''Fleetwood Mac'', also known as ''Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac'', is the debut studio album by British
blues rock
Blues rock is a fusion music genre that combines elements of blues and rock music. It is mostly an electric ensemble-style music with instrumentation similar to electric blues and rock (electric guitar, electric bass guitar, and drums, sometimes w ...
band
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
, released on 24 February 1968. The album is a mixture of blues covers and originals penned by guitarists
Peter Green and
Jeremy Spencer
Jeremy Cedric Spencer (born 4 July 1948) is a British musician, best known for playing slide guitar and piano in the original line-up of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. A member since Fleetwood Mac's inception in July 1967, he remained with the ...
, who also share the vocal duties. It is the only album by the band without any involvement of keyboardist/vocalist
Christine McVie
Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac.
McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...
.
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''.
Background
On 19 April 1967,
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE (born 29 November 1933) is an English blues singer, musician and songwriter, whose musical career spans over sixty years. In the 1960s, he was the founder of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, a band that has counted among it ...
, the frontman of
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...
, gave his bandmate
Peter Green free studio time at
Decca Studios
Decca Studios was a recording facility at 165 Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, North London, England, controlled by Decca Records from 1937 to 1980. The building was once West Hampstead Town Hall, and had been converted to a recording studio b ...
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
Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of th ...
and
John McVie
John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleet ...
. The other three songs recorded that day were "First Train Home", "Looking for Somebody" and "No Place to Go".
After the 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 hesitant. Green advertised in ''
Melody Maker
''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...
'' for a temporary bassist in the hope that McVie would eventually join as a full-time member.
Bob Brunning
Robert Brunning (29 June 1943 – 18 October 2011) was a British musician who was, as a small part of a long musical career, the original bass guitar player with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac.
Career
Fleetwood Mac
When Peter Green left t ...
answered the ad and was told the band would play at the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival in a month.
While searching for new bands to add to the
Blue Horizon roster, producer
Mike Vernon came across a demo tape of the Levi Set Blues Set, a band formed by guitarist Jeremy Spencer. After Vernon played Green a demo tape of the band to showcase Spencer's guitar playing, Green travelled to a Levi Set gig in
Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
where he successfully recruited Spencer for Fleetwood Mac.
By the time of the Windsor Festival, Green had already gained recognition for replacing guitarist
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...
in
John Mayall's Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are an English blues rock band led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall. While never producing a hit of their own, the band has been influential as an incubator for British rock and blues ...
, which helped boost the band's profile. Shortly after Fleetwood Mac's live debut, McVie left the Bluesbreakers following Mayall's decision to add a horn section to the lineup. McVie subsequently joined Fleetwood Mac, replacing Brunning.
Reception and legacy
The album sold well in the UK, reaching number four on the British charts. Upon release, Barry Gifford (writing for
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
) praised the album, and described it as "potent enough to make the South Side of Chicago take notice".
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". Writing for ''
Ultimate Classic Rock
Townsquare Media, Inc. (formerly Regent Communications until 2010) is an American radio network and media company based in Purchase, New York. The company started in radio and expanded into digital media toward the end of the 2000s, starting wit ...
'', Nick DeRiso described the album as a "stellar debut" and "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".
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Know ...
describes the album as "seminal".
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".
It was voted number 435 in
Colin Larkin
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged".
Along wit ...
's ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums
''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by the ...
''.
Track listing
Note
*Asterisk (*) denotes a bonus track
Personnel
Fleetwood Mac
*
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of th ...
– Drums
*
Peter Green – Lead vocals ("Merry Go Round", "Long Grey Mare", "Looking for Somebody", "No Place to Go", "I Loved Another Woman", "The World Keep On Turning"), electric guitar, harmonica
*
Jeremy Spencer
Jeremy Cedric Spencer (born 4 July 1948) is a British musician, best known for playing slide guitar and piano in the original line-up of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. A member since Fleetwood Mac's inception in July 1967, he remained with the ...
– lead vocals ("My Heart Beat Like a Hammer", "Hellhound on my Trail", "Shake Your Moneymaker", "My Baby's Good to Me", "Cold Black Night", "Got to Move"),
slide guitar
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
, piano
*
John McVie
John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleet ...
– Bass guitar on all tracks except "Long Grey Mare", "Hellhound on My Trail" and "The World Keep on Turning"
*
Bob Brunning
Robert Brunning (29 June 1943 – 18 October 2011) was a British musician who was, as a small part of a long musical career, the original bass guitar player with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac.
Career
Fleetwood Mac
When Peter Green left t ...
– Bass guitar on "Long Grey Mare"
Charts
References
External links
*"British Hit Albums" Paul Gambaccini, Tim Rice, Jonathan Rice (Guinness Publishing, 5th edition, 1992)
{{Authority control
1968 debut albums
Albums produced by Mike Vernon (record producer)
Blue Horizon Records albums
Fleetwood Mac albums