Fleetwood Mac (1968 album)

Fleetwood Mac
Studio album by Fleetwood Mac
Released 24 February 1968 (1968-02-24)
Recorded 19 April, November–December 1967
Studio CBS Studios and Decca Studios, London
Genre Blues rock
Length 35:10
Label Blue Horizon
Producer Mike Vernon
Fleetwood Mac chronology
Fleetwood Mac
(1968)		 Mr. Wonderful
(1968)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com[1]
AllMusic[2]
Rolling Stone(Positive)[3]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[5]

Fleetwood Mac, also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, is the debut studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 24 February 1968. The album is a mixture of blues covers and originals penned by guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, who also share the vocal duties. It is the only album by the band not to feature keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie in any capacity.

The release of the album brought the band overnight success; in the UK, the album reached No. 4 and stayed on the charts 37 weeks, despite the lack of a hit single. The album barely made the charts in the US, reaching No. 198. Even though the album has sold over a million copies in the UK, it has never received a certification there. As of June 2015, the album has sold over 150,000 copies in the US.[6]

An expanded version of this album was included in the box set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions.

Background

On 19 April 1967, John Mayall, the frontman of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, gave his bandmate Peter Green free studio time at the Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London to use as he wished. Four songs came out of the recording sessions, one of them being an instrumental called "Fleetwood Mac", named after the rhythm section, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. The other three songs recorded that day were "First Train Home", "Looking for Somebody" and "No Place to Go".[7][8][9] After this recording session, Green approached Fleetwood and McVie with the idea of forming a new band.[7] While Fleetwood, who had been fired from The Bluesbreakers,[10] was willing to join immediately, McVie was initially hesitant.[7] Green was sure that McVie would join his band, so he advertised in Melody Maker for a temporary bassist.[7] Bob Brunning answered the ad and was told that they would play at the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival in a month.[7]

Green was adamant about recruiting a second guitarist in Fleetwood Mac to divert some of the spotlight away from him.[7] Fleetwood Mac's producer, Mike Vernon told Green of an "amazing slide guitarist" while searching for new bands to add to the label's roster.[7] The guitarist's name was Jeremy Spencer, who had formed his own band called the Levi Set Blues Band in the mid 1960s. Vernon played Green a demo tape of the band so he could hear Spencer's guitar playing. Green later dropped in on a Levi Set's gig in Lichfield, and informed Spencer that he was now a member of Fleetwood Mac.[7]

By the time of the Windsor Festival, Green had already gained recognition for replacing guitarist Eric Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, which helped boost the band's profile.[11] Shortly after Fleetwood Mac's live debut, McVie became disenchanted with the Bluesbreakers, and left following Mayall's decision to add a horn section to the lineup. McVie subsequently joined Fleetwood Mac, replacing Brunning.

Reception

The album sold well in the UK, reaching number four on the British charts.[12] Upon release, Barry Gifford (writing for Rolling Stone) praised the album, and described it as "potent enough to make the South Side of Chicago take notice".

Legacy

Modern attitudes to the album are also largely positive, and many critics argue the album is one of the highlights of the British blues bloom. TeamRock describes it as a "marvellous debut that established the group as the best British blues band of the day".[13] Writing for Ultimate Classic Rock, Nick DeRiso described the album as a "stellar debut"[14] and as "maybe the best album from the British blues boom". He also ranked it as the 4th greatest Fleetwood Mac album.[15] The Telegraph has described the album as a "classic sixties London 12-bar blues rock debut", while also calling it "raw, physical, high spirited and blessed with the exceptional playing of Peter Green".[16] The Encyclopedia of Popular Music describes the album as "seminal".[17]

Accolades

"ThoughtCo." described the album as an " inspired mix of blues covers", and placed it in the top 10 "The Best Blues-Rock Albums Of The 1960s".[1] "Guitarist" (UK magazine) placed the album in "101 Essential Guitar Albums", and John Tobler considered the album to be one of the "100 Great Albums of the 60s".[18]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."My Heart Beat Like a Hammer"Jeremy Spencer2:55
2."Merry Go Round"Peter Green4:05
3."Long Grey Mare"Green2:15
4."Hellhound on My Trail"Robert Johnson2:00
5."Shake Your Moneymaker"Elmore James2:55
6."Looking for Somebody"Green2:50
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."No Place to Go"Chester Burnett3:20
2."My Baby's Good to Me"Spencer2:50
3."I Loved Another Woman"Green2:55
4."Cold Black Night"Spencer3:15
5."The World Keep On Turning"Green2:30
6."Got to Move"James, Marshall Sehorn3:20

Note

  • Asterisk (*) denotes a bonus track

Personnel

Fleetwood Mac

References

  1. 1 2 Keith, Reverend. "The Best Blues-Rock Bands Of The 1960s". Thoughtco.com. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  2. ↑ Fleetwood Mac at AllMusic
  3. ↑ Gifford, Barry (10 August 1968). "Records". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
  4. ↑ The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  5. ↑ Colin Larkin. The Virgin Encyclopedia of The Blues. Books.google.co.uk. p. 89. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  6. ↑ THE BEACH BOYS, BEE GEES and FLEETWOOD MAC USA album sales – Endless Juke Joints – Greasy Lake Community
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Evans, Mike (2011). Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History. 397 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016: Sterling. pp. 24, 27–33. ISBN 978-1-4027-8630-3.
  8. ↑ Archived 7 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ Lewry, Pete (1999). Fleetwood Mac The Complete Recordings 1967/1997. Blandford. p. 128. ISBN 0-7137-2724-1.
  10. ↑ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book Of Number 1 Hits (5th ed.). 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003-9595: Billboard Books. p. 466. ISBN 0-8230-7677-6.
  11. ↑ Black, Johnny. "Fleetwood Mac: "Green's the best blues guitarist the UK's produced"". Team Rock. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  12. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac: Official Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 10, 2016.
  13. ↑ "The Top 30 British Blues Rock Albums Of All Time". TeamRock.com. 2007-03-23. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  14. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac Albums Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimateclassicrock.com. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  15. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac Albums Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimateclassicrock.com. 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  16. ↑ "Fleetwood Mac's albums: from worst to best". Telegraph. 2015-06-15. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  17. ↑ https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=7QeaHodj5fwC&pg=RA1-PR89&dq=virgin+encyclopedia+of+60s+music&hl=en&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=fleetwood%20mac&f=false
  18. ↑ "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac". Acclaimed Music. Retrieved 2017-07-02.
  • "British Hot Albums" Paul Gambaccini, Tim Rice, Jonathan Rice (Guinness Publishing, 5th edition, 1992)
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