Page 26 - the NOISE February 2014

PeTeR GReeN & FLeeTWooD MAC PART 1
To most folks, the name “Fleetwood Mac” conjures up an image of the three-man/two-woman late 1970s cocaine- fueled hit machine, creators of an Anglo-American brand of durable soft-rock candy surrounding a bitter heartbreak- flavored center. Thanks to consistent radio exposure, as well as the gazillions of records sold, the names Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, and Lindsey Buck- ingham are familiar to the majority of casual listeners.
Lesser known is the name of the group’s founder and patri- arch Peter Green, a name once mentioned in the same breath as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck: guitar heroes of the 1960s British blues explosion who each carved his own path away from the blues and helped shape rock and roll as we know it. From 1968-1970, the Green God’s flame shone brightest and burned out the earliest. Green, along with bandmates Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan, led an un- precedented triple-guitar musical juggernaut that, even 40 years later, still has the capacity to peel paint off your walls and set your foundations a-rumblin’.
In America, the Green-led Mac is known for the sleepy instru- mental “Albatross” and the classic rock nugget “Oh Well” (“Don’t ask me what I think of you/I might not give the answer that you want me to”), but his two most famous compositions are bet- ter associated with the bands who covered them: “Black Magic Woman” by Santana and “The Green Manalishi” by Judas Priest.
On the verge of forging a new unheard music and poised for US success, he walked away from it all, leaving the band he formed and named to find the way to fame and fortune without him while he embraced the comfort of obscurity and the dark world of mental illness. After a long uphill struggle, he re-entered the music scene in time to reap the benefits of his legend. He is probably playing a gig somewhere tonight.
In 1965, blues purist Eric “God” Clapton quits the Yardbirds (to be replaced by Jeff Beck), dismayed at the group’s yearn- ing for pop success, specifically the “For Your Love” single (he plays on about 15 seconds of it). He joins fellow purist John Mayall’s band. After cutting the epochal Blues Breakers LP in 1966, Clapton jumps ship again to form Cream with ex-May- all bassist Jack Bruce. Mayall, always on the lookout for new talent, selects a scruffy young nobody named Peter Green as Clapton’s replacement. The critics and blues fans jeered. Who’s this punk kid thinks he can take the place of the Almighty? Then they heard Peter Green play the guitar and that shut them up. Even die-hard Clapton fanatics had to admit Green was just as good. God had some competition.
The lineup of Mayall, Green, bassist John McVie and drum- mer Aynsley Dunbar record one definitive record, A Hard Road, in 1967 (an LP of outtakes was issued later). The album contains several of Green’s compositions, as well as plenty of his tasteful and remarkably mature guitar playing. Upon drummer Dun-
Peter Green, circa 1968
bar’s departure, Green scores pal Mick Fleetwood the position. Unfortunately, young Mick likes his booze a bit too much and is asked to leave after a month, but not before discovering a new drinking buddy (and lifelong best friend) in John McVie.
Green and Fleetwood had previously played in the short- lived Shotgun Express, behind an unknown singer named Rod Stewart. During Mick’s short stint with Mayall, he, Green and McVie record a few demos and the three feel a connection. The 6’6” drummer’s loony personality is quite appealing to Greeny and Mac, considering their boss John Mayall can be a bit dour and humorless. One of the tracks recorded was an instrumental Green calls “Fleetwood Mac,” named after its rhythm section.
Peter Green decides the time is ripe and, less than a year after being given his big break, he leaves John Mayall’s band and throws his lot in with Fleetwood (his replacement is a quiet blond chap named Mick Taylor, soon to join the Rolling Stones). He tries to take John McVie with him, but Mac is doubtful of the new band’s financial prospects and opts to remain with Mayall. Green names the band Fleetwood Mac as further enticement, but McVie stays put. Temporary bassist Bob Brunning is hired.
Green’s search for a second guitarist yields the uniquely demented Jeremy Spencer, a 5’3” hobbit of a man with the voice of a giant, an encyclopedic knowledge of rock and roll, and a deep love of the blues, specifically Elmore James’. He only knew one slide guitar lick, but it was a good one. Spencer also proves to be a talented mimic who can perform spot-on parodies of Buddy Holly and Elvis, among others. His smutty sense of humor and mischief rubs off on the fellas, and the band soon become notorious for their onstage vulgarity and ragtag appearance. Offstage, Jeremy Spencer was a more se- rious young man, with a wife and child to support. He could often be found studying the Bible.
After finally roping in McVie, the quartet secure a deal with producer Mike Vernon’s Blue Horizon label and release their debut single, “I Believe My Time Ain’t Long” (a rewrite of Rob- ert Johnson’s “Dust My Broom” by way of Elmore James), sung by Spencer, b/w “Rambling Pony,” written and sung by Green, in November 1967. The single isn’t a hit, but in February 1968 their self-titled debut LP is. It reaches #4 in England, up there with the Beatles and the Stones for company. The album is picked up by Epic Records in the US, but fails to chart.
Recorded in three days, Fleetwood Mac is straight up blues, with no psychedelic flourishes whatsoever, a bold move in 1968. Unlike Mayall’s dry reverential treatment of the blues, the Mac loosely play with its form and texture, making the LP surprisingly diverse and never dull or repetitious. Green and
Spencer share vocals equally, and their originals are nearly in- distinguishable from the songs written by old black men from America. Peter Green is obviously the star of the show, but he never hogs the spotlight. He’s comfortable enough to just play piano or harmonica on several tracks, and when he does un- leash a guitar solo, the whole world stops. Spencer is energetic and funny (he can growl “yassss” and “aww yehhh” with the best of ‘em), and Fleetwood and Mac prove to be a creative and
26 • FEBRUARY 2014 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us