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Submit your own review-- click here! Average Reviewer Rating:
Number of Live At The BBC (1995) Reviews: 2
QUINTESSENTIAL. BEST PETER GREEN´S FLEETWOOD MAC
Reviewer: Orlando Guedez-Calderin (orlycalderin@aol.com), Economist, Master in Marketing, Bank Industry September 03, 2004 To say this album deserves less than 5 stars is nearly a sin. In fact, I find it is the best available collection of Fleetwood Mac, with wonderful notes.
I have the complete Boston Series, The Official Columbia/Sony Records and the Marquee 67 and Shrine 69 shows. Therefore believe me I know a little about the band. I also have some of the recordings made by Peter Green and John McVie with John Mayall (John Mayall Thru the Years, Decca, 1971). These boys, together with Alvin Lee´s Ten Years After, achieved the best blues-rock-pop mix, under my vision.
Blues purists might dislike the Spencer game of playing Elvis-style covers with the alter ego of Fleetwood Mac, Earl Vince and the Valiants. I find this rather offers a relaxing moment before the next blues or jam attack. In fact, I find unusual this idea of a band with an alter ego. It is part of the originality Green-McVie-Fleetwood-Spencer-Kirwan achieved during their wonderful 1969-1970 work.
In these numbers we may find an excellent sound. Unfourtunately there are not some interviews, which may provide a better image of the inner conflicts that were going on inside Peter´s and Jeremy´s minds and let them to leave the band short after the last BBC programs included herein. In the other hand, the absence of interviews give the pleasure of a continous play.
Sound quality varies from track to track, because we have many different sessions compiled herein. But the tracks show a great quality of sound, not so good as the Boston Tea Party show recently issued in three volumes, but still great and more heterogeneous. From Peter own compositions to classic blues, including a curious version of Dylan´s "Hang on to a Dream" and the Elvis act of Jeremy, highly valuable.
It is sad Rattlenake Shake is not extended and the jam is more compressed when compared with the superb one in Live in Boston (Vol 2). We would also love to hear the inspired second part of Oh Well as it was recorded in the studio (Then Play On), but that is another flaw from the Live in Boston series and it seems the group focused on the first part of this rendition to love making.
The variety of tracks is amazing and it is a compilation which shows all sides from this phenomenal quintet, the first one with 3 lead guitarrists. The rythm session is also captured with good detail and there is no audience making noise and allowing self-indulgence from the musicians.
A mistake in the notes: Albatross did not inspire George Harrison´s "Here Comes the Sun" in Beatles´Abbey Road, but "Sun King" by John Lennon (sharing credits with Paul) in the same album.
Men, thanks to this album I got an understanding of the official history of Fleetwood Mac and begun to appreciate the whole catalog even more.
In Argentina and Brazil there are many recordings from Fleetwood Mac which can be found and the main ones are available. The official collection, unfortunately, is scarcely offered and most of it I bought it in the States and Spain. Bad for Columbia/Sony ! I discovered the band in my homeland, Venezuela, where I bought the Boston Concerts issued by Dutch seal "Zillion".
It worths every dollar paid.
Straightforward rock and blues
Reviewer: John Fitzgerald, Human resources staff database assistant July 19, 2001 This is a jam packed collection of live recordings done for the BBC that mainly centers on
shorter rock and blues numbers though the leadoff run through of "Rattlesnake shake" is
the main exception with some gut wrenching string bending from the Green god but this
recording is now redundant because of it's complete release (with the "Underway"
section) on the "Show biz blues" collection. This fact doesn't really matter because it is
followed by a real treat which is a gruff version of "Sandy Mary" (which those familiar
with the Boston tea party tapes will recall) which includes some great Hendrix styled wah
wah licks. Other Green highlights include the strolling "Can't believe you wanna leave",
"Long grey mare" with a different rhythm style than that which appears on the debut
album and another great Little Richard type rocker in "Tallahassee lassie" which is a good
second helping for those yearning more numbers of this kind that Peter had mastered so
well on the Boston tea party tapes. You won't be disappointed with the usual bunch of
classic Green greats either, "Man of the world" sounds as though it's the same backing
track as the studio recording but Peter's vocal is live. I just thought I'd point out some
interesting twists that some of these versions enclose. Same can be said for Jeremy's
Elmore James and Elvis impersonations but to me Spencer's real treats are a slightly
different slidey blues tune called "Prechin'" and my personal favorite on the set which is a
beautiful cover of Tim Hardin's "Hang on to a dream". It's arguable as to whether Jeremy
was impersonating Hardin or not but it can be taken nonetheless as a serious moving piano
ballad with some tasty cymbal sprays from Mick. Danny is not to be outdone, in addition
to some more well known "Then play on" era goodies, he's got a jangly original pop tune
called "When I see my baby", a stomping slow blues entitled "Blues with a feeling" and
"Early morning come" which is a nearly solo acoustic blues that shows Kirwan can get
successfully pure and traditionalist as anybody else. On the whole, less improvisational
than some may hope but still colorful and varied nonetheless. According to "The complete
recording sessions" book, there's at least another 70 odd recordings still in the BBC vaults
of the Mac up until 1971, one can only hope these see the light of day soon too.
Transcribed to HTML by Jeff Kenney.
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