''In the Skies'' is an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

blues rock Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...

musician Peter Green, who was the founder of

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...

and a member from 1967–70. Released in

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

, this was his second solo album and the first after eight years of obscurity. Accompanying Green on this album were several experienced session musicians, including

Snowy White Terence Charles "Snowy" White (born 3 March 1948, Barnstaple, Devon) is an English guitarist, known for having played with Thin Lizzy (permanent member from 1980 to 1982) and with Pink Floyd (as a backing guitarist; he was first invited to tour ...

, who went on to work with

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

before joining

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

. White contributed some of the lead guitar work on the album since Green was not yet fully comfortable with his return to recording after his long break. Also present was Green's colleague and friend from his earliest bands,

Peter Bardens Peter Bardens (19 June 1945 – 22 January 2002) was an English keyboardist and a founding member of the British progressive rock group Camel. He played keyboards, sang, and wrote songs with Andrew Latimer. During his career, Bardens worked al ...

Camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...

. All tracks were written by Peter Green, with some of the lyrics written by Green's then-wife Jane.In the Skies album sleeve notes. Rehearsal versions of "In the Skies" and "Slabo Day" were released on Snowy White's '' Goldtop'' compilation album in 1996. A single version of "Apostle" b/w "Tribal Dance" was released in June 1978, prior to the issue of the album. The single issue was quickly withdrawn from sale. Both tracks were re-recorded for the album.

Track listing

# "In the Skies" ( Peter Green, Jane Green) – 3:52 # "Slabo Day" (P. Green,

Reg Isidore Reg Isidore (4 April 1949 – 22 March 2009) was a rock drummer best known for his work with Robin Trower. Isidore was Trower's first drummer and he played on the Robin Trower Band's first two albums ''Twice Removed from Yesterday'' (1973) and '' ...

, Lennox Langton,

, Kuma Harada) – 5:12 # "A Fool No More" (P. Green) – 7:46 # "Tribal Dance" (P. Green, White, Isidore, Langton) – 4:29 # "Seven Stars" (P. Green, J. Green) – 3:10 # "Funky Chunk" (P. Green, White, Isidore, Langton, Bardens, Harada) – 4:16 # "Just for You" (P. Green, J. Green, White, Isidore) – 4:39 # "Proud Pinto" (P. Green) – 3:42 # "Apostle" (P. Green) – 3:12 *Recorded at Lansdowne, Morgan, Vineyard, Ramport and Advision Studios, England

2022 CD Reissue Bonus Tracks

# "Apostle" (Single Version) – 3:55 # "Tribal Dance" (Single Version) – 4:42 # "Slabo Day" (Rehearsal Version) – 4:39 # "In the Skies" (Rehearsal Version) – 4:12

Personnel

Musicians

* Peter Green –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, lead guitar (tracks 1, 3-9), rhythm guitar (tracks 1, 2, 5, 8) *

– rhythm guitar (tracks 3-4, 6-7, 9), lead guitar (tracks 1, 2) *

–

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

, (tracks 1-2) * Kuma Harada –

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

, (tracks 1-8) *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, (tracks 1-7) * Lennox Langton –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

bongos Bongos ( es, bongó) are an Afro-Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of small open bottomed hand drums of different sizes. They are struck with both hands, most commonly in an eight-stroke pattern called ''martillo'' (hammer). The ...

timbales Timbales () or pailas are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing. They are shallower than single-headed tom-toms and usually tuned much higher, especially for their size.Orovio, Helio 1981. ''Diccionario de la música cubana: biográfico ...

, (tracks 1, 4, 7-8) * Godfrey Maclean – drums, (track 8)

Technical

* Peter Vernon-Kell – producer * Neil Hornby - Mixing at Ramport * Dave Crawford – mastering * Susan Marsh – design * Josiah Spaulding, Jr., Peter Cormack – cover concept

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control Peter Green (musician) albums 1979 albums Albums recorded at Morgan Sound Studios