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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).
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