To most people Fleetwood Mac means the band, featuring Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, that had a string of huge hits in the 70s.
But that was only one of the many incarnations of Fleetwood Mac. Before that the shining lights of the band were Christine McVie and Robert Welch. Curiously, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, who gave the band their name and whatever continuity it had, never had a discernable sound of their own. They just sort of played along with whoever was the real creative force at the time.
And in its earliest incarnation that was Peter Green and Danny Kirwan. Although the band began, like so many British rock bands, playing straight up American blues, it was not long before Green and Kirwan began finding their own unique voices.
I commented when I was writing about the book Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain’s Visionary Music, that it was a strange omission to not mention early Fleetwood Mac at all.
Here is one of Danny Kirwan’s compostions, showing his work at its most beautiful:
Photo: Danny Kirwan and Peter Green
i love FM.always have! Christie Mc Vie is by far my fav member.I absolutely love her voice and the songs she does lead on.i saw stevie in concert,8th row center a few years back at Blossom.it was great.would love to see em all together though.
actually when my FIL and i talk of going to see them..its an inside joke as we both say..”Is Christie going to be there too? (cuz im not goin unless she is.)” LOL
Nice post. Danny’s guitar work was amazing. Wasn’t it? But I have to disagree with you on one big point: Mick Fleetwood and John McVie DO have a signature sound; in fact, they are among the most recognizable rhythm sections in all of rock-n-roll. When you hear something like one of the live versions of Bob Welch’s Bermuda Triangle you can hear that continuity running through the band’s sound, no matter how different that song is to, say, something like Don’t Stop.