FLEETWOOD MAC: "Future Games" (+ Bonus Tracks)

 

Original released on LP Reprise RS 6465

(US 1971, September 3)

By the time of this album's release, Jeremy Spencer had been replaced by Bob Welch and Christine McVie had begun to assert herself more as a singer and songwriter. The result is a distinct move toward folk-rock and pop; "Future Games" sounds almost nothing like Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Bob Welch's eight-minute title track, featuring lead guitar from Danny Kirwan, has one of Welch's characteristic haunting melodies, and with pruning and better editing, it could have been a hit. Christine McVie's "Show Me a Smile" is one of her loveliest ballads. Initial popular reaction was mixed: the album didn't sell as well as "Kiln House", but it sold better than any of the band's first three albums in the U.S. In the U.K., where the original lineup had been more successful, "Future Games" didn't chart at all; the same fate that would befall the rest of its albums until the Lindsey Buckingham-Stevie Nicks era. (William Ruhlmann in AllMusic)

FLEETWOOD MAC: "Kiln House"

Original released on LP Reprise RS 6408

(US 1970, September 18)

Fleetwood Mac was still primarily a blues band on this, their first album after the departure of founder/nominal leader Peter Green. But the remaining members, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer, and Danny Kirwan (plus McVie's wife, Christine, not yet officially part of the group) started broadening the band's use of blues into other contexts, and adding new influences in the absence of Green's laser-like focus. Jeremy Spencer's fascination with American rock & roll manifests itself on the album opener, "This Is the Rock" (which crosses paths with Elvis Presley's Sun Records sides), whilst "Hi Ho Silver" is a higher-wattage shouter covering the same territory that Spencer explored with the band (sans Green) on "Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked in Tonight," only with a little more subtlety and grace; and his tribute to Buddy Holly, "Buddy's Song," even outdoes the classic Joe Meek/Mike Berry "Tribute to Buddy Holly" as a memorial to the late rock & roll star - and it was always too good and sincere to be mistaken for part of any oldies revival. "Jewel Eyed Judy" and "Earl Gray" are two superb showcases for Danny Kirwan, the former as a vocalist and player and the latter as a composer and guitarist in tandem with Spencer, in what was a pretty good successor to the Green-era instrumental hit "Albatross." "One Together" shows off a harmony-vocal side to this band that was something new in 1970, on one of the prettiest tunes they ever had to work with. And Kirwan gets the spotlight once again as a guitarist on the hard-rocking "Tell Me All the Things You Do." The album ends with the lyrical, relaxed McCartney-esque folky pop of "Mission Bell," which seemed to point the way toward their future direction. None of this may be as intense as the music they cut with Peter Green running the show, but in its relaxed way "Kiln House" represents the same virtuoso blues-rock outfit having a little fun while making a record - think of it as roughly Fleetwood Mac's equivalent to the Rolling Stones' "Between the Buttons". (Bruce Eder in AllMusic)

FLEETWOOD MAC: "Mr. Wonderful"

Original released on LP Blue Horizon 7-63205

(UK 1968, August 1)

Although it made number ten in the U.K., Fleetwood Mac's second album was a disappointment following their promising debut. So much of the record was routine blues that it could even be said that it represented something of a regression from the first LP, despite the enlistment of a horn section and pianist Christine Perfect (the future Christine McVie) to help on the sessions. In particular, the limits of Jeremy Spencer's potential for creative contribution were badly exposed, as the tracks that featured his songwriting and/or vocals were basic Elmore James covers or derivations. Peter Green, the band's major talent at this point, did not deliver original material on the level of the classic singles he would pen for the band in 1969, or even on the level of first-album standouts like "I Loved Another Woman." The best of the lot, perhaps, is "Love That Burns," with its mournful minor-key melody and sluggish, responsive horn lines. "Mr. Wonderful", strangely, was not issued in the U.S., although about half the songs turned up on its stateside counterpart, "English Rose", which was fleshed out with some standout late-'60s British singles and a few new tracks penned by Danny Kirwan (who joined the band after "Mr. Wonderful" was recorded). (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)

FLEETWOOD MAC: "Then Play On"

Original released on LP Reprise RSLP 9000

(UK 1969, September 19)

"Then Play On" came out in 1969 and has to be one of the most significant, simplistic and beautiful albums of all time. Fleetwood Mac were way ahead of the curve with this release, which included country, blues, haunting rock [both electric and acoustic], and some fine vocal harmonies that reach in to touch your very soul. No, this is not the Fleetwood Mac that most of you would recognize, this is Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, and the album itself will cause some disconnection, as there are at least four or five releases with different song lineups, and that’s before you even get to the CD or the CD with bonus material. But don’t fear, that aspect is not at all important, it’s getting the music that counts. This release has Peter Green [on guitar, harmonica and vocals], Jeremy Spencer [on piano], Mick Fleetwood [on drums], John McVie [on bass] and Danny Kirwan [on guitar and vocals] there are two amazing musicians who go without credit and are Walter Horton [on harmonica] and Christine Perfect [on piano]. This is the Fleetwood Mac that I recognize, this is the Fleetwood Mac with the amazing slide guitar on "Show Biz Blues," this is the Fleetwood Mac that came to America in the 60’s showing us what the British had learned from our own exported blues ... this is the definitive Fleetwood Mac album in my opinion. This is not to say that Stevie and Christine didn’t bring something phenomenal to the group, it’s just that that incarnation is light years away from the conception. But to be fair, members of the band came and went like waiting cabs, someone new always waiting in the wings.  

To list the two ‘major bands’ that revolved around Fleetwood Mac, I would have to begin with Aynsley Dunbar and The Bluesbreakers. To list the major talent that revolved around these three bands, would include John McVie, John Mayall, Jack Bruce, Mick Taylor, Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Mick Fleetwood, Jeremy Spencer and a host I have not mentioned. Never the less, if one sits down and intently listens to this release they are going to hear samples of what all of these artist brought to the project. Fleetwood Mac, the band, built on what all of its members brought to the table, members both present and past, nothing was ignored or cast aside just because someone moved on ... this was a solid, hard rolling band that was building itself ever stronger with each step, with each progression, lessons were learned, shared and balanced with unprecedented ease. So there you have it my friends, to understand the present Fleetwood Mac, you must begin here. (in RateYourMusic)

FLEETWOOD MAC - "English Rose"

Original Released on LP Epic BN 26446 

(US, January 1969)

For reasons that no one seems to recall in detail - but for which we can be grateful - when it was time to release a second Fleetwood Mac LP in America, producer Mike Vernon and the band didn't just send the existing "Mr. Wonderful" album across the Atlantic - a little fine tuning and retooling was in order. The band had just expanded by one member, to a quintet - with the addition of guitarist Danny Kirwan - by the end of 1968, whereas "Mr. Wonderful" represented them as a four-piece outfit. Additionally, the group had just toured the U.S. for the first time, as a quintet, playing to very enthusiastic audiences, and so there was some point to sending U.S. licensee Epic Records something extra, representing who they were at the start of 1969. And that became the "English Rose" album, offering three Kirwan-authored instrumentals, plus the hit U.K. single "Albatross," and also their previous single, "Black Magic Woman," which had been a British Top 40 hit (though it was unknown in the U.S., and preceded Santana's hit recording of it by almost two years). Half of "Mr. Wonderful" was still there, including the opener, "Stop Messin' Round" and "I've Lost My Baby," representing the stronger tracks from that record. Between the paring down of "Mr. Wonderful" and the addition of the single tracks, "English Rose" ended up being a stronger album than its predecessor, though without a hit single in America to drive sales and get it exposure, it barely brushed the Top 200 LP listings in the U.S. Strangely enough, despite the overlap with "Mr. Wonderful", "English Rose" was released in England about six months later, probably to help make up for the loss of the group's contract (due to an oversight) by Blue Horizon. (Bruce Eder in AllMusic).

"Oh Well" By FLEETWOOD MAC

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (+ 7 Bonus)

Original released on LP Blue Horizon S-7 63200

(UK 1968, February 1)

Fleetwood Mac's debut LP was a highlight of the late-'60s British blues boom. Green's always inspired playing, the capable (if erratic) songwriting, and the general panache of the band as a whole placed them leagues above the overcrowded field. Elmore James is a big influence on this set, particularly on the tunes fronted by Jeremy Spencer ("Shake Your Moneymaker," "Got to Move"). Spencer's bluster, however, was outshone by the budding singing and songwriting skills of Green. The guitarist balanced humor and vulnerability on cuts like "Looking for Somebody" and "Long Grey Mare," and with "If I Loved Another Woman," he offered a glimpse of the Latin-blues fusion that he would perfect with "Black Magic Woman." The album was an unexpected smash in the U.K., reaching number four on the British charts. (Richie Unterberger in AllMusic)