Customer Reviews

Live in Boston 1

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This is impossible to describe in words. It defies logic. It's like asking to describe Pearl Harbor in words. It can't be done. But I will try.

This is, simply put, the most raw, intense blues-rock ever recorded. The original Fleetwood Mac. Sure, the later lineup was cool with "The Chain" and all that, but this is something else. This is pure, unbridled jamming with a capital 'J'. These performances are so intense, so rocking and so devastating that it seems futile to even compare anything else to it. Peter Green and Danny Kirwan are amazing individually. But when they actually duel and play together, it's beyond description. Case in point - "Like It This Way". Easily the most ass-kicking blues rocker I've ever heard in my life. This is a boogie that's sure to blow your mind, believe me. The groove is intoxicating, and the duelling of Green/Kirwan on this song is so good it almost reduced me to tears. You thought Duane Allman and Dickey Betts were good? Forget it, Green and Kirwan blow them out of the water. No question. In fact, the Allmans in general could not compete with Mac's jams on this album. Don't say I didn't warn you.

One listen to this version of "Black Magic Woman" and you'll be saying "Santana who?". Green's tone here is stunning, and the second half is a boogie where he and Kirwan battle it out again. Frightening stuff.
"Jumping At Shadows" is a unique cover of a blues classic. Awesome melody.
Already mentioned "Like It This Way". It's enough to tear the roof off TWO buildings!
"Only You" has a very unusual melody and riff, almost Dick Dale-ish surf rock. Great song though.
And then you have a 25-minute "Rattlesnake Shake" that takes you to places you never knew existed. Unreal. An improv jam that defies normality. If that's not enough, I've heard that the version on Volume 2 is even BETTER!! I shudder to think...
"I Can't Hold Out" features Jeremy Spencer joining in on slide guitar, and he's damn good at it. Most people don't seem to care for his Elmore James schtick, but this guy can really play, believe me.
"Got To Move" is the only song here that isn't amazing. It's not bad, though.
"Green Manalishi" really can't be categorized. Part psychedelic, part blues, it's interesting. Also features Green playing some killer six-string bass at the end.

If you haven't already noticed, this album is breath-taking. It also has the most amazing sound quality I've ever heard on a live album. It literally sounds like you're there in the front row, watching these guys tear the house down.

Better than Allmans, better than Grateful Dead, and at least equal to Cream. This is the Holy Grail of blues-rock jamming.

Being a blues-rock fan, and a fan of well known pop-rock incarnation of Fleetwood Mac, I made this album my first of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. I am glad that I did. This album contains a series of shattering performances containing some of the the best heavy, blues-based rock that I have ever heard. Jeremy Spencer's Elmore James mimickery is entertaining, but in my opinion the standouts are "Rattlesnake Shake", "Only You", "Jumping at Shadows", and "Green Manalishi". The awesomeness of "Rattlesnake Shake" and "Green Manalishi" are detailed in other reviews, but I'd like to mention "Jumping at Shadows" for the emotion conveyed by Green's voice and guitar: self-doubt and nervousness. Rarely are you going to find any group of musicians (especially ones playing in front of a frenzied, soldout crowd) who can express such delicate emotions. In my opinion, the entire show is permeated by a sense of self-doubt.

Awesome live recordings. If you are on the fence, just go ahead and buy these records. It will be worth it. Although, I have to disagree with that fellow who so readily put this record ahead of the Allman Bros. and the Grateful Dead at their best. That is just daft. It is certainly as good as the Allman Brothers and the Dead at their best, though.

To say that Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac is an understated jewel in the blues/rock world is too dismissive. They have a raw energy that could only be matched by only a few, and I can't really even think of who they are. I got Then Play On when I was 15 in 79. I have replaced the album 3 or 4 times, and still listen to it at least once a month. It is a staple in my home, car, and ipod.

I have heard, but not owned Albatross, and somewhere have two Peter Green cassette tapes. I never heard them live. What a shallow existance I have lived. I just got Live in Boston 1 and 2 today (from Amazon) and can not beleive what I am hearing. Truely some of the greatest music I have ever heard.

If you know the early works of Fleetwood Mac or Peter Green, then this is the creme de la creme. Words can not describe how absorbing the music is. I am addicted to Jam Bands (the Dead, Garcia, moe., the cheese...) and see many similarities, but mellower and bluesier.

Buy it, listen to it, fall in love with the lost art of Fleetwood Mac / Peter green et al.

As the other reviewers have noted, this is a fantastic live recording from Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. I would just add that for those with HDCD-compatible players, the sound is amazing. On my Rotel CD player, the band sounds as though they are right there in the room with me.

I was lucky enough to see the original FM twice, once on this tour and then again on the next tour, which featured Christine Perfect (later McVie) in support of Kiln House...but this band...with Green, Kirwin and Spencer was simply the best rock band I ever saw back in the day (and I saw plenty, including Hendrix, Cream, Jethro Tull, Procol Harum, the James Gang, Humble Pie, Mountain etc etc etc). No one even came close to FM's level of dynamics and interaction, they really listened to and played off each other, even more than Bruce, Baker and Clapton. And some of the best stuff is really captured on this recording. Get volume 2 as well, it's almost this good. But this one is the best! Outstanding!

I can't remember the reason I bought it. I must have read that it was a must have, so you can imagine my delight when I discovered it and played it for the first time just now. Excellent!! Super wonderful. What a great concert that must have been.

The Vol 1 from Peter Green's Fleetwood mac Fleetwood mac is one of the greatest live rock albums of all time with some of the finest guitaring from the three extremely gifted guitarists led by the legendary Peter Green.This was recorded In Boston and contains terrific material in Black magic woman,Jumping at shadows,Only you,The Green manalishi and an awesome rendition of Rattlesnake shake.A must have for every rock fan.Very highly recommended.

I saw the Mac twice. Once in 1968 as a foursome and then in January of 70 with Danny Kirwin with them just about 3 weeks earlier than these Boston recordings. It's rather unique to have a record of what I witnessed at the Filmore nearly 40 years ago! It was one of the best shows I ever saw along with Cream and Jimi Hendrix. Rattlesnake shake and Jumping at Shadows are the standouts, but even Jeremy sounds fine. The band is about as tight as it can get. Buy this!

I think Josh H. just about said it all. There have been some great guitar combinations but Peter Green, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer are the best in this genere. They've had some other great guitarists but these three broke the mold.

Of the three Live In Boston cd's by the original, aka the real Fleetwood Mac, the Peter Green Fleetwood Mac, this is the best, but get all three. However, Then Play On is the quintessential cd of that group. After that, Men of the World: The Early Years is a must have, a 3-cd set including 15-17 minute long live versions of some of their greatest songs, including Green Manalishi, plus lots of other live and studio stuff. The sound quality is superb.