Fleetwood Mac Album Mr. Wonderful
Mr.
Wonderful is the second studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 23 August 1968. This all-blues album was broadly similar to their debut album, albeit with some changes to personnel and recording method. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and PA system, rather than plugged into the board. A horn section was introduced and Christine Perfect (later Christine McVie) of Chicken Shack was featured on keyboards. The album took a total of four days to record. In the US, the album was not issued under the name Mr. Wonderful, though around half of the tracks appeared on English Rose.
| Mr. Wonderful | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 23 August 1968 | |||
| Recorded | April 1968 | |||
| Studio | CBS, London | |||
| Genre | Blues rock | |||
| Length | 41:30 | |||
| Label | Blue Horizon | |||
| Producer | Mike Vernon | |||
| Fleetwood Mac chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
The band originally wanted the album to be titled A Good Length, which would have featured an "obvious phallic symbol" on the album's front cover according to Fleetwood, although this idea was rejected. Udder Sucker was the next proposed title, and Fleetwood even traveled to his godmother's farm to take a photo underneath a cow for the cover art, but the record label also turned this idea down. Fleetwood instead posed naked on the cover of Mr. Wonderful.
An expanded version of Mr. Wonderful was included in the box set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions. The song "Lazy Poker Blues" was covered by Status Quo on their 1971 album Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon.
Reception
Compared to the huge success of the band's first album, Fleetwood Mac, this follow-up received rather muted critical reviews: AllMusic described it as "a disappointment". Four of the songs, "Dust My Broom", "Doctor Brown", "Need Your Love Tonight" and "Coming Home", all begin with an identical Elmore James riff. "Evenin' Boogie" was the first instrumental released by Fleetwood Mac.
Sputnik Music describes the style as "vocally conservative, sticking to gruff mannerisms, and it often sounds like Green is drunkedly wandering through the music. The production adds further insult to injury, as it muffles his voice rather than amplifying it and makes the instruments sound murky."
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Stop Messin' Round" | Peter Green, C.G. Adams | 2:22 |
| 2. | "I've Lost My Baby" | Jeremy Spencer | 4:18 |
| 3. | "Rollin' Man" | Green, Adams | 2:54 |
| 4. | "Dust My Broom" | Elmore James, Robert Johnson | 2:54 |
| 5. | "Love That Burns" | Green, Adams | 5:04 |
| 6. | "Doctor Brown" | J. T. Brown, W. Glasco | 3:48 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Need Your Love Tonight" | Spencer | 3:29 |
| 2. | "If You Be My Baby" | Green, Adams | 3:54 |
| 3. | "Evenin' Boogie" | Spencer | 2:42 |
| 4. | "Lazy Poker Blues" | Green, Adams | 2:37 |
| 5. | "Coming Home" | James | 2:41 |
| 6. | "Trying So Hard to Forget" | Green, Adams | 4:47 |
Personnel
Fleetwood Mac
- Peter Green – vocals, guitar, harmonica
- Jeremy Spencer – vocals, slide guitar
- John McVie – bass guitar
- Mick Fleetwood – drums
Additional personnel
- Christine Perfect – keyboards, piano
- Duster Bennett – harmonica
- Steve Gregory – alto saxophone
- Dave Howard – alto saxophone
- Johnny Almond – tenor saxophone
- Roland Vaughan – tenor saxophone
Production
- Producer: Mike Vernon
- Engineer: Mike Ross
- Coordination: Richard Vernon
- Cover design: Terence Ibbott
- Photography: Terence Ibbott
Charts
| Chart (1968) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) | 6 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) | 8 |
| UK Albums (OCC) | 10 |
References
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