Fleetwood Mac - The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac

Full title - Very Best Of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. 20 tracks assembled here on this excellent retrospective which also adds 'I'd Rather Go Blind' by future Mac member Christine McVie's band, Chicken Shack, and Chris Coco's 2002 remake of 'Albatross' featuring Peter Green. Slipcase. Columbia. 2002. Album Description

Excellent but not without a few flaws

I'm with David W. Darby (see his "Nice compilation, but not complete or flawless" review) on this one. While this set is easily the best single disc compilation of Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac released to date, hitting nearly all of the highlights with inclusions from several different record labels, it nevertheless still falls ever-so-short of being the perfect set that it could have been. For starters, I would gladly dump the Chicken Shack tune and the re-make of "Albatross" in exchange for "Long Grey Mare," "Show-Biz Blues," and "Love That Burns," which, in my estimation, was the best track on the second album. And "Homework," it could be argued, was the highpoint of the double Blues Jam in Chicago LP, with absolutely smokin' lead guitar from Greeny, yet unfortunately was not included. And how about "Jumping At Shadows," one of my very favourite slow blues tunes with more exquisite guitar from Mr. Green? I realize that one can't have everything, but I'm guessing most long-time fans of the band would make the same trade and ditch those fairly meaningless tunes stuck at the end of this disc. February 8, 2008

Greeny's Blues

I am the same age as Peter Green. I was a fan way back when he was leading the British blues band called Fleetwood Mac. I had purchased tickets to see the Mac at the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis--this would have been about 1969 or 1970. Unfortunately, they never made it. The tour had to be called off after both Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green went off the deep end out on the west coast. Disallusioned with success and perhaps with the criticism he had received--British white kid plays black American blues; how presumptuous!--Green got religion and dropped out of the scene. This was a gigantic loss to music.

It's great he's back playing again, and I am very happy for him.

If you want to hear what he could do at the top of his game, this is the disk for you. There is an entire pantheon of British guitar gods, and Peter Green belongs there up near the top. Not slighting any of the other greats like Jeff Beck, Albert Lee, Rory Gallagher, Mark Knopfler, Gary Moore and Clapton and so on, but for my money, when it came to blues, "Greeny" was the greatest of them all. I cannot think of a single person who possessed so much talent and feeling, such great vocal ability, and so much sheer technical virtuosity. The great BB King once stated that Peter Green was one of the best he'd ever heard (or was it THE BEST he'd ever heard?? I don't remember. Oh well.....).

And he was not simply a "blues guitarist"; his amazing composing ability is demonstrated in such diverse classics as Albatross, Oh Well, Green Manalishi, Black Magic Woman, etc., as well as the fabulous Then Play On LP.

The late sixties Mac was quite a lineup with three lead players and so on, but they did not really reach huge success until Peter's departure. The band grew, and evolved, moved away from the blues foundation which they had established. This is a good thing; one should grow and change and mature; it's the mark of a true artist.

Peter Green has grown and matured as well. He chose to do it away from music. That he's returned to us is a true blessing. January 17, 2008

Nice Compilation, but not complete or flawless

Where's "Love That Burns"? That is a track that is every bit as important as the others, and should have precluded the Chicken Shack cut. Not to mention "Homework", "Shake Your Money Maker", "Long Grey Mare, Show-Biz Bluesand a slew of other great tracks. Its a nice start, but you will find yourself wanting more. That said, when it comes to Fleetwood Mac, it's good to be Green. Keep 'em coming! January 3, 2008

Awesome

I am a new fan of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (after being admonished by my older brother that the Fleetwood Mac I knew of wasn't the REAL Fleetwood Mac); now I know what he meant; enough said. December 12, 2007

The definitive compilation of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac: gets everything right

Pretty much the only unfortunate side-effect of the massive artistic and commercial success the Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks era of Fleetwood Mac was the obscuring shadow it cast upon the earlier eras of the band. No one has even attempted to compile the greatest moments from the early Seventies version of the band, and while blues lovers have revived interest in the original Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac, it has still been impossible for the non-obsessive completist to find a convenient single-disc introduction into this wonderful, formative era of the band. A large part of that was due to label-hopping and rights issues: the Peter Green era spreads over three different record labels, and while the "strictly blues ma'am" Blue Horizon material was the often tossed onto cheapie compilations, the more pivotal Immediate and Reprise cuts remained out in the cold.

Finally - FINALLY - this set rights all those wrongs, and presents the novice with an almost flawless, complete view of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. EVERY important recording, every important aspect, of the early Fleetwood Mac is included here.

What does that actually mean? Well, this set includes the best cuts from their first self-titled album (giving equal time to both Green and the Elmore James-obsessed Jeremy Spencer with "My Heart Beat Like A Hammer," "Shake Your Moneymaker," and "Looking For Somebody"), as well as highlights from the disappointing follow-up Mr. Wonderful ("Stop Messin' Round," "Rollin' Man"). Almost all of the band's Blue Horizon singles are here: "I Believe My Time Ain't Long" is missing, but "Need Your Love So Bad," "Black Magic Woman," and the #1 UK instrumental hit "Albatross" are all present and accounted for.

However, what makes this collection unique is that finally we have a CD that goes on from that point and collects the groundbreaking post-Blue Horizon work: "Man Of The World," "Oh Well" (both parts), and "The Green Manalishi" are finally put together with the early Green-era blues stuff to give you complete view of what this band was doing in 1969. Even better, the compilers of this album decided to bite the bullet and pay Reprise records for the rights to use "Rattlesnake Shake," the key track off the band's one obligatory Green-era album Then Play On. (My only criticism is that I would have preferred more from Then Play On, e.g. "Show-Biz Blues," but I'm in a forgiving mood.)

Finally, a huge bonus that hardcore fans will appreciate is the inclusion of the obscure 1971 single "Dragonfly." Technically it postdates Green's departure from the band, but he's always had high praise for it and it has heretofore been utterly unavailable on CD. All praise to the compilers for hunting it down and including it.

Anyway, for all the reasons mentioned above, THIS is where you start to learn about early Fleetwood Mac. Some Green-era fans may quibble about the absence of a particular favorite - "Love That Burns" is one that many devotees will miss, and as I said above I would have liked "Show-Biz Blues" to be included - but the all the critical high points are here. After years of frustratingly incomplete "greatest hits," somebody took the time to get it right. November 2, 2007

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