''Midnight in San Juan'' is the second solo album by British

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

Danny Kirwan Daniel David Kirwan (13 May 1950 – 8 June 2018) was a British musician whose greatest success came with his role as guitarist, singer and songwriter with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972. He released three albums as a s ...

, who was a member 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 ...

from 1968–72. Released in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, this was his second of three solo albums with the

DJM Records DJM Records (also known as Dick James Music) was the British independent record label, set up in the late 1960s by British music publisher Dick James. It was distributed by Pye Records in the UK, and various other companies around the world, ...

label. This album was released in the USA and Canada in May 1977 under the title ''Danny Kirwan'', with a different sleeve (front and back) and a biography / review written by Michael Hogan. The recorded material is identical to the UK release. It was released for the first time on CD, only in Japan, in February 2006.

Songs and backing band

Apart from the self-penned tracks, Kirwan includes a reggae-style cover of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

Let It Be Let It Be most commonly refers to: * ''Let It Be'' (Beatles album), the Beatles' final studio album, released in 1970 * "Let It Be" (Beatles song), the title song from the album It may also refer to: Film and television * ''Let It Be'' (1970 ...

", which was a single in the United States. The other single from this album was "Misty River". Another cover version was "Look Around You", written by

Dave Walker David Walker (born 25 January 1945) is a British singer and guitarist who has been front-man for a number of bands; most notably The Idle Race, Savoy Brown and Humble Pie, he also served briefly with Fleetwood Mac and Black Sabbath. History ...

, himself an ex-Fleetwood Mac member. Kirwan's backing band on the album was made up of members of Stretch; an earlier incarnation of Stretch had briefly toured as a bogus version of Fleetwood Mac in 1974.

Reception

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

critic Joe Viglione claimed that the album was "chock-full of quality material – there isn't a bad track on it musically". Raising comparisons with

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Kirwan's last album with Fleetwood Mac, ''

Bare Trees ''Bare Trees'' is the sixth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in March 1972. It was their last album to feature Danny Kirwan, who was fired during the album's supporting tour. In the wake of the band's success in ...

'', and also the music of his old bandmate

Bob Welch Bob Welch may refer to: *Bob Welch (baseball) (1956–2014), American baseball pitcher *Bob Welch (author) (born c. 1955), American author and newspaper columnist *Bob Welch (musician) (1945–2012), American musician and member of Fleetwood Mac ** ...

, he suggested that Kirwan's record label should have supported the album more strongly. Viglione gave particular credit for Kirwan's creative treatment of "Let It Be", rather than simply covering the Beatles song note for note.

Track listing

*All tracks written by Danny Kirwan, except where stated. Side One # "I Can Tell" – 3:02 # "Life Machine" – 2:26 # "Midnight in San Juan" – 2:38 # "

" (

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

) – 2:28 # "Angel's Delight" – 2:47 # "Windy Autumn Day" – 2:38 Side Two # "Misty River" – 3:59 # "Rolling Hills" – 2:25 # "I Can't Let You Go" – 2:42 # "Look Around You" (

) – 3:09 # "Castaway" – 3:47

Personnel

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

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 ...

* Steve Emery –

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 ...

Jeff Rich Jeffrey Dennis Rich (born 8 June 1953) is an English rock drummer, best known for playing with Status Quo between 1985 and 2000. Early life Born in Hackney, London, Rich attended Upton House Comprehensive School, and whilst there he a ...

–

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 ...

* John Cook –

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

Production

*Producer – Clifford Davis Productions Ltd *Engineers – Louie Austin, Simon Davis *Sleeve Design: McKinley/Howell

Release information

*UK – DJM DJF20481 – 1 September 1976 (LP & cassette) *USA – DJM DJLPA-9 – May 1977 (LP, cassette & 8-track). Titled ''Danny Kirwan''. *Canada – DJM – 1977 (LP & cassette) *Japan – AMR Archive AIRAC-1175 – 22 February 2006 (CD) The Japanese CD release came in a cardboard sleeve.

References

{{Authority control Danny Kirwan albums 1976 albums DJM Records albums