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Fleetwood
Mac
Fleetwood
Mac began life as a British blues band in 1967, driven by
the impressive guitar work of Peter Green, Danny Kirwan,
and Jeremy Spencer, which came to the fore on the
immaculate 'Albatross' and raunchier 'Oh Well'. The name
Fleetwood Mac came from drummer Mick Fleetwood and
bassist John McVie.
The group began to fragment after Green's departure, and
his subsequent ill health, which has been well documented.
Peter Green was the leader of Fleetwood Mac, and like Syd
Barrett with Pink Floyd, he perhaps found the
responsibility and fame too much to bear. It's a tribute
to both bands that they in effect reinvented themselves,
and became even more successful, when they could both
easily have split up.
In the mid-1970s, Fleetwood and McVie invited American
singer/songwriters Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham,
the latter also a gifted guitarist, to join the band,
with McVie's wife, and singer/songwriter and keyboardist,
Christine already in place. Fleetwood Mac became just
about the hottest group in rock music in the late '70s,
and their album 'Rumours' sold a massive 18 million
copies. It was made at a time all members of the group
were having relationship problems, and emphasised the old
adage that the more you suffer the better the music.
'Dreams', 'Songbird', 'Don't Stop', 'Go Your Own Way',
'The Chain', and 'You Make Loving Fun' are today all
still getting a lot of airplay, and showed 'Rumours' as a
wonderful mix of moving melody, and foot-tapping rock.
Yes, it was more mainstream than Peter Green's Fleetwood
Mac, but the band were still making quality music.
Fleetwood Mac have had their critics for being over-indulgent,
which they certainly have been guilty of, but they were
at the height of their fame at a time when punk and New
Wave was surfacing, so every successful rock act was
"going to get it"! They, being one of the
biggest rock groups, were certainly going to "get it"
more than most. Fleetwood Mac, though, have made good
music - in both incarnations of the group.
- Paul Rance, Peace & Freedom
Press.
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