Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Jeremy Spencer

Fleetwood Mac, 1969: John McVie, Danny Kirwan, Mick Fleetwood, Jeremy Spencer, Peter Green Jeremy Spencer and the very early 'Fleetwood Mac' The original Fleetwood Mac (1968-1971) were a very different band than the one that conquered the American airwaves in the late seventies and became on of the biggest bands in history. The originals group-- Peter Green (guitar/vocals), Jeremy Spencer (slide guitar/vocals), John McVie (bass) and Mick Fleetwood (drums), supplemented in 1969 by Danny Kirwan (guitar/vocals) were a hard rockin' blues band, one of the best ever, with a great rhythm section and a triple threat front line who took their American blues influences and created a totally unique sound. I prefer them to anything Eric Clapton ever did, not to mention anything Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page did after the Yardbirds. Much has been written about Peter Green so I'll leave the subject alone for today to concentrate on Jeremy Spencer's contributions, but we can't talk about Fleetwood Mac without mentioning Green, it was his band, he was main singer/writer and guitarist. For the two cents my opinion is worth, I'd say that Green, a working class Jewish kid from London's east end (real name Peter Allen Greenbaum), was the only British blues guitarist to emerge with his own completely unique style. He never aped the licks of his American heroes like Clapton did, he had a beautiful tone and touch, and at his peak his guitar sound could shimmer like quicksilver or boom like thunder, often in the same four bars. He wrote classic tunes--- Oh Well, Rattlesnake Shake, Albatross, Green Manalishi, Love That Burns, Black Magic Woman, etc. that practically assured his stardom. Stardom, when it came was not Green's cup of tea, and with a naturally introspective personality and a huge dose of strong acid he soon fell apart, leaving the band at the peak of their U.K. stardom in 1970, shortly after their best selling (in the U.K. and Europe) LP Then Play On. It's really a shame what happened to him. He gave away his money and guitars, took a job as a gravedigger, spent time on a kibbutz, in mental hospitals and wandering the streets endlessly. By the time he was ready for a comeback in the late eighties, that undefinable x-factor that separates genius from hackdom had slid through his fingers, and he could never recapture his unique sound or subtle touch so evident in his first recordings. But he's not our subject today, for this posting I shall examine the contributions of Jeremy Spencer, Green's foil in the band, an incredible talent in his own right. Born in 1948 in West Hartlepool, Cleveland, England, Jeremy Spencer grew up worshipping Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly until, like Brian Jones before him, coming under the spell of the great American slide guitarist Elmore James. Spencer, a talented guitarist and singer and a gifted mimic soon mastered Elmore James' style in a manner that was damn near uncanny. He put together a trio called the Levi Set who were discovered by blues collector/producer Mike Vernon, then running the British Blue Horizon label. Vernon was putting together a group around Peter Green, fresh from a stint with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. Vernon put the pint size dynamo Spencer (just over five feet tall) together with Green and ex-Mayall rhythm section Mick Fleetwood and John McVie (although McVie , the band's first choice for bass player wouldn't join until the band had been together for a few months, unwilling to give up a steady L 40 a week paycheck with Mayall, when their success seemed assured he finally joined the band that already bore his name in part). The new group, dubbed Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac featuring Jeremy Spencer gave all four original members some sort of billing. Their first single was a version of Elmore James' Dust My Broom retitled I Believe My Time Ain't Long, backed with a Peter Green original Ramblin' Pony Blues, Spencer sang the a-side, Green the b-side. Their first LP appeared in 1968 and was a huge hit in the UK staying on the charts for over a year, the LP (called oddly enough Fleetwood Mac) contained no less than five of Spencer's Elmore James impersonations: My Heart Beats Like A Hammer, Shake Your Moneymaker, My Baby's Good To Me, Cold Black Night and Got To Move. Like Elmore, he had two basic songs-- the fast boogie (Shake Your Money Maker, Hawaiian Boogie, etc.) and the standard Dust My Broom blues, so all his Elmore James influenced material sounded pretty much the same. Their second LP Mr Wonderful had another five in the exact same vein (including Dust My Broom). Given his single minded approach, Green brought another guitarist/writer, Danny Kirwan into the band to widen their scope. Like everyone who has had the unfortunate job of playing guitar in Fleetwood Mac, Jeremy Spencer found rock stardom more than he can handle and basically lost his mind, quitting the band abruptly after being wooed into the Children Of God cult in L.A., his mind somewhat unhinged after having landed at L.A.X. during an earthquake and after having a bad mescaline trip in San Francisco several days before. But we're getting ahead of our self by three years. I digress. The years 1968-70 were big ones for Fleetwood Mac who had a #1 U.K. single with Green's moody instrumental Albatross (an earlier single, Green's Black Magic Woman failed to chart but would become a smash hit in the U.S. two years later via Santana's cover version). These singles were not issued on LP in the U.K. but a third album English Rose made up of 45's and outtakes was issued for the U.S. market in 1969. They were literally selling as many records as the Rolling Stones and Beatles in the U.K. and Europe and gaining a steady audience in the U.S. with blues and boogie loving hippies. These were the years of rock with groups like CCR, the Band, the Rolling Stones, the Flamin' Groovies and the Mc5's Back In The USA leading the backlash against psychedelia by re-examining their (God I hate this word) "roots", that is, returning to the music they grew up on. It had only been thirteen years since Elvis hit the TV screen and changed everything but the music had been in a constant state of flux and change for better and worse. Fleetwood Mac were a great rock'n'roll and blues band, but very much of their time. They were given to long jams, although in their case, in testament to Green's talent, could keep in interesting as heard in this extended workout on their classic ode to onanism Rattlesnake Shake from a BBC broadcast (although Spencer only plays maracas on it). A great selection Mac's incredible 1969-70 BBC recordings can be found here. Getting back to Jeremy Spencer. A part of Fleetwood Mac's set during his years with the band always involved Spencer, often in a gold lame suit and quiff, re-appearing onstage as Earl Vince and doing impersonations of Elvis Presley, performing old tunes by Buddy Holly (Buddy's Song), Conway Twitty (Heavenly), Johnny Burnette Trio (Honey Hush, oddly enough Johnny's nephew Billy would join the band in the eighties), Freddie Cannon (Tallahassee Lassie), Little Richard (Can't Believe You Want To Leave) and as well as Jeremy Spencer originals in the same vein (Jenny Lee, Linda, When I See My Baby, Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight). The audience loved it, especially when he introduced Harold, a huge dildo as part of the act. This side of Fleetwood Mac wouldn't make it to vinyl until their first post- Peter Green LP Kiln House with the exception of Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kick In Tonight which appeared as the b-side of the Man Of The World 45 in the U.K. Instead of using the rocker material on their LP's, Spencer became the first member of the group to record a solo LP, called simply Jeremy Spencer it was issued by Immediate in 1969, and a killer record it was and still is (it's never made it to CD). Opening with the Buddy Holly sounding Linda, Spencer boogies through The Shape I'm In, wails the blues on Mean Blues and Don't Go Please Stay, delves into doo wop with String A Long, takes on Bo Diddley in Here Comes Charlie, throws in some rockabilly with Jenny Lee and Ray Smith's Sun classic You Made A Hit, creates a perfect teenage hard on ballad with Teenage Love Affair, lets out a belch that beats the one that opens Raw Power on Take A Look Around Mrs. Brown, he even tries his hand at surf with Surfin' Girl, the LP ends with an Elvis style ballad-- If I Could Swim A Mountain that is more than a little tongue in cheek (file it next to the Bonzo Dog Band's Canyons Of Your Mind). This LP has gotten a bad rap over the years, but I've always thought it was a killer, just a notch below the Flamin' Groovies' Flamingo, issued the same year, and on par with Dave Edmunds' Rockapile which spawned a worldwide hit with his revival of Smiley Lewis' I Hear You Knockin', another forgotten classic of that year. You can find Jeremy Spencer's solo album here (password is stuckinthepast). When Peter Green left Fleetwood Mac in 1970 the band was shaken and depressed, neither Spencer nor Danny Kirwan wanted the responsibility for filling his gigantic shoes, so Christine Perfect aka McVie, wife of bass player John McVie and a star in her own right in the U.K was brought in to help front the band, play keyboards and write new material. While Spencer contributed three excellent tunes to Kiln House-- a rocker This Is The Rock, the country ballad Blood On The Floor, and the country/rockabilly One Together whose self doubting lyrics are a good look into a troubled mind, as well as singing Honey Hush (retitled Hi Ho Silver) and the Buddy Holly medley Buddy's Song, they would be his last contributions to the band. You can find Kiln House here (password is stuckinthepast). Spencer was always something of an enigma, only 19 when he joined the band, he was married to his 17 year old childhood sweetheart and had two young children. Something of a split personality, he was remembered as quite and shy, given to reading his Bible which he kept sewn into the lining of his jacket, yet onstage he became a different person, given to down and dirty performances (Harold the dildo was his idea), he would often insult the audience, even calling out an audience member to fight when the poor guy got up to go piss during Spencer's Elvis/oldies set-- "Nobody walks out on Elvis"! he screamed. In January of 1971 the band arrived in San Fransisco to begin their first post-Peter Green tour with a show at the Filmore West (Mick Fleetwood remembered it as one of the best performances Spencer ever gave, especially during the Elvis part of the show-- "that night he played with a manic fire we'd never seen from him before" It would be his last show. He took some mescaline and had a hard time coming down. Mick Fleetwood knew there was something wrong. In his book Fleetwood: My Life And Adventures in Fleetwood Mac (with Stephen Davis, Avon, 1990), Fleetwood recalls Spencer had a horrible foreboding and didn't want to go to the next shows, a series of sold out gigs in L.A. at the Whiskey A-Go-Go. "Something bad's gonna happen Mick, you wait and see", Spencer told him. He was convinced L.A. was full of evil, ugly vibes. Which it was, and still is. It was just months after the Manson murders and all sorts of nuts were highly visible like the Process Church in their black shrouds and German Shepard dogs on leash. When they landed at LAX the aftershocks of an earthquake were still rumbling. It was one of the worst earthquakes in L.A. in the 20th century, with dozens killed and many buildings toppled. The band checked into their hotel, Spencer told the band he was going out to a bookshop he'd been to last trip, it was the last time they saw him. After a search that made the TV news broadcasts and much ground beating, they found him a few weeks later, he'd taken up with the Children Of God, a creepy pseudo Jesus freak cult given to classic brain washing techniques. The idea that he'd run off with a cult was one of the first things that ran through Mick Fleetwood's mind when Spencer went missing--"he was ripe for the picking". The Children Of God over the years have been accused of child abuse among other unsavory charges. Spencer himself was cited in several legal documents for child abuse charges within the cult, including having sex with his own children as well as allegations by his ex-wife, and was also accused by a woman named Celeste Jones in the U.K tabloid The Daily Mail in 2007 who claimed Spencer abused her as a child growing up in the Children Of God. Part of her statement read-- "The routine was by now was familiar – undress, pray, kiss and then give him (Jeremy Spencer) a hand job". You can examine these various charges if you like at the bottom of his Wikipedia bio (here) as well as his response to them. Spencer has stayed with the Children of God for almost forty years now (they changed their name to the Family of Love, then more recently to Family International). In the mid-70's Spencer released an awful LP called Jeremy Spencer and the Children, which may not even be him, there's much speculation as to who is actually on the LP. Spencer, the former rock star, was used by the Children Of God to recruit other members and evidently treated much better than the average recruit once the initial brain washing process had worked its unsubtle magic earasing his personality. He seemed to grow into his role as part of their propaganda machine over the years. More recently he's attempted a half assed comeback of sorts, playing a few blues festivals and scattered gigs, now living in Ireland after stints in C.O. G. compounds in Texas, Oregon, India, Brazil, the Philippines and Italy. Like most of the higher ups in the Children of God cult he does his best to keep one step ahead of the law. He was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall Of Fame in 1998 as an original member of Fleetwood Mac. Some of his many children are in an English band called JYNXT. He released a live LP cut in India (1999) and an album called Precious Little appeared in 2006, I've heard neither of these. As far as all the allegations against Spencer, I don't know what to say, or even think. I certainly won't defend the guy. The Children Of God are known creeps. They used to engage in something they called "Flirty Fishing" where they'd send sexy young girls out to seduce men and lead them back into the fold. This is well documented as are other examples of behavior too cretinous to comprehend. As far as his music goes, for four years- 1968-71 Jeremy Spencer was one of the greats. Although he was overshadowed by Peter Green's incredible talents, I think a major reassessment is in order. Especially his solo LP (which really should be re-issued) and his material on Kiln House. The double CD of Fleetwood Mac's BBC recordings is a must have for every rock'n'roll home (I used to have a tape of a 1970 Jeremy Spencer solo gig on the BBC doing Cliff Richard's Move It and tunes from his solo LP but lost it over the years. Anyone out there have a copy?). Even my old pal Hank Ballard, who did not give praise lightly, loved Jeremy Spencer. He told me "I closed my eyes and thought it was Elmore James". You get the feeling if a stadium full of today's Fleetwood Mac fans showed up and the original band walked on the stage and played Rattlesnake Shake and Shake Your Money Maker they'd get booed off the stage. I guess that's a good thing, after all, Dr. John was booed this year at Jazz Fest in his own hometown by fans waiting to see Bon Jovi, scheduled to follow him on the same stage. I can't imagine too many Stevie Nicks fans would groove to Jeremy Spencer in a gold lame suit pounding out Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kick In Tonight or Honey Hush. Baby, that's rock'n'roll...

23 comments:

Bob Pomeroy said...

What a weird story. More evidence that psychedelics were just plain bad for r'n'r. All that COG & Process Church stuff reminds of Ed Sanders' book "The Family," which gives a pretty good picture of those evil, ugly LA vibes.

DefChef said...

I dunno if it's psychedelics or just LA that's bad for rock. Spencer wasn't the first or last talent to be thrown off track by the deeply bullshit scene out there.

And: I saw this Fleetwood Mac live album from 1969 on the most excellent (and mostly psychedelic) PHROCK blog.

http://phrockblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-06-08T21%3A05%3A00-03%3A00&max-results=5

The Hound said...

To be fair, LA's produced tons of great rock'n'roll from early R&B groups like Johnny Otis, Joe Liggins, Roy Milton, Charles Brown to Don & Dewey, Ricky Nelson, Kip Tyler & the Flips, the Beach Boys, Jan & Dean, Dick Dale, Byrds, Seeds, I can go on for a week. I still find the place a bit creepy myself, you can feel the bad vibes, but we can't ignore how much great music was made there. And I've never had a bad time out there, although my tolerence for the place is exactly two weeks.

Unknown said...

Damn Jim! I don't know how you keep the hits coming! Jeremy Spencer and the early Fleetwood Mac are one of my all time favorite bands to this day. The collection of BBC recordings you mentioned are indeed a must-have for anyone into the early days of FM! "Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight" is such a phenomennal rockin' track! I'm surprised the Groovies never covered it in their heyday as its tailor made for Roy Loney!

Devil Dick said...

although my tolerence for the place is exactly two weeks.

i lived there for a year. couldnt wait to get back east....

Devil Dick said...

and not to correct the master but i believe you have McVie listed as Green and vise versa in the photo...

The Hound said...

"and not to correct the master but i believe you have McVie listed as Green and vise versa in the photo..."

You're right, I went back and fixed it.

keenom said...

check me - I'm a huge Peter Green fan, and I was actually a member of the Children for two years in 72-74. It was a strange time for me. I never liked Jeremy's slide imitation Elmore as much as Peter Green's genuinely fluid soloing (hear the Supernatural on John Mayall's Hard Road.) Love what you do blog kids. Thanks.

Todd McGovern said...

Jim,
Thanks for this history lesson! I remember my brother had some of the early Fleetwood Mac stuff, I've just never listened to it. What a bizarre story behind the band.

All that said, I still have a thing for Stevie Nicks and her witchy ass. But that's just me.

Mr Twang said...

The Hound blog is my favorite, however(“sigh”)…generally-speaking, pimply young Brits imitating Negroes leave me cold, and that is what Fleetwood Mac’s Elmore James routine amounts to. Spot-on, and all, and passionate, no doubt, but I don’t see the value.

The Hound said...

" Fleetwood Mac’s Elmore James routine amounts to"

but the rockabilly and rockers are a whole 'nuther story, that's actually my favorite stuff--- Heavenly,
Somebody's Gonna Get Their Head, String A Long,
When I See My Baby, that and the Peter Green stuff-- Rattlesnake Shake...give a listen.

Mr Twang said...

Thanks. Done. A revelation. Reminded me a bit of Roy Wood but better.

boogiewoody said...

Thanks so much for this post. One of the first ever LPs I had was the first Fleetwood Mac album. I also still have the "Albatross" single. I still remember playing the B-side "Jigsaw Puzzle Blues" and my dad saying "those guys can really play those guitars."

Of all the 1960s blues-rock guitarists, Peter Green was my favourite. A guy who understood that "less means more." Check out his instro track "The Supernatural" on John Mayall's Bluesbreakers album "A Hard Road."

And a soulful singer too. "Black Magic Woman", "Man of the World", "Oh Well" and "Green Manalishi" - a great songwriter whose lyrics came from the heart.

I liked the Jeremy Spencer stuff at the time (especially "Shake Your Moneymaker") but it was only years later that I learned about and heard the Spencer-led Fleetwood Mac alter ego "Earl Vince and the Valiants." Anyone willing to put over a greased-up, drape-jacketed rock'n'roll performance to a "rawk" audience deserves sainthood.

Anonymous said...

i used to host a 50s/60s rock & roll show on a college radio station.

for the first few months, i co-hosted with a guy i used to know whose main tastes were lover's-lane ballads by the Platters, Roy Hamilton, etc.

i knew we werent gonna do the show together anymore when he put down "somebody's gonna get their head kicked in tonight." hell, i wanted to kick in HIS head for playing too many corny doo-wop ballads side-by-side, and here he was dumping on my rock & roll. he left the show soon after, and i kept it going solo for the next few years. good riddance.

JP

Mike B. said...

When the Buckingham/Nicks Mac was on top of the world, my sister bought an english pressed Fleewood Mac's Greatest Hit. A double fold cover with an awesome shot of PG and the boys on stage drenched in red stage lights. Obviously, this was not what she expected and I luckily snatched it from her. It is one of my all time favorites. When Green Manalishi was covered by Judas Priest, I informed my metal dorm mates that Peter Green would blow them and their Marshall stacks off the stage with two notes. Truely the unsung great of the sixties guitar gods. Thanks for the info on Jeremy. What a nut. Sad that he has been duped by those wackos.
Keep up the great work.

Anonymous said...

Hey its the holier than thou we're too clever and NYC street for LA crowd...missed you guys its been a while

Say hi to Bourdain and Stiv

Daddy-o Dilly said...

I also really liked the Original Fleetwood Mac and loved Jeremy Spencer's musical contribution to the group. I have never heard another guitar player who could come so close to Elmore James' style.

Jumpy said...

Christ, Jim!
This is your book project. Don't be givin' it away free.
PJL

ana-b said...

Sorry but ya lost me with this one...oh, believe me i own the records, but as Gene Casey put it, 'pimply young Brits imitating Negroes leave me cold'..

I think I'll stand by that judgement..

Anonymous said...

Just a point here about white blues... those guys in England hooked onto this music as kids growing up half-starved after the war and playing in actual ruins. They had a lot to sing the blues about and it's not surprising they related so strongly to the experiences blacks of an earlier generation and different place brought to their creations. I used to look down on white blues until I really checked out Peter Green's and John Mayall's stuff.

Will Divide said...

in one of those insane r&r coincidences, after reading this on friday, i just came back tonight from a bar where spencer played two numbers with the band (20 flight rock & a gene vincent song) in the second set after appearing at the chicago blues fest.

he did some leg shaking for 20 flight rock like only the guys who absorbed elvis first can do, even though he looked like a tiny lawyer on stage (striped grey flannel pants, vest, and half moon glasses. i can send pix.)

he came to play for jimmy sutton's regular sunday gig at quenchers, a beat little northside night spot, after sutton backed him on bass earlier in the evening, so i'd say the guy's a good sport. (sutton, btw, is always worth catching.) did all his fretting with a slide and sang like he meant it. i was trying to picture him performing with a dildo, and getting hand jobs for jesus, and could not.

planckzoo said...

I would recommend picking up Mick Fleetwoods bio to anyone who has not read it, very readable, very funny and it has a whole bunch of stories about the early years of Fleetwood Mac.
Thanks for posting the link to Jeremy Spencers solo LP, it was one I had been curious about, but never purchased.

Unknown said...

Hi everyone.
Does anyone know where i can find the album "FEEL" recorded by Jeremy Spencer in 79 to download? Appretiate any information.My e-mail is semirbisinella@ibest.com.br
blog: http://apertenaosacuda.blogspot.com/
thank you!!

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