Song:Oh Well
Album:The Best Of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac
Most music fans should be familiar with the 70s version of Fleetwood Mac. They are one of the best selling bands of all time. But the original version of Fleetwood Mac was a blues rock band. Oh Well was their biggest hit. The band went through a lot of changes when guitarist Peter Green left in 1970 due to health problems. Mick Fleetwood is the only original member remaining in Fleetwood Mac. Guitarist Peter Green first met drummer Mick Fleetwood as members of Peter Bardens' group Peter B's Looners. Then Green replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. When Aynsley Dunbar left, Green brought Fleetwood in and then bassist John McVie. The trio would sometimes play without Mayall and Green wanted to start a new band and name it Fleetwood Mac after the rhythm section. But McVie chose to stay with Mayall and Bob Brunning was hired to play bass with the understanding that if McVie wanted to join, Brunning would leave. That happened soon after the band started playing live gigs. The other member was slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer. Fleetwood Mac signed with Blue Horizon and their debut album Fleetwood Mac did very well in England though there were no hit singles. At this point, Fleetwood Mac was a blues group. Green didn't think Spencer was creative enough and Danny Kirwan was brought in. In 1969, they went to Chicago to record at Chess Studios. The band felt that Blue Horizon was too limited so they shopped around to record labels. George Harrison wanted them on Apple Records but they signed with Warner Bros.' Reprise label. Then Play On was their first album on Reprise in 1969 and Oh Well reached #2 on the British singles chart and charted in the US. There are two parts to the song. The first part is a standard blues jam but turns into an extended instrumental jam. You can get the full version on this budget comp from Sony Europe. Peter Green was forced to leave Fleetwood Mac in 1970 due to schizophrenia caused by a bad LSD trip. The band should have split up at that point. But Kirwan kept the band together even after Spencer left to join a cult. John McVie's wife Christine McVie was hired to play keyboards and sing. And they also brought in US musician Bob Welch. Fleetwood Mac was still around but they weren't a blues band anymore. Kirwan developed a drinking problem and was fired for smashing his guitar on stage. They brought in two guys that didn't work out and there was even a fake Fleetwood Mac touring for a while. And it was at that point they moved to Los Angeles and got involved with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks who had recorded an album together. Welch left to go solo. The new Fleetwood Mac was born and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac was forgotten. Here's Fleetwood Mac performing Oh Well BBC 1969.
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