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Fleetwood Mac (1968) (1968)

Where the lyrics of Fleetwood Mac (1968) take you, and where it was really made.

The band's debut was recorded in a secret late-night session at Decca Studios, booked without Decca's knowledge.

Key places

A secret night session at Decca (1968)

Recording site Decca Studios — Mike Vernon arranged a secret late-night recording session at Decca Studios, unknown to Decca. Songs including I Believe My Time Ain't Long came out of it. The single version of that track later featured Brunning's bass playing. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Fleetwood Mac, also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac: debut studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac
• Released February 1968
• Mixes blues covers with originals written by guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, who also share the vocals
• The only album by the band without keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie
• Brought the band overnight success

Background

• Began with a session on 19 April 1967 at Decca Studios in West Hampstead, London, given to Peter Green by John Mayall
• Four songs came from that day, including the instrumental "Fleetwood Mac", named after rhythm section members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie
• After the session, Green proposed forming a new band with Fleetwood and McVie
• Bob Brunning answered a Melody Maker ad for a bassist and joined on the condition that he would leave if McVie agreed to join
• Jeremy Spencer's band, the Levi Set, was seen by producer Mike Vernon, who then brought Spencer into the Fleetwood Mac project

Recording

• Vernon arranged a secret late-night session at Decca Studios, unknown to Decca itself
• Sessions on 22 November 1967 took place at CBS Studios on New Bond Street in London
• The album was recorded on a 4-track machine with the band plugged directly into the mixing console
• The band played live in the studio, with Green playing and singing at the same time
• Most songs needed no more than two takes

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in July 1967 by Peter Green after leaving John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, with Mick Fleetwood on drums.
• The name combines Fleetwood's surname with bassist John McVie, who joined in 1967.
• Early line-up was primarily a British blues band; "Albatross" reached UK No. 1 in 1968.

Members

• Core members over time: Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham.
• Buckingham and Nicks joined at the end of 1974 and drove the band's global success.

Career

• Rumours (1977) is one of the best-selling albums of all time and won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1978.
• The band has sold more than 120 million records worldwide.
• Received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 1979 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
• Received the MusiCares Person of the Year award in 2018.
• Christine McVie died in 2022; Stevie Nicks later said she saw no reason to continue the band.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Melody Maker highly recommended the album and said the band played the songs at white heat intensity
• Barry Gifford, writing for Rolling Stone, praised the album
• Allen Evans, reviewing for New Musical Express, described a nice, relaxed sound combining late-late jazz and exciting blues
• Billboard highlighted the album's powerful instrumentation and gritty, tough blues sound
• Cashbox described a clean, commercial blues sound and named Long Grey Mare, Looking For Somebody and If I Loved Another Woman as highlights

Reappraisal

• TeamRock called it a marvellous debut that established the group as the best British blues band of the day
• Nick DeRiso, writing for Ultimate Classic Rock, called it a stellar debut and maybe the best album from the British blues boom, and ranked it 4th among Fleetwood Mac albums
• The Telegraph called it a classic sixties London 12-bar blues rock debut
• The Encyclopedia of Popular Music described the album as seminal
• AllMusic noted the influence of Elmore James on Spencer's compositions

Records

• Reached number four on the UK Albums Chart and stayed on the chart for 37 weeks without a hit single
• Sold over a million copies in the UK but has never received a certification there
• Reached number 198 on the Billboard 200 in the US
• Ranked in the top 10 of ThoughtCo's Best Blues-Rock Albums of the 1960s
• Voted number 435 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The 1999 re-release included a bonus track, I'm Coming Home to Stay, which was used in the third episode of HBO's The Last of Us in 2023.
• Green told New Musical Express that he recorded harmonica parts on several songs, which he largely avoided on the follow-up album Mr. Wonderful.
• Green's guitar was treated with reverb on I Loved Another Woman.
• Brunning's bass parts went unused on the final album except for Long Grey Mare.
• An expanded version of the album appears in the box set The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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