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.
An expanded version of this album was included in the box set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions.
Video Fleetwood Mac (1968 album)
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". After this recording session, Green approached Fleetwood and McVie with the idea of forming a new band. While Fleetwood, who had been fired from The Bluesbreakers, was willing to join immediately, McVie was initially hesitant. Green was sure that McVie would join his band, so he advertised in Melody Maker for a temporary bassist. Bob Brunning answered the ad and was told that they would play at the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival in a month.
In addition to a guitarist, drummer and bassist, Green was also adamant about recruiting a second guitarist in Fleetwood Mac. As Green did not want to be seen as the leader of the group, he hoped that a second guitarist would help take the spotlight away from him. 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. The guitarist's name was Jeremy Spencer, who had formed his own band called the Levi Set Blues Band in the mid 1960s. The band sent in an audition tape that was so bad, Vernon did not bother playing the tape to his colleagues. He did, however, show the tape to Green, so he could hear Spencer's guitar playing. Green was so impressed with Spencer that he drove over to Lichfield where the Levi Set were playing and outright told him that he was joining Fleetwood Mac.
By the time of the Windsor Festival, Green had already gained recognition for replacing guitarist Eric Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and impressed audiences with his guitar playing. Shortly afterwards, McVie reconsidered and decided to join Fleetwood Mac on bass after Mayall decided to go in a jazz direction, so with him now in the line-up, Brunning stood down.
Maps Fleetwood Mac (1968 album)
Reception
The album sold well in the UK, reaching number four on the British charts. Upon release, Barry Gifford (writing for Rolling Stone) praised the album, and described the album as "potent enough to make the South Side of Chicago take notice".
Legacy
Modern attitudes to the album are also largely positive, and (while some admit it was unremarkable) 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". Writing for "Ultimate Classic Rock", Nick DeRiso described the album as a "stellar debut" and as "maybe the best album from the British blues boom". He also ranked it as the 4th greatest Fleetwood Mac album. 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".
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". "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".
Track listing
Note
- Asterisk (*) denotes a bonus track
Personnel
Fleetwood Mac
- Peter Green - vocals, guitar, harmonica
- Jeremy Spencer - vocals, slide guitar, piano
- John McVie - bass guitar on all tracks except "Long Grey Mare"
- Mick Fleetwood - drums
- Bob Brunning - bass guitar on "Long Grey Mare"
References
External links
- "British Hot Albums" Paul Gambaccini, Tim Rice, Jonathan Rice (Guinness Publishing, 5th edition, 1992)
Source of article : Wikipedia
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