''Kiln House'' is the fourth studio album by British

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre, genre and form of rock music, rock and blues music that relies on the chords/scales and instrumental improvisation of blues. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electri ...

band

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1967 by the singer and guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of the drummer, Mick Fleetwood, and the bassis ...

, released on 18 September 1970 by

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...

. This is the first album after the departure of founder Peter Green, and their last album to feature guitarist Jeremy Spencer.

Christine McVie Christine Anne McVie (; Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician. She was the keyboardist and one of the vocalists and songwriters of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. McVie was a member of several bands, notably Chic ...

was present at the recording sessions and contributed backing vocals, keyboards and cover art, although she was not a full member of the band until shortly after the album's completion.

Background

Fleetwood Mac recorded after the departure of Peter Green, a founding member of Fleetwood Mac. Around the time of Green's final performance with the band on 28 May 1970, the remaining members regrouped by moving to the English countryside with their wives, children, and road managers.

John McVie John Graham McVie (; born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of drummer ...

commented that "The legs went out from under us, and we were faced with a future without Peter." The album title is taken from the name of two converted

oast house An oast, oast house (or oasthouse) or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. Oast houses can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas, and are often good examples of agricultu ...

s, known as Kiln House, in Truncheaunts Lane in East Worldham, near

Alton, Hampshire Alton ( ) is a market town and civil parish in East Hampshire, England, near the source of the northern branch of the River Wey. It had a population of 19,425 at the 2021 census. Alton was recorded in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as ''Aoltone' ...

. The property had previously been used for drying

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

for beer brewing, and later became a

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The band leased Kiln House and lived there communally with their families for a six-month period in 1970.

Mick Fleetwood Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and actor. He is the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of the group's bassist John Mc ...

married Jenny Boyd at the house on 20 June 1970.

Recording

The band spent two weeks recording ''Kiln House'' at De Lane Lea Studios.

, who at the time was still known as Christine Perfect, lived in Kiln House with the band and participated in the album's recording sessions. She was signed to Blue Horizon as a solo artist and could not be credited as a musician in the liner notes of ''Kiln House'' due to contractual reasons. Clifford Davis, the band's manager, provided McVie with session money for her contributions. Spencer, who played on one track during the recording of the previous album, '' Then Play On'', played a much more active role during the ''Kiln House'' sessions. His retro 1950s homages and parodies dominate the album and

Danny Kirwan Daniel David Kirwan (né Langran, 13 May 1950 – 8 June 2018) was a British musician and guitarist, singer and songwriter with the blues rock, blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972. He released three albums as a solo artist from ...

's songs are almost equally prominent. Spencer was particularly influenced by

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

and music from the

Sun Records Sun Records is an American independent record label founded by producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee on February 1, 1952. Sun was the first label to record Elvis Presley, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Jo ...

record label. "Buddy's Song" is derivative of "

Peggy Sue Got Married ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' is a 1986 American fantasy comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high s ...

" with new lyrics listing a number of

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

song titles with a writing credit given to Buddy's mother. Fleetwood Mac's cover of "Hi Ho Silver" was based on a recording titled " Honey Hush" from Johnny Burnette's Rock and Roll Trio. Johnny Burnette's nephew, Billy Burnette, later joined Fleetwood Mac in 1987. Fleetwood Mac performed "Buddy's Song" and "Honey Hush" on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

for a broadcast on '' Top Gear''; these recordings later appeared on '' Live at the BBC'' in 1995. " Jewel Eyed Judy" was written about the band's secretary Judy Wong. The song was also released as a single in certain markets. Spencer's "Blood on the Floor" was a style parody of country and western dirges. An early version of Kirwan's instrumental "Earl Gray", entitled "Farewell", was later released on the compilation '' The Vaudeville Years''. Demos of the song were recorded in the middle of April 1970 at De Lane Lea Studio when Green was still a member of the band. Spencer originally wanted to drop "One Together" from the album, but the band convinced him otherwise. " Tell Me All the Things You Do" was included in Fleetwood Mac's live setlists through 1977 and again in 2018–2019 during the band's An Evening with Fleetwood Mac Tour. " Mission Bell" was a cover of a 1960s ballad originally performed by

Donnie Brooks Donnie Brooks (born John Dee Abohosh; February 6, 1936 – February 23, 2007) was an American pop music singer. Brooks is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Early life Born in Dallas, Texas, Abohosh moved to Ventura, California in his ...

. In a Q&A, Spencer said that their cover of "Mission Bell" was not universally accepted by the public; he recalled hearing people express their displeasure with the rendition included on ''Kiln House''.

Touring and release

Five days before they were set to depart for their American tour, the band asked Christine Perfect to join Fleetwood Mac. Following five days of rehearsals, the band left for America on 26 July 1970. The band's first performance was in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

on the first of August. One week after her first performance with the band, the British press announced that she had joined the group and would be known as Christine McVie from then on. McVie said that the band was met with apprehension for some of their performances, particularly amongst those who missed Peter Green. "I think the audience are wondering what we are going to be like. Before Peter ran the band. Now there is no leader, we just take turns. Obviously, some of the people miss Peter's guitar playing. But then, the sound is different now and other people have said that they don't even notice he's missing." " Let's Dance" by

Chris Montez Chris Montez (born Ezekiel Christopher Montañez; January 17, 1943) is an American guitarist and vocalist, whose stylistic approach has ranged from rock & roll to pop standards and Latin music. His rock sound is exemplified in songs such as hi ...

and "Mission Bell" were included in the band's setlist. Spencer recalled that the album and ensuing tour were met with hostility in the UK. However, ''Kiln House'' was received much more favorably in North America, where it peaked at 69 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart on 7 November 1970 and No. 67 in Canada's RPM Magazine, 19 December 1970. At the time, ''Kiln House'' was Fleetwood Mac's best-selling album in the US.

Critical reception

In his review of ''Kiln House'', J.R. Young wrote in ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' that the album was "carefully conceived and prepared" and marked a shift from the Fleetwood Mac's earlier work with Green, saying that "Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer took up the slack and built a new engine" for the band. He felt that Kirwan was successful in reining in Spencer's retro-pastiches such as "Blood on the Floor" and also found Spencer's material on ''Kiln House'' to be more tasteful than the songs found on his self-titled album released earlier in 1970. ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' characterised the album as a foray into "the roots of contemporary rock." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' noted the band's pivot away from blues music in favor of "straightaway rock entertainment" and believed that fans of the band would find the material pleasing. '' Cashbox'' thought that ''Kiln House'' demonstrated the band's ability to create "new and exciting material".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

rated the album higher than “Then Play On,” even with the absence of the “miraculously fluent eterGreen.” Regarding one aspect of the band’s then bifurcated style, he claimed “the mansions in their jazzy blues/rock and roll guitar heaven are spacier than ever.” In reference to the album’s rockabilly parodies, he admitted that Spencer's "Blood on the Floor” was "less charitable than one would hope", but was more complimentary toward "This is the Rock". '' Beat Instrumental'' described the band as a "mighty fine unit" without Green and highlighted the "nostalgia for the fading 'fifties" that permeated through Spencer's compositions. They also thought that " Station Man" and "Tell Me All the Things You Do" exemplified the band's "multi-guitar work". In a retrospective review, Bruce Eder of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote that the album lacked the intensity found on some of their previous work with Green, but said that the album instead "broaden dthe band's use of blues into other contexts, and add dnew influences in the absence of Green's laser-like focus."

Track listing

*"Hi Ho Silver" (a.k.a. " Honey Hush") is incorrectly credited to

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, and singer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz piano. A widely popular star ...

and Ed Kirkeby, in confusion with another song (Waller died ten years before this song was written). *"Purple Dancer" is referred to as such only on the 2020 remastered album; on all prior releases it is titled "The Purple Dancer".

Personnel

Fleetwood Mac * Jeremy Spencer –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, vocals *

– guitar, vocals *

–

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

–

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Additional personnel *

– Wurlitzer 200A,

, backing vocals (uncredited) Production *Producer – Fleetwood Mac *Engineer – Martin Birch *Cover drawing –

Charts

References

{{Authority control Fleetwood Mac albums 1970 albums Reprise Records albums Albums produced by John McVie Albums produced by Jeremy Spencer Albums produced by Danny Kirwan Albums produced by Mick Fleetwood