First of all, I have to confess that the title I chose for this article is probably a bit unfair. Since at least the late seventies, the Fleetwood Mac that the world has come to know and love is the model that has sold buttloads of records under the creative leadership of Lindsey Buckingham and the somewhat mysterious onstage persona of their resident "Witchy Woman" Stevie Nicks.
Together, Buckingham-Nicks (who actually released a pre-Mac album under that very name) have come to define the band called Fleetwood Mac.
There is no doubt that Buckingham and Nicks led Fleetwood Mac out of the commercial grave they had so long been consigned to as one of the numerous faceless "Blooze Bands" they were prior to albums like Rumours. Don't get me wrong here, I personally think that Lindsey Buckingham is pretty much a largely unheralded pop genius, not to mention a damn decent guitarist to boot (just check out his work on a song like the pop-era Mac gem "So Afraid" if you doubt me). Personally though, I prefer his solo work. I mean how can you deny a song like "Trouble" off of Buckingham's first solo album? If this isn't evidence that Lindsey Buckingham could have been the next Brian Wilson, I don't know what is.
However...
Before Fleetwood Mac became, well Fleetwood Mac, they began as "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac." Which I guess put them in pretty much the same category as any number of British "Blooze Bands" of their time back in the seventies. You know what I mean? I mean back then for every Humble Pie there was an equal Savoy Brown. What set Fleetwood Mac apart however was that founding member Peter Green was regarded as a British blues guitarist held up in the same sort of awe as people like Eric Clapton.
Although there are earlier examples such as the great instrumental "Albatross," the finest examples of Green's work can be found on the great album Then Play On. In it's best known song, "Oh Well," Green goes from dirty blues to an almost surreal sounding second part of the song. Less well known, but equally great are Green's work on such songs as "Coming Your Way" and the great "Fighting/Searching For Madge" suite. As for Green's other contributions? Well those have been covered from any number of rock bands from Santana's "Black Magic Woman" to Judas Priest's "Green Manalishi."
After Peter Green left Fleetwood Mac to find his God (and if you can find it, he did a great Christian themed solo album in the early eighties called In The Skies), Fleetwood Mac carried on with a variety of guitarists at the helm. After all, despite Peter Green's then considerable star as a guitarist, the band was actually founded by bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. Hence the moniker, Fleetwood Mac.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Glen Boyd
Ben,
If you are out there thank you so much for getting this published. It needs to be put under my "Rockologist" column designation however. Thanx again!
-Glen
2 - Declan Lewis
This comment is inaccurate: "after all, despite Peter Green's then considerable star as a guitarist, the band was actually founded by bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. Hence the moniker, Fleetwood Mac."
Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood, along with Bob Brunning and Jeremy Spencer started "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" without McVie, who chose to stay in the safe realms of Mayall's band for the time being. Fleetwood Mac's debut gigs, and several following were done withOUT McVie, who did eventually come aboard when their success was eminent, hence Green's foresight in using MAC (for McVie) in the band's name even though McVie abstained initially.
Cheers,
Declan
3 - Glen Boyd
Well I guess I stand somewhat corrected Declan. However I am equally sure that you understand the real point that was being made. That being that the name Fleetwood Mac ccomes from a combination of the names Fleetwood and McVie. Thanx for the comment.
-Glen
4 - darehn
Great article! Thank you so much! I also, as a major macfanatic, look for any small inacuracies, and that one even slipped by me! Yes, Peter, never wanting to really 'front' the band in spite of his brilliance, talked John into joining, saying "We've already got yer name in the band!" LOL Also, he kinda got kicked outta Mayall's for drinking a wee bit much. But no matter, like you said, the Fleetwood and the Mac is what carries on today, best rythym section in the business. All in all your article is very good, a keeper~! Glad to see it! They have one of the hugest and most loyal fanbases!!!!
5 - Joe
Thanks for writing this. I do think you should give Christine McVie a lot more credit than you did for the success of the modern era Mac. In fact, it looks like you didn't even mention her at all. She wrote and sang a number of their biggest hits. I thought she was the best songwriter in the Buckingham-Nicks era band and that Lindsey's best contributions were in arrangements and production.
From everything I've read, Peter Green WAS the original Fleetwood Mac and Mick Fleetwood gets the credit for keeping the band together over the years and for finally putting together their best lineup from a commercial perspective. In Mick's autobiography he gives Peter Green tremendous credit musically and in leading the band in those early years. Peter chose the name Fleetwood Mac - he seems to me to always be pushing others forward like in choosing that name and showcasing Danny Kirwan's fiery playing so much. And Jeremy's sense of humor. But the record company made them call the album Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac because Peter had a name already and nobody would know who/what Fleetwood Mac was back then. John McVie had been successful playing in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers but I think Mick had only been in a few bands (including Mayall's) for short periods of time and was not yet highly regarded.
Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, in my opinion, are one of the greatest rhythm sections in rock 'n' roll history which certainly had something to do with every FM lineup over the years making great music.
6 - Glen Boyd
Joe,
You are quite right in calling me on the floor for not talking about the former Christine Perfect in this article. But I assure you that the omission was not intentional. It is something which I merely glossed over, so color me guilty as charged on this. I wholeheartedly agree with you that Christine McVie's songs and especially her bluesy, smokey sounding voice played a pivotal role in Fleetwood Mac's success, particularly during the pop years where her songs like "Over My Head" are as instantly recognizable as anything that the band ever did.
So again, my apologies on the omission, and thank you for pointing it out.
-Glen
7 - Jet in Columbus
To this day "Hypnotised" is one of my all-time favorite songs.
They're right Glen in calling you on the carpet about omitting Christine. Lindsey and Stevie were the repeated flashs that got our attention, but Christine was the steady consistant talent the group was based on.
When I saw "Mystery to Me" as the base icon for this article, I was a little disappointed that you didn't spend more time on that disk.
When I need a reminder of where I came from musically I listen to "Why", then "Just Crazy Love" and then a five time sprint of "Hypnotized"
Good over all article though my friend
Jet
8 - Pico
Great article, Glen. While the Buckingham-Nicks rendition of the Mac deserved its fame, the previous versions have been unfairly overlooked. Green was a phenomenal blues guitarist and remains so today.
One nit-pick, however, I have always understood that it was Spencer who suddenly left the band due to a sudden spiritual awakening (he joined a religious cult literally on the spot mid-tour in 1971) and Green quit the band a year earlier due to excessive drug use and disillusionment with the whole music industry.
Regardless, thanks for bringing to light this important part of the band's history. An enjoyable read.
9 - Gail
Glen
You didn't "gloss over" Christine McVie's contribution you left it out completely! She has written more hits than any other member of the band.
As others have pointed out Bob Welch did NOT write all of the songs on Bare Trees.
Please try and get your facts straight.
10 - Glen Boyd
Oh for Petes sake, will somebody please give me a break on the Christine thing? I've acknowledged the sleight and apolgized for it already. I love her stuff and certainly recognize the contribution she made to Fleetwood Mac, but chose to focus on the revolving door of Mac's many guitar slingers over the years. Perhaps if I just titled the piece something like "The Many Guitars of Fleetwood Mac"?....
-Glen
11 - Glen Boyd
Pico,
Green also left the band after having hisown religious experience. As I said, check out his solo album "In The Skies" for a reference point. Thanx for the commment.
-Glen
12 - Victor Lana
Thanks, Glen, for a very informative piece. I didn't know anything about the FM before the Fleetwood Mac of Rumors. I listened to that album so much in my car with my friends I think I know every word of every song.
Also, while I like Stevie and Lindsey (he has a new album coming out I believe) a lot, no one can deny the power of Christine's voice and the indelible strength of her best songs. The band is not the same without her.
13 - Glen Boyd
Thanx for the comment Victor. And I think it is safe to say that after the reaction to this article, I will never look (or should I say overlook) the same way at Christine McVie again.
Thanx again.
-Glen
14 - Pico
per Glen:
"Green also left the band after having hisown religious experience. As I said, check out his solo album "In The Skies" for a reference point."
From what I gather, his religious experience was three days of rampant acid-dropping in Munich. That, combined with what was later diagnosed as paranoid schizophrenia, contributed to increasingly erratic behavior that resulted in him effectively withdrawing from society until he finally got his mental condition treated in the mid-seventies. I googled this just to confirm and the story was consistent from three different sources. I stopped looking after those three, so maybe I missed where you had read otherwise.
In The Skies came out in 1979, nine years after he left FM and after he had recovered sufficiently enough to play again. He had some big demons to battles, and it's remarkable that he has held them at bay and is still making some good music today. Hot Foot Powder from just a few years ago is a favorite of mine.
15 - Glen Boyd
Pico,
I'm not entirely sure on when it happened, but at some point after Green left the band, he did become a born again Christian. If you listen to the "In The Skies" album, the many religious references there are as clear as on something like Dylan's "Saved". Sample lyrics from the title track: "He is coming with the stars, and every eye shall surely see him, even those the ones who pierced him." Doesn't get much clearer than that and this is only one sample lyric.
I did know that he was pretty whacked out for a time after leaving the band though. I'm not entirely sure when the religious conversion occured, but do know that it did in fact happen.
Anyway, thanks for all the comments Pico and I'm glad you enjoyed the article. At least you're not still raking me over leaving out Christine McVie -- LOL.
-Glen
16 - Pico
OK, I understand now where your coming from, Glen. I thought you meant he left the band due to the religous conversion. I haven't listened to In the Skies for a while, but I trust that the album is about that conversion. It's all good.
I do think Christine Perfect/McVie was a very significant contributor to the band (and she's put out some really good solo records that have been ignored), but I interpreted your article's focus was on members who weren't there when FM became superstars. That's why I enjoyed reading it, because those guys have become largely forgotten, whereas Christine really wasn't. Yeah, I thought the criticism you got was a little unfair.
17 - nerissa
Please get your facts straight. Bob Welch did NOT pen the ten songs on this album. He wrote two.
18 - The Mysterious SortaSavageLike
Before there was Fleetwood Mac, dinosaurs ruled the Earth.
Then, apparently, Fleetwood Mac themselves became dinosaurs.
19 - The Haze
Comments:#1 - They may have been more popular with Buckingham/Nicks,but were better before them. #2 - Bob Welch and Paris: not bad little power trio. #3 - Lindsey Buckingham is very underrated. Great guitar player and composer.
20 - Glen Boyd
#17: Thanks for pointing out the error. I guess this proves that even the mighty "Rockologist" can occasionally get his facts a little, well confused (not to mention forget to mention Christine McVie).
Just to set the record straight though, my info came from the liner notes on a reissued Bare Trees CD which came out in the early nineties. The liner notes as I read them said "Bare Trees featured ten songs penned by Bob Welch." Rechecking this today, I now see it added Danny Kirwan and Christine McVie. So it was an honest blunder on my part. In any event, I thank you for pointing it out and will get it corrected.
-Glen
21 - Glen Boyd
Regarding comment #17, the article has been appropraitely corected. Again, thanks for pointing out the error.
-Glen
22 - Condor
Thanks; in fact just last night I include Welch on the wikipedia list of guitarists. His wiki was there but a pointer from the guitarist list was not.
I really liked Welch with the Mac. My favorite Mac tune was "Oh Well," not sure who wrote it tho'... a killer rendition was done by a Chicago group called the Rockets. Talk about rockin'...
Rumours always reminded me of my wasted youth and those sordid nights at the Moonlite Ranch out by Carsen City. It seemed like a constant dirge emanating from the various rooms... perhaps Stevie's caterwailing drowned out the fake sighs of orgasam the hookers were so fond of.
23 - tony
If you were willing to fix the misinformation on comment 17 then you should also reconsider working Christine McVie into the article in a signficant way. Not only did she pen the band's largest hits from 1975-90, but she also helped keep the band afloat from 1970-74. In fact, as Mick Fleetwood says in his book, if hristine quit the band (as she thought of doing in 1971) then the band would ave folded.
Also, You were correct in saying that Peter Green formed the band. As a gesutre of taking the spotlight off of himself, he decided to name the band after his favorite rhythm section. However, John McVie did not found it. Nor did Fleetwood. Greenie (as they called him then) sought them out...
24 - Rob
While I appreciate any article that informs the general public of a pre-Lindsay Buckingham/Stevie Nicks Fleetwood Mac, you definitely do need to check your facts. One thing that was not mentioned was the complete name of the band - Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac Featuring Jeremy Spencer.
Rob
25 - Glen Boyd
Oh for Petes sake, enough already.
The significant inaccuracies in this article have been corrected. And while I thank those that pointed them out, at this point a few of you are simply looking for any little thing you can find to pick apart (and seemingly making sport of it).
At this point, I've become convinced that nothing short of a complete rewrite is going to satisfy some folks here. To those folks, I'm sorry but you are not going to get that. To those who enjoyed the article, and maybe learned a few things about F-Mac before the Buckingham/Nicks era, my sincere thanks.
Next?
-Glen