Fleetwood Mac BBC Sessions 1968

Fleetwood Mac – BBC Sessions 1968. Releases via 1960’s Records. Available on Vinyl LP.

Whilst the current line-up of brand Fleetwood Mac tours the world’s enormodromes, many will always associate the band with the extraordinary writing and playing of Peter Green, truly one of the great musical figures that emerged from London in the mid-1960s. He was ably supported by fellow guitarists Jeremy Spencer (fundamentalist) and Danny Kieran (melodicist): their every note was underpinned by a rhythm session so proficient they named the band after it.

By the time this LP was recorded in 1968 incessant touring had produced a band with a wide repertoire and a vivid and exciting live act. Additionally Peter Green was beginning to write a series of highly original songs which were both catchy and profound and would take Fleetwood Mac out of the blues clubs and into the singles chart. Green’s uneasiness about this degree of material success would culminate in the desolation of Man Of The World and an acid-assisted withdrawal from the band. But that is all to come – these previously unreleased BBC session tracks have the band at the top of their game and blasting away on all cylinders.

Fleetwood Mac was founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer. Bassist John McVie completed the lineup for their self-titled debut album. Danny Kirwan joined as a third guitarist in 1968. Keyboardist Christine Perfect, who contributed as a session musician from the second album, married McVie and joined in 1970. At this time it was primarily a British blues band, scoring a UK number one with "Albatross", and had lesser hits with the singles "Oh Well" and "Black Magic Woman". All three guitarists left in succession during the early 1970s, to be replaced by guitarists Bob Welch and Bob Weston and vocalist Dave Walker. By 1974, all three had either departed or been dismissed, leaving the band without a male lead vocalist or guitarist.

In late 1974, while Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he was introduced to folk-rock duo Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Fleetwood Mac soon asked Buckingham to be their new lead guitarist, and Buckingham agreed on condition that Nicks would also join the band. The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound, and their 1975 self-titled album, Fleetwood Mac, reached No. 1 in the U.S. Rumours (1977), Fleetwood Mac's second album after the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks, produced four U.S. Top 10 singles and remained at number one on the American albums chart for 31 weeks. It also reached the top spot in various countries around the world and won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Rumours has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the eighth-highest-selling album in history. The band went through personal turmoil while recording the album, as both the romantic partnerships in the band (one being John and Christine McVie, and the other being Buckingham and Nicks) separated while continuing to make music together.