’s Wrong” - all throw up fabulous moments of admiration and interplay. The whole gang is enjoying themselves and it has to be said that one of the keys ingredients in their pooled magic is Walter Horton’s wonderful harmonica playing and for that matter - sheer presence. And often less than a fiver of your English pounds online...this British/American Blues-Rock CD is seriously great value for money.

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:

"Blues Jam At Chicago Volume One" by FLEETWOOD MAC and CHESS FRIENDS on Columbia/Blue Horizon 5099751644620 (Barcode 5099751644620) is also an 'Expanded Edition' CD Reconfiguration and Remaster (68:24 minutes) and is available separately (see my review)...

"Full House" [5th LP from June 1970] by FAIRPORT CONVENTION (October 2001 Universal/Island 'Island Folk Remasters' CD Reissue – Suha Gur Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"...A High Consumption Of Mandrake-Root..."

After the quite awesome album-trio of "What We Did On Our Holidays", "Unhalfbricking" and "Liege And Lief" (January, July and December 1969 – the Fairports being one of less than 15 artists to release three albums of original material in the same country in the same year) - I always thought July 1970's "Full House" was a wee bit of a 7-track disappointment what with the kerfuffle surrounding the fabulous "Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman" song (dropped at the eleventh hour).

In fact, band member and long-time Fairport inner historian Simon Nicol tells us in his informative and witty liner notes that Lead Guitarist Richard Thompson and Producer Joe Boyd were so late replacing "Poor Will..." with "Flowers Of The Forest" that the first 5000 cover arts of the UK LP actually have "Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman" listed on the rear and had to be pasted over in gold lettering to state "Flowers Of The Forest" (now there is a vinyl rarity if ever there was one). Personally I can't help feel that the album would have been infinitely better with both on it and something lesser like the step-we-gaily-as-we-go romp of "Dirty Linen" had been dropped instead. But that's why I give this wickedly good 'Island Folk Remasters' CD reissue five stars - it contains five superb bonus cuts that will allow you to sequence the album you want - rather than the one we were given almost five decades ago.

And the CD remaster sounds bloody good too, especially given the notorious recorded-on-two-continents (UK and USA) ramshackle nature of the recordings. Nicol even suggests the sound may not be audiophile but it's a band gelling, bursting with heart and the new blood of Dave Pegg who had replaced Sandy Denny (gone off to Fotheringay) – and I think hindsight has proven him right. Hell – we might even be able decipher RT's loony liner notes apparently loosely based on some hallucinogenic Tolkien-esque games almanac (gotta say no to that mandrake-root Richard). Let the mediaeval games commence...

UK released 1 October 2001 - "Full House" by FAIRPORT CONVENTION on Universal/Island IMCD 285/586375-2 (Barcode 731458637523) is an Expanded Edition CD Reissue (Five Bonus Tracks) in the 'Island Folk Remasters' Series that plays out as follows (59:03 minutes):

1. Walk Awhile

2. Doctor Of Physick

3. Dirty Linen

4. Sloth

5. Sir Patrick Spens

6. Flatback Caper

7. Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman

8. Flowers Of The Forest

Tracks 1, 3 and 4 make up Side 1 of the original July 1970 UK LP "Full House" on Island ILPS 9130 - whilst Tracks 5, 6, 2 and 8 make up Side 2 (same tracks for the September 1970 USA LP on A&M Records SP 4265). Track 7 is the song dropped from the album at the last minute and is a Bonus.

BONUS TRACKS (Five including Track 7):

9. Now Be Thankful (Mono)

10. Sir B. McKenzie's Daughter's Lament For The 77th Mounted Lancers Retreat From The Straits Of Loch Knombe, In The Year Of Our Lord 1727, On The Occasion of The Announcement Of Her Marriage To The Laird Of Kinleakie

Tracks 9 and 10 are the non-album A&B-sides of a UK 7" single released 9 October 1970 on Island WIP 6089

11. Bonny Bunch Of Roses - album outtake recorded May 1970 at the Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, California, USA - but not used. Returned to and re-recorded as the title song to their 13th UK album "Bonny Bunch Of Roses" issued February 1977 on Vertigo Records 9102 015 

12. Now Be Thankful (New Stereo Mix) - February 1998 SUHA GUR Mix

FAIRPORT CONVENTION was:

DAVE MATTACKS – Drums, Harmonium and Bodhran

SIMON NICOL – Vocals, Electric, Acoustic and Bass Guitars, Dulcimer

DAVE PEGG – Vocals, Bass Guitar and Mandolin

DAVE SWARBRICK – Vocals, Fiddle, Viola and Mandolin

RICHARD THOMPSON – Vocals and Lead Electric Guitar

A very nice touch is that the beautiful textured gatefold sleeve of the ILPS 9130 LP is ever-so-slightly repro’d in the hessian feel of the six-leaf-per-side foldout liner notes – the text peppered with those gorgeous mediaeval cartoons of the five band members (done by a mysterious crowd called Superwives). While most of us know the 7-track configuration I've outlined above – the liner notes tell us that Tracks 1 to 8 constitute the ‘original’ album – clearly as the remaining band now wants us to see it. It doesn't say who did the Remaster but Audio Engineer SUHA GUR is a name I actively seek out - he's done the James Brown Singles Collections on Hip-O Select, Luther Allison, Richie Havens, Joe Cocker's "Mad Dogs...", The Allman Brothers, Kansas and many more. The Audio is great and what an absolute find "Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman" is - never mind the beautiful Stereo mix of the Swarbrick/Thompson single "Now Be Thankful". Let's get to the music...

The Side One opener "Walk Awhile" offers up a Swarbrick/Thompson continuation of the Fiddle/Guitar Folk Rock of "Liege & Lief" - a fun start and a very confident here's-a-new-genre get-used-to-it statement of intent. The track would It's followed by the Traditional "Dirty Linen" - a step-we-gaily instrumental with a guitar break half way through its drunken charlady jaunt around your living room. Far better for me is the fabulous almost Bluesy-Folk vibe to the nine-minute "Sloth" - another sozzled historical slowy where lyrically the right thing is suddenly the wrong thing - where "...just a roll on your drum and a war is begun..."

Side 2 offers up four in the shape of "Sir Patrick Spens" (a Fiddle and Guitar tale of mermaids warning sailors that they won't see dry land even if Pat has different ideas), "Flatback Caper" (an instrumental Traditional that has a Swarbrick/Pegg Mandolin battle),  "Doctor Of Physick" (a Swarbrick/Thompson composition where dodgy types come to steal purses in the dead of night and maidens lose their head) and finally the sophisticated and brilliant "Flowers Of The Forest" - all the harmony vocalists in this Folky Boy Band doing the song proud. And of course a fab find in the long and winding "Poor Will & The Jolly Hangman" - a slow piece of Thompson genius (so shows the way his solo career would unfold) where our protagonist sings a health to the Jolly hangman who'll string you up the best he can (what a guy). The A-side of the stand-alone single is great too - long a stalwart in their live repertoire while the impossibly monikered B-side makes a dash for The Guinness Book Of Records as the longest name in a song.

Those five extras have lifted this reissue of "Full House" (Fairport's fifth) into a much better place for me. And for less than a five-spot to the right jailer, this 'Island Folk Remaster' CD can be in your home before you can say, impeach that mediaeval rascal and his bonny bunch of ring-dum-a-do-da roses. Nearly 50 years on and those goodies still get to me. Great stuff and recommended...

"Blues Jam In Chicago Volume One" by FLEETWOOD and CHESS PLAYERS (12 July 2004 Columbia/Blue Horizon 'Expanded Edition' CD Remaster) - A Review by Mark Barry...

"…I Get A Real Good Feeling Talking To You…"

Fleetwood Mac's 4th British 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 (both December 1969). 

Recorded in one day (4 January 1969) and reluctantly it seems released at the end of the year (probably trying to capitalise on the September 1969 issue of "Then Play On" with its "Oh Well Part 1 and 2" monster single) - "Blues Jam At Chess" (aka "Fleetwood Mac In Chicago") 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 first about the less than exciting UK and US original artwork and why none of it been used on these 2 reissues (see photos above). The original UK double-album 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 issued in a dull plain red cover (5 December 1969). However it was reissued again in June and September 1970 in the USA as two separate volumes - "Blues Jam In Chicago, Vol.1 and Vol.2" on BH 4802 and BH 4803 respectively (to confuse matters further the 2LP-set charted Stateside 3 July 1971 as "Fleetwood Mac In Chicago" on Blue Horizon BH 3801 with yet more different artwork - the title on the side door of a blue car). And it is these two individual volumes with their far prettier colour-photos-of-the-session artwork that were used for "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969" 6CD Box Set issued in November 1999 and are now individually issued again here in July 2004 as these much extended editions. Let's get to the South Indiana details…

UK released 12 July 2004 - "Blues Jam In Chicago Volume One" by FLEETWOOD MAC, OTIS SPANN, J.T. BROWN, GUITAR BUDDY, HONEYBOY EDWARDS and S. P. LEARY on Columbia/Blue Horizon 5164462 (Barcode 5099751644620) is an Expanded Edition Reissue and Remaster offering up Sides 1 and 2 of the December 1969 "Blues Jam At Chess” double-album and plays out as follows (68:24 minutes):

Also, in order to show the musical differences, I've detailed the vinyl first, then the extended CD (Volume Two is Side 3 and 4 of "Blues Jam At Chess" - see separate review):

ORIGINAL VINYL:

Side 1:

1. Watch Out [Peter Green song]

2. Ooh Baby [Chester Burnett aka Howlin' Wolf cover]

3. South Indiana - Take 1 [Walter `Shakey' Horton cover]

4. South Indiana - Take 2 [Walter `Shakey' Horton cover]

5. Last Night [W Jacobs cover]

6. Red Hot Jam [Peter Green Instrumental song]

Side 2:

1. I'm Worried [Elmore James cover]

2. I Held My Baby Last Night [Elmore James/Jules Taub cover]

3. Madison Blues [Elmore James cover]

4. I Can't Hold Out [Elmore James cover]

5. I Need Your Love [Jimmie Rogers cover]

6. I Got The Blues [Walter `Shakey' Horton cover]

EXTENDED CD (68:24 minutes):

Tracks 1 to 5 are the same as the LP above

Track 6 is "Red Hot Jam" [Take 1 with Studio talk - An Inserted Previously Unreleased Track]

Track 7 is "Red Hot jam" [Take 2 - The Master Version, Track 6 on the LP]

Tracks 8 to 11 are "I'm Worried" through to "I Can't Hold Out" and are as per the LP

Track 12 is "Bobby's Rock" which is an inserted Previously Unreleased cover of an Elmore James song

Track 13 is "I Need Your Love" (same as the LP)

Track 14 is "Horton's Boogie Woogie [Take 1 with Studio Chatter - an Inserted Previously Unreleased Version]

Track 15 is "I Got The Blues" is the Master but with inserted Previously Unreleased False Start

The tapes have been digitally remastered to STUNNING SOUND QUALITY - as fresh as a politician's new excuses and the inlay is a foldout three-leaf affair that simply duplicates the MIKE VERNON liner notes from the 6CD set, "The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967-1969". The players were...

FLEETWOOD MAC were:

PETER GREEN – Lead Guitar and Vocals (Tracks 1, 2 and 5), Guitar Only (Tracks 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 14 and 15)

DANNY KIRWAN – Guitar (Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14 and 15)

JEREMY SPENCER – Guitar and Vocal (Tracks 8, 9, 10 and 11), Guitar Only (Track 12)

JOHN McVIE – Bass Guitar

MICK FLEETWOOD – Drums

GUESTS:

WALTER HORTON plays Harmonica on CD tracks 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 13, 14 and 15

BUDDY GUY, HONEYBOY EDWARDS and WILLIE DIXON are on 6 and 7

JEREMY SPENCER replaces Peter Green on Guitar and Vocal for 8, 9 10 and 11 - these tracks also feature J.T. BROWN on Tenor Sax with WILLIE DIXON on Upright Bass

OTIS SPANN plays Piano and S.P. LEARY plays drums on 13, 14 and 15

Fans greet the album itself with equal amounts of affection and disdain because at times it sounds like one long rehearsal - and a slightly uninspired and dull one at that. It's not that Blues Jam At Chess is bad - it just isn't red hot like you'd think it should have been. Highlights, however, include the lovely shuffle of "Watch Out", the harmonica driven slow blues of "Last Night" and the slashing Elmore James riffs in "I Can't Hold Out" (lyrics above). "Bobby's Rock" is a rubbishy extra, but Take 1 of "Horton's Boogie Woogie" is fantastic - alive and kicking and worth the price of entry alone. I play it a lot and it picks me up every time. And for me who once thought some parts of the session was only workmanlike, the added stuff and cool extra songs has made me love this strange double-album beast even more – brought a vitality to it that I'm sure will thrill newcomers too...

To sum up then - this is a 5 star presentation of a rare moment in Blues Rock history. And it has enough magic in its obscure grooves to not just recommend it, but make both volumes of "Blues Jam In Chicago..." a necessity for Blues Rock and Fleetwood Mac fans alike. Jump in I say and boogie...

PS:

See also my reviews for the other five July 2004 Extended CD versions of Fleetwood Mac's Peter Green years with the Blue Horizon label - "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac", "Mr. Wonderful", "The Pious Bird Of Good Omen", "Blues Jam In Chicago Volume Two" and "The Original Fleetwood Mac" – all fab in their own 60ts Blues-glorious way...