Fleetwood Mac
Shrine ‘69
Rykodisc
This live album, by the version known as “Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac” (don’t confuse with the knob-twiddling airheads of the later years) has recently seen the light after laying around in the vaults for a few decades. Peter Green commanded attention as one of Britain’s premier blues guitarists before drug use and schizophrenia caused his retirement in the early ’70s, and is still revered for his fretwork today. A strong songwriter, he penned classics such as “Black Magic Woman,” “Oh Well,” “Rattlesnake Shake,” and “Green Manalishi.” Alas, this record occurred before all that. Shrine ‘69 is pretty much 6 examples of white boy blues, one number called “Tune Up” – which is five people tuning guitars, and two tepid versions of rock and roll standards. The version of “Blue Suede Shoes” is interesting in that it seems to pre-date the current rap fad by having as its main lyrics “Come on baby, suck my knob” repeated over and over. Really bad stuff. Guitarist Jeremy Spencer chimes in with his “My Baby Sweet,” featuring wonderful slide guitar, but it’s really not enough to redeem this disc. Check out the original Fleetwood Mac albums instead.
Rykodisc, Shetland Park, 27 Congress St., Salem, MA 01970; http://www.rykodisc.com
