Fleetwood Mac [1968] Fleetwood Mac

If all you've ever heard of Fleetwood Mac is the Lindsay Buckingham-Stevie Nicks era material such as "Rumours" and "Tusk", this album will be a very off-putting listening experience, as nothing here bears any resemblance to the powerhouse pop rock that would make the band superstars in the mid to late 1970s. Instead, this album is British electric blues, staying as close as possible to the source material that it emulates. In the midst of the British blues boom that was happening during this time, with bands like John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience (to a degree), Ten Years After, Savoy Brown, the return to form of the Rolling Stones, and many others making the rounds in the clubs and the record shops, Fleetwood Mac's debut easily holds its own against this crowded field.

Fronted by Peter Green, with contributions by Jeremy Spencer, the band taps material and influence from names such as Howlin' Wolf, Elmore James and Robert Johnson. Whereas Spencer tends to want to rock out (and does a fine job on cuts like "Got To Move" and "Shake Your Moneymaker"), Green's emotive playing and singing carries this album, delivering engaging performances on tracks such as Robert Johnson's immortal "Hellhound On My Trail", "Looking For Somebody", "I Loved Another Woman" and "My Heart Beat Like a Hammer". And even here, the only constants through the band's history, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood deliver a strong rhythmic backbeat behind Green.

It wouldn't take long for the band to start growing out of this phase and expand their sound, even with Green still in the band. However, this debut album remains an engaging, soulful set even if for some fans it may be something of an acquired taste.

Fleetwood Mac's 1968 debut album, "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" is easily one of the stand-out U.K. blues releases of the late 1960's/early 1970's. The band is in top form here, especially with everyone's blues hero, Peter Green's guitar work. Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are Green's ryhtmn section, and the only two remaining members, they provide the warm, beating heart behind this record; with such thundering tracks as "Got To Move", to much post soul numbers as "I Loved Another Woman".

Peter Green provides a great deal of the sound, and with his guitar chops who wouldn't let him? The lyrics are pure blues bliss, with the band writing about how they've been wronged by the ways of love and with such stark conviction you would think they had been left at the altar before this album was recorded.

All in all "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" is a simple, yet stunning debut album from a band that soon had a date with destiny to be one of the biggest hit makers around. But, before all that there was this album; and it's quite a good album.

Final Rating-9/10

Stand-Out Tracks- "My Heart Beat Like A Hammer", "Got To Move" and "I Loved Another Woman"

Honestly had no idea this is where Fleetwood Mac started. Absolutely was not even close to what i was expecting when going to listen, but i dug the hell out of it.

My understanding of this first Fleetwood Mac album is that it became successful in the UK but was barely noticed here in the US. For those familiar with later Fleetwood Mac recordings, most markedly the mid-70s and later version with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, listening to this album will be quite a shock with its radically different sound and style. Raw, unpolished, and powerful, it has an energy that is quite unlike the highly polished and produced later recordings from the band. Also, the band was led by Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, both of whom wrote and played these Mississippi and Delta Blues numbers, and they do a fine job of both, indeed capturing the spirit of this type of music. I am not a fervent fan of blues but an appreciator and it was a fun listen. If you are a blues fan or appreciator I submit that this record is representative of British blues band of the period and an essential listen. If you are not a blues fan, give it a listen anyway to get an appreciation of where Fleetwood Mac came from.

One of my all time favourite blues-rockers. One of the very best in the genre.

This is a very good Blues Rock album but frankly I'm a little miffed that in the days of Earth shattering albums by the Beatles, the Stones, Dylan and many others that this album did anymore than just rise above the radar. Electric Chicago style British Blues were pretty played out by the time this came out. Even though they really wouldn't be played out for a while.

My respect to this album on it's own merits but if for no other reason than that it's a great historical document of the amazing Peter Green and that his growth and stamp on popular music would essentially end shortly after this. Then Play On, both British and US versions is a far far more interesting and entertaining album.

Good début featuring some decent blues numbers, a few covers, but mostly self penned. It's not all great, I definitely prefer the songs penned and sung by Peter Green with "I Loved Another Women" being my favourite and clearly the highlight from the album.

If you got into Fleetwood Mac (FM) through your love for blues, skip this review. It will just make you angry. If, however, you got into the Lindsey Buckingham/Stevie Nicks-era FM a decade or two after this album's release and were wondering about those nine albums FM released beforehand, this review is for you. Many sixties era British bands, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, the Animals, etc., felt more authentic at the beginning of their careers by mimicking the blues of America's deep south. This had some good side effects. It got a generation of Brits interested in music by artists that were barely getting by and allowed them to pursue their music while obtaining a decent livelihood. These albums, in turn, interested Americans more in music that had previously mainly had an African-American audience. The other effect is that these bands, once internalizing the blues, took it in all sorts of new and interesting directions, mostly late sixties psychedelic music. However, listening to these original blues albums by white Brits is a bit like reading Leviticus, Thomas Mann, or James Joyce. And why not go to the source material and buy BB King, Bo Diddley, et. al. directly? Fleetwood Mac had a different trajectory than most of those British bands mentioned above since they were putting out their initial blues albums long after those other bands had moved on. And although the Kiln House-Bare Trees era had some progressive music, this blues band morphed into the most magnificent powerhouse pop rock the world has seen. Fans of that music will find little to enjoy here, although Peter Green is justifiably praised as a guitar king. His emotional playing and soulful voice made some great music. This is best explored on the first half the first disc of the 50 Years-Don't Stop retrospective. Alternatively, the 1971 "Greatest Hits" album has the same songs, but is harder to find. 2002's The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac also has all the songs from "Greatest Hits" and expands it by six songs. If you have one of these albums and want to explore a bit more and buy one of the group's regular releases, the last album with Peter Green, 1969's Then Play On, is a better starting point, with the band branching out into a wider variety of sounds. The one keeper from this collection is "Shake Your Moneymaker," released as a single and also present on all the collections mentioned above.