(2021) VA – Mick Fleetwood & Friends Celebrate the Music of Peter Green and the Early Years of Fleetwood Mac
Review:
Legendary drummer Mick Fleetwood enlisted an all-star cast for a one-of-a-kind concert honoring the early years of Fleetwood Mac and its founder, Peter Green, which was held on 25th February 2020 at the London, Palladium. The bill included Christine McVie, Billy Gibbons, David Gilmour, John Mayall, Pete Townshend, Steven Tyler, Bill Wyman, Noel Gallagher, Pete Townshend, Zak Starkey, Neil Finn, Kirk Hammett and Jeremy Spencer. Legendary producer Glyn Johns joined as the executive sound producer and the house band featured Fleetwood himself along with Andy Fairweather Low, Dave Bronze, Rick Vito, Jonny Lang and Ricky Peterson. Fleetwood, who curated the list of artists performing, said: “The concert is a celebration of those early blues days where we all began, and it’s important to recognize the profound impact Peter and the early Fleetwood Mac had on the world of music. Peter was my greatest mentor and it gives me such joy to pay tribute to his incredible talent. I am honoured to be sharing the stage with some of the many artists Peter has inspired over the years and who share my great respect for this remarkable musician.”
***
…Sadly, Green was unable to attend the concert, and passed away five months later. But Spencer sang and played well on Elmore James’ “I Can’t Hold Out,” oddly marking the first time in 50 years that he’d played with Fleetwood. McVie did not attend, but his ex-wife Christine, who joined Fleetwood Mac’s ranks in 1970, did. Her luminous, sultry reading of “Looking for Somebody” provides the one link to what Fleetwood Mac sounds like—with her back in the fold—today. The show gets off to a punchy, rollicking start with Green’s “Rolling Man,” led by singer/guitarist Rick Vito. Vito, along with Billy Burnette, replaced Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to ’91. He sings and plays here with strength and individuality, and blends into the Mac modus operandi perfectly. It’s a wonder Fleetwood ever let him go. Vito near single-handedly reclaims Green’s “Black Magic Woman” from Santana, and on “Love That Burns,” he slow-burns with an intense heat that Green would more than approve of. But when John Mayall, the godfather of British blues, tears into his Bluesbreakers-circa-1966 take on Otis Rush’s “All Your Love (I Miss Loving),” a connection to the beginning of it all is made with crackling energy. At 87, Mayall summons damn near all the power of that classic rendering from 56 years ago that featured a pre-Mac John McVie, not to mention Eric Clapton. Johnny Lang’s kinetic, rocky ways way with a blues fits right in here as well, all fired up as he is on Otis Rush’s “Homework,” and when Kirk Hammett takes hold of “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown),” a tidal wave of the heaviest proportions rolls through the room. For a completely different pace from that, current Mac member Neil Finn conjures kaleidoscopic images of flowers and smoke for “Man of the World.” Green’s infamous “Oh Well” (Pt. 1)” features Steven Tyler and Billy Gibbons taking turns rasping the verses, and on “Oh Well (Pt. 2),” David Gilmour makes quite clear the connection between Peter Green and early Pink Floyd.
Tracklist:
Disc 1
01 - Rick Vito - Rolling Man
02 - Jonny Lang - Homework
03 - Billy Gibbons - Doctor Brown
04 - John Mayall - All Your Love
05 - Billy Gibbons & Steven Tyler - Rattlesnake Shake
06 - Christine McVie - Stop Messin’ Round
07 - Christine McVie - Looking for Somebody
08 - Jonny Lang - Sandy Mary
09 - Rick Vito - Love That Burns
10 - Noel Gallagher - The World Keep Turning
11 - Noel Gallagher - Like Crying
12 - Rick Vito - No Place to Go
13 - Pete Townshend - Station Man
Disc 2
01 - Neil Finn - Man of the World
02 - Billy Gibbons & Steven Tyler - Oh Well (Pt.1)
03 - David Gilmour - Oh Well (Pt.2)
04 - Jonny Lang - Need Your Love So Bad
05 - Rick Vito - Black Magic Woman
06 - Jeremy Spencer - The Sky Is Crying
07 - Jeremy Spencer - I Can’t Hold Out
08 - Billy Gibbons & Kirk Hammett - The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)
09 - David Gilmour - Albatross
10 - Group Finale - Shake Your Moneymaker
Media Report:
Genre: rock
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
