Released: 1968
Yes, Fleetwood Mac, but no, not that Fleetwood Mac. It’s without doubt that the band’s original, London-centric first version deserves more attention than it receives, even if it’s story is less glamorous. The tale began when public schoolboy turned drummer Mick Fleetwood joined John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, in which he met future Mac members John McVie and Peter Green, the latter a prodigously talented guitarist who’d been one of the few with chops big enough to replace the departed Eric Clapton.
Initially they remained very much blues orientated, their self titled, Alexis Korner pleasing debut a mix of both authentic sounding originals and standards of which a novice would’ve been unable to tell the difference. Whilst that was a success it’s follow up Mr. Wonderful (The first to feature John’s wife Christine) was critically mauled and it seemed their star was dimming, before Fleetwood recruited teenager Danny Kirwan as a fifth member.
The band’s altered chemistry paid massive dividends shortly afterwards with Albatross, a stand alone release that Green later acknowledged owed a huge debt to Kirwan’s new energy. The result was an instrumental which sounded like it belonged in a tall glass; Green slowed his picking down to walking pace and the wave lapping ambience helped them score the unlikeliest of number ones in January 1969. Such was it’s lack of root that the KLF famously sampled it on their 1990 ambient opus Chill Out. The new Fleetwood Mac released their fifteenth album Behind The Mask that same year, but like their pre-California ancestors, not many people remember that now either.
The Voice Of Unreason 
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