Mr. Wonderful (1968)


 
1. Stop Messin' Round 2. I've Lost My Baby 3. Rollin' Man 4. Dust My Broom 5. Love That Burns 6. Doctor Brown 7. Need Your Love Tonight 8. If You Be My Baby 9. Evenin' Boogie 10.Lazy Poker Blues 11.Coming Home 12.Trying So Hard to Forget

 

Released only a few months after their spectacular debut, this one seems a bit rushed, or unfocused. Or maybe it's just not as good. Whereas their first release was noted for its exemplary song writing and performance by guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, this one seems much more average, more middle of the road, and many of the songs are not that distinguishable from one and other. Being that I'm not that huge of a fan of Blues, it may be a bit unfair for me to say these things, because the overall feeling of the record in general makes me want to just say "pass".

They've incorporated a horn section on many of the songs, and they've also added a piano player who's none other than Christine Perfect. She would later marry (then divorce) bass player John McVie, become Christine McVie, join the band full time and contribute to the wealth of success in days future. But that was later, this was now. She does a great job hammering out great blues accompaniment here, but the songs themselves just don't have the same punch as they did on the band's debut.

There are about five songs even, I would swear, that have the exact same guitar riff that open the song.(Dust my Broom, Doctor Brown and Need Your Love Tonight all sound so much alike it's scary). So I'm really not sure what the deal was with this album. Surely they couldn't have been letting the well known drug use harm them this early on, could they? They only song that really stands out, at least for me, is the somewhat rockabilly Evenin' Boogie. The rest all pretty much falls flat.

When listening to this album back to back with their first release, you would almost think that they had written and recorded this one prior to that magnificent work since this one seems more of a "discovery" piece, while their first album was an instant classic.

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