Flee (album)

Flee is an album by British blues rock musician Jeremy Spencer, who was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1967-71, and "The Jeremy Spencer Band" (composed of members of the Children of God cult), with particularly strong input from Michael Fogarty. Released in 1979, this is Spencer's third album apart from Fleetwood Mac, and his second recorded while a member of the Children of God.

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 whole of Side 2 bears an astonishing resemblance to the contemporary sound of Fleetwood Mac, i.e. a breezy Californian rock style with female vocalists, and a solid thumping drum sound reminiscent of Mick Fleetwood. A coincidence seems unlikely given Spencer's past membership of that band, and the fact that his female vocalists are credited as "The Songbirds"—"Songbird" (includes singer Shelley) was a very popular Fleetwood Mac song from the Rumours album just a couple of years earlier.

The album features a heavy disco treatment given to the songs on Side 1, which Spencer was very unhappy with.

"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 but without great success, and the album was a commercial failure.

Track listing

Side One:

1. "Deeper" (Rugely)

2. "Sunshine" (Spencer)

3. "Love Our Way Outta Here" (Fogarty)

Side Two:

4. "Flee" (Spencer/Fogarty)

5. "Cool Breeze" (Fogarty/Spencer)

6. "You've Got The Right" (Fogarty/Spencer)

7. "Travellin'" (Fogarty/Spencer)

Personnel

• Jeremy Spencer - vocals, guitar
• Michael Fogarty - keyboards, vocals
• Jeff Schoen - keyboards
• Neal Jason - Bass Guitar
• Al Izzo - drums
• Buz Buchanan - drums
• Victor Salazar - percussion
• "The Songbirds" - vocals
  • Shelley
  • Etc.

Guest appearances

Buz Buchanan, Michael Fogarty, Al Izzo, Neal/Neil Jason, Victor Salazar, Jeff Schoen

Other appearances

Bill(-Dog) Dooley (Engineer), Barry Hammond (Engineer), Randy Mason (Engineer), Gene Paul (Engineer), Eric Prestige (Engineer), Bobby Warner (Engineer), Michael Fogarty (Songwriter), David Rugely (Songwriter), Jeremy Spencer (Songwriter), Sandi Young (Art Direction), Ahmet M. Ertegun (Nugetre) (Executive Producer), Michael Fogarty (Produced By), Jeremy Spencer (Produced By), Michael Fogarty (Arranged By), Armondo Noriega (Arranged By), Jeremy Spencer (Arranged By), Bill(-Dog) Dooley (Mixing Engineer), Bacho Mangual (Mixing Consultant), Israel Sanchez (Production Association), Silvio Tancredi (Production Association), Phil Anastasi (Vocal Concepts By), Chris(topher) Callis (Cover Photograph), Herbert W. Worthington, III (Back Cover Photograph)

Liner notes

For original Atlantic vinyl issue: Management: Ariane Brener Ltd., c/o Machat & Machat, 1501 Broadway. 30th floor, New York, New York 10036

Jeremy Spencer Band Fan Club, c/o Machat & Machat, 2049 Century Park East, Suite 2717, Los Angeles, California 90067

Thanks to Ahmet Ertegun, Jerry Greenberg, Bob Greenberg, John David Kalodner, Jim Delehant and all the other members of Atlantic who helped make this album possible; and also thanks to our manager, Ariane Brener and our attorneys, Marty & Steven Machat.

Special thanks to Ray Gomez, the Bob Miller Synares, the Pinnisi strings and moog; the Steve Thompson bass, the Simon Phillips drums, Jan Mullaney, Dad, Maria, Jean Hendricks, and also the Jeremy Spencer Band Fan Club,

Production

• Produced by Jeremy Spencer and Michael Fogarty
• Executive Producer - Ahmet Ertegün

• Tracks 1-3 produced in association with Silvio Tancredi and Israel Sanchez, mixed with the use of the Aphex Aural Exciter
• Tracks 1-3 arranged by Armando Noriega with vocal concepts by Phil Anastasi
• Tracks 4-7 arranged by Jeremy Spencer and Michael Fogarty

References

Other reference material

• Classic Rock magazine interview (by Martin Celmins), March 2006 (hosted by xFamily.org)