Search - Fleetwood Mac :: Original Fleetwood Mac

An essential for fans of the blues

rockrollmusicislife | Redding, CT | 12/12/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When it comes to British Blues, no one can do it better than Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. And this is certainly a blues classic, with Mac classics all around, which is saying something considering its an outake collections.1.)Drifting; A perfect example of Peter Green's guitar genius. Driven and electrifying guitar mastery.2.) Leaving Town Blues: A perfect example of Fleetwood Mac's ability as a 12 bar blues group. Excellent vocals, perfect lyrics, and solid rhythms make this essential Mac.3.) Watch Out: This version of Watch Out is faster, less bluesy, and somewhat inferior than the version on Fleetwood Mac in Chicago.4.) A Fool No More: A perfect blues song. Not a chord played wrong, and the rhythm doesn't miss a beat. Plus Peter Green's singing and guitar is a perfect staging of the desparation of the song.5.) Mean Old Fireman: Brilliant slide guitar blues. More relaxed and certainly superior than most of Jeremy Spencer's numbers.6.) Can't Afford to Do It: A typical Jeremy Spencer number. Average guitar play and vocals, and for the most part nothing to crow about.7.) Fleetwood Mac: An instrumental recorded way back when Peter Green with John Mayall with the rhythm section that would become the famed background of Fleetwood Mac. This is an excellent instrumental with solid backing, and excellent guitar and harmonica from Greeny that shows just what he was capable of.8.) Worried Dream: 5 star cover of a B.B. King classic.9.) Love That Woman: Another fairly average Jeremy Spencer cover.10.) Allow Me One More Show: The best song on the album. Like Mean Old Fireman this is a relaxed, accoustic slide number in which Spencer is solo. Plus it is a Spencer-penned number that actually sounds original.11.) First Train Home: Another blues number by Greeny. Rather average and sounds too much like Worried Dream and A Fool No More.12.) Rambling Pony No. 2: Fast, rollicking, boogie blues. Classic way to close way to close out the original albumBonus Tracks
13.) Mighty Cold: An excellent 50's rock number from Jeremy Spencer.14.) Jumping at Shadows: Taken from the famed Boston concerts. Of the three nights this is one of the best, with Green shredding the guitar like the blues master that he is15.) Somebody's Gonna Get (Their Head Kicked In Tonite): Spencer pulls off an Elvis Presley impersonation that is simply hilarious.16.) Man of Action: Average Spencer parody of John Mayall. Certainly makes Mayall sound very lame.In conclusion this outake collection is an underated blues classic. If you have any interest in the blues era of Fleetwood Mac this is not a bad place to start."

The genius of Peter Green

tim charles | UK | 10/27/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is my favourite of the early Fleetwood Mac's blues albums, containing some memorable Green guitar work, and some good examples of how he refined B.B.King's style, playing with taste and restraint, on "Worried Dream", and "First Train Home", his flair for understatement to the fore.

Green succeeded in embellishing his BB influenced style with his own dramatic sense of dynmics, just listen to "Fool no More" where his choice of notes is exquisite; hereless is certainly more.It also brings to mind the Miles Davis' dictum, which can also be applied to BB King, namely that what isn't heard is as important as the notes that were. Other hihglights include the aponymous Mac signature tune, a mellow jam, and the explosive "Drifting".Peter Green was a truly innovative guitarist, who played with immense passion and fire. This album is a perfect example of that.
(I haven't heard the remastered version containing the bonus tracks, my comments are based on the original CD release)"

Strangely Misunderstood

Meho Midjich | Evanston, IL | 06/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mike Vernon who owned Blue Horizon Records and was the man who produced most of the music on this disc, once wrote that he truly did not understand why these tracks were relegated to outtake status. Several reviewers have already commented on this anomaly. Stranger yet, is the reception to the Jeremy Spencer tracks on this set. Peter Green is THE best blues guitarist I have ever heard. He played with a tenderness and with passion and a sense of dynamics that only Hendrix rivaled. Yet, Spencer gets called "a good rhythm guitarist" at best, and a waste of time at worst. He was neither. Green's ability has been amply and aptly described by reviewers of this and his other recordings. I would like to say a few words about Spencer.These recordings contain some of Jeremy's best work. The two acoustic tracks, "Mean Old Fireman" and "Allow Me One More Show" are beautiful. Supposedly, he was experiencing a cold while these songs were recorded. But, the softness with which he played this music is unlike anything he'd done at that time. Just beautiful."Love That Woman" and "Can't Afford To Do It" were panned by one reviewer as "average". They most certainly were not! Both songs exude a sweetness, joy and playfulness that is rare in the blues. Jeremy was having FUN when he recorded these songs. And, I love to listen to them because of the joy that radiates from them. His slide guitar on the Lafayette Leake tune that Otis Rush originally recorded (Love That Woman) is nothing short of transcendant. A bit like George Harrison's slide, especially on "Marwa Blues". Jeremy's laughter on Homesick James' "Can't Afford To Do It" shows how happy he was recording a song he truly loved.Actually, the worst tune on the album is Spencer's impersonation of Mayall. Everything else is filled with feeling, both Spencer's and Green's work.A caveat. All of this material is available on box sets or compilations. Don't overpay for this one exceptional set if you want it all. It will be superfluous."