Fleetwood Mac
Part 1
Fleetwood Mac drew its name from the drummer (Mick Fleetwood) and bassist (John McVie) who formed the band way back in 1967. They are the only members of the group who were there through (almost) all the multifarious incarnations and instrumentations that have carried the Fleetwood Mac name. Like that name, they seem to be a blank slate, but one that has been the medium for many strokes of near-genius over the long years.
The story, like so many in rock history, began with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. McVie was a charter member, starting in 1963. He was a member off and on through the Eric Clapton period, but he occasionally got fired and replaced by Jack Bruce.
Anyway, when Clapton left the Bluesbreakers in 1966 to form Cream with Bruce and Ginger Baker, he was replaced by a guitarist named Peter Green. Mick Fleetwood came along in 1967, and before the year was out, the three of them had left to form the first Fleetwood Mac. (Well, actually, the first Fleetwood Mac bassist was Bob Brunning, because McVie was still under contract with Mayall when Fleetwood Mac got their first gig).
They were soon joined by Jeremy Spencer, who played a fine and fluid slide guitar. Their first album was a pure British Blues outing, and though it was a big hit in the UK, nobody heard it in the US. The following year, they added yet another guitarist, Danny Kirwan, and headed to Chicago for another take on the blues, aided by the likes of Otis Spann and Willie Dixon. They scored a US recording contract with Warner Bros/Reprise, and Green began pushing their sound away from the blues, toward a more pop/rock sensibility. Their most enduring hit from that period is Green's Oh Well:
I can't help about the shape I'm in
I can't sing, I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to
Oh well
Now, when I talked to God I knew he'd understand
He said, "Stick by my side and I'll be your guiding hand
But don't ask me what I think of you
I might not give the answer that you want me to"
Oh well
In 1970, Green had an apparent
psychotic break and left the band for good.
Oh well. Jeremy Spencer stepped into the void, and gave the band its direction for 1970's
Kiln House album. If this were a
radio show, you'd be hearing
Station Man right now, because that's the strongest song on that one, and it's strong indeed. Unfortunately, Spencer left the band without even a goodbye during that album's tour, to join the
Children of God, a popular cult of the time.
Christine Perfect, who had sung and played keyboards for them before, joined the band and married John McVie, or vice-versa. That lineup made a mediocre album called Future Games before Bob Welch joined them for the exquisite Bare Trees.
After that, they fired Danny Kirwan, and went through a couple of other guitarists on Penguin and Mystery to Me. Mystery to Me is a fine CD, but it can only be truly appreciated as a vinyl album, because the cover folds out to a striking work of art, or cartoon.
In '74, there was an unfortunate episode involving an ersatz Fleetwood Mac tour, mounted by their manager, Clifford Davis. While suing the imposters, they managed to produce Heros are Hard to Find, the last of their pre Buckingham Nicks attempts.
End of Part One
Someone else will have to write the rest, because I stopped liking them at that time. I was a big fan of both Fleetwood Mac and Buckingham Nicks, but there was something disgusting about their alliance. Or maybe it was just my hip disdain for success.
Heavy credits to www.sing365.com and other Google gatherings. I didn't know half of this stuff.