Fleetwood Mac Better Days......
Who has heard good old Fleetwood Mac?
I'm not referring to the soap opera garbage of the Stevie Nicks or the all in all lame Bob Welsh formation (with a few good tracks).
I'm referring to the original fleetwood mac, the group led by singer/songwriter/guitar player, Peter Green.
Fleetwood Mac formed in 1967 and quickly gained popularity amongst British blues fans. They formed out of the previous group John Mayall and the bluesbreakers in which Green had already recorded an album with. Their first album Fleetwood Mac was a large success in England. They followed this up with a single that later became a hit for santana (although green wrote it) black magic woman.
The bands next album Mr. Wonderfull was made to be a bit different. they produced it to make it sound about 20 years older and there was even some horns work as opposed to just straight forward blues.
Around this time the Beatles were trying to get Mac added to apple records but withought success (dodged the bullet).
The third and final album that Green did with Fleetwood Mac was Then Play On. This album breached more into progressive blues and rock and roll.
Shorlty after the release of Then Play On the band was in Munich where someone had slipped acid into Green's drink and it caused him to shut himself away for a time and when he returned he discussed his want to gave the bands money to charity. At that point he "mutually" left the band.
Green decided to leave the band.
"His last show with Fleetwood Mac was May 20, 1970. During that show, the band went past their allotted time, and the power was shut off. Mick Fleetwood kept drumming, which for many symbolized either a salute to Green or Fleetwood taking the "reins" of Fleetwood Mac. The band, somewhat reluctantly, kept on without Peter Green and despite press reports suggesting Danny Kirwan would assume leadership, the media-savvy Fleetwood took over as leader of the band." (wikipedia)
After greens departure the band hired American Bob Welsh then later the band changed again but they would never be able to recapture the quality of music they had before nor their DEVOUT fan base that they once had.
4 comments:
Welcome back to the blogesphere! You were missed.
Good post.
Excellent post Noah!
However, I did see the band many times after Green left. Most memorable was with Bob Welch playing the double guitar which was fantastic. I really enjoyed Bare Trees and Mystery To Me which were pure Welch. I know you hated the band with Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckinghan, but they did come up with some good songs back in the day! Ultra commercial, but also somewhat enjoyable.
Anyway, please keep blogging!
Laura
You never saw them with Peter Green
Noah
I never saw them with Peter Green, or in any of their incarnations, but I like their music from the late 60s to late 70's about the best.
"Then Play On" is one of my favorite albums. I think it has some of their best songs ever. Peter Green was great, back in the day. I haven't heard any of what they did prior to that album, though... I understand it is also very good.
I enjoy all of "Kiln House", most of "Bare Trees" and most of "Future Games". The sound was dreamy, somewhat experimental at times, but I always thought those albums had a great feel about them. I never cared much for "Heroes Are Hard To Find", besides the title track. I think the addition of Christine McVie as a songwriter and vocalist steered the band more toward pop/rock, and that was sealed with the addition of Nicks and Buckingham.
Of the more recent releases, if you like pop/rock, I think Buckingham has a certain amount of genius for arranging, although it can become overblown at times, and needlessly intricate. Some of my favorite Mac songs are from the Buckingham/Nicks era, though. I love the "Tusk" album, and the song "Gypsy" is very nice... I don't care if I never hear "Fleetwood Mac" or "Rumours" again because they are just so darned overplayed...
Anyway, you are right. The Fleetwood Mac that existed with Peter Green in charge was a completely different animal from the late 70's to present version. Better than the newer lineup? I think so, that in many ways the early material is more satisfying. I understand that Green had some hard times... He did put out a nice solo album around 1980, called "In The Skies", that I think is a good listen. I know he has been playing in recent years, but I haven't heard any of his music. I hope he is in good spirits, and that he is finding some strength through playing.
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