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The Blue Horizon Story pt 4

By John Holmes

Last month we finished as Fleetwood Mac were about to go into the Chess studios,
with their various guests, to record what would become “Blues Jam At Chess”.

Although not all the band members were as enthusiastic as Green and Spencer, once
things got under way everyone showed equal commitment. By the end of the day on

4th January 1969 around two and
a half hours of music had been

recorded, and virtually
everything was done in one take.

According to Mike Vernon, the
entire day was pretty laid back,

and there was no sense of
urgency until the clock had

almost run down, by which time
he urged the band to get a couple

more tunes in the can - which
they did, with ‘Homework’ and

‘Sugar Mama’. According to Peter
Green, he did not like playing in

the large Ter Mar studios, and he
felt that he had not been up to par,
saying that he played a lot better

when he appeared at Pepper’s
Lounge that same evening, sitting in with another band. Having owned the double

album for in excess of 50 years, I can only say that if that was below par, I wish I had
been at Pepper’s Lounge!

Little did Mike Vernon know that these recordings would be the last straight blues
music the band would ever commit to tape - although 5 days later Green, Kirwan and

McVie, with the addition of S. P. Leary on drums, recorded a very fine album in New
York, with the incomparable Otis Spann, which resulted in an LP entitled “The Biggest

Thing Since Colossus”. The entire album was recorded without a single overdub - a
tribute to the musicians involved. Although now hard to find, the entire album, plus

many extra/alternative tracks recorded at the session, was released as “Otis Spann
- The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions”. Spann thought very highly of Fleetwood Mac,

and wanted them to back him on the recordings, even though he didn’t use Mick
Fleetwood. This wasn’t because he did not rate his playing, but more because S. P.
Leary was a close friend with whom he worked and travelled regularly. Very sadly,

Spann was taken seriously ill early the following year, and subsequently died of