FLEETWOOD MAC

important work in color

1968: Fleetwood Mac * Mr. Wonderful. 1969: English Rose * Fleetwood Mac in Chicago * Then Play On. 1970: Kiln House. 1971: Future Games. 1972: Bare Trees. 1973: Penguin * Mystery to Me. 1974: Heroes are Hard to Find. 1975: Fleetwood Mac. 1977: Rumours * The Original Fleetwood Mac (unreleased blues material from 1967). 1979: Tusk. 1980: Live. 1982: Mirage. 1987: Tango in the Night. 1990: Behind the Mask. 1995: Time. 1997: The Dance.

STEVIE NICKS: 1981: Bella Donna. 1983: The Wild Heart. 1985: Rock a Little. 1989: The Other Side of the Mirror. 1994: Street Angel.

LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM: 1981: Law and Order. 1984: Go Insane.

BOB WELCH: 1975: Paris (Bob Welch-led band).

PETER GREEN: 1970: The End of the Game. 1979: In the Skies. 1980: Little Dreamer. 1981: Watch Gonna Do? * Blue Guitar. 1999: Peter Green Anthology.

JEREMY SPENCER: Jeremy Spencer: 1970 Jeremy Spencer. 1973: Jeremy Spencer and the Children. 1979: Flee.

CHRISTINE MCVIE (PERFECT): 1970: Christine Perfect.

MICK FLEETWOOD'S ZOO: 1981: The Visitor.

CHICKEN SHACK

The importance of chemistry to a band and the importance of a great rhythm section can be discerned by pondering the (admittedly opinionated) statistics above. Great music riddles the Fleetwood Mac section; less so in the solo career section. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie serve a quiet ethic that has glued together a vast array of talent. I would even suggest that the best music below the Fleetwood Mac line is that which contains Fleetwood and sometimes Mac. But what can a poor rhythm section do except stick to the groove, get overlooked, see the praise go elsewhere.

The Mick Fleetwood/John McVie drum/bass axis that propelled Fleetwood Mac through so many personnel changes since the band's inception in 1967 has been described as "explosive" and "rough-and-tumble." It is actually quite the opposite. John McVie spent his formative years as a member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. He developed a style that emulated classic blues performances - a backup formula that is selfless, and geared towards letting vocalists and guitarists shine. McVie found a kindred spirit in Mick Fleetwood and they quickly became hypnotic timekeepers who eschewed anything but the most spontaneous interaction. As tempo-setters, they followed whatever was best suited for the tonality and atmosphere that was developing along with the song, and they left plenty of space for their fellow band members to elaborate. As the band moved from the blues rock category into the pop rock category after the departure of Peter Green in 1969, the rhythm section remained on cruise control except in rare instances. If you try to investigate the allure, it can probably be described as a storytelling enhancement style. Mac and Fleetwood played so lean, they were expounding a late seventies and early eighties rhythm-track production style (kill the cymbals, get rid of the unnecessary flash, keep the frequencies low and streamlined, float, sting, keep the focus up front and call attention to yourself by virtue of restraint, taste, and, ultimately, passion) ten years ahead of time.

Since this laid back approach was an aesthetic (as with Watts and Wyman in the Rolling Stones), rather than a shortcoming, there has been much more cohesion in the band than seems possible give the numerous personnel changes that have plagued the group. Peter Green's "Closing My Eyes" from 1970's Then Play On is as quietly dreamy as Stevie Nicks' "Beautiful Child" from 1979’s Tusk. And the stately pop atmosphere of Billy Burnette's "When it Comes to Love" and "Hard Feelings" from 1990's Behind the Mask is as respectable as the moodier songs on the neglected Bare Trees (1972). "The Chain," from the mega-successful Rumours, was a conscious attempt by a new Fleetwood Mac to stay sympathetic to the mystical tonalities of the past (as was their earlier reworking of the Peter Green inspired "World Turning," and the self-penned "I'm So Afraid"). Since all that Fleetwood Mac required to keep it going were new members with a genuine love for traditional roots and the proper respect for the band's history, their replacement choices, from Christine McVie to Billy Burnette, have represented a triumph of both business and musical savvy. Fleetwood Mac didn't create such a huge batch of musical delights because they had a knack: or simply because their contract said they had too. A sense of hard labor and love of craft is present on almost every album they've bothered to put out.

The first incarnation of McVie, Fleetwood, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer was a somewhat purist, blues-based act that pulled off an aesthetically inspired, yet hoary emulation of the blues that was never as natural sounding s the real thing. There was a lot of life, but little story-telling dimension to the early work - none, at least, that matched the great blues artists. Their purity prevented them from being contenders in the more raucous, rock-blues experiments of the era. Their greatest tunes were more broad-based – Black Magic Woman and The Green Manalishi, for instance. Then Play On was a classic culmination - a haunting, underplayed exercise in tone and tension.

When Peter Green left the group, Danny Kirwan and a busier Jeremy Spencer filled the songwriting void. On Kiln House, there's a smattering of Buddy Holly inspired pop, and some country parody thanks to Spencer. Most of the rest of the album has a spooky, more traditional Mac flavoring with high points being the band's funky "Station Man" and Kirwan's "Earl Gray" and "Tell Me All The Things You Do." The quality of the jamming remains high.

Jeremy Spencer left the band for a longtime membership in the religious sect the Children of God. Bob Welch and Christine McVie joined in1971 for Future Games. "Early Morning Rain" and "Show Me a Smile" were prototypes for Christine McVie's future hits, though she hadn't found her voice (it's a little muted) or the knack for melody that could turn her simplistic romantic conceits into full-fledged pop wonders. The Fleetwood/McVie style bolsters "Early Morning Rain" with meaty hooks, though more impressive drama is found on Kirwan's "Woman of a Thousand Years" and "Sands of Time." Bob Welch plugged into the Mac spirit, but his "Future Games" is let down by his weak falsetto. Side Two is short of making the album a total success.

Bare Trees was perfect. It's (another) moody achievement that moves quietly from song to song. With empathetic psychological and musical support from Welch and McVie, Kirwan's efforts encompass the album with a melancholy framework. Almost a darkly colored concept album, the best elements of the Mac are present: clear-eyed and tribal-like rhythms support mournful vocals and songs that sound like laments. In spirit, Bare Trees is a close companion piece to Then Play On.

Fleetwood Mac then entered it's most confusing career phase. Kirwan quit as abruptly as Jeremy Spencer and Peter Green. When Penguin came out it was with added musicians Dave Walker (a boogie singer who'd been with Savoy Brown) and Bob Weston (guitar). Everybody was sharing songwriting credits, so naturally Penguin and Mystery to Me are disjointed, and worse. The great Mac legacy is forgotten except in the contrived songs "Revelation," "Nightwatch" and "Hypnotized" (the latter being a stupid, superstitious goof of sorts - details never are the best way to describe the mystical). And Christine McVie never rises above the triteness of her lyrics and her dogged disinterest in the big picture.

Walker and Weston were fired and once more Fleetwood Mac was adrift. But the Fleetwood Mac that arrived on the scene in 1975 with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks was a lucky combination. The obsessive overdubbing and studio work that went into Fleetwood Mac (1975) and Rumours (1977), instead of sounding lifeless and artificial, ended up being some of the most pleasing pop craft made circa the mid-seventies. Lindsey Buckingham's multi-guitar parts, Christine McVie's mastery in elevating simple pop confections and Stevie Nicks' and the rest of the band's respect for Mac's mysticism, pumped the band full of life. Once again Mick Fleetwood and John McVie propelled the ever-threatened craft home to port. Where they go from here is questionable considering the entrenched ageism of the pop music media. If they were smart, they would do an album a year until it was economically unfeasible. That’s the mark of a great artistic endeavor.

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