Label: Castle Records (UK), 114-2
Style: Blues Rock
Country: London, England
Time: 56:54, 51:52
Format: Flac Tracks 16/44,1 kHz
Size: 251, 214 Mb
The Fleetwood Mac lineup presented here in these BBC studio recordings from 1967-1971 represents to many die-hard fans the only truly worthwhile version of the band, and bears little resemblance to the pop superstars the group would evolve into during the height of the Buckingham-Nicks era a decade later. Their live shows under leader Peter Green were the stuff of legend and influenced countless legions of future blues-rockers. Having never heard these recordings, I was pretty excited to see how the DVD-Audio medium (via DualDisc) would serve these archival performances – unfortunately, it’s a pretty mixed bag of results.
You can sense Peter Green’s legendary stage presence throughout these performances – his incendiary guitar style ignites originals like Rattlesnake Shake and Green’s signature tune, Oh Well. Hard-edged covers also abound, from the likes of blues legends Elmore James, Robert Johnson and Little Willie John. Green’s guitar playing throughout is truly remarkable, and his rough-hewn vocals add significantly to Fleetwood Mac’s blues credentials. Too many acid trips contributed to his tragically rapid descent into madness, and robbed the music world of a towering talent and true guitar genius.
On the downside, for every two really great blues numbers or Green original, there’s a fifties-bopper, sock hop oriented cover or original from second guitarist Jeremy Spencer. Not that these tunes are so very bad, but they’re just not in keeping with the bluesy spirit of the rest of the performances, and serve as a great distraction. How he stayed with the band for five years, I’ll never know.
Sound quality is also quite variable, ranging anywhere from reasonably acceptable to pretty raw. Switching between the CD layers and DVD-Audio or Dolby Digital surround mixes only yielded slightly perceptible differences – the original tapes must be in pretty poor condition.
(classicrockreview.wordpress.com/category/fleetwood-mac-live-at-the-bbc/)
01. Rattlesnake Shake (07:38)
02. Sandy Mary (05:00)
03. Believe My Time Ain't Long (03:00)
04. Although The Sun Is Shining (02:31)
05. Only You (02:51)
06. You Never Know What Your Missing (02:52)
07. Oh Well (02:26)
08. Can't Believe You Wanna Leave (03:25)
09. Jenny Lee (02:19)
10. Heavenly (02:37)
11. When Will I Be Loved? (02:13)
12. When I See My Baby (02:11)
13. Buddy's Song (02:09)
14. Honey Hush (03:08)
15. Preachin' (03:05)
16. Jumping At Shadows (03:35)
17. Preachin' Blues (01:59)
18. Need Your Love So Bad (03:48)
01. Long Grey Mare (02:53)
02. Sweet Home Chicago (03:10)
03. Baby Please Set A Date (02:59)
04. Blues With A Feeling (02:56)
05. Stop Messing Around (02:17)
06. Tallahassee Lassie (03:24)
07. Hang On To A Dream (02:56)
08. Linda (02:03)
09. Mean Mistreatin' Mama (04:03)
10. World Keep Turning (02:39)
11. I Can't Hold Out (02:27)
12. Early Morning Come (02:29)
13. Albatross (02:48)
14. Looking For Somebody (02:40)
15. A Fool No More (03:40)
16. Got To Move (02:57)
17. Like Crying Like Dying (02:33)
18. Man Of The World (02:49)
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