Customer Reviews

The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The six albums included in this superb package have never been issued on CD in the US, although they have been available on import. (In fact two of these discs were never released on LP in the States, but were replaced by the "English Rose" Compilation.)

This set includes every track recorded by the original Fleetwood Mac for the Blue Horizon label, including numerous extra takes and a sprinkling of previously unreleased songs.

If you're a fan of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, this is a must-have item --- superb sound, and plenty of music for a very low price. If you're a Stevie Nicks fan, this probably isn't your cup of tea --- but if you really like the blues, you'll get a generous helping here.

the six disks in the box cover sessions from autumn 1967 to the first days of 1969 which resulted in two hit albums in 1968 in the UK, four terrific singles, and the sprawling double album 'Blues Jam at Chess'. The sixth disk in this set is comprised of selections unreleased until 1971, many of which are terrific performances.

Each disk has at least a handful of wonderful tracks, usually courtesy of the great Peter Green, the best singer/player this side of Jimi Hendrix during the period covered. The other Mac guitarists have their moments also, particularly Jeremy Spencer on the first disk. And all of the participants of the Chess sessions (disks 4 & 5) have standout moments, especially piano great Otis Spann.

Complaints? Green is too earnest on disk 1, playing a few naive and overblown country blues. Spencer is far too repetitive on disk 2. Disk three replaces a couple great Eddie Boyd tracks with 40 minutes of Greeny figuring out how to present 'Need Your Love so Bad', the terrific blues by Little Willie John. The instrumentals at Chess are boring (15 minutes of disk 4). Otherwise this collection works. It's been two wonderful years for Fleetwood Mac fans: live in Boston, Shrine 69, and the Vaudeville Years. This is the best set yet.

If you already know enough to even be considering this album, then go ahead and buy it. I already had all of the original versions of the songs included here, but what makes this box-set so good are the outtakes. Hearing Peter get mad at the producers when they stopped him during a rousing version of Stop Messin'Around is great. You can hear the development of the song in the studio- don't worry it is not boring. The bottom line is, if you love the REAL Fleetwood Mac-buy this.

As my CD collection swells to obscene lengths with new blues talent, I often find myself returning to yesteryear listening to Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Johnny Winter, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters and early Fleetwood Mac.

Prior to Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, pop ballads, Glam and stardom, Fleetwood Mac was a British blues machine driven by Peter Green. This, six CD, box memorializes those early days when Green was clearly king. Green's performance throughout is focused, committed and topnotch. As with any CD which contains outtakes, the feel is quite raw and little, if any, overdubs are present. The CD is simply Green and sidekick Jeremy Spencer direct to tape and complete with flubs, missteps and some abrupt endings. The CD, complete with between tracks conversation, makes the listener feel they are a part of the recording session. That being said, there will be some that will prefer one of the many single disc compilations over this masterpiece. But for Green fans and blues/rock fans, there is no better Mojo than this.

As a fan of the original (and only) Fleetwood Mac, I was overjoyed to see this box set of goodies when it came out. The music contained within is nothing short of miraculous, showing off the mighty blues chops of the great Peter Green.

While several of the 6 cds can be had seperately ("Fleetwood Mac," "Mr. Wonderful," "Pious Bird of Good Omen," and "The Original Fleetwood Mac"), it seems to me that for the very inexpensive price, there's no reason to not get this box set. Plus, the 2 cds of "Chess Jams" (mainly with Otis Spann, among others) are well worth the price of admission alone.

The growth of the early Mac can also be charted on these lp's, as well. Green's emergence as a guitar hero to many is justified by many of these tracks- his solos are choice and his overall dedication to the blues can not be questioned. Jeremy Spencer is an interesting case in study, as well. So pivotal to much of the early stuff is he. His Elmore James inspired slide and his gravely voice lends credibility to many of the tunes. We all know that Fleetwood and McVie are a tight rhythm section. Now we can hear that genesis of much of it. Their sense of timing and rock solid rhythm made them the ideal low end section.

The results of these 6 cds has to be heard to be believed, but I'll tell you this- the Mac were smokin' much of the time. The music will back me up here. The Mac were a telented combo indeed. Hear why.

Now here's a peach - a 6CD Box Set with 99 primo remastered tracks (33 of which are previously unreleased), a hugely detailed 32-page booklet penned by original producer and label boss MIKE VERNON and even aesthetically pleasing hard-card repro sleeves allocated to each album...droolsome!

However, in order to do this sensational Fleetwood Mac box set justice, and mostly because there's so much alteration with the albums as originally issued, I've posted detailed reviews of each of the six albums contained within it - separately.

See detailed reviews for the following:
1. "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac"
(1st UK and US album)
2. "Mr. Wonderful"
(2nd UK album; the US LP was called "English Rose" and had a radically different track list)
3. "The Pious Bird Of Good Omen"
(3rd UK album, a collection of 7" singles, collaborations and rarities)
4. "Blues Jam In Chicago, Vol.1"
5. "Blues Jam In Chicago, Vol.2"
(4 and 5 are essentially their 4th release, the UK and US double album "Blues Jam At Chess" broken into two separate volumes - using the prettier US artwork too;
Side 1 and 2 is Volume 1 and Sides 3 and 4 are on Volume 2)
6. "The Original Fleetwood Mac"
(5th and final, originally released in November 1971 in the UK on CBS, this contained Blue Horizon studio outtakes recorded between 1967 and 1968 which were previously un-issued in the UK at the time of release)

Each of the above was released as a stand-alone title in 2004 with the same altered track runs as the box versions - in other words they include all the unreleased stuff, false starts, studio chatter, etc. The individual reviews have allowed me to be as informational as possible with regard to each release (hope they help).

"The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions 1967 - 1969" by FLEETWOOD MAC is a six-star package for all the right reasons - great extras, top-notch remastered sound and visually superb presentation. I've had it since its release and it's like dipping into a treasure trove every single time.

Find out why Peter Green's great British blues band was held in such esteem...and shake your moneymakers people - credit-crunch or no!

If you're looking for "Rhiannon" & "Tusk" then you've ended up in the wrong part of the Fleetwood Mac album maze and, if you're looking for a cohesive overview of their excellent output of blues and R&B between 1968 & 1970 then the bad news is that this ain't it. Suitable for only the most dedicated of fans it is in fact an extremely long and glaringly incomplete "Beatles Anthology style" study of only part of their short but mercurial career before their implosion and subsequent resurrection, without their three key frontmen, as an MOR rock band.

With two marvellously skilled blues guitarists in Peter Green & Jeremy Spencer (augmented later by the third equally inspired lead guitar of Danny Kirwin) and a tight "road-honed" rhythm section in John McVie & Mick Fleetwood underpinning Green's beautifully natural blues voice & superb songwriting skills, Fleetwood Mac "Mark 1" was one of the UK's finest contributions to late 60's R&B. Worthy at least of someone's attention in producing a sensible and fully comprehensive retrospective of their best work.

As things stand, the only solution is to put up with this overly-complex 6 CD set which, while fully capturing the group's brilliance (often through repetitive takes of the same track), covers less than two-thirds of its "Peter Green years", and to augment it with Sony's excellent but still limited career overview "Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac" (ASIN B00009YX6D) which includes the most obvious omissions from this collection, in particular their three brilliant UK hit singles "Man of the World", "Oh Well" & "The Green Manalishi". But it's an expensive and still incomplete fix.

What of course is required is a properly selected and sequenced boxed set that covers their full back catalogue and which excludes the ridiculous number of alternative versions and out-takes on this one and the only other, appallingly bad attempt, "The Vaudeville Years of Fleetwood Mac: 1968 to 1970". For a group of such outstanding talent, importance and continuing interest the lack of such a compilation remains a quite amazing situation!

This set is a must for fans of white-hot white-boy blues. The miracle of early Fleetwood Mac is that five kids with talent and little more than fun on their minds managed to produce some of the best blues singing and playing ever committed to record. Influenced by greats like B. B. King, Otis Rush, and Elmore James, Mac recorded some real gems in their tenure with Mike Vernon's Blue Horizon label. Highlights include "If You Be My Baby," "Lazy Poker Blues," "Stop Messin' Round," "Coming Home," and "Something Inside of Me," but I haven't found a disappointing cut yet. Fans who already own the American releases will, I think, be pleasantly surprised at the studio banter, false starts, alternate takes, and previously unreleased material included. The wealth of exceptional material is made all the more poignant by subsequent events. As if they burned too brightly, the group's first three guitarists subsequently followed strange and sometimes sad paths: Danny Kirwan slid into chronic alcoholism, Jeremy Spencer defected to the Children of God, and the great Peter Green pursued deliberate obscurity, suffered mental breakdowns, and, fortunately, eventually returned to performing.

This 6-disc set covers the six albums that came out over Fleetwood Mac's Blue Horizon tenure (_Fleetwood Mac_, _Mr Wonderful_, _The Pious Bird of Good Omen_, _Blues Jam at Chess Vols. I & II_, and _The Original Fleetwood Mac_). Unique amongst the box sets that I own, because the studio outtakes, banter and unreleased tracks from each set of sessions are actually coupled with each of the complete albums themselves. They play like studio reels. I purchased mine for [$], which is a ridiculously low price for those six CDs to begin with (assuming you can actually *find* them at your record store). The music? The Fleetwoods were a committed blues outfit here, and although they certainly aren't as musically adventerous as on _Then Play On_ and some of the subsequent live releases that have appeared recently, there's more than enough white-boy blues here to satisfy anyone's craving. You can't encapsulate the contents of six discs in a few sentences, but all the big singles are here including "Black Magic Woman" and "Albatross", and there are also some early unreleased versions of "Coming Your Way" and "Like Crying" (both appear on _Then Play On_), as well as alternate/mono mixes. The sound is fantastic, in large part due to the excellent condition of the masters. Essential for blues fans and fans of the band who don't have all of the early releases.

For those of you who know Fleetwood Mac to be a 70's pop band please stay away! to those of you who know the original Fleetwood Mac this is a must! Including all of the material from there first six albums plus many of the outtakes and dialogue from there work in the studio. Tracks such as "I Need Your Love So Bad" and "Long Grey Mare" are stand outs, as well as such blues standards as the great "Dust My Broom", "Madison Blues" and an excellent rendition of "Everyday I Have The Blues". As another review said, if you already know enough, go ahead and buy it. But if not, and you love the blues, make the investment, it's well worth it!