Kiln House

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 commented that "The legs went out from under us, and we were faced with a future without Peter."{{cite book|last1=Evans|first1=Mike|title=Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History|date=2011|publisher=Sterling|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4027-8630-3|pages=64, 68, 72–73}}

The album title is taken from the name of two converted oast houses, known as Kiln House, in Truncheaunts Lane in East Worldham, near Alton, Hampshire. The property had previously been used for drying hops for beer brewing, and later became a listed building.{{Cite web |title=KILN HOUSE, Alton - 1180053 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1180053 |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=Historic England|language=en}} The band leased Kiln House and lived there communally with their families for a six-month period in 1970. Mick Fleetwood married Jenny Boyd at the house on 20 June 1970.{{cite book|last1=Fleetwood|first1=Mick|title=Play On|date=2014|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|location=London}}

{{blockquote|I remember sitting with Mick, Danny and Christine in a small side room off the practice studio that occupied what decades ago used to be the oast-drying place for the making of beer and mulling over our future. All we knew, Danny and I, was that we had some material to record.|Jeremy Spencer{{Cite web|last=Lundstrom|first=Jim|title=Vinyl Liner Notes: Tarkio by Brewer & Shipley |url=http://www.scenenewspaper.com/arts-entertainment/24-arts-entertainment/378-vinyl-liner-notes.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808071526/http://www.scenenewspaper.com/arts-entertainment/24-arts-entertainment/378-vinyl-liner-notes.html |archive-date=August 8, 2010 |access-date=19 October 2023 |format=Scroll beyond the interviews with Brewer & Shipley and Marshall Crenshaw to reach the Q&A with Jeremy Spencer on Kiln House|website=Scene}}}}

The band spent two weeks recording Kiln House at De Lane Lea Studios.{{Cite news |last=McGrath |first=Rick |date=18 April 1971 |title=The Fleetwood Mac Interview |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=3549 |access-date=2 March 2025 |work=The Georgia Straight}}{{cite book|first=Richie |last=Unterberger |author-link= Richie Unterberger |year=2016 |title=Fleetwood Mac: The Complete Illustrated History |pages=58–60 |publisher=Voyageur Press |isbn=978-0-7603-5176-5}} Christine McVie, who at the time was still known as Christine Perfect, lived in Kiln House with the band and had 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, although Danny Kirwan's songs are almost equally prominent.{{Cite web|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/fleetwood-mac-lead-vocals-songs/|title=Who Sang the Most Fleetwood Mac Songs? Lead Vocal Totals|last=Reed|first=Ryan|website=Ultimate Classic Rock|date=16 March 2020 |language=en|access-date=2020-03-20}} Spencer was particularly influenced by rockabilly and music from the Sun Records record label. "Buddy's Song" is derivative of "Peggy Sue Got Married" with new lyrics listing a number of Buddy Holly 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.{{cite web|last=DeRiso|first=Nick|title=Fleetwood Mac Hit Big with 'Tango in the Night' Then Imploded|url=http://somethingelsereviews.com/2015/04/14/fleetwood-mac-tango-in-the-night/|website=Something Else Reviews|date=14 April 2015 |access-date=22 October 2023}} Fleetwood Mac had performed "Buddy's Song" and "Honey Hush" on BBC Radio 1 for a broadcast on Top Gear. These recordings would later appear on Live at the BBC in 1995.{{Cite book |last=Hjort |first=Christopher |url=https://archive.org/details/strangebrewericc00hjor/page/340/mode/2up |url-access=registration |title=Strange Brew: Eric Clapton and the British Blues Boom |publisher=Jawbone Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-906002-00-8|pages=307, 309, 340-341 |via=Internet Archive}}

"Jewel Eyed Judy" was written by the band's secretary Judy Wong.{{cite book|title=Visions, Dreams and Rumours|last=

Howe|first=Zoë|page=111|year=2015|publisher=Omnibus Press|isbn=978-1-4683-1066-5|url=https://archive.org/details/stevienicksvisio0000howe/page/110/mode/2up}} The song was also released as a single in certain markets.{{Cite magazine |date=6 February 1971 |title=Fleetwood Mac Jewel Eyed Judy |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1971/Billboard%201971-02-06.pdf |access-date=2 March 2025 |magazine=Billboard |page=11 |via=World Radio History}}{{cite web |url=https://www.top40.nl/tipparade/1971/week-10|title=Tipparade-lijst van week 10, 1971|language=dutch| publisher=Dutch Top 40|access-date=9 March 2025}} Spencer's "Blood on the Floor" was a style parody of country and western dirges.{{cite book|last1=Carr |first1=Roy |last2=Clarke |first2=Steve |title=Fleetwood Mac: Rumours n' Fax|year=1978|publisher=Harmony Books|pages=59–60|isbn=0-517-53364-2|url=https://archive.org/details/fleetwoodmacrumo0000carr/page/58/mode/2up |url-access=registration}} An early version of Kirwan's instrumental "Earl Gray", entitled "Farewell", was later released on the compilation The Vaudeville Years.{{cite AV media notes|others= Fleetwood Mac |title= The Vaudeville Years |title-link= The Vaudeville Years |type= CD booklet notes |year= 1998 |publisher= Receiver Records }} 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.{{Cite book |last=Blake |first=Mark |title=The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac |publisher=Pegasus Books |year=2024 |isbn=978-1-63936-732-0 |location=New York |pages=104, 116–117}} "Tell Me All the Things You Do" included keyboard playing from Perfect and 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. When discussing the song in a Q&A, Spencer remembered hearing some people express their displeasure with the band's cover of "Mission Bell".

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.{{Cite magazine |last=Halsall |first=John |date=29 March 1971 |title=Christine McVie (She's Not Perfect Anymore...) |magazine=Rock Magazine|url=http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=1047&c=2 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101194249/http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.php?page=index_v2&id=1047&c=2 |archive-date=1 January 2016 |access-date=22 October 2023 |via=The Blue Letter Archives}} The band's first performance was in New Orleans 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 and "Mission Bell" were included in the band's setlist.{{Cite news |last=Mendelsohn |first=John |date=14 August 1970 |title=Fleetwood Mac Opens Without Peter Green |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-fleetwood-mac-whis/53216953/ |access-date=9 March 2025 |work=Los Angeles Times |page=74 |via=Newspapers.com}}

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 {{abbr|No.|Number}} 69 on the Billboard 200 album chart on 7 November 1970{{Cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/302218/fleetwood-mac/chart?page=1&f=305|title=Billboard 200 Kiln House|website=Billboard.com|access-date=18 May 2021}} and No. 67 in Canada's RPM Magazine, 19 December 1970.{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.3735.pdf| title=RPM Top 100 Albums - December 19, 1970}} At the time, Kiln House was Fleetwood Mac's best-selling album in the US.

{{Music ratings

|rev1 = AllMusic

|rev1score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/kiln-house-mw0000193528|title=Kiln House - Fleetwood Mac | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic|access-date=18 May 2021|website=AllMusic}}

|rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

|rev2Score = A−{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor & Fields|isbn=089919026X|chapter=Consumer Guide '70s: F|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=F&bk=70|access-date=24 February 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}

}}

In his review of Kiln House, J.R. Young wrote in Rolling Stone 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.{{Cite magazine |last=Young |first=J.R. |date=26 November 1970 |title=Kiln House |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/kiln-house-188806/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230417071005/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/kiln-house-188806/ |archive-date=17 April 2023 |access-date=1 March 2025 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}

Billboard characterised the album as a foray into "the roots of contemporary rock."{{cite magazine |date=10 October 1970 |title=Billboard Album Reviews |magazine=Billboard |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/70s/1970/Billboard%201970-10-10.pdf |page=68 |via=World Radio History}} Record World 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.{{cite magazine |date=17 October 1970 |title=Record World Album Reviews: Pick Hits |magazine=Record World |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/70/RW-1970-10-17.pdf |page=128 |via=World Radio History}} Cashbox thought that the Kiln House demonstrated the band's ability to create "new and exciting material".{{cite magazine |date=10 October 1970 |title=Cashbox Album Reviews: Pop Best Bets |magazine=Cashbox |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1970/CB-1970-10-10.pdf |page=39 |via=World Radio History}}

Robert Christgau thought that the band released a respectable album without the contributions of Green. He said 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".{{cite magazine |date=October 1970 |title=Records |magazine=Beat Instrumental |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Beat-Instrumental/Beat-Instrumental-1970-10-S-OCR.pdf |page=62 |via=World Radio History}} In a retrospective review, Bruce Eder of AllMusic wrote that the album lacked the intensity found on some of their previous work with Green, but said that the album instead "broaden[ed] the band's use of blues into other contexts, and add[ed] new influences in the absence of Green's laser-like focus."

{{track listing

| headline = Side one

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = This Is the Rock

| writer1 = Jeremy Spencer

| extra1 = Spencer

| length1 = 2:45

| title2 = Station Man

| writer2 = Danny Kirwan, Spencer, John McVie

| extra2 = Kirwan

| length2 = 5:49

| title3 = Blood on the Floor

| writer3 = Spencer

| extra3 = Spencer

| length3 = 2:44

| title4 = Hi Ho Silver

| writer4 = Big Joe Turner

| extra4 = Spencer

| length4 = 3:05

| title5 = Jewel Eyed Judy

| writer5 = Kirwan, Mick Fleetwood, J. McVie

| extra5 = Kirwan

| length5 = 3:17

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title6 = Buddy's Song

| writer6 = Ella Holley

| extra6 = Spencer

| length6 = 2:08

| title7 = Earl Gray

| writer7 = Kirwan

| extra7 = instrumental

| length7 = 4:01

| title8 = One Together

| extra8 = Spencer

| writer8 = Spencer

| length8 = 3:23

| title9 = Tell Me All the Things You Do

| writer9 = Kirwan

| extra9 = Kirwan

| length9 = 4:10

| title10 = Mission Bell

| writer10 = Jesse D. Hodges, William Michael

| extra10 = Spencer

| length10 = 2:32

}}

{{track listing

| headline = 2020 Remastered bonus tracks

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title11 = Dragonfly

| writer11 = Kirwan, W. H. Davies

| extra11 = Kirwan

| length11 = 2:49

| title12 = Purple Dancer

| writer12 = Kirwan, J. McVie, Fleetwood

| extra12 = Kirwan, Spencer

| length12 = 5:42

| title13 = Jewel Eyed Judy

| note13 = Single Version

| writer13 = Kirwan, Fleetwood, J. McVie

| extra13 = Kirwan

| length13 = 3:21

| title14 = Station Man

| note14 = Single Version

| writer14 = Kirwan, Spencer, J. McVie

| extra14 = Kirwan

| length14 = 5:10

}}

• "Hi Ho Silver" (a.k.a. "Honey Hush") is incorrectly credited to Fats Waller 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".

Fleetwood Mac

• Jeremy Spencer – guitar, slide guitar, piano, vocals
• Danny Kirwan – guitar, vocals
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Additional personnel

• Christine McVie – Wurlitzer 200A, piano, backing vocals (uncredited)

Production

• Producer – Fleetwood Mac
• Engineer – Martin Birch
• Cover drawing – Christine McVie

{{reflist}}

{{Fleetwood Mac}}

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Category:Fleetwood Mac albums

Category:1970 albums

Category:Reprise Records albums

Category:Albums produced by John McVie

Category:Albums produced by Jeremy Spencer

Category:Albums produced by Danny Kirwan

Category:Albums produced by Mick Fleetwood