DOUBLE MAC ATTACK

Fleetwood Mac formed in 1967 after three members of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers went out on their own. In a 1987 British documentary entitled The Story Of Fleetwood Mac, drummer Mick Fleetwood recalled the origins of the band’s name.

As a birthday present for Peter Green, John Mayall bought the guitarist some studio time. Green took the Bluesbreakers rhythm section (Fleetwood and bass player John Mcvie) with him.

"During that session Peter recorded an instrumental called "Fleetwood Mac", mainly because me and John (McVie) were playing on it. So when he formed the band he just chose the name Fleetwood Mac."

The early recordings of Fleetwood Mac owed much to the music of the Mayall band they had just left. Yet the soulful songwriting of Peter Green makes the music special. The 1971 compilation Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits gathers the best known songs from this era. Green’s gorgeous instrumental "Albatross" is still swoon-worthy, while his plaintive "Man Of The World" and yearning "Need Your Love So Bad" are introverted classics. Throw in "Black Magic Woman", famously covered by Santana, and the stomping "Oh Well" and you already have a great record. But there is also Green’s powerful "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" and a super song by second guitarist Danny Kirwan, "Dragonfly". What makes the "red" Greatest Hits special is that most of these tracks were non-album singles and thus difficult to source. It remains an outstanding compilation to this day, so the 2010 Music On Vinyl re-issue was very welcome indeed.

We will now jump to the moment when, following a succession of singer/guitarist/songwriters who came and went, Fleetwood Mac recruited Lindsey Buckingham and his partner Stevie Nicks. The first album by this new, US based line-up was simply called Fleetwood Mac and came out in 1975. Four studio albums followed, generating a suitcase full of hits. These are compiled on the 1988 "white rose" LP Fleetwood Mac Greatest Hits. With the four singles from Rumours and two from the 1975 album (Stevie Nicks’s "Rhiannon" and "Over My Head" by Christine McVie) the collection is on a very solid foundation. In fact, the contribution of the women of Fleetwood Mac to the band’s commercial success cannot be overstated. Five of the songs on Greatest Hits were penned by Nicks and no fewer than eight by pianist/singer/songwriter Christine McVie (several with co-writers). "Little Lies", "You Make Loving Fun" and "Hold Me" showcase Christine McVie’s exceptional talent for love songs. The remaining three tracks come from Lindsey Buckingham, including the timeless "Go Your Own Way".

So there you have it. Two entirely different but equally satisfying Greatest Hits albums by the same band. One released in 1971 that demonstrates their superior way with blues, and the other a 1988 release gathering the hits from the mid-70s up to Tango In The Night.

With a history spanning a staggering seven decades there is still much to explore, of course. One could seek out the albums from which these collections draw their songs or explore the missing years via excellent LPs like Bare Trees and Future Games.

In the meantime, if you are seeking a potted history of this great band you could do an awful lot worse than these two excellent slabs of vinyl: Fleetwood Mac—Greatest Hits (1971) and Fleetwood Mac—Greatest Hits (1988).

© Bruce Jenkins—November 2022