Chcken Shack

This British blues-rock group is remembered mostly for their keyboard player, Christine Perfect, who would join Fleetwood Mac after marrying John McVie and changing her last name. Although they were one of the more pedestrian acts of the British blues boom, Chicken Shack was quite popular for a time in the late '60s, placing two albums in the British Top 20. The frontperson of Chicken was not Perfect/McVie, but guitarist Stan Webb, who would excite British audiences by entering the crowds at performances, courtesy of his 100-meter-long guitar lead. They were signed to Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label, a British blues pillar that had its biggest success with early Fleetwood Mac.
Chicken Shack was actually not far behind Mac in popularity in the late '60s, purveying a more traditional brand of Chicago blues, heavily influenced by Freddie King…

At first glance, this otherwise grand career-spanner seems frustratingly incomplete: What a logistically fastidious, but regrettable decision to ignore leader Michael Head's lone "solo" LP as Michael Head & the Strands, 1997's incomparable The Magic World of the Strands. All longtime fans know that it is 1) really no different from the other Shack LPs, in style or in personnel since both crucial Head brothers were present, and 2) universally regarded as their best record. And Shack have released only five LPs otherwise over their two decades, one of which, the 1988's debut Zilch, was all but disowned as it's banished from here.

Here's Tom With the Weather reads the sleeve, and on Shack's fourth full-length album, the forecast calls for mostly delicate vocals, partly chiming guitars, and more-than-occasional ballads. With these twelve hushed songs, songwriter Michael Head has crafted the most relaxed album of his career. Song titles like the Lilac Time-esque "The Girl with the Long Brown Hair" and "Byrds Turn to Stone," which declares an obvious musical influence, are every bit indicative of the lilting, graceful songs they name. Head's tunes haven't felt this soft and bouncy since he fronted the the Pale Fountains, but that doesn't mean the album ever feels dull.

Esoteric Recordings are pleased to announce a newly re-mastered edition of the classic 1972 album by Chicken Shack. "Imagination Lady" was the fifth album by the group and the band had undergone changes to the line-up, instigated by band leader, guitarist Stan Webb, prior to the recording of the album. Now a trio featuring John Glascock (Bass) and Paul Hancox (Drums), the album saw Stan Webb head in a hard rock direction, albeit with Blues influences, resulting in a fine album featuring such classic tracks as ‘Crying Won’t Help You Now’, ‘Daughter of the Hillside’ and the epic ‘Telling Your Fortune’. This Esoteric Recordings reissue has been newly re-mastered from the original master tapes and includes two bonus tracks, previously unreleased on CD, taken from two respective singles. The reissue features a booklet that fully restores all original album artwork with a new essay.

The genesis of Waterpistol is one of the most convoluted in all of indie pop, and it's one of the genre's most legendary stories. The album was recorded in 1991, but (shades of Tater Totz's Alien Sleestacks from Brazil) the master tapes were destroyed when the studio caught fire. All was not lost, however, as producer Chris Allison had made a DAT safety copy before he left for an American vacation. Unfortunately, not knowing about the fire, Allison inadvertently left his DAT in his rental car. Amazingly, he was able to track it down with the help of the car rental company, but given that Shack's record company had gone under and the band had split up in the interim, the album didn't come out until the German label Marina Records rescued it in 1995.

Three years after the enervated Here’s Tom with the Weather, Shack return with only their fifth album in an 18-year career. (And that doesn’t even count leader Mick Head’s former band, the Pale Fountains.) The title may name-check Gil Evans and Miles Davis, whose collaborations were the pinnacle of 1950s cool jazz, but On the Corner of Miles and Gil is no more jazz-influenced than any of Head’s previous albums. This is to say, the occasional stray muted trumpet figure or Wes Montgomery-style guitar line floats through these songs, but overall, the late Arthur Lee is a much bigger influence. Love’s trademark commingling of ominous, slightly paranoid lyrics and deceptively pretty melodies has always been Head’s primary starting point, but this album is Shack’s most vital and musically impassioned album in at least a decade.

Three CD set containing the classic albums and recordings made by the legendary Chicken Shack between 1971 and 1974. Featuring the albums Imagination Lady, Unlucky boy, and Goodbye Chicken Shac'. With an illustrated booklet. Chicken Shack had come to prominence in the late 1960s as one of Britain's finest Blues bands, recording a series of albums for the Blue Horizon label. By 1971, the band had undergone changes to their line-up and guitarist/vocalist Stan Webb took the band in a harder rock direction. Signing to Decca's Deram label in 1971 under a production deal, Webb's band recorded the fine album Imagination Lady.