Fleetwood Mac in Chicago: The Legendary Chess Blues Session, January 4, 1969

I spent a great afternoon on a sub zero day reading this wonderful book while listening to Blues Jam in Chicago Vol 1 & 2 on Amazon Music. It took me back to the 1960's in Chicago with references to the Kinetic Playground. I had the vinyl of this recording session way back when. The book is printed on photo quality paper and full of extraordinary and loving commentary and interviews about these historic sessions. My biggest surprise was reading about the session produced and recorded by Mike Vernon shortly after the January 4, 1969 Chicago sessions in New York with Otis Spann, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John McVie and S.P. Leary and released under Spann's name as The Biggest Thing Since Colossus. I'm listening to it now on Amazon Music and it is very good. I had no idea this existed. As the book notes Otis Spann was Muddy Water's pianist and is a great player and singer. The genesis of this book is a remarkable story in itself. Thank you Jeff for preserving these historical photos and thank you to my friend of many decades Robert for putting your heart and soul into this.

Jeff Lowenthal and Robert Schaffner have provided us with a rare look into a landmark recording session, held at Chess Studios in Chicago in January of 1969,. Punctuated with many comments and tributes from musicians and producers who were either the band's contemporaries, were on the session or are just huge fans of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.The band included Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer and they were able to arrange the date during a break on a short tour of the US. This was the first time that British blues musicians had come to the US to record with Chicago blues musicians; among them Willie Dixon, Otis Spann, Buddy Guy, S.P.Leary, Walter Horton and J.T.Brown. Producers Mike Vernon and Marshall Chess worked together with assistance from Seymour Stein to bring this collaboration about and which spawned two albums from the session.Many of the photographs from Jeff's extensive library have never been seen before and the book is a testament to his fine skills as a photographer, with shots taken sensitively so as not to interrupt the musician's work but to give the viewer a special and rare look at that day at Chess Studios.I was very aware of the effort and excitement surrounding the work that went into this book and Robert and i spoke frequently as things were put in place to publish and I also contributed a short commentary for one of the pages. Seeing the finished book for the first time was and eye opener and spoke volumes about the care and detail that had been put into it's creation.Thank you Jeff and Robert for bringing such a great body of work to life in the form of this splendid book.It is without doubt a must have for the library and especially for fans of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.

For me, and many like me, the Best era of Fleetwood Mac came early on. Soulful, sometimes Blistering Blues were their calling card. Nobody played this stuff better than Peter Green. Now add Danny Kirwan, Jeremy Spencer and host of elite Chicago Bluesmen such as Buddy Guy, Otis Spann and Willie Dixon and you have all the ingredients necessary for a true Super Session! This book is a chronicle of those those fabled Sessions from January 1969. The Brits came to Chi-town to play with the masters. How did it go? Buy this book! Read this book. A Fly on the Wall intimate accounting of those sessions. Gorgeous photos and revelatory text make this book such an experience you'll feel like a privileged guest in the recording studio as it happens. If you have a deep interest in Chicago/British Blues, or if you'd simply like a bit more insight into the enigmatic Mr. Green, you need this in your library. You might say I really enjoyed this book. Indispensable!

I bought this book at a local area signing in Illinois. After meeting and talking at length with both authors, I can tell you that these two men put their hearts and souls into their respective work(s).What transpires when one opens the book is a trip back to a turbulent, yet magical time in history. Chicago had yet to shed the volatility of the '68 Democratic riots, and here come these five guys from England to invade a Chicago blues studio with some of our own local blues legends. They spent a day laying down some of the best blues jamming ever committed to vinyl. That sets the tone for the music, which I implore you to seek out. The book...well, it takes you inside those walls for a while.Jeff Lowenthal's casual approach to photographing these gentlemen was both unobtrusive and seemingly clandestine, snapping pics of the greats like Willie Dixon, Buddy Guy, Otis Spann, Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. His angles and photographs were so perfect in their seeming simplicity and natural atmosphere that you literally feel like you're in that room some 54-years ago. No video was ever captured of this legendary session, but Mr. Lowenthal's photographs (most sitting silently in files and on negatives, while a sparse few others were criminally 'borrowed' without credit over the years) lead us right into the warmth and magic of that studio. The black and white photos set a wondrous tone for the time period, while a few color pics lend startling clarity to the whole session. We are ever so grateful for his work, his time, his talents, and his blessing for this book.Robert Schaffner approaches the texts of this book with all of the style and passion of a true blues aficionado. His interviews with some of the great names in music, both behind the scenes and the creators themselves, are insightful and authentic, delving into both the psyches and the logistics of both the session players and the blues as a medium. I thoroughly enjoyed his careful, yet laid-back conversational approaches to the subjects at hand, making me feel as if I was in the room with all involved. Folks sitting around, jabbering about music and going on and on about our passions? A select few understand us and our neuroses - but we welcome all comers with such a shared glorious affliction.Thank you, gentlemen. I cannot recommend this book highly enough; Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, and all parties involved would be proud of such authentic reverence.

not much text but a wealth of pictures