Mr. Wonderful (Fleetwood Mac album)

Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: 23 August 1968 | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=Fleetwood Mac1968The Pious Bird of Good Omen1969studioMr. WonderfulFleetwood Mac - Mr. Wonderful.jpgFleetwood Mac23 August 1968April 1968CBS, LondonBlues rock<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>41:30Blue HorizonMike Vernonx|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}} Mr. Wonderful is the second studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 23 August 1968. In the US, the album was not released, though around half of the tracks appeared on English Rose. An expanded version of Mr. Wonderful was included in the box set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions.

Background

The album was broadly similar to Fleetwood Mac's self-titled debut album, albeit with some changes to personnel and recording method. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and PA system, rather than plugged into the board.<ref name="Fleetwood2014">Template:Cite book</ref> The vocals were distorted with a Vox amplifier and most of the album was recorded in mono.<ref name="Brunning">Template:Cite book</ref>

A horn section was introduced and Christine Perfect (later Christine McVie) of Chicken Shack was featured on keyboards. Mike Vernon, who served as the producer on the album, placed baffles and wooden partitions between the instruments to avoid audio spill.<ref name="Vernon">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>

Peter Green's material on the album was recorded on 28 April 1968, the same day that the band re-recorded their cover of "Need Your Love So Bad". One song from that session, "Stop Messin' Round", was recorded in five takes. "Rollin' Man", "Love That Burns", "If You Be My Baby", and "Lazy Poker Blues" were also recorded that same day.<ref name="Hjort">Template:Cite book</ref> Green remembered that Jeremy Spencer opted not to play on his tracks on Mr Wonderful.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Clifford Davis received writing credits on Green's songs under the name C.G. Adams. Green told Guitar Player magazine in a 1994 interview that Davis did so as a "tax dodge".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

A second session was booked to record six tracks sung by Spencer, who granted the horn section leeway when determining what to play on his compositions, telling them to "just blow".<ref name="Hjort"/><ref name="Fax">Template:Cite book</ref> The album took a total of four days to record.<ref name="Fleetwood1990">Template:Cite book</ref> "Trying So Hard to Forget", the album's final song, was a duet between Green on guitar and Duster Bennett on harmonica.<ref name="Fax"/>

In a June 1968 interview, Green mentioned that he would not be only singing his own songs on the band's forthcoming album.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> A few months later, Green told Nick Logan in an interview with NME that the album would bear a greater resemblance to their live shows than their self-titled album. He said that several other musicians, including Perfect and Stan Webb would appear on his songs.<ref name="Rap the Blues"/> John Peel wrote some passages in the album's liner notes, which included commentary about the band members.<ref name="All the Songs"/>

On Mr Wonderful, four of the songs, "Dust My Broom", "Doctor Brown", "Need Your Love Tonight" and "Coming Home", all begin with an identical Elmore James riff.<ref name="All the Songs"/> conducted an interview after the release of Mr Wonderful where he explained his creative output on the album, saying "At the time we did the Mr Wonderful album, there was a lot of Elmore James, but I wanted the chance to clear it all out of my system on record, which I have, almost." He then expressed interest in pivoting toward novelty music for future releases.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Certain songs on Mr. Wonderful, including "Stop Messin' Round", "Lazy Poker Blues", and "Love That Burns", were performed live with members of the band Chicken Shack prior to the album's release.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Title and cover art

The band originally wanted the album to be titled A Good Length, which would have featured an "obvious phallic symbol" on the album's front cover according to Fleetwood, although this idea was rejected as the label thought it would be too obscene.<ref name="Fleetwood1990"/><ref name="Rap the Blues">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Udder Sucker was the next proposed title, and drummer Mick Fleetwood travelled to his godmother's farm to take a photo underneath a cow for the cover art, but the record label also turned this idea down.<ref name="Fleetwood1990"/> Bob Brunning, who was the original bassist of Fleetwood Mac, said that he suggested the name Mr. Wonderful while socialising with Green at a restaurant. He mentioned that they were "mimicking and satirising television talk-show hosts' tendencies to eulogise their guests by announcing them as 'the truly wonderful', etc. [Green] liked the title and it stuck".<ref name="Brunning"/>

With the exception of a hat and some fig leaves, Fleetwood posed naked on the cover of Mr. Wonderful.<ref name="Fleetwood1990"/><ref name="Allen Evans">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The foldable album cover, which was photographed by Terence Ibbott, revealed Fleetwood's full body, which showed him holding a doll and a toy dog while wearing a loincloth made out of branches.<ref name="All the Songs">Template:Cite book</ref> Vernon mentioned that Ibbott "would come up with the most daft ideas, some of which were just vulgar to the point of being irresponsible and unusable". He also called Ibbott's work with the album cover "extraordinary".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Critical reception

Template:Album ratings Compared to the huge success of the band's first album, Fleetwood Mac, the follow-up received mixed critical reviews. Allen Evans of New Musical Express noted the album's "deep, exciting blues sounds" and thought that the vocals of Green and Spencer had a "smack of the Deep South" on certain tracks.<ref name="Allen Evans"/> Writing for Record Mirror, Derek Boltwood thought that the songs were "all recognizably Fleetwood Mac" even with the additions of a saxophone section. He wrote that the song "Lazy Poker Blues" "isn't as lazy as the title suggests" and described "Need Your Love Tonight" as "psychedelic-Hawaiian blues".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In a retrospective review, Richie Unterberger wrote in AllMusic that the album as "a disappointment". He believed that "the limits of Jeremy Spencer's potential for creative contribution were badly exposed" and felt that Green's material failed to match his other material with Fleetwood Mac.<ref name="AllMusic"/>

Personnel

Fleetwood Mac

• Peter Green – vocals, guitar
• Jeremy Spencer – vocals, slide guitar
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums

Additional personnel

• Christine Perfect – keyboards, piano
• Duster Bennett – harmonica
• Steve Gregory – alto saxophone
• Dave Howard – alto saxophone
• Johnny Almond – tenor saxophone
• Roland Vaughan – tenor saxophone

Production

• Producer: Mike Vernon
• Engineer: Mike Ross
• Coordination: Richard Vernon
• Cover design: Terence Ibbott
• Photography: Terence Ibbott

Charts

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Chart (1968)	Peak position
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts)<ref name=FINI>Template:Cite book</ref>	6