RETURN OF THE MAC

As a new boxset of early Fleetwood Mac rarities is released, we ask Greeny super-fan Andy for his verdict and memories… “When we hit the summer of love in 1967, everything exploded for me. We’d gone through the British blues boom, so John Mayall was on my radar, and through listening to Mayall and Clapton, the next port of call was obviously Peter Green. Bluesbreakers tracks like The

Supernatural blew me away. Clapton took me into another dimension as far as what could be done on guitar with single-string soloing. But Peter had this kind of mojo. It was a bit scary.

“He was the complete package. He had light and shade in his playing: he’d go from a whisper to an out-and-out screeching solo. He pioneered that out-of-phase pickup thing with the Les Paul, gave his solos this human sound, almost like a vocal. It was like a plaintive, yearning kind of deal. No-one else was playing like that. He wore all his influences well – y’know, BB King and Otis Rush and everyone – but he just made it something uniquely Peter.

“In 1967, when I was 17, I was fortunate enough to go to the National Jazz & Blues Festival in Windsor and saw Peter Green and Fleetwood Mac. At the end of the show, I leapt up on stage, grabbed him round the neck and pulled him back on for an encore. That was a seminal moment for me. I was just overcome.

“I was hooked. I was hoping to somehow get some of that mojo Peter had, hoping some of it might rub off on me. That’s why I grabbed hold of the guy, in a way. And I think a fair bit of it did. Fleetwood Mac was one of the very first twin lead-guitar bands, so that whole deal was impregnated into the early DNA of Wishbone Ash, which came along two years later. Ted Turner and I were both besotted with Peter Green. There are lots of similarities and influences of Peter Green and early Fleetwood Mac, though Wishbone took it a little bit more in a truly English direction, with more Celtic and folk roots, as opposed to pure American blues.

“I’ve had a good listen to the new boxset. It’s really quite astounding. Number one, where did these recordings come from? Number two, they’re really damn good. The demos are really enlightening. I often think that with demos, you get more of the spirit of the song before the, let’s say,‘proper recording’. On this set, you’ve got the very early Mac entity, with Jeremy Spencer and the Elmore James thing, and you’re hearing a bunch of guys just having a great time. Then you get to the 1970 period with

Oh Well and The Green Manalishi, and Danny Kirwan coming on the scene. It’s fascinating. One of the best selections I’ve heard, actually.”

Fleetwood Mac – Before The Beginning: 1968‑1970 Rare Live & Demo Sessions is available now on Sony Music