Listening to Penguin
 

For the past several days, I’ve been listening to PENGUIN, sometimes straight through, other times (and more frequently) by track jumping.

My uncle, who is a huge fan of the Peter Green-era Mac, has repeatedly told me the only album from the 1971-74 era that he really digs is PENGUIN. I think it’s a much, much better album than common opinions suggest. The first three and last four songs hang well together. Walker’s two songs are GOOD. They don’t fit in well with the other tunes (at least I don’t think so) but the man can sing and the backing track on Roadrunner is pretty cool. Even The Derelict is pleasant, if out of place.

There’s something about the way it was recorded that is so much more pleasing than MYSTERY. There’s a lot of space and a warm, organic sound. (The speakers on MYSTERY sound too close.)

Those first three songs fit really well together—and Christine really sounds like Christine here. She found her style. Her voice pn Did You Ever Love Me is crazy good.

Revelation has heat but I’ve always preferred Night Watch which, production-wise, sounds so much more sophisticated than anything on BARE TREES. The harmonies slay me and the moodiness of the mid-section earns the descriptor “mystical.” And those harmonies near the end (around 5:45) are so resonant. Love it.

But the real surprise for me is rediscovering Caught in the Rain. I used to love this song when I was young but have pretty much forgotten it in favor of Kirwan’s instrumentals—at least until these past few days. It’s so simple and sweet, an effective piece of program music. The overdubbed harmonies are irresistible.

There’s very little on PENGUIN that I don’t prefer to HEROES and about 1/2 of MYSTERY. And as a follow up to BARE TREES, it feels like a big leap towards what the band would become.

I rank PENGUIN higher than TANGO, MASK, or TIME, and think it better than most of what is on MIRAGE…

Ok! I'm going to listen this morning to the entire album. Great coffee/morning music.

I’ve always loved this one and singing along.

Jim Ladd used to play it late at night on KMET and added it to his 1979 Stevie Innerview when she’s talking about being recognized vs. being appreciated for her songs.

I did not know this! Thanks for that tidbit.

I used to listen to those Jim Ladd late nights on my Uncle's bed. He worked 3rd shift.

One time he (Ladd) did all moon songs. Lots of Pink Floyd and such, then he played Sisters of the Moon.
The Stevie and posse interviews were fantastic.

I love this album. The new remastered version makes it even better to pick up the acoustics and great vocals. Great album!

That's because its so much better than anything else on the album...

Have you ever reached out to David Walker? He was very friendly with Ledgies when he did the Q and A with us years ago.

Do you like Magnesium Fire, my friend?

I try not to let the blindness scare me.

Well it's as real as the evening wind!

…said a man in a raincoat.

well then Don't let waters of caution remove you from this thread.

It’s taking long but I’m getting strong as I read through it

How can I make the sunshine through?
So we can be happy again

I swear that's been going through my head the past few days.

This thread made me check what Mick said in his first book about Penguin. Well actually it seems Bob and Chris said about this album:

Off the road in early 1973, we hired the Rolling Stones' mobile studio and brought it down to Hampshire so we could record our next album at home. The result was Penguin, an album that Bob Welch terms "obscure" and Christine describes as "weird." Halfway through Penguin, we started to wonder about our new singer, who was often drunk and disorderly around the studio. But Penguin had some bright spots. Chris's songs "Remember Me," "Dissatisfied," and "Did You Ever Love Me?" were solid, and Bob Welch's impressionist "Nightwatch" included Peter Green, who was persuaded to play some farecho guitar, albeit uncredited.

Does anybody agree with those terms?

And who is that "new" singer? I suppose Bob, but he had already been in Future Games and Bare Trees. After 2 years is he still "new"? Or am I missing something? :confused:

Dave Walker. I can't believe you didn't know that.

You don’t know who Dave Walker was? He was the greatest figure in Fleetwood Mac history. Well, no, not really, but he played a little guitar for them and wrote “The Derelict.” Dave Walker and Bob Weston were these talented guys in the band at a time that FM was drifting around. Weston is dead, but Walker may still be alive.

I do know who was Dave. I just don't always remember the exact cronology of the 18 (or maybe more) members of Fleetwood Mac. It's a topic idoneus for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire questions.

Don't forget my initial question of agreement with the terms obscure and weird.

Well, I don’t think Penguin is particularly obscure and weird in and of itself. I would say that Fleetwood Mac albums from 1967 through 1974 are generally obscure and weird. The strength of any Fleetwood Mac album (as opposed to, say, Journey or America) is the variety of styles. Those of you who prefer catchy pop can find some of that on any Mac album. If you prefer a heavier jam-centric atmosphere, you can find that, too. You want ballads? We got ballads! You want some bone-crunching? We got that, too! A friend of mine once listened to Tusk and said, “It all sounds the same.” He was a lame-ass who criticized everything if it wasn’t Zappa or Gentle Giant.

Hey, he replaced Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath! I also heard he is/was recently (just before the pandemic) in Humble Pie.

Incidentally, I think he has a YouTube channel.

Yes. That is a great trivia question.
Which former Fleetwood Mac member became a member of Black Sabbath?

Hint: Stephanie Nicks's Ozzy cameo on the back of the White album does not count :lol:

Are you referring to her photo? :wavey:

Eventually, most FM threads, no matter what the lineup or era, lead to Stevie…

So let me switch back to PENGUIN :-)

Penguin appears to be the first time Christine used double tracking on her lead vocals (“Remember Me,” “Dissatisfied”), a production trick she used again on “Just Crazy Love,” “Love In Store” and — I think — “Think About Me.”

I love all of her PENGUIN songs, but notice the very different vocal effect on these two songs as compared to “Did You Ever Love Me?”

I think she made the right decision to double track on those particular songs (gives them a poppier feel) but I’m wondering what “Remember Me” and especially “Dissatisfied” might have sounded like without doing that.

Yes. Remember Me is such a powerful song on many levels. Its a great lead off song for the album. Chris's organ is humming and the double tracked vocals really provide some power for the song. Its very polished which is not the word you would describe Fleetwood Mac songs at this time. In some ways the song belongs on Heroes and Bad Loser on Penguin.