Fleetwood Mac: Discography 1968 - 1974

 

Fleetwood Mac were a British and American rock band formed in London in 1967 by singer and

guitarist Peter Green. Green named the band by combining the surnames of drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie, who have remained with the band throughout its many line-up changes. Fleetwood Mac have sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling musical acts. While most bands undergo a number of changes over the course of their careers, few of them experienced a more radical stylistic evolution than Fleetwood Mac. 
                       

Initially conceived as a hard-edged British blues combo in the late '60s, the band gradually evolved into

an incredibly popular and influential pop/rock act over the course of a decade. Primarily a British blues band in their early years, Fleetwood Mac achieved a UK number one single in 1968 with the instrumental "Albatross" and had other UK top ten hits with "Man of the World", "Oh Well" (both 1969), and "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (1970). 
               

Green left the band in May 1970 and McVie's wife, Christine McVie, joined as an official member

on vocals and keyboards two months later, having previously contributed to the band as a session musician. Other key members during the band's early years were Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, and Bob Welch. By the end of 1974, these members had departed, which left the band without a guitarist and male singer. 
                 

While Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he heard the American folk rock duo

Buckingham Nicks, consisting of guitarist and singer Lindsey Buckingham and singer Stevie Nicks. In December 1974, he asked Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac, with Buckingham agreeing on the condition that Nicks could also join. The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound, and their 1975 album Fleetwood Mac topped the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. 
                   

Their next album, Rumours (1977), reached number one in multiple countries around the world and won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. The band retained their popularity

through the early '80s, when Buckingham, Nicks, and McVie all began pursuing solo careers. The group reunited for 1987's Tango in the Night, but after more lineup changes and instability, they split after 1995's Time. The band quickly reunited, though, assembling for The Dance, a 1997 live album, then stabilizing without Christine McVie for their 2000s incarnation, a lineup that produced 2003's Say You Will.
                       

McVie returned to the fold for a series of successful tours starting in 2014, but the group harmony was

short-lived. Buckingham was ousted prior to an anniversary tour in 2018, his departure proof that the one constant in Fleetwood Mac through the years was change. 
                  

Robert Lawrence Welch Jr. died on June 7, 2012
Daniel David Kirwan died on 8 June 2018
Peter Allen Greenbaum died on 25 July 2020
Christine McVie died on November 30, 2022, after a brief illness. In the wake of her passing, both Fleetwood and Nicks emphatically declared that the band would no longer continue to tour or record.
                  

FINAL LINE - UP

                    

Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion (1967–1995, 1997–2022)
John McVie – bass (1967–1995, 1997–2022)
Christine McVie – keyboards, vocals (1970–1995, 1997–1998, 2014–2022; her death)
Stevie Nicks – vocals (1974–1990, 1997–2022)
Mike Campbell – lead guitar, vocals (2018–2022)
Neil Finn – vocals, rhythm guitar (2018–2022)
                                  

FLEETWOOD MAC - ORIGINAL ALBUM CLASSICS (3 CD) 2010
                

Fleetwood Mac – 3 Original Album Classics
Label: Sony Music – 88697625922, Columbia – 88697625922
Series: Original Album Classics
Format: CD, Box Set, Compilation
Country: Europe
Released: 2010
Genre: Rock, Blues
Style: Blues Rock

                

01.  FLEETWOOD MAC - FLEETWOOD MAC (Also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac)  1968

                

Fleetwood Mac's debut LP was a highlight of the late-'60s British blues boom. Green's always inspired playing, the capable (if erratic) songwriting, and the general panache of the band as a whole placed them leagues above the overcrowded field. Elmore James is a big influence on this set, particularly on

the tunes fronted by Jeremy Spencer ("Shake Your Moneymaker," "Got to Move"). Spencer's bluster, however, was outshone by the budding singing and songwriting skills of Green. The guitarist balanced humor and vulnerability on cuts like "Looking for Somebody" and "Long Grey Mare," and with "If I Loved Another Woman," he offered a glimpse of the Latin-blues fusion that he would perfect with "Black Magic Woman." The album was an unexpected smash in the U.K., reaching number four on the British charts. 
                

TRACKS

             

01. My Heart Beat Like A Hammer    2:55
02. Merry Go Round    4:05
03. Long Grey Mare    2:15
04. Hellhound On My Trail    2:00
05. Shake Your Moneymaker    2:55
06. Looking For Somebody    2:50
07. No Place To Go    3:20
08. My Baby's Good To Me    2:50
09. I Loved Another Woman    2:55
10. Cold Black Night    3:15
11. The World Keep On Turning    2:30
12. Got To Move

Flac Size: 233 MB

02.  FLEETWOOD MAC - MR. WONDERFUL 1968

               

Although it made number ten in the U.K., Fleetwood Mac's second album was a disappointment following their promising debut. So much of the record was routine blues that it could even be said that it represented something of a regression from the first LP, despite the enlistment of a horn section and

pianist Christine Perfect (the future Christine McVie) to help on the sessions. In particular, the limits of Jeremy Spencer's potential for creative contribution were badly exposed, as the tracks that featured his songwriting and/or vocals were basic Elmore James covers or derivations. Peter Green, the band's major talent at this point, did not deliver original material on the level of the classic singles he would pen for the band in 1969, or even on the level of first-album standouts like "I Loved Another Woman." The best of the lot, perhaps, is "Love That Burns," with its mournful minor-key melody and sluggish, responsive horn lines.
              

TRACKS

                

01.Stop Messin' Round   2:19
Written-By – Adams, Green
02.I've Lost My Baby   4:15
Written-By – J. Spencer
03.Rollin' Man   2:52
Written-By – Adams, Green
04.Dust My Broom   2:51
Written-By – James, Josea
05.Love That Burns   5:01
Written-By – Adams, Green
06.Doctor Brown   3:44
Written-By – Brown
07.Need Your Love Tonight   3:26
Written-By – J. Spencer
08.If You Be My Baby   3:52
Written-By – James, Josea
09.Evenin' Boogie   2:40
Written-By – J. Spencer
10.Lazy Poker Blues   2:34
Written-By – Adams, Green
11.Coming Home   2:38
Written-By – Elmore James
12.Trying So Hard To Forget   4:45
Written-By – Adams, Green

Flac Size: 242 MB

03.  FLEETWOOD MAC - THE PIOUS BIRD OF GOOD OMEN 1969

                

With songs taken from Fleetwood Mac and Mr. Wonderful, Pious Bird of Good Omen serves as a

worthy 12-track compilation of the band's early Peter Green days. "Albatross," "Black Magic Woman," and "I Believe My Time Ain't Long" are timeless Fleetwood Mac standards, representing some of the band's best pre-Rumours work.
             

TRACKS

                

01. Need Your Love So Bad    3:57
02. Comin' Home    2:42
03. Rambling Pony    2:44
04. The Big Boat    2:40
05. I Believe My Time Ain't Long    2:58
06. The Sun Is Shining    3:14
07. Albatross    3:14
08. Black Magic Woman    2:50
09. Just The Blues    5:41
10. Jigsaw Puzzle Blues    1:38
11. Looking For Somebody    2:54
12. Stop Messin' Round    2:19

Flac Size: 221 MB

FLEETWOOD MAC - 1969 TO 1974 (BOX - SET 8 ALBUMS) 2020

                  

Fleetwood Mac – 1969 To 1974
Label: Reprise Records – R2 596006, Warner Records – 603497851300
Format: CD, Box Set, Compilation
Country: Europe
Released: Sep 5, 2020
Genre: Rock, Blues, Pop
Style: Blues Rock, Classic Rock, Folk Rock

              

04.  FLEETWOOD MAC - THEN PLAY ON 1969

               

This Peter Green-led edition of the Mac isn't just an important transition between their initial blues-based incarnation and the mega-pop band they became, it's also their most vital, exciting version. The

addition of Danny Kirwan as second guitarist and songwriter foreshadows not only the soft-rock terrain of "Bare Trees" and "Kiln House" with Christine Perfect-McVie, but also predicts Rumours. That only pertains to roughly half of the also excellent material here, though; the rest is quintessential Green. The immortal "Oh Well," with its hard-edged, thickly layered guitars and chamber-like sections, is perhaps the band's most enduring progressive composition.
                     

TRACKS

                     

01. Coming Your Way    3:45
02. Closing My Eyes    4:51
03. Fighting For Madge    2:42
04. When You Say    4:31
05. Show-Biz Blues    3:51
06. Under Way    3:04
07. One Sunny Day    3:13
08. Although The Sun Is Shining    2:25
09. Rattlesnake Shake    3:30
10. Without You    4:35
11. Searching For Madge    6:56
12. My Dream    3:31
13. Like Crying    2:25
14. Before The Beginning    3:30

BONUS TRACKS        

    
15. Oh Well - Pt. 1    3:22
16. Oh Well - Pt. 2    5:39
17. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)    37
18. World In Harmony    3:26

Flac Size: 374 MB

05.  FLEETWOOD MAC - KILN HOUSE (ORIGINAL ALBUM) 1970

                

Fleetwood Mac was still primarily a blues band on this, their first album after the departure of founder/

nominal leader Peter Green. But the remaining members, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Jeremy Spencer, and Danny Kirwan (plus McVie's wife, Christine, not yet officially part of the group) started broadening the band's use of blues into other contexts, and adding new influences in the absence of Green's laser-like focus. 
               

TRACKS

                 

01. This Is The Rock    2:46
02. Station Man    5:53
03. Blood On The Floor    2:44
04. Hi Ho Silver    3:07
05. Jewel Eyed Judy    3:19
06. Buddy's Song    2:10
07. Earl Gray    4:04
08. One Together    3:26
09. Tell Me All The Things You Do    4:13
10. Mission Bell    2:33

BONUS TRACKS

11. Dragonfly    2:49
12. Purple Dancer    3:43
13. Jewel Eyed Judy (Single Version)    3:20
14. Station Man (Single Version)

Flac Size: 211 MB

06.  FLEETWOOD MAC - FUTURE GAMES 1971

                 

By the time of this album's release, Jeremy Spencer had been replaced by Bob Welch and Christine McVie had begun to assert herself more as a singer and songwriter. The result is a distinct move toward

folk-rock and pop; Future Games sounds almost nothing like Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. Bob Welch's eight-minute title track, featuring lead guitar from Danny Kirwan, has one of Welch's characteristic haunting melodies, and with pruning and better editing, it could have been a hit. Christine McVie's "Show Me a Smile" is one of her loveliest ballads. Initial popular reaction was mixed: the album didn't sell as well as Kiln House, but it sold better than any of the band's first three albums in the U.S. 
                    

TRACKS

                   

01. Woman Of A Thousand Years    5:24
02. Morning Rain    5:36
03. What A Shame    2:16
04. Future Games    8:19
05. Sands Of Time    7:21
06. Sometimes    5:25
07. Lay It All Down    4:29
08. Show Me A Smile    3:23

BONUS TRACKS            

09. Sands Of Time (Single Version)    3:04
10. Sometimes (Alternate Version)    5:25
11. Lay It All Down (Alternate Version)    8:18
12. Stone    2:30
13. Show Me A Smile (Alternate Version)    3:24
14. What A Shame (Unedited)    8:28

Flac Size: 497 MB

07.  FLEETWOOD MAC - BARE TREES (ORIGINAL ALBUM) 1972

                        

Arguably the first consistently strong album Fleetwood Mac ever recorded -- all the way back into the Peter Green/Jeremy Spencer era, the Mac's albums had previously consisted of individual moments of

brilliance in a sea of uninspired filler -- 1972's Bare Trees is also the album where the band finally defines its post-blues musical personality. Low-key but less narcoleptically mellow than 1971's sleepy Future Games, Bare Trees is a singer/songwriter album in the traditional early-'70s style, backed up with just enough musical muscle to keep from sounding like weedy soft rock in the manner of Bread or Cat Stevens. This is the one Fleetwood Mac album on which singer/guitarist Danny Kirwan is the dominant figure, writing five songs to Christine McVie and Bob Welch's two apiece. 
              

TRACKS

               

01. Child Of Mine    5:29
02. The Ghost    4:02
03. Homeward Bound    3:23
04. Sunny Side Of Heaven    3:11
05. Bare Trees    5:06
06. Sentimental Lady    4:36
07. Danny's Chant    3:20
08. Spare Me A Little Of Your Love    3:47
09. Dust    2:40
10. Thoughts On A Grey Day    1:44

BONUS TRACKS            

11. Trinity (Mono Version)    4:09
12. Sentimental Lady (Single Version)    3:01
13. Homeward Bound (Live)    6:51

Flac Size: 324 MB

08.  FLEETWOOD MAC - PENGUIN 1973

            

Fleetwood Mac's first album made after the departure of Danny Kirwan features the additions of

guitarist Bob Weston and singer Dave Walker. By now Bob Welch and Christine McVie were the dominant forces in the band, and all traces of blues-rock were gone, replaced by Welch's hypnotic melodies and McVie's romantic sentiments married to up-tempo pop tunes. This album gave Fleetwood Mac its best U.S. chart showing yet, but the wonder is that this phase in the band's career wasn't even more popular. 
              

TRACKS

             

01. Remember Me    2:46
02. Bright Fire    4:34
03. Dissatisfied    3:44
04. (I’m A) Road Runner    4:56
05. The Derelict    2:50
06. Revelation    5:01
07. Did You Ever Love Me    3:44
08. Night Watch    6:17
09. Caught In The Rain    2:48

Flac Size: 251 MB

09.  FLEETWOOD MAC - MYSTERY TO ME (ORIGINAL ALBUM) 1973

                     

At this point, the band was best-known as a British blues unit. Slowly but surely the band was

becoming more acclimated with a production style that was reminiscent of the California pop sound. With the majority of the blues and psychedelic behind them, Mystery to Me finds Fleetwood Mac in a more ruminative vein. American guitarist Bob Welch established that path. Despite the all-encompassing ethos, Welch's songwriting skills made him walk a fine line between the mystical and the silly.
                 

TRACKS

                 

01. Emerald Eyes    3:35
02. Believe Me    4:12
03. Just Crazy Love    3:27
04. Hypnotized    4:50
05. Forever    4:07
06. Keep On Going    4:05
07. The City    3:36
08. Miles Away    3:51
09. Somebody    5:03
10. The Way I Feel    2:43
11. For Your Love    3:46
12. Why    4:58

BONUS TRACKS        

    
13. For Your Love (Mono Promo Edit)    3:12
14. Good Things (Come To Those Who Wait)    3:23

Flac Size: 370 MB

10.  FLEETWOOD MAC - HEROES ARE HARD TO FIND (ORIGINAL ALBUM) 1974

                    

Although this was Bob Welch's last album with the band he had worked with since 1971, it sounds like he's at his peak. Pared down to a foursome for the first and (as of 2002) only time since the addition of

Danny Kirwan, both Welch and Christine McVie contribute some of their finest songs. Bolstered by sympathetic self-production and imaginative, often aggressive arrangements that include brassy horns on the title track (a blatant but failed attempt at a hit single), the album is one of their most cohesive yet diverse. Welch continues his fascination with UFOs in a sort of follow-up to Mystery to Me's "Hypnotized" called "Bermuda Triangle" and even heads into a spacy Hendrix "Third Stone From the Sun" groove on "Coming Home." 
                     

TRACKS

               

01. Heroes Are Hard To Find    3:36
02. Coming Home    3:54
03. Angel    3:47
04. Bermuda Triangle    4:10
05. Come A Little Bit Closer    4:51
06. She’s Changing Me    3:00
07. Bad Loser    3:27
08. Silver Heels    3:29
09. Prove Your Love    4:00
10. Born Enchanter    2:56
11. Safe Harbour    2:32

BONUS TRACK

    
12. Heroes Are Hard To Find (Single Version)    2:47

Flac Size: 291 MB

11.  FLEETWOOD MAC - LIVE FROM THE RECORD PLANT (DECEMBER 15, 1974)

           

Live from the Record Plant" is an album and broadcast recording of Fleetwood Mac from December

15, 1974, featuring the lineup of Bob Welch, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood. It was recorded live for KSAN-FM in San Francisco and captures the band just before the departure of Bob Welch and the arrival of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. The setlist includes songs from that era, blending their blues-rock roots with newer materia
                   

TRACKS

                      

01. The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)    5:45
02. Angel    5:00
03. Spare Me A Little Of Your Love    4:10
04. Sentimental Lady    3:10
05. Future Games    9:01
06. Bermuda Triangle    10:42
07. Why    4:05
08. Believe Me    4:54
09. Black Magic Woman / Oh Well    6:55
10. Rattlesnake Shake    11:30
11. Hypnotized    7:31

Flac Size: 496 MB