''Penguin'' is the seventh studio album by British-American rock band

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 ...

, released on March 1, 1973. It was the first Fleetwood Mac album after the departure of

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 ...

, the first to feature

Bob Weston Bob Weston (born 1965) is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason AnkenyAnkeny, Jason. " Bob Weston: Overview from Allmusic.com declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over th ...

and the only one to feature

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 ...

. The

penguin Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...

is the band mascot favoured by John McVie. His fascination with the birds originated when he lived near

London Zoo London Zoo, also known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828, and was originally intended to be used as a collection for science, scientific study. In 1831 o ...

during the early days of his marriage to Christine McVie. He was a member of the Zoological Society and would spend hours at the zoo studying and watching the penguins.

Background

After Kirwan was fired following an altercation with the other band members during the ''

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 ...

'' tour, the band added guitarist Bob Weston and vocalist Dave Walker (formerly of

Savoy Brown Savoy Brown (originally Savoy Brown Blues Band) were an English blues rock band formed in Battersea, south west London, in 1965. Part of the late 1960s blues rock movement, Savoy Brown primarily achieved success in the United States, where they ...

and The Idle Race) in September 1972. Weston was well known for playing slide guitar and had known the band from his touring period with

Long John Baldry John William "Long John" Baldry (12 January 1941 – 21 July 2005) was an English musician and actor. In the 1960s, he was one of the first British vocalists to sing the blues in clubs and shared the stage with many British musicians including t ...

. Fleetwood Mac also hired Savoy Brown's road manager, John Courage. Rather than record ''Penguin'' in a London studio, they hired the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio and brought it to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

in order to record their next album within the domestic atmosphere of Benifold, their communal house. The album was subsequently mixed at AIR Studios in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. The album's artwork was painted by Chris Moore and the gatefold photo was shot on location at

Ludshott Common and Waggoners Wells Ludshott Common and Waggoners Wells (the latter sometimes written with an apostrophe: Waggoners' Wells) is a National Trust reserve; Ludshott Common is an area of heathland and Waggoners Wells a series of man-made ponds with a connecting stream. The ...

, according to Dave Walker in an online Q&A interview. For the first time on a Fleetwood Mac album, Mick Fleetwood was credited in the album's liner notes with playing both drums and percussion, even though he did both on previous albums, although uncredited. The subsequent tour seemed to go well, and ''Penguin'' was the highest charting Fleetwood Mac album in the US at the time, clawing its way into the Top 50. However, during the recording of their next album, ''

Mystery to Me ''Mystery to Me'' is the eighth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 15 October 1973. This was their last album to feature Bob Weston. Most of the songs were penned by guitarist/singer Bob Welch and keyboardis ...

'', it was mutually agreed upon that Walker's vocal style and attitude "did not fit in" with Fleetwood Mac and by June 1973 he had left. If anything was ever recorded by Walker for ''Mystery to Me'' it was not used. Walker was featured on only two tracks on ''Penguin'' in the end, namely his own composition "The Derelict" and a cover of

Junior Walker Autry DeWalt Mixon Jr. (June 14, 1931 – November 23, 1995), known professionally as Junior Walker, was an American multi-instrumentalist (primarily saxophonist and vocalist) who recorded for Motown during the 1960s. He also performed as a ses ...

's hit "

(I'm a) Road Runner "(I'm a) Road Runner" is a hit song by Junior Walker, Junior Walker & the Allstars, and was the title track of the successful 1966 album ''Road Runner (Junior Walker album), Road Runner''. Written by the team of Holland–Dozier–Holland, it was ...

" on which he also played harmonica solos.

Track notes

* "Remember Me" was performed live by Christine McVie at Bob Welch's Roxy concert in 1981. This version appeared on the 2004 CD ''

Live from the Roxy ''Live from the Roxy'' is a live album by the American rock musician Bob Welch, recorded in 1981, released in 2004, and later issued onto LP in 2021. Welch had been a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1971 to 1974, and this album features appearances b ...

''. * "Revelation" was re-recorded by Bob Welch for '' His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond'' in 2003. * "Did You Ever Love Me" was released as a single but did not chart. * "Night Watch" features a brief guitar contribution from Fleetwood Mac's founder Peter Green at the end, as well as organ by

Steve Nye Steve Nye is an English music producer for several artists. Career Nye started out as a tape op at AIR Studios in London in 1971, where producer Rupert Hine discovered him. There he got into engineering (and later producing) many well-known a ...

. * "Caught in the Rain", an instrumental, was the only track on a Fleetwood Mac record where Bob Weston received the sole writing credit.

Track listing

Personnel

Fleetwood Mac *

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 ** ...

– guitar, vocals, bass guitar on track 6 *

– lead guitar,

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

on track 1, banjo and harmonica on track 5, harmony vocals on track 7 * Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals *

– vocals on tracks 4 and 5, harmonica on track 4 * John McVie – bass guitar * Mick Fleetwood – drums,

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 ...

Additional personnel *

–

organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...

on track 8 *Ralph Richardson – steel drums on track 7 *Russell Valdez – steel drums on track 7 *Fred Totesant – steel drums on track 7 * Peter Green – additional lead guitar on track 8 Production *Producer: Fleetwood Mac and Martin Birch *Engineer: Martin Birch *Sleeve design: Modula / John Watkins (front cover) / Chris Moore *Inside photo by Barry Wentzell *Recorded in Hampshire on Rolling Stones Mobile Studio *Mixed at AIR Studios, London

Charts

References

{{Authority control Fleetwood Mac albums 1973 albums Albums produced by Martin Birch Reprise Records albums Albums produced by John McVie Albums produced by Mick Fleetwood Albums produced by Christine McVie Albums produced by Bob Welch (musician) Albums recorded in a home studio Albums recorded at AIR Studios