Kiln House

[wondergirl9847]

Well, I just finished listening to Kiln House on LP. It's the only copy of KH I have. Here are my thoughts:

1. This is the Rock - Rockabilly! This is right out of the 1950's! I like it. I give it an 8.

2. Station Man - I've never liked the vocals on this, but that riff is way cool. This one's a 6.

3. Blood on the Floor - Country!! LOL Jeremy trips me out, he's such a unique singer/entertainer. I give it a 5.

4. Hi Ho Silver - Very bluesy 50's. Eh. How about a 4.

5. Jewel Eyed Judy - I LOVE THIS SONG! Danny is just awesome!! 10 all the way!!

6. Buddy's Song - Sounds just like BH and the Crickets! I give it a 5.

7. Earl Gray - This reminds me of the Charlie Brown cartoons, for some reason. I love it...9.

8. One Together - Reminds me of the Monkees, Mike Nesmith in particular. My 2nd fave JS song on here. 8

9. Tell Me All the Things You Do - A rockin DK song!! Gotta love that riff!! 9

10. Mission Bell - Another Monkees-sounding song. It's really pretty and I like the bells. 8

Overall, a pretty nice lil album. Now, I just need it on CD!

[chiliD]

Originally posted by wondergirl9847
6. Buddy's Song - Sounds just like BH and the Crickets! I give it a 5.

It is SUPPOSED to sound like Buddy Holly...hence the title. Ingenious how Jeremy took all those Buddy Holly lyrics from different songs and made ONE song out of 'em...AND they made sense. It is the GEM of the album! Anything less than a 10 is scandalous!

[wondergirl9847]

The tone of that sentence was fact as opposed to surprise. LOL!!

[chiliD]

Sorry, the "5" threw me.

[greenfire]

I'm not just saying this just to agree, but, "Buddy's Song" was my favorite also. I do agree with Wondergirl, I liked the music to "Station Man" but for some reason the vocals didn't quite work for me. I remember enjoying "One Together" and "Mission Bell", but can't quite remember how "Tell Me All The Things You Do"...goes. I have a vague memory, so I think it was a bit more of a rocking song. Yeah, and the "Blood on the Floor" was neat, just for Jermemy's vocal approach to the song. "Earl Grey" was an ok instrumental but once I heard "Sunny Side of Heaven", it's hard to put that in the same league. Also, I loved the cover art. I wonder why they never had Chris do more of the covers. She not only had musical talent but could draw. These are all just my opinons, feel free to disagree!

[Cristian]

Isn't "One Together" supposed to sound like Buddy Holly and the Crickets, too? I just love that one - it's my favorite off that album, and I believe I'm one of the few supporters of the fact that Jeremy actually wrote a fantastic, almost melancholic lyric, changing all this Elmore James impersonation-thing he was always doing.

I'm also a huge fan of "Buddy's Song" and (most of all) "Jewel Eyed Judy" which I find to be a treasure.

Your description of "Earl Grey" was strangely enough, how I feel about that song. It's sounds like a Charlie Brown cartoon... love it. "This Is The Rock" is a good tune.

This album has more good songs than I remembered!




Song of the moment - Brown Eyes

[macfan 57]

I think Kiln House is a nice little album, too, although I do prefer Fleetwood Mac after Chris & Bob joined. I think I like it even better now since I've heard some of these songs live on the Madison Blues box set. Station Man is my favorite and I do like the vocals on this song. I'm not normally a big fan of Jeremy, but I actually like his songs on here, especially "Blood On The Floor". I also like "Mission Bell " & "One Together". "Tell Me All The Things You Do" & "Jewel Eyed Judy" are also good. There are no songs on the album that I'd give a 10, but there aren't any that I would give less than a 5 or 6. It's a nice little album that is fun to listen to. I agree with greenfire about the cover. It's definitely my favorite Fleetwood Mac album cover. I can usually find something new that I never noticed before every time I look at the LP cover.

[dansven]

Kiln House is very dear to me, I love it!
But as many of you say, it's a nice, LITTLE album. A couple of extra Danny Kirwan songs would have been great.

But the album shows that the band "played on", and it does not deserve the bad reviews they got.

Daniel

[BklynBlue]

ChiliD wrote,
"Ingenious how Jeremy took all those Buddy Holly lyrics from different songs and made ONE song out of 'em..."

Actually, "Buddy's Song" is not a Spencer original. Like most of the songs he sang, whether in studio or in concert, it was a cover.
Though usually credited to Holly, it seems it first appeared on a 1963 album, "I Remember Buddy Holly" by teen idol, Bobby Vee.
Although no composer credit was listed, the title change on "Hi Ho Silver" did little to hide the fact that it was Big Joe Turner's song and Johnny Burnette's arrangement.
Which in no way detracts from what Spencer brought to these numbers. I too, enjoy these versions - and much of his work with Fleetwood Mac.
I would have much preferred he dug a little deeper into Elmore James' catalog, as not everything James recorded utilized the riff from "Dust My Broom"!
I've often wondered why Mike Vernon didn't use "I Held My Baby Last Night" for Mr. Wonderful -
and though they were concert staples from their first shows on , they apparently never cut "My Baby's Sweet" or "Talk to Me Baby" for a studio LP or single while with Blue Horizon (I know they cut the latter for "Blues Jam In Chicago" - but it was too late by then.)
Jeremy's "audition" tracks (which no one can seem to confirm) "Mean Old Fireman" and "Allow Me One More Show" along with the released "Believe My Time Ain't Long" are a much better representation of his abilities as a guitarist and it's a shame he wasn't encouraged to follow this direction - another missed opportunity.

[chiliD]

Originally posted by BklynBlue
Actually, "Buddy's Song" is not a Spencer original. Like most of the songs he sang, whether in studio or in concert, it was a cover.

Though usually credited to Holly, it seems it first appeared on a 1963 album, "I Remember Buddy Holly" by teen idol, Bobby Vee.

WOW! Thanks, didn't know that. From all the interviews I've read, Jeremy has always intimated that he'd wrote it. I guess that was just his insecurity coming through.

Was that the album that Bobby Vee was backed by the Crickets?

[SteveMacD]

Originally posted by dansven
Kiln House is very dear to me, I love it!
But as many of you say, it's a nice, LITTLE album. A couple of extra Danny Kirwan songs would have been great.

But the album shows that the band "played on", and it does not deserve the bad reviews they got.

I think "little" is in reference to the rather short length of the album, especially when compared to "Then Play On" before and "Future Games" after. It's a very structured, song-based album. It's not the thinking man's Fleetwood Mac, which is fine by me.

[BklynBlue]

Originally posted by chiliD

Was that the album that Bobby Vee was backed by the Crickets? [/B]

That was a year earlier, different label - "Bobby Vee Meets the Crickets" - (Capitol 1962)
the origins of Jeremy's songs can be really hard to track down -I just found out that the song "Shelia" from one of the BBC sessions, (another Buddy Holly sound-alike) was a hit for Tommy Roe in 1961 -
Even I was too young for that one, but I do remember (though with no great fondness) Roe's 1969 chart-topper "Dizzy"

You mention Spencer's insecurity, I think that's why he chose to do his parodies - how can they fault you if you don't take the number seriously yourself?
It's really too bad that it is so difficult to see past the Elmore James covers and Teen Idol spoofs as I think his contributions deserve a second look - especially the amount of (uncredited) piano work he did during their BBC tapings -
Favorite forgotten track of the moment: "I'm So Lonesome And Blue", a BBC track from "Show-Biz Blues". I just love Green's guitar work on this one (laugh if you want)- I think they really found the right balance between sticking a finger in the eye of the genre and still turning out a real song -

[wondergirl9847]

I think you get to see Jeremy's "real" side on his solo recordings.

[chiliD]

Originally posted by BklynBlue
I just found out that the song "Shelia" from one of the BBC sessions, (another Buddy Holly sound-alike) was a hit for Tommy Roe in 1961 -
Even I was too young for that one, but I do remember (though with no great fondness) Roe's 1969 chart-topper "Dizzy"

"Sheila"---just GOTTA love that "Peggy Sue" type gallop beat...I could listen to that drum beat by itself for hours!!

"Dizzy"---{cold shudder} EWWWWW!!!!!

Originally posted by BklynBlue
Favorite forgotten track of the moment: "I'm So Lonesome And Blue", a BBC track from "Show-Biz Blues". I just love Green's guitar work on this one (laugh if you want)- I think they really found the right balance between sticking a finger in the eye of the genre and still turning out a real song -

I've gotta listen to disc one more often...I get out that set and immediately head to disc two everytime.

Originally posted by wondergirl9847
I think you get to see Jeremy's "real" side on his solo recordings.

Jeremy's done so many parodies, how can we really TELL what's his "real" side?? Even the Flee album...side one is so overboardly Disco, is it "real" or a parody of the genre...even side two...was he really into a sound that paralleled the then current Fleetwood Mac or was he parodying his old band's sound? It's tough to tell what is what. Even his Jeremy Spencer & The Children album...he "borrows" so heavily from other bands' sounds (CSNY, Beatles, Jefferson Airplane, etc), is that really HIS sound or again, a parody or mimicing a certain sound or genre?

[wondergirl9847]

Good point. Well, I guess I was looking at it as he wasn't Elvis or Buddy Holly, etc...so I figured he really fell into the cult so perhaps those recordings were him....but you could be right.

Who knows?