Customer Reviews

English Rose

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the original Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac at their gritty best. I actually bought this as part of a 2 record set called Black Magic Woman on Epic records paired with the eponymous Trash Can release (also worth owning) back in '74 and has been played consistently ever since (I jammed with it just yesterday). For me there isn't a bad track to be had and is I think essential listening for anyone who digs Les Pauls, from the biting intro to Stop Messin' Round to the beautiful Albatross.

This album also shows how talented Danny Kirwan was with his tracks Something Inside Of Me (awesome minor key blues plus nice rhythm guitar work from Peter) and One Sunny Day (pretty mean sounding with great rhythm section work from Fleetwood and McVie, simple but effective). Jigsaw Puzzle Blues is another fine offering by Danny showing a bit of a Django Reinhardt influence, as was the case for many of the British players of the '60s.

I like Jeremy Spencer's work as well especially Doctor Brown with strong vocals and slide work.

But the best of all is the original version of Black Magic Woman, one of the all time greats (I also have the British single version where reverb is added to Peter's tone for the second cycle of his solo).
When I was in a cover band a couple of years ago we did Santana's version, mainly as a showcase for our drummer, but I would have been happy to play it Peters way. Love That Burns is another fave, displaying not only Peter's less is more fills, lead work and picking hand dynamics but his awesome vocals.

Its funny, my wife has a bunch of the Buckingham/Nicks Mac recordings but I can hardly think of them as the same group as the Peter Green era. English Rose is a perfect example of why. What an outstanding recording.

This early Mac import album from the Peter Green days was a tough one to track down even during its vinyl heyday (maybe distributors were concerned that pre-Monty Python era U.S. record-buyers would be frightened by the cross-dressed Mick Fleetwood on the cover!). Collectors can rejoice that it is now on CD! This 1968 release can be labeled "seminal" just on the basis of two tracks..."Black Magic Woman" and "Albatross". "Black Magic Woman" obviously inspired Carlos Santana, who not only covered it, but followed the original guitar arrangement almost note for note, which shows the kind of respect Green had from some higher profile musicians. And then there's the sublime "Albatross"... at least one of the Beatles has stated that "Sun King" was inspired by Green's memorable instrumental (listen to the two songs back-to-back sometime). The rest of the album is dominated by Green's authentic blues tone and great slide playing. While several compilations (of varying quality) of the Peter Green-led Mac are currently available, "English Rose", along with the domestic "Then Play On" are your best bets.

This recording is not a compilation, as stated, but a straight re-issue of the 1968 Epic release I bought when it was new. Nothing has been changed, except the elimination of surface noise. Listen to the riffs as they were laid down here, before they were imitated into rock cliches. Was Green imitating the great Chicago bluesmen? Of course, but he listened more effectively than most. A raw, beautiful album that has engendered decades of debate as to how he got that tone from his instrument.

Released in 1969, "English Rose" was Fleetwood Mac's second US release which features the highlights from their second UK release, "Mr. Wonderful", the 1969 UK compilation "Pious Bird Of Good Omen" along with several Danny Kirwan contributions otherwise unavailable on LP. Unfortunately this album is rather hard to find nowadays since it provides a much more natural transition between the blues-wailing nature of their 1968 debut album and the 1970 "progressive blues" stylings of "Then Play On." "English Rose" features a variety contributions from Peter Green, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer instead of "Mr. Wonderful" which seemed to concentrate only on Spencer's ability to emulate the stylings Elmore James, often to the point of irritating repetition. "English Rose" also subsitutes the Eddie Boyd tracks from "Pious," with newer Kirwan penned tracks which flow a little better with the rest of the material on the album. If you can find this for a reasonable price (or find it at all) I would recommend this over both "Mr. Wonderful" or "Pious Bird Of Good Omen."

After hearing this original version of Black Magic Woman years ago, I understand why Santana (formerly The Santana Blues Band before the 69' S/T album) covered it in 1970 and why I do not desire to hear Santana's version anymore: 1. It's been played to death 2. Peter Green's original version give me the chills. It's simply incredible how many people all these years think Santana wrote this song. Anyway, English Rose was the 69' American release on Epic that features songs that were on Fleetwood Mac's UK releases. It is usually considered a compilation, but it is still a truely remarkable blues album to have with an odd novelty cover portrait of Mick in drag (dig the ugliness). Sadly, it does not contain "I need your love so bad" which is my second favorite P.G.F.M. tune during the late 60's. With Peter Green's soulful vocals and genuine blues guitar playing and Jeremy Spencer's Elmore James bag o' tricks, it doesn't get much better than this for Chicago blues. All songs are worth the price of admission here and are a perfect introduction to this incredible UK blues band once called Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Epic never released this CD domestically in the US, so this Japanese import (with the usual misinterpreted lyrics) is the only CD version available. Get it.

What fun to finally have a superior CD stereo remaster of the Epic album of "English Rose" by Fleetwood Mac in Sony's new Blu-Spec CD mastering format! This is not another format to worry about. It's a new improved mastering system for the standard 44.1 compact disc format utilizing Blu-ray technology for the digital mastering process. I have found the sound "warmer" and having a nice firm bottom end on many of the Blu-Spec discs I have auditioned compared to previous CD incarnations. This particular album by the original Fleetwood Mac, with Peter Green, has never sounded better in any format! At this time these discs are limited editions and only released in Japan. I don't know when and if Sony will make this or any other Blu-Spec CDs available in the US. Get it while you can!

English Rose finds Fleetwood Mac adding Danny Kirwan, a third guitarist, to the line-up. Horns also appear for the first time. Other than that this LP is a natural follow up to the band's excellent Chicago blues debut. Standouts are Kirwan's Something Inside of Me and Without You and, of course, the three Peter Green classics, Love That Burns, Albatross and Black Magic Woman. As one listens to Green wail on Magic it becomes crystal clear why both BB and Eric consider him to be one of the great guitarists.

Had Fleetwood Mac not morphed into a mega pop band in 1976 they would still have occupied a significant position in the history of English blues. This version of the band was a supremely talented and confident gathering of musicians and as much as I enjoyed Fleetwood Mac when it became the biggest band in the world I have more affection for the various 1968-1973 versions.

This is probably the last Fleetwood Mac album that has any lasting merit IMHO. This album marked a sort of turning point for the band. Peter Greene is here in full effect, so this is a must buy!

Ranks right up there with anything The Blues Breakers did, Peter Green hit his peak here before heading off into obscurity. While touring in support of Then Play On, he left the band, sadly never to return . This has the original lineup of Green, Jeremy Spencer, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, Danny Kirwan also showed up here.
Peter Green has resurfaced in the last decade and released a few good blues albums, especially Hot Foot Powder and Time Traders both recorded as Peter Green Splinter Group.

Bought this album when I was just a pup in the early '70s...loved it then,love it even more today...still stands as the best Fleetwood Mac album ever(not counting the 3 disc,live recording from the long defunct Boston Tea Party).Stuff like this makes you wonder why this band ever disintegrated into the Buckingham/Nicks mess that became SO BIG?