Flee (album) explained

Flee
Type:Album
Artist:The Jeremy Spencer Band
Cover:Flee_album_cover.jpg
Released:June 1979[1]
Genre:Soft rock, disco
Label:Atlantic
Producer:Jeremy Spencer, Michael Fogarty
Prev Title:Jeremy Spencer and the Children
Prev Year:1972
Next Title:Precious Little
Next Year:2006

Flee is an album by British blues rock musician Jeremy Spencer credited as "The Jeremy Spencer Band" with particularly strong input from Michael Fogarty. Spencer had been a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1967–71, and this 1979 release was Spencer's third album apart from Fleetwood Mac, and his second recorded while a member of the Children of God.

Background

Spencer was living in Italy in 1977, and had begun to write new songs and work towards forming a new band. He was joined there by Michael Fogarty, whom Spencer considered the perfect partner for his new musical venture, the two having met in the UK in 1975. Fogarty was born in Tennessee in 1951, and had spent the previous ten years playing in a number of soul and country groups.[2]

This was Spencer's first recorded work in seven years, and was musically far removed from his previous work. It showed his continuing preference for parodying other bands; in this case the songs on side two bear a strong resemblance to the contemporary sound of Fleetwood Mac, i.e. a Californian rock style with female vocalists, and a solid drum sound reminiscent of Mick Fleetwood.Spencer and Fogarty sang on several tracks, but for the hit single "Cool Breeze", the lead vocal was taken by Jeanne Hendricks. Hendricks performed on a number of tracks, and was featured in the album photographs, but was not credited as a vocalist. She also sang with Spencer on the follow-up single, "Travellin'".

The album features a heavy disco production treatment given to the songs on side one, which Spencer was very unhappy with.[3] "Sunshine" was a reworking of "When I Looked to See the Sunshine" from the Jeremy Spencer and the Children album of 1972.

"Cool Breeze" and "Travellin'" were issued as singles in various territories, and "Cool Breeze" charted at Number 21 on the U.S. Billboard Adult Contemporary Charts, although the album was not a commercial success.

"Flee" was reworked by Spencer as "Refugees" for his 2012 album Bend in the Road.

Critical reception

The Globe and Mail wrote that "Spencer's major problem with Flee is that he can't decide what he wants the album to be—a hot-shot disco pulser or a throw-back to his Fleetwood Mac days."[4]

In 2020, PopMatters praised the title track but called the rest of the album "straight-laced, overproduced disco-pop dross."[5]

Track listing

Side one:

  1. "Deeper" (David Rugely)
  2. "Sunshine" (Jeremy Spencer)
  3. "Love Our Way Outta Here" (Michael Fogarty)

Side two:

  1. "Flee" (Spencer, Fogarty)
  2. "Cool Breeze" (Fogarty, Spencer)
  3. "You've Got the Right" (Fogarty, Spencer)
  4. "Travellin'" (Fogarty, Spencer)

Personnel

The Jeremy Spencer Band

Production

References

Other reference material

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Flee - Jeremy Spencer. Martin E.. Adelson. Discog.fleetwoodmac.net. 13 November 2017.
  2. Atlantic Records Publicity Biography – The Jeremy Spencer Band, 1979
  3. [Jeremy Spencer]
  4. News: Niester . Alan . Flee The Jeremy Spencer Band . The Globe and Mail . 18 Aug 1979 . F4.
  5. Web site: Caldwell . Rob . The 10 Best Fleetwood Mac Solo Albums . PopMatters . 31 December 2023 . Aug 10, 2020.