Customer Reviews

Live at the BBC

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
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This is definitely a CD for collectors and hard core fans only. If you like Jeremy Spencer's rock parodies, this is the cd for you! They are good, as are his slide guitar songs. But, the true gems on the release are the tunes featuring Peter Green. He has rarely sounded better. "World Keep On Turning" and "A Fool No More" are highlights of not only this CD, but also of Green's great, and troubled, career. All the songs featuring Green are well worth the price of this import from the distant, yet not forgotten, past.

Disc 2 is packed with Chicago inspired gems and represents some of the best '60s British blues recorded by anyone. Disc 1, with the exception of 4 or 5 tracks is a painful embarrassment of mainly 3rd rate cabaret Buddy Holly and Elvis impersonations - and I really do mean "impersonations". This is one of those albums which has to be re-recorded immediately with the drivel left out. It's rare that an album includes such a distinct polarity between the inarguably superb and the utterly abysmal with no middle ground.

What's staggering to understand from these two discs is that Mac's three amazing guitarists left us their testimonies--and became emotional casualties afterward. The richest songs of these two CDs belongs to the brilliantly talented Peter Green: There's not a bad cut or lick from him on anything featured. In fact, just hear his scream of rock 'n roll passion and joy on side 2's "Tallahassee Lassie." My nod goes to "Preachin' Blues," showing Peter's skills on slide, and the absolute slow misery of "Jumping at Shadows," a prophetic plea if ever there was one. For our times, he was a magnificent bluesman in his prime.

Ditto for Danny Kirwan; can you imagine that he was just a young fan who joined the group and became entangled in the battle of raging egos. Perhaps he was more at home with the softer ballads like "Although the Sun is Shining," but hear him scrap and battle with the others on "Only You." That's real down-home vibrato. And of course, Jeremy Spencer. Perhaps it's his soppy worship of Buddy Holly that mires this in the mud at times; "Jenny Lee" sounds so sugary that it made me wince. Credit goes back to him for his raucous Elmore James rave-ups, and he could do the job with "Honey Hush" and "Preachin'." Don't ignore Mick Fleetwood's percussion (especially the way he muffled the drumheads when needed) or John McVie's bass, either: they could follow those three zany lead players over rocky terrain and smooth roads.

Gotta give it four stars in regards to versatility offered--just can't get past Jeremy's flights of maudlin fancy. Okay, Buddy Holly would smile, and yeah, it was fun--but it wasn't the best of Fleetwood Mac. Thanks, guys, for leaving this to us. Killer picture of Peter also, on the inside sleeve, and amusing anecdotes from Mick.

If you think that (1) Peter Green was one of the all-time greats, and (2) You think the late sixties/early '70's edition of FM was one of the great blues rock outfits ever, then you should probably get this. There are a bewildering number of CD's on the market covering these years, almost all of which have Albatross, Oh Well, Man of the World, Need Your Love So Bad, and any number of Jeremy's covers of Elmore James. This particular recording deserves a bit more consideration for the following reasons:

a. It's a Live album.

b. Danny Kirwan is featured on several more cuts than usual, and in some unique ways. Particularly noteworthy are When I See My Baby, Blues With A Feeling (contains some very powerful lead playing from Danny), Early Morning Come (extremely rare solo acoustic guitar), and nice versions of some of his standards (Although the Sun is Shining, Like Crying Like Dying). Danny brought a nice sensitivity and different musical flavor to the band. There is also a magnificent version of Only You, which epitomizes the depth and power of Fleetwood Mac's double guitars. Amazing interplay between Danny and Peter on this one!

c. The Genius that was Peter Green is eminently displayed, as usual. He does a beautiful Robert Johnson-style delta slide on Preachin' Blues. His solo work on World Keep On Turning is peerless. Many of the other favorite FM tunes are given wonderful treatment (Need Your Love So Bad (from Little Willie John, probably the sexiest blues song you will ever hear), the heart-wrenching Jumping At Shadows, Long Grey Mare, Stop Messin' Round, Sandy Mary, Looking For Somebody, the scintillating Fool No More....oh, and of course, Albatross and Oh Well, not to mention Rattlesnake Shake and Man of the World!). He even gets into the fifties rock and roll thing, doing nice versions of Tallahassie Lassie and Can't Believe You Wanna Leave.

d. Jeremy Spencer does an absolutely brilliant solo acoustic slide guitar on Preachin'. Why oh why could he not have done more of this for posterity? The guy had--I correct myself--HAS talent (he's back and is still able to crank that hollow body electric with the slide). There are the usual Elmore numbers but I was glad that he decided to include one of Elmore's greatest tunes, Mean Mistreatin' Mama, which he does admirably.

The inclusion of at least five of Jeremy's rock and roll tribute numbers will no doubt rankle some listeners (me included!). And you may tire of his Elmore act on several more. But I feel that the positive attributes of this album, as listed above, outweigh the negatives. There are 36 tunes spread over two disks, so there are plenty of things to listen to.

You probably can't own just one of the vintage Mac albums. In addition to this, I'd strongly recommend Jumping At Shadows: The Blues Years (also 2-discs).