ganews vs. Fleetwood Mac

I am also soliciting suggestions for tallies of running themes in songs. Maybe you all can do better than my idea, "songs implying witchcraft".

Fleetwood Mac (1968)



Pre-existing Prejudices

I think I am poised to like this album. Wikipedia says it is composed of blues originals and covers, and seeing as the only member of the classic lineup present is Mick Fleetwood, I expect something very different from "Fleetwood Mac". But will it be significantly different from anyone else trading in bluesy covers in the 60s? By the way, it sure is nice to do a review using YouTube again.

Songs

"My Heart Beat Like a Hammer" - Resonator strumming. When the band starts up, it's very by-the-number blues tropes and lyrics. The most notable thing is the singer's "yeeeaaaahhhhh" calls that sound like a gift shop sick-stick.

"Merry Go Round" - Again with the studio talk left in the track. (Maybe what I'm hearing is from the 1999 re-issue with the studio talk.) Slower electric blues number, still very standard. Good stuff, don't get me wrong, but nothing new or innovative to blues.

"Long Grey Mare" - Different beat here, little bit of boogie, plus a some harmonica interstitial. Sounds a little more original.

"Hellhound on My Trail" - Robert Johnson song, interestingly done as a solo piano number. Sounds good too.

"Shake Your Moneymaker" - Elmore James rockin' blues. This is the first track where I really notice the drums in a significant way. I'd like to hear a Daddy Long Legs cover, too.

"Looking for Somebody" - Harmonica is back and this time doing all the heavy lifting, backed with bass and bossa nova-lite drums. Slow fade out.

"No Place to Go" - Again harmonica at the front. Less interesting stuff behind it though on this cover.

"My Baby's Good to Me" - Rockin' blues, same vein as the first couple tracks. Heavy sound of Englishman putting on an American accent, and these lyrics are simple to the point of pointlessness. Leave the singing to the guitar.

"I Loved Another Woman" - Interesting, bossa nova beats with ethereal guitar. Most unique sound yet. But these lyrics illustrate why this band needed a few singer-songwriters to come in.

"Cold Black Night" - Another paint-by-numbers blues number. Now that I look at the personnel I see that Jeremy Spencer is behind most of these rote blues progressions and "yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh"s. This song just cuts out, perhaps it was embarrassed of itself.

"The World Keep On Turning" - Solo acoustic guitar and plaintive singing.

"Got to Move" - Spencer is back for one final cover. This guys plays well, just make him shut up.

Summary: Mostly acceptable. It's British blues alright, though I wouldn't put it near the top of that heap. Solid guitar playing all over, by which I mean the solos on top of ho-hum 12-bar blues. The straightforward blues tracks that I think are Jeremy Spencer (at least he is the credited songwriter) would be fine for a bar but are not something great to listen to when you could pick a million other blues albums. Certainly the lyrics were weak imitations, and the sick-stick vocals were increasingly annoying. There are some real bright spots with harmonica and rhythm section, though, and the piano cover of Robert Johnson was special.

Favorite overall song: "Looking for Somebody"
Favorite new-to-me song: All new, or at least new-to-me cover versions

Mr. Wonderful (1968)



Pre-Existing Prejudices

This ought to be just like the debut: good and creative when it's not being tainted with annoying vocals, OK to pedestrian otherwise. The less Jeremy Spencer the better. The version I'm listening to is also a re-issue with studio talk, also on Spotify which is unfortunate.

Songs

"Stop Messin' Round" - Added saxophone and piano, not bad. This sounds like it was recorded live, it's OK.

"I've Lost My Baby" - Mournful electric blues. The piani (you heard me) and sax stick around, waaay far back behind the guitar. Still sounds like this was recorded in a living room, I suppose they were going for that affectation. Spencer's vocals are acceptable this time...until he throws in a couple yaaaaaaahs.

"Rollin' Man" - This at least has a decent rolling tempo, and the piano is a real asset. Time change mid-song to turn up the energy, I've always been a fan of change-ups. But it just fades out from there with no more development. This has been the only song where the rhythm section for which this band is named matters.

"Dust My Broom" - You pushed that yaaaaaah way low in the mix, Spencer, but I heard you. I would be keeping a running tally of these if I didn't know that he wasn't staying in the band. Anyway this cover is extremely straight, which is too bad because the Robert Johnson cover on the debut was pretty great.

"Love That Burns" - Someone catch an STD? As the title suggests, it's a slow burner. Pretty solid. These songs would be immeasurably weaker without the backing sax and piano.

"Doctor Brown" - The guitar really rings for this one. Yaaaaaaah 2x. OK I'm counting but this will not be a running tally album-to-album. Doctors that heal by fucking, a classic theme. Yaaaah.

"Need Your Love Tonight" - Hang on, this song is completely identical to the last one. Completely. I hope Elmore James got paid twice. Remember when Chuck Berry forgot what song he was playing live and accidentally switched from "School Daze" to "Ridin' Along in My Automobile" mid-song? Yaaaaaah you do.

"If You Be My Baby" - You keep 'em lo, Spencer, but I be hearing your yaaaahs. The sax is now as much boring as it is an asset because this album is only composed of three songs.

"Evenin' Boogie" - It does have a bit of boogie. Lo and behold, halfway-audible bass and different sax notes, even a sax solo! The latter is not very good, but eh.

"Lazy Poker Blues" - I am now of the opinion that this album needed more guitar, there's too much reliance on piano. I dunno, there's plenty of noodling here. These lyrics don't mention poker at all. Oh wait, there it is, that's actually a decent double entendre.

"Coming Home" - For god's sake it's that same guitar riff again.

"Trying So Hard to Forget" - I missed the harmonica. This should have been in the middle to bust up the sameyness, at least between the two identical songs.

Summary: The full recording of this isn't on YouTube as an album or playlist, and I see why. Far more than the debut, what would be the point? The several tracks that showed something interesting on the first album are almost completely snuffed out in favor of the most boring style of blues cover. The extra instrumentation helped for a while, but by the time we got to a sax solo even those were uninspired. Also in case anyone wasn't aware this is white man blues, that cover hammers it home.

Number of Times Jeremy Spenser said "yaaaaaaaah": 16
Favorite Overall Song: "Rollin' Man", the only thing even slightly creative.
Favorite New-to-me Song: Again all new or new-to-me cover versions

I'd say the first Cream album, Fresh Cream, is the best blues album by a British band. Pre-psychedelia, it's raw and bludgeoning, though with plenty of finesse, and they could stretch out and leave any other band in their wake. Clapton's guitar tone is definitive, and it even has a highly listenable drum solo. 

On Fresh Cream, listen to the mono version, if you can. The drums are shunted off to one channel in the stereo mix - bad enough at the best of times, but when one track is largely a drum solo, it's highly annoying. 

In the 60s bands just released their great singles as singles and never put them on the album.

The Beatles "Hey Jude" was never on an album. Nor were "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields". "Paperback Writer" wasn't on an album. "We Can Work It Out" and "Day Tripper" were released together as singles, but they aren't on Rubber Soul. "Don't Let Me Down" isn't on the original mastering of Let it Be

In the case of Fleetwood Mac, there is also "Silver Springs" that Mick wouldn't let Stevie put onto Rumours. This didn't get released officially until their 90s reunion.

You are all welcome to catalog what singles should accompany each album approximately by year, and I will include those too so that the band gets a fair shake.

Seconding 'Need Your Love So Bad' - Ray Charles would've been happy with that one.

Paired with a diverse talent in new band-mate Danny Kirwan, freed from a contract with the small blues label Blue Horizon, and emboldened by the #1 success of the genre-defying single "Albatross," Peter Green next wrote and recorded the despairing folk-pop song "Man of the World." Filled with gently-picked electric and nylon-string guitars, it was gentle and hushed with the exception of a louder and more intense bridge. Green sang "I begin to wish I never was born," but somehow this unlikely song reached #2 on the UK singles charts.

To this day, Green's most rabid fans think of "Man of the World" as his signature song. Over-dubbed with great care by Green and Kirwan, it's well-crafted and rawly emotional. It's a forerunner of John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band and demonstrated that Peter Green was a haunted man. [Elvis Costello is one of many fans of the song - go to the 30-minute mark of his WTF interview with Marc Maron to hear him discuss Green.]

Green always was introspective. Sure, his talent was huge, and he used it to hold the spotlight on the blues stage. But more and more he doubted whether he was worth the fortunes being offered to him, and he wanted to give it away. (I believe he allowed Mick Fleetwood and John McVie writing credits on the "Madge" tracks so they could get a bigger cut of the album's royalties, but then he urged them to give the money to charity.)

It did not help that LSD had entered the picture - the band had a joint appearance with the Grateful Dead in New Orleans the night the American band got busted. More notoriously, Green's drink was spiked at a party at a Munich commune. The Germans were trying to use Green to get closer to the Rolling Stones, and they thought the acid would make Green more pliable. Many attribute Green's mental decline to the episode. When one considers Green's tendency to step back for the sake of greater democracy, his urge to give money to charity, and the popular 60s notions of using LSD as a tool to break down the ego and reach spiritual enlightenment, it's easy to see that Green had just the kind of personality that could break down under the effects of the drug.

His recorded output certainly became less focused. "Rattlesnake Shake" was the one uptempo rock song Green wrote for Then Play On. In concert it was combined with the "Madge" riffs and "Underway" to create an extended tour de force. Green's other songs were all cries from the heart, with "Closing My Eyes" being even more stark and melodramatic than "Man of the World." "Before the Beginning" is my favorite track from the original release of the album, with its guitar lines and memorable hooks, but you're right, the song could have been made weightier by extending it and allowing for the freedom of some improvisation. As before, Green gave half the album to his band-mate, in this case young Danny Kirwan. "When I Say" is insipid (I actually like Christine McVie's version, although the song will never be more than lightweight), but the other tracks are enjoyable on some level. The instrumental "My Dream" points towards Kirwan's mature guitar style, "Coming Your Way" is one of Kirwan's riff-fests (in retrospect I wonder if he was the driving force in the guitar duels with Green), and "Although the Sun is Shining" has interesting key changes and, like you say, vocal harmonies.

The album never did have stylistic cohesion, and it was released in various versions over the years. The single "Oh Well," which came out one week after the album, was added to the US release a couple of years later. "Oh Well" was another unusual Green construction, and its furious Part 1 hit #2 in the UK. Jimmy Page and Tom Petty both admitted to borrowing the song's approach for "Black Dog" and "Too Much Ain't Enough," respectively. While you may not care to hear "Greensleeves," this song came out at a time when Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span, and other bands were exploring English traditional folk music. At that time, Ye Olde English folk had the same time of role as blues purism in the rock music landscape.

I agree with you that the album doesn't hang together. However, it's unique in the clarity of all the instruments, whether recorded with or without reverb. There's a certain immediacy to the record - I can't think of any other rock song that charges so heavy but so clean as "Oh Well." "Like Crying" is a fun moment, a guy and his friend playing guitar and singing about a girl and her friend. This is also the record when Fleetwood discovers the pleasure of expanding his sonic palette, applying various percussion for dramatic effect. Most of all, there's something dark and suspicious lurking in all the songs. Kirwan's songs come off as soothing in the context of Green's alternating anxiety and evasive jamming.

"The Green Manalishi (With a Two-Prong Crown)" was released soon after the band recorded three nights in Boston for a proposed live album (Steven Tyler and Joe Perry bonded over the long "Rattlesnake Shake" and would eventually record their own live version). Green woke up one night in a cold sweat, wrote this song, and gave birth to another UK Top 10 single, this one with heavy stalking rhythms, cutting lead guitars, troubled howls.  But Green walked out one night of the tour, recorded the aimless and depressing jam LP End of the Game, and retreated to a few years of mental disturbance. He's bounced back somewhat since then - I can recommend his album In the Skies.

In a short time with Fleetwood Mac, Peter Green left an impressive body of work that is impossible to summarize with one album. You can't say he progressed, but rather his talent exploded, with all the growth and corresponding dissipation the word describes. If you know where to dig, there's gold.

And what about Jeremy Spencer? Jeremy Spencer presented a completely different series of challenges for the group. He was not helping with the new album. His idea was to record an EP spoofing radio shows and featuring parodies of doo-wop, blues bands, and 50s idols. It was called The Milton Schlitz Show and it was the most tiresome, labored crap you'll ever hear. Frankly, I hear it as an insult. The band got wise and left the EP out of the album's packaging. Spencer then recorded a full solo album with the help of the band which at least was professional sounding in its tributes and parodies - "If I Could Swim the Mountain" is actually pretty funny. But when Peter Green walked out, he left Spencer and Kirwan to complete the band's tour, and to carry on the Fleetwood Mac recorded legacy - if they were up to it.

Next time - A band in distress records an album that is thought of as utterly inconsequential or utterly charming, or maybe both.

Bonus tracks: "Man of the World":  www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=-nMGJSHZIw4

Maybe the best live version of "Rattlesnake Shake" - I don't think it's from Boston. Don't forget to check out the version from Mick Fleetwood's LP The Visitor, or the 17-minute uncut "Madge" jam. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUokt0gX-oM

"The Green Manalishi," once covered by Judas Priest. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTvKaLW5bu8

Kiln House (1970)



Pre-Existing Prejudices

This album no longer features Peter Green apparently (per my last post, I have two words: wasted potential). It does feature Jeremy Spencer, bringing him back off the absentee list. What is this even going to be, then, with Spencer YAHHHHing it up over fairy songs? I don't feel good about this.

Songs

"This Is the Rock" - This is pleasant enough. Spencer does the singing with back-ups, sort of a 50s throwback bluesy do-wop. He definitely goes for some Elvis affectations, nothing wrong with that. Toss in a Chuck Berry-style solo too.

"Station Man" - Not bad either. Adding a little choir lady soul to the backup vocal mix (is that Christine McVie?). I like these little diversions into dark chords, some nice synthesis if toms. Guitar crying is subdued and supportive behind the rhythm guitar. I can hear the bass, and the drum kit is meaningful. When did these guys learn to be a band?

"Blood on the Floor" - Spencer puts on a country mask, and it fits fine. The lyrics are every bit as parodic as Ween's 12 Golden Country Greats, (if you're new to reading my discography reviews, get used to me filtering things through newer artists that were probably influenced by the original music I am reviewing) but the sound is really good.

"Hi Ho Silver" - Back to the 50s again for this cover. Cool guitar solo. Spencer's vocals sound like John Lennon trying to sound like his 50s music heroes.

"Jewel-Eyed Judy" - This song is the most possessed of its own sound since "Station Man". Now that I write that, I'd say it's kind of a late-60s McCartney style (speaking of artists who enjoy throwbacks). It's good.

"Buddy's Song" - Okay, straight-up on the sleeve Buddy Holly imitation. Huh, this is actually credited to Buddy Holly's mother, weird. I like the rapid-fire drums. They even incorporate the words "that'll be the day" in there.

"Earl Gray" - Fine guitar and piano-driven instrumental. I am now wondering for this song and "Station Man" who this is supposed to sound like.

"One Together" - Pure Prairie League guitar, soft singing and backing "ooooo"s. I'm sure I could trace these roots back to early 60s folk movement stuff.

"Tell Me All the Things You Do" - Welcome to the 70s! Southern-fried guitar licks and wahs, percussive taps, and organ strips. Nice jam.

"Mission Bell" - Venture into Herman's Hermits-style, early 60s pop rock. It even has the bell chimes promised by the title. Well I like Herman's Hermits.

Summary: This album did well enough on the Billboard charts, demonstrating that public nostalgia for throwback music is older than I thought. It was only four years earlier that Frank Zappa was straight-up parodying 50s music and culture on Freak Out! I can't think of anyone who has been this successful at aping the style of multiple artists besides "Weird Al" Yankovic, over a 15 year span no less. And frankly, I find it much less offensive than a bunch of white boys trying to make "pure" blues and turning out drivel that was outdated 20 years before. It is much more palatable to me to imitate contemporaries and near-contemporaries. That all said, this is easily my favorite Fleetwood Mac album yet. The record doesn't necessarily have the little flashes of creative originality that appeared here and there under Peter Green, but I don't deny that there is creativity involved in mimicking the style of others without ripping them off ("Buddy's Song" aside). It's more evidence of the raw talent in this band, though I expect the shifting lineup means that Then Play On will be their only example of playing really original music in this era. This also flowed well as an album, popping between genres without sounding muddled.

Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Album : Peter Green
Number of Times Jeremy Spencer said "yaaaaaaaah": 0. I can't believe it.
Favorite Overall Song: "Station Man", though "Blood on the Floor" was pretty great too
Favorite New-to-me Song: all new, technically, though I'm quite familiar with all the artists being homaged/ripped off

It’s amazing that Kiln House ever came to be, considering that Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac’s founder, guiding light, primary songwriter and primary lead performer, walked out during the middle of the preceding tour. Somehow the remaining players got together and recorded an enjoyable album, even if it was miles away stylistically from what came before.

I give a lot of the credit to the person whose only official credit on the album cover was its art, Christine McVie. Since lending her piano to the band’s second album, Mr. Wonderful, she had left her mediocre band Chicken Shack, recorded a fairly-well received but poor-selling solo album under her maiden name, Christine Perfect, and married John McVie. She had occasionally recorded and performed with the group in the following years, and was now considered an unofficial member of the group. It’s unclear to me why she didn’t get a credit – it could be because she was still under contract to Blue Horizon records. More likely, the band was afraid that having the bassist’s wife join the group would rattle the fragile egos of their flakey (Spencer) and inexperienced (Kirwan) front men. But you can clearly hear her distinctive husky voice in the background of "Mission Bell," and that sure sounds like her rolling piano style during "Tell Me All the Things You Do." Watch the promotional film of Fleetwood Mac's "Station Man" and you can see her playing and singing in support.

As it was, there is a sense of cooperation throughout the album. Kirwan further developed his own style, layering melodic guitar parts of varying intensity. And I absolutely agree with you, for the first time Spencer’s parodies allowed some of his own personality to come through. But most important of all, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie were deepening the groove they put down on even the gentlest ballad.

Most later reviewers come upon Kiln House and dismiss it for all of its parodies – there’s no apparent connection with the Buckingham/Nicks era of Fleetwood Mac in these tracks (although several Buckingham songs have obvious Buddy Holly roots). At the time, however, this album did better commercially than Then Play On, and the reviewers liked the album, particularly Spencer’s “This Is the Rock.” I enjoy the whole album as a piece, with “Buddy’s Song” and “Earl Grey” my marginal least favorite tracks and my favorites being “Jewel-Eyed Judy,” “Hi Ho Silver,” and “Station Man,” which my high school rock band played. Even a song as lightweight as the old country-pop hit "Mission Bell" had extra resonance in the hands of these old blues pros.

Buddy’s Song: "Buddy's Song" is clever in piling on references to the 50s rocker's hits (drum part from "Peggy Sue," melody from "Peggy Sue Got Married," background vocals from "Oh, Boy!," and nods in the lyrics to several other songs). Only Kirwan’s lead and distorted chords are not in the Holly style. 50s nostalgia was kicking in at the time of this album – Sha Na Na was at Woodstock, Phil Ochs was wearing a gold lame suit covering Holly and Presley, the Madison Square Garden oldies show was coming soon (it was immortalized in Ricky Nelson's "Garden Party"), and then the movie American Graffiti came in 1973. To give credit to Fleetwood Mac, they played the old styles with heart.  Only “Blood On the Floor” from this album came off like a joke, and it’s fun (listen to the background vocals droning “the man’s bum”).

Credits: It was generous and maybe wise for Spencer to give credit to Buddy Holly’s mother for “Buddy’s Song,” but Big Joe Turner didn’t make out so well. What the album cover calls “Hi Ho Silver,” credited to Fats Waller, is in fact “Honey Hush,” an old Turner song which was covered raucously by Johnny Burnette and the Rock’n’Roll Trio (of “Train Kept a-Rollin’” fame). Paul McCartney did a swell cover of the song as well.

The Dark Underbelly: Of course, this version of the band didn’t last. Some have said that Spencer’s reliance on mimicry stemmed from his deep insecurity. “One Together,” a tender, idealistic love ballad, is the one non-parody by Spencer on the album. According to Mick Fleetwood, Spencer had to be coaxed into singing the song straight, and he had an emotional breakdown after recording it. Sure enough, Spencer would take a page from the Peter Green handbook and would walk off the tour after being approached by the Family of God in California. He would become a lead ambassador for the sect, and he remains a key figure to this day. There is a lot of deeply disturbing information and allegations available about Spencer’s post-Fleetwood Mac life online.

Next: The band makes key changes to its lineup and begins its journey into the wilderness. Ghosts of future Fleetwood Mac records appear.

Bonus cuts: A fine Kirwan single, "Dragonfly."  It stiffed. CBS Records added it to the UK Greatest Hits collection and said goodbye to the Green/Spencer era. www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEQ07_22YA0

And one last great Elvis parody by Spencer, from Live at the BBC ("You'll Never Know What You're Missing Until You Try"): www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmWsEovrAOI 

Future Games in Fleetwood Mac's chronology: With Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer gone, any lingering dedication to blues and 50s rock heritage is cast aside. Danny Kirwan's ambitious, melodic side is unleashed. Christine (Perfect) McVie, as she is billed this one time, get promoted to official band member and leaves behind the blues mama style she never was comfortable with.  Bob Welch, son of two parents with respectable Hollywood careers, brings a mix of R&B and jazz with a dollop of California harmony to the proceedings. It's a long ways from Mr. Wonderful, which only came out three years before.

Future Games in my chronology: I came to this album the way I'm sure a lot of the band's fans did during the Rumours heyday - I worked backwards. My record collection numbered in the low teens, and my friend Eric, who would become bassist in a band in which I was a guitarist/vocalist, had all the albums going back to Kiln House. These were my first dip into obscure back catalogues, an activity I spent a lot of time and money on and which makes me what I am today (I'll let you fill in the blanks). My tastes were (are) softer than most boys my age, and Future Games particularly appealed to me. It's a pet album, the one I feel most defensive about liking a lot. This defensiveness wasn't needed 40 years ago - The Rolling Stone Record Guide gave the album 4 stars, and Mark Knopfler was quoted saying that the guitar sound he had on the then-current "Sultans of Swing" was inspired by this album. The album's languid lushness is not fashionable today, and it allows some flaws which can test the listener's patience. But I've been listening to it plenty the last couple of weeks, and I'm still surprised by it.

Danny Kirwan unleashed - songwriter: The album's opener, "Woman of 1,000 Years," is my all-time favorite gentle, lush, folk-rock ballad. Kirwan's song shifts keys evocatively (the chord changes are similar to "Strawberry Fields Forever") and layers of ringing guitars vibrate, like the waves of sea in the lyrics. I find it spellbinding, a powerful announcement that the band has shifted gears - even if it does sound much like "Albatross."  Kirwan's "Sometimes" is an amiable country song with only two verses but with a structure of various linking passages stretching the song over 5 minutes. He probably had a hand in arranging McVie's "Morning Rain," which has a long series of instrumental lines. "Sands of Time" is a layered, Byrds-y style opus - it's the one Kirwan song which I feel needs a trim. Welch's "Future Games" is similarly stretched-out - the guitars at the end could use an earlier fade-out. Speaking of guitars...

Danny Kirwan unleashed - guitar player (and Bob Welch, too): If you started a stopwatch every time a lead guitar starts playing, including both guitars in dual guitar leads, you'll find this album has more lead guitar, minute-to-minute, than just about any non-instrumental album. I was surprised that Kirwan's solo turn in "Morning Rain" is over one minute; it's a favorite of mine, with a full-bodied, distorted sound emphasizing melody and vibrato over speed (your comparison to George Harrison is right on the nose for both his songwriting and guitar). Welch also has a tasty lick he repeats through the song. "Future Games" shows a nice contrast between Kirwan and Welch - Kirwan gets the early, sweet lead while Welch plays an impressive coda with jazzy flash and octave runs (I think that's Kirwan power-chording during the fade). But mostly it's Kirwan's vibrato and melody in preference to speed which made him one of the guitarists I wanted to emulate.

Those pesky flaws - Kirwan's ambitious layering seems to have posed a challenge to the engineer and producer of the album. There is a lot of tape hiss, and the sounds are missing definition. You have to turn the volume up to get the full impact of some of the performances. (On the other hand, somebody has a couple of remastered tracks on YouTube that are glaring and harsh, not an improvement.)  The mix is off in places - it's hard to understand Bob Welch's lyrics on "Future Games," and nearly impossible on the extended, whining chorus (he over-corrects on a later solo remake). If you don't have patience for extended laid-back jamming, the songs may drag. (The original album cover over-stated some of the song titles. Is it possible they were edited down in order to accommodate "What a Shame," a jam added at the last minute because the record label insisted it wouldn't release an album of seven songs? Note: The sax on "What a Shame" is by Christine's brother, John Perfect.)

A Hint of What's to Come, Part I - Christine's Perfect Ballad - The final track on the album is the only one with no jamming, no stretching out. Christine had been molded into a straight blues singer by Mike Vernon at Blue Horizon Records. With Future Games she began to relax into her own personal style. The rambling "Morning Rain" isn't much as a vocal showcase, but "Show Me a Smile" shows the sudden appearance of her mature style. Christine's ability to take brief, simple lines of folk melody to make distinct songs is perhaps only matched by Tom Petty (whose subject matter went beyond McVie's preoccupation with romantic concerns). "Show Me a Smile" is simple lullaby to her young son, and it's impeccable. Two lines of melody structured into verse and chorus, with a simple chord progression in the intro and instrumental break. Kirwan's guitars sparkle, and Fleetwood's cymbals splash. It's an enchanting, perfect track, familiar in style to those who know "Over My Head," "Little Lies," and especially "Warm Ways," which emulates the Kirwan guitar sound.

A Hint of What's to Come, Part II - The Rhythm Section has arrived - At the beginning of "Sometimes," there's a strumming folk guitar, then a brief drum intro. For the next half minute we hear Fleetwood's loosely swinging drums, John McVie's newly loping bass, and Christine McVie's rolling piano. It's a free and friendly sound, and it announces the arrival of the band's beating heart. Those three would carry the band through the lean years to super-stardom, and it's what gave hits like "Say That You Love Me," "Don't Stop," and "Think About Me" their soul, and their charm. Fleetwood's fascination with various percussion sounds blooms on this album, with castanets, bongos, cowbell, and wind chimes for color. Most importantly, here's where his trademark impulsive fills are first used to fill in the gaps of the songs (the comparison to Ringo Starr is right on). Listen to his fills during Kirwan's lead on "Future Games" - a few random drum kicks and slaps to push the song along, to add a bit of interest. Mick Fleetwood is a world-class musician, folks.

OK, so I went on a bit. To me, if you're reviewing the Fleetwood Mac discography right, this is the album that tests whether you're paying attention. I love it, but I understand somebody getting hung up on the flaws. If you're dismissing it, however, you're missing the story of the band.

It's a family feast. Everybody brings something to the table. You don't sit out. I'm happy to writing about this album on Thanksgiving, because music is one of the things I'm most thankful for.

"Morning Rain": www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=O1HoLcWkU98

Future Games introduced a new Fleetwood Mac, one that joined the post-Beatles world of unpredictable chord charges, long structures, and layered studio recordings. However, its low-key pleasures were a bit subtle for the mainstream rock audience, so six months later the band returned with the much punchier and more accessible Bare Trees, an album which gave them a few FM radio hits and some upbeat tracks to play in concert.

It's an enjoyable record. Anyone who has a taste for this genre of music from the early 70s will find songs to like, and any one song from the album can be a favorite. I prefer Kirwan’s two gentle tracks. I’ve heard “Sunny Side of Heaven” on Cornell University’s left-of-the-dial college radio station as well as in my local grocery store, and it brightens the mood anywhere. “Dust” is a gorgeous construction, lovely chord changes with poetic lyrics cribbed from Rupert Brooke. (I wonder if his entire career would have been more successful if he had partnered with a compatible lyricist.) Kirwan’s rocking tracks are enjoyable as well – my high-school rock band played “Child of Mine” (badly, I’m sure, but happily). I also enjoy Christine’s “Send Me a Bit of Your Love.” Right from the opening drum roll the band can’t seem to decide whether to play on the beat or on the off beat, giving the ballad an interesting skipping feeling.

But there’s something to love in all the tracks. When I first heard the album close to 40 years ago I didn’t care for Christine’s voice on “Homeward Bound.” At that time I was used to her later lighter vocal tone, but now I hear a solid jam by the band. I did some light research and found that the flute sound on “The Ghost” is Christine’s Mellotron. John’s bass is newly assertive, right from the opening seconds of “Child of Mine”. It sounds like he has taken up the fretless bass for the first time on “The Ghost” – it adds an voice-like quality to his playing which plays into his mellow melodicism. Mick keeps expanding his percussive sounds and pounds away, usually in his loose swinging style but really laying into his toms for “Danny’s Chant” and for parts of “Child of Mine,” which in some parts sound like rehearsal for “Rhiannon.”

It’s the best-selling Fleetwood Mac album from the pre-Buckingham/Nicks years, partly because of Bob Welch’s later Top 10 solo remake of “Sentimental Lady” (I like both versions equally as well). Because it’s such an easy album to like, there isn’t much to write about. I will admit that the lyrics (with the exception of the borrowed “Dust”) are pretty weak for the most part – Christine dares to rhyme “arms” with “charms” in 1972!  In the end, I find the extended structures and shear prettiness of Future Games more intriguing, but that changes depending on my mood.

Thinking About “Thoughts On a Grey Day”: I love “Thoughts On a Grey Day” – listen to old Mrs. Scarrott, enthusiastically reading her lusty, loving poem, and listen to Mick’s gentle, friendly support at the end. They say this poem inspired the lyrically-challenged Kirwan to write the title track. It’s a moment of real joy, better integrated into the album than Simon and Garfunkel’s similar experiment on “Bookends.” Mrs. Scarrott even deflates some of Kirwan’s lingering seriousness from the preceeding “Dust.”

Bob Welch’s Lyrical Themes and How They Fit In With Fleetwood Mac’s History: With “The Ghost” we have the first of Bob Welch’s explicit nods to the supernatural (there were hints in his two tracks from Future Games as well). Welch’s interest would result in at least one similarly-themed track on each of his remaining Fleetwood Mac albums. Peter Green had played a bit with these themes, explicitly in “Oh, Well” and “The Green Manalishi,” and implicitly in his stark, existential later tracks like “Closing My Eyes” and “Before the Beginning.” Stevie Nicks, of course, took on the persona of Rhiannon and used magical imagery in much of her work. Even on the infamous later album Time Mick had a spoken-word track contemplating existence. Fleetwood Mac was never a band of intellectuals, but of sensualists. California kids Welch and Nicks brought their 60s and 70s sense of off-beat spirituality to the group’s earthy and loose spirit (the two of them became good friends despite being in the band at different times). This accounts for the strange sexy but subtly troubled vibe on all of the band's records. It's as if the Heaven’s Gate cult lived just up the street, and Manson around the corner, next door to the Beach Boys and the Eagles.

Christine’s Low Romantic Expectations: “It doesn’t take much to please me”…”Spare me a little bit of your love”…”I’m not asking for love”…”Tell me sweet little lies”…”Heroes are hard to find”…. Christine McVie has spent a career repeatedly saying she needs love, but she’s not expecting much (the word “little” is used a lot). She’s one of the few songwriters who sing of romance in its most direct form – “You make loving fun” – without all the power-shifting drama most romantics require. There’s none of Stevie’s “Try and put a spell on you” or Lindsey’s “I’d bleed to love her” – for Christine, she wants some hugging and kissing, and she’ll hug and kiss back. Mountains may not crumble, but that’s OK. “I’m out of my mind and it’s only over you”…”Come a little bit closer”… (For the record, "It doesn't take much to please me" comes from "Show Me a Smile," which is addressed to her son. It's not romantic in its original context, but it still speaks to her mind set.)

Danny Kirwan Leaves the Spotlight: Kirwan wrote five of the nine musical numbers here and played most of the lead guitar throughout the album, a notable accomplishment for a 21 year-old. However, he drank heavily, and his moodiness was devolving into depression, and aggression. After a violent episode during the tour, he was cut loose. He would record two albums similar in feel to his last two Fleetwood Mac albums, albeit with a more whimsical, Nilsson-esque vibe and style of writing. His guitar playing receded, and the earthy pulse of the band was gone. His third album’s cover poked fun at Bob Welch’s album cover for the hit French Kiss, but that was the only fun thing about the sad affair – 80 backing musicians played on the stiff on which Kirwan was rumored to have only played one guitar lead. Kirwan’s most natural voice - his guitar - was silenced. He hasn't recorded since he was 29. Since then there’s been mental disease and occasional homelessness. It’s been said he doesn’t even remember his heyday. The tragedy is Kirwan’s, but it’s also ours. There should be a place in the world for somebody with a lot of talent and a bit of ambition.

Next, On the Further Adventures of Fleetwood Mac: The band replaces one moody near-genius with two blues-boogie showmen.

Bonus Cuts:  First up, a rocking Kirwan outtake called "Trinity": www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6vu6_JQLIQ

Finally, the purest expression of Kirwan's guitar talent, "Sunny Side of Heaven." May peace be with you, Danny Kirwan. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dp95cSVff4

In a blatant case of "the show must go on," the band replaced their morose singer-songwriter-guitarist with acquaintances who covered all these bases, substituting "morose" with "crowd-pleasing." It took two people to do it, but during the early 70s bands were getting larger and showier. Dave Walker was most recently singer for the pure blues/boogie band Savoy Brown, and he had performed on the same bill as Fleetwood Mac for a few years. Bob Weston was a talented guitarist with a brash sound and skill with the slide - when people talk about Bob Welch's guitar playing during this period, they are probably taking credit away from Weston.

In retrospect most writers look at the Penguin-era Fleetwood Mac as an aberration and a mistake, but it makes sense in a few ways. Bob Welch and Christine McVie were not yet proven as front-liners - they had only written and recorded a total of eight songs between them on the two previous albums. The band must have missed the way Peter Green and especially Jeremy Spencer hammed it up in front of an audience. But McVie and Welch were each developing on separate tracks, and the band was now showing a three-way split personality. The band democratically gave each of the three personalities equal time - sharing in royalties, of course.

Christine gets her act together: This is where Christine's act gels - easy-rolling songs with a vaguely girl-group sound. She teams up well with Weston - his slide opens "Remember Me" and the album with confidence, he provides a strange, flitting country-and-western lead on "Dissatisfied," and he sang the low harmony on "Did You Ever Love Me." (I practiced guitar to these three songs plenty way back when.)  There's some nice call-and-response backing vocal arrangements on the first two songs. With a little promotional help, "Remember Me" could have been a mid-level hit. But fate had other plans... (Incidentally - thank you for admitting that I have poisoned your mind re: Christine's work, ganews - it has always been my goal.)

Bob Welch exudes spaciness:  Welch's songs were long, flowing structures, less punchy than Christine's new pop focus. "Bright Fire" wanders around evocatively - it's mood music as far out of the group's geometric center as Dave Walker's contributions. "Night Watch" is a bit more of the same, but more urgent as it develops - the last half of it sounds a bit like early Jefferson Airplane (also from California, in case you forgot). "Revelation" ups the energy and craft considerably. It's my favorite of Welch's supernatural songs, but I may be misinterpreting it. I started by thinking of Welch's anti-authority rumblings on other songs and assumed he was bringing his skepticism to the laughing Lord of Light in "Revelation": "Dream on, keep your eyes wide open" and "It's what you're needing but it don't seem to last too long." It could be read as belief or skepticism - either way, it's its own thing.  (I dug up my old fan book and can confirm that, yes, it is Bob Welch playing the hyper-active bass solo on "Revelation." Keep in mind, that's probably Weston playing the flashy guitar solo.)

The new guys get a word in: "Road Runner" is one of the most maligned recordings in the Fleetwood Mac discography. Critics and other writers often are unforgiving of cover songs, and this one is famous for its poorly-recorded, tinny drums and cymbals (probably made excessively tinny in an effort to capture the Motown sound). I don't mind it - I've always liked the idea of a blues harp standing in for a saxophone in a song. The background "whoas" are a nice addition, but the song blusters and goes on a bit longer than needed. "The Derelict" is bluster of a different flavor. Again, I don't mind the banjo and harmonica mix on its own - there are hints of Neil Young in the sound, of the Faces' "Debris" in the lyric. But it's awfully earnest, and Walker's two contributions just don't mix with the band's aloof sensuality. As for Weston's instrumental "Caught In the Rain," I like it for what it is. The acoustic guitar and the piano play open, gentle chords, and the choir effect is lovely (foreshadowing Tusk's "I Walk a Thin Line"). I guess you can't sustain this for an album, but it's a suitable closer.

The album does not hang together at all. It's not like these are the White Album-era Beatles, polymaths of all music genres creating a stew. The songwriters were developing on narrow and distinct tracks, and although listening to the album can reward you with well-crafted and well-performed moments, the mind has to shift gears constantly. I'm a devotee of the band, but I would never recommend this as a first step to a non-devotee. This album did sell more in the US than any previous Fleetwood Mac album, the band toured, they even started recording another album before Walker's boozing led to his ouster. How would the band have developed if Walker's drinking had not gotten out of control? Fortunately, we will never know.

Sir IS appearing on the album: The ghostly, wandering guitar lead you hear during the quiet bongo break on "Night Watch" is provided by none other than Peter Green, standing in an echo chamber.

Fun trivia:  What do Jeff Lynne, Ozzy Osbourne, and Danny Kirwan have in common?  All were replaced by David Walker when they left their bands (The Idle Race, Black Sabbath, and Fleetwood Mac).

Penguins:  John McVie has been a fan of wildlife ever since he lived next door to a zoo as a young man (you may draw your own metaphors for his human interactions from this fact). Penguins have been featured on album art as far back as Future Games, when John substituted his own mug shot with a picture of the wingless bird. It's an eccentricity the band indulges in, and it makes me wonder how many other indulgences the band allows John to get away with. It's also an eccentricity that very, very few people seem to care about, but now that you know, you will never forget it.

Next chapter: The band pares back to a manageable* five people and puts out a regular** album of rock music.
*Not so manageable, for reasons which will become clear.
**Except for the album cover, one of the ugliest and weirdest covers ever. 

Here's a taste of Bob Welch at his best:  www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=7&v=gCOaBVQRs_c