Chart entered : 10 April 1968
Chart peak : 37
Number of hits : 27
And so begins pop's most fascinating story of all. No other band , even the Beatles, has given us so much drama , so many intriguing threads to follow and they're still going so there's the prospect of more to come. What's also remarkable is that , despite well-documented traumas and excesses, everyone who's appeared on a Mac hit single is still alive ( one or two bit players have been lost recently ).
The Mac story begins when Peter Bardens ( later of Camel ) invited a young Cornish drummer living nearby , Mick Fleetwood, to join his band, The Cheynes in the summer of 1963. Their first single on Columbia in November 1963 is a tight beat cover of the Isley Brothers' "Respectable " distinguished by Bardens's electric organ. In January 1964 they were hired as the backing band for the Ronettes on a UK package tour headed by the Stones. They then had a weekly spot at The Marquee, sometimes supporting John Mayall and the Bluesbeakers They followed it up with the Northern Soul stomp of "Goin To The River" in September 1964 and concluded their career with the unfortunately titled "Down And Out" , Bardens's Yardbyrds-style rocker unburdened by any tune. The band called it a day in April 1965.
Mick joined the Bo Street Runners a band who'd won a talent competition on Ready Steady Go but weren't selling many records. That didn't change with Mick's only single with the band "Baby Never Say Goodbye" in July 1965 which is interesting, with its blend of jazzy organ and bossa nova beat, without being particularly good. The singing in particular is poor.
Mick quit the band shortly afterwards to join Bardens's new band Peter B's Looners , an instrumental act. The guitarist was Peter Green ( originally Greenbaum ) a 19-year old Londoner whose previous groups hadn't been signed. Their only single was "If You Wanna Be Happy" , a cover of a 1963 US number one in a vocal version by Jimmy Soul. You can hardly hear Peter behind Barden's organ and to be honest it's a bit muzak-y , not a million miles away from Klaus Wunderlich.
In April 1966 they decided to change tack and bring in a couple of vocalists both of them well-known faces who hadn't quite made the grade yet , Beryl Marsden and a certain Rod Stewart ( of whom, more later ). Soon after, they changed their name to Shotgun Express. The band played almost every night until July when Peter Green received an invitation to replace Eric Clapton in John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers and quit.
In October the band released their single "I Could Feel The Whole World Turn Round" where the two singers bawl against the over-heavy orchestration and you can hardly hear the rest of the band. Even Bardens's organ struggles to be heard. There's probably a decent song underneath the bombast but it was just a bit too heavy-going to be a hit. Stewart quit to join the Jeff Beck Group at the start of 1967 and the band had broken up by the time their second single "Funny Cos' Neither Could I " was released.
When Peter joined the Bluesbreakers the bass player in situ was John McVie , a 20-year old former tax inspector. He played on the two singles before Peter joined , "Crocodile Walk" a garage rock strutter enlivened inevitably by Clapton's solo and "I'm Your Witchdoctor" a bluesier number with a feedback wail, produced by Jimmy Page. Both indicate an ongoing problem with John Mayall ; he has the love but not the voice for the music.
Peter's first single with the band was "Looking Back " in October 1966. Written by Johnny "Guitar" Watson, it's a brassy R & B number about making eye contact with a girl on the street. It's not a bad song but the best bit is undoubtedly the instrumental break where Peter wheels out a scorching solo. John's heavy bass line is also a plus factor. The next one in January 1967 was Mayall's "Sitting In The Rain" a lazy blues number dominated by Peter's unconventional guitar picking. His increasing influence in the band is also denoted by having his "Out of Reach" on the B side.
After this single Mayall fired his drummer Aynsley Dunbar. Knowing that Mick was now available Peter recommended him to Mayall. However Mick had been fired for drunkennes by the time of the next single , "Double Trouble ", an Otis Rush song in June 1967 which sounds ponderous to a non-blues afficianados like myself but marks the entrance of Peter's signature style. It also marks the exit of Peter from the group.
He immediately snapped up Mick for his new group and made his intentions clear by naming the band "Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac". However John hesitated and stuck with Mayall initially. Peter hired Bob Brunning to fill in for him on the understanding that it was probably a temporary gig. The line-up was completed by slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer who had been playing in a blues trio , The Levi Set.
Bob only had time to do a few gigs and play on one song , "Long Grey Mare" for the debut LP before John excused himself from the Bluesbreakers and joined up. Bob went off for a long and successful career in teaching. The debut single in November 1967 was "I Believe My Time Ain't Long" written by Elmore James, Jeremy's musical hero. It's largely Jeremy's record with him doing the vocal and most of the guitar work but too faithful to the original to be a hit. On the other hand the covers-heavy debut album "Fleetwood Mac" made number 4 in the album charts without it.
"Black Magic Woman" was the next single . It's a Peter Green original with simple lyrics attributing his erotic obsession to the dark arts. Beginning with a startling sustained note it has a sparse sound with Mick's heavy drums up front alongside Peter's pleading vocal. Peter plays individual lines rather than any recognisable riff and there are two lengthy pauses before the instrumental break and the coda where the tempo changes completely. It's not obvious single material at all but they had the right sound for the time and a charismatic frontman and that was enough to get them on the board. The song was a massive US hit for Santana two years later but this is the only hit version here.
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