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Fleetwood Mac - Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years Audio CD

A fair review of the Fleetwood Mac "Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Fleetwood Mac reviews here, or go back to the Fleetwood Mac tabs.

Fleetwood Mac Band: Fleetwood Mac
Title: Jumping at Shadows: The Blues Years
Rating:
Release Date: 2002-07-23
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Black Magic Woman [Live] 2: Jumping at Shadows [Live] 3: Oh Well [Live] 4: Ride With Your Daddy Tonight - Brunning/Hall Sunflower Blues Band 5: Do You Give a Damn for Me? - Peter Green 6: Love That Burns 7: World in Harmony 8: Long Grey Mare 9: Talk to Me Baby 10: Fast Talking Woman Blues 11: Man of the World [Early Version] 12: If You Let Me Love You - Brunning/Hall Sunflower Blues Band 13: My Baby's Sweeter 14: Like It This Way 15: Madge Sessions, No. 2 16: Lazy Poker Blues 17: I Have to Laugh 18: Green Manalishi 19: Man of the World [Single Version] 20: Showbiz Blues 21: Buzz Me Baby 22: Blues in B Flat Minor 23: It Takes Time - Brunning/Hall Sunflower Blues Band 24: Leaving Town Blues - Peter Green, Nick Pickett 25: Sun Is Shining 26: Uranus - Brunning/Hall Sunflower Blues Band 27: Mind of My Own 28: How Blue Can You Get? 29: Trying So Hard to Forget - Duster Bennett, Peter Green 30: Two Harps - Duster Bennett, Peter Green 31: Thinking About a Woman - Duster Bennett, Peter Green 32: Kind Hearted Woman - Duster Bennett, Peter Green 33: Coming, I'm Coming - Duster Bennett, Peter Green 34: Stranger Blues [Live] 35: Coming Your Way [Live] 36: Rattlesnake Shake [Live]

peter is god
peter green is the best this cd i bought even though i own all the individual records it has many rare tracks but as a whole its like a best of and a great introduction very unique a fan should own as well as a neofite peter green could sing play and write the best of the brits better then every other guitar god put together.


The good stuff
It's lean on the "Jeremy Spencer plays Elmore James" cops which are a essential in the general scheme of things. This is the one Fleetwood Mac album that cover's Green's playing from all angles. But the party here is about Green. It's a great overview to his playing. The sound quality does vary (bass heavy at times), but the rewards are so great that it's hardly an issue. .


Good music, bad recording
Some of the recordings were so bad, there was rattling from interference. Music was very good, but ythe recording levels varied trememdnously from song to song. I thought I blew my speakers. Changed to a new CD and everything is fine. Can't recommend.


Too much mediocrity drags down the best material
This collection appears to be an attempt to bridge the gap between the casual Fleetwood Mac fan who didn't know they ever played blues. . and the obsessives who feel the Blue Horizon box set represents the pinnacle of the band's achievement. While the box set is overkill on a nuclear scale, two discs is still more than really needed to get the best of Green together when a CD can hold 80 minutes of material.

Here, You get material previously found on the "Mr. Wonderful","Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac", and "Then Play On" albums, some period singles, and some tracks heard in different versions on the double disc "Fleetwood Mac Live in Chicago".

The material that best acquits itself is usually the tunes the band wrote for itself. "Oh Well","Jumpin' at Shadows" and "Black Magic Woman" are revelatory here in live versions, revealing that most of the Green era's magic came in concert, not in the studio. "World in Harmony" proves to be one of the more tuneful and interesting instrumentals the early unit put out. "Green Manalishi" is tough and an early version of the single "Man of the World" sounds crisper here. (Presumably, the master for the single has deterioarated over time. . it sounds very hissy. ) 2 of the songs also found on "Live in Chicago" ("Talk to me Baby" AKA "I Can't Hold Out","Like it This way") sound better in more guitar oriented versions without the piano/horn clutter.

On the 2nd disc, highlights are "Blues in B Flat Minor" (this later became "Before the Beginning" on "Then Play On"), slide workout "Coming, I'm Coming" and "Stranger Blues" in a live rendition with plenty of screaming slide from Jeremy Spencer. "Rattlesnake Shake" is also great.

Unfortunately, Spencer is mostly responsible for the disc's lowest points (overbearing vocals on Elmore James' "The Sun is Shining" and Otis Rush's "I Have to Laugh"). The live cut of "Coming Your Way" from "Then Play On" suffers from a poor vocal mix. Many of the blues chestnuts covered by the band here are just not inspiring.

The set also is missing several important recordings from the Green era, 2 time single hit instrumental "Albatross", Kirwan's "Although the Sun is Shining" and "Like Crying", and Spencer's take on James' "Dust my Broom".

Had those been added to the highlights above, you come out with a 5 star 15 track overview. But as released, it tends to make the case AGAINST Green era Mac. The best Peter Green era CD is still "Then Play On".
.


Music wonderful -- sources lacking
, but on Castle reissues one is left to guess? There are so many versions of early Fleetwood Mac songs available, it would be nice to know which is which. The music of course is wonderful; my complaint is with Castle reissues in general; why is it that Rhino does such a great job listing recording dates etc.


You can see a complete list of all Fleetwood Mac discography, or go back to the Fleetwood Mac tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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