Biography
Born in West Hartlepool, England, on July 4, 1948, Jeremy Spencer began piano studies at nine before switching to guitar at fifteen in pursuit of his rock & roll heroes. The next year he encountered Elmore James, whose style quickly became his dominant influence. In 1967 he joined Fleetwood Mac as its fourth member, handling slide guitar while also contributing piano and forming a central part of the band’s early blues-rock identity on Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac (1968) and English Rose (1969). A skilled musical impressionist, Spencer frequently inserted good-natured recreations of vintage rock & roll idioms into the group’s concerts. In 1970 he issued a self-titled solo album on Reprise that offered parodies of rockabilly, teen-idol ballads, surf music, Elvis Presley, psychedelia, and Fleetwood Mac itself. That same year’s Kiln House marked his final appearance on a Mac recording.
Hours before the Los Angeles date of the band’s 1971 American tour, Spencer disappeared without notice. Five days afterward authorities located him at the Los Angeles headquarters of the Children of God, the Christian sect he had joined following a street encounter. Though he had long held religious inclinations, Spencer later stated that the band’s rapid success had left him feeling spiritually adrift. His abrupt exit forced the remaining members to summon the unstable Peter Green, who had departed the previous year, to finish the tour; without Spencer, the group also lost its primary connection to its blues-rock origins, plunging it into a prolonged identity crisis.
Reappearing in 1973, Spencer released Jeremy Spencer & the Children on CBS, an album shaped by psychedelia and folk-rock that expressed his new religious convictions. He returned to London in 1975 and assembled the blues-rock outfit Albatross, whose lineup included fellow Children of God members. In 1979 Atlantic issued his solo album Flee. Although he issued no further recordings for decades, Spencer continued performing, touring, and supporting charitable work. He visited India three times between 1995 and 2000, prepared instrumental material, and remained active in the Family, the later name adopted by the Children of God. In 2006, more than thirty years after his previous studio effort, he returned with the well-received Precious Little on Blind Pig Records—an album originally issued by Norway’s Bluestown Records—indicating that his musical narrative had not concluded.
Hours before the Los Angeles date of the band’s 1971 American tour, Spencer disappeared without notice. Five days afterward authorities located him at the Los Angeles headquarters of the Children of God, the Christian sect he had joined following a street encounter. Though he had long held religious inclinations, Spencer later stated that the band’s rapid success had left him feeling spiritually adrift. His abrupt exit forced the remaining members to summon the unstable Peter Green, who had departed the previous year, to finish the tour; without Spencer, the group also lost its primary connection to its blues-rock origins, plunging it into a prolonged identity crisis.
Reappearing in 1973, Spencer released Jeremy Spencer & the Children on CBS, an album shaped by psychedelia and folk-rock that expressed his new religious convictions. He returned to London in 1975 and assembled the blues-rock outfit Albatross, whose lineup included fellow Children of God members. In 1979 Atlantic issued his solo album Flee. Although he issued no further recordings for decades, Spencer continued performing, touring, and supporting charitable work. He visited India three times between 1995 and 2000, prepared instrumental material, and remained active in the Family, the later name adopted by the Children of God. In 2006, more than thirty years after his previous studio effort, he returned with the well-received Precious Little on Blind Pig Records—an album originally issued by Norway’s Bluestown Records—indicating that his musical narrative had not concluded.
Albums