Fleetwood Mac - Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (1968)

Originally meeting as John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, when the idea was mooted of going it alone Peter Green suggested the band should be named after drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie. Jeremy Spencer completed the lineup as rhythm guitarist and this album is their debut release and a million miles away from their saccharine later offerings with Stevie Nicks et al. Here it’s blues all the way with Green really showcasing his vocals and influential guitar playing to great effect.

My Heart Beats Like A Hammer opens with some bottleneck and shuffles along with a powerful vocal and is lyrically on familiar blues territory opining a lost love – some good bottleneck soloing ensues too. Merry-Go-Round is a slow blues number climaxing with a heart-felt solo from Green.

Long Grey Mare is a uptempo number featuring harmonica from Green followed by the piano intro to Hellhound On My Trail which remains a slow blues piano and vocal piece throughout: Jeremy Spencer tinkles the ivories here.

Elmore James’ Shake Your Moneymaker is up next and is a break-neck shuffle with Green belting out the lyrics with plenty of slide guitar to boot and is a standout track. Things then mellow to a syncopated bass-drum riff driven track featuring Green’s harmonica once more which, as there is no guitar on the number, also provides the solo.

No Place To Go is a more forgettable tune but My Baby’s Good To Me sees the band back on track, shuffling along with the bottleneck re-emerging for some nice flourishes before the Black Magic Woman-esque If I Loved Another Woman kicks-in featuring a lengthy Green solo with heavily reverbed guitar sound.

Cold Black Night is slow Delta blues penned by Jeremy Spencer, followed by Green’s acoustic The World Keep On Turning. The album closes with the boogie of Got To Move, another Elmore James number.

This album is interesting as Fleetwood Mac were later to become huge but with a style that bore absolutely no resemblance to their earlier albums. The Green-era of the band was popular too but to a different audience and, as can be heard here, largely revolved around traditional blues in very much the style of Elmore James. If ever you wanted to hear musical contrasts, listen to this then put on Rumours or Tango In The Night – would you know there was any connection between the two bands? No, I didn’t think so!

• Peter Green – Guitar/Vocals/Harmonica
• Jeremy Spencer – Guitar/Piano
• John McVie – Bass
• Mick Fleetwood – Drums