A music podcast where we discuss our favorite albums, song by song. New episodes every other Tuesday.

175: Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac (1968) and Fleetwood Mac (1975)

"[Peter Green] has the sweetest tone I ever heard; he was the only one who gave me the cold sweats."

—B.B. King

This quarterly double feature is about Fleetwood Mac for a couple of reasons: because they’re a very interesting and important band, and because they have two self-titled albums that sound nothing like each other. Launched by Peter Green in 1968 as a British blues band, in less than a decade they became an unstoppable California pop-rock monster. Their progression from one to the other is one of the most fascinating stories in rock history, and includes a lot of incredible music that you might not have known about. Mike, John, and Amanda had a great time talking about the various forms of Fleetwood Mac, and if you’re not familiar with their earlier incarnations, we hope you end up loving them as much as we do. And even if you don’t, the later version of the band is still every bit as good as their reputation says they are.

Miscellany

In the UK, the 1968 Fleetwood Mac was released as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. Which makes things less confusing but also makes it sound like the work of a separate, competing Fleetwood Mac.
There is, in fact, a Weezer White Album. It came out in 2016, if you care.
Seriously, don’t miss out on the Bob Welch era. It’s uneven but there’s a ton of great songs in there.
About the Curtis Brothers: They wrote a song called “Seven League Boots” and recorded a demo of it in 1975 with the help of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Stephen Stills happened to hear that demo several years later, decided it had potential, and rewrote it into the wonderful “Southern Cross” for Crosby, Stills, and Nash.
You can listen to “Heckhound On My Trail” and other songs by Mark Prindle and the Low-Maintenance Perennials on Bandcamp!
Stretch were a band formed in 1974 for the express purpose of touring the US as a fake Fleetwood Mac, featuring Elmer Gantry of Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera, and Kirby Gregory of Curved Air. “Why Did You Do It,” heard at the beginning of part 2 of this episode, was written as a swipe at Mick Fleetwood after he backed out of said fake Fleetwood Mac tour. We can probably all agree that he made the right decision.
Later live performances of “World Turning” would see Mick Fleetwood swapping out the talking drum for a vest fitted with MIDI sensors that essentially allowed him to become a human drum set, thus achieving his ultimate form.
Amanda was onto something with the Metallica comparison but got the album totally wrong. Take the vocal effect from “The Outlaw Torn” and the guitar from the intro of “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)” and you’ll get the picture.
Fleetwood Mac just released an expanded greatest hits collection that includes the live recording of “Landslide” from The Dance.

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call

John McFerrin (moderator)
Mike DeFabio
Amanda Rodgers

Fleetwood Mac (1968) tracklist

My Heart Beat Like a Hammer
Merry Go Round
Long Grey Mare
Hellhound on My Trail
Shake Your Moneymaker
Looking for Somebody
No Place to Go
My Baby’s Good to Me
I Loved Another Woman
Cold Black Night
The World Keep on Turning
Got to Move

Fleetwood Mac (1975) tracklist

Monday Morning
Warm Ways
Blue Letter
Rhiannon
Over My Head
Crystal
Say You Love Me
Landslide
World Turning
Sugar Daddy
I’m So Afraid

Other clips used

Fleetwood Mac:

Oh Well
Hypnotized
Someone’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight
Dust My Broom
Doctor Brown
Need Your Love Tonight
Coming Home
Second Hand News
Little Lies
Rhiannon (Midnight Special version)
The Green Manalishi (with the Two Prong Crown) (Live from the Record Plant version)
Say You Love Me (The Dance version)
You Make Loving Fun
Landslide (Live 1975 version)
Landslide (The Dance version)
Black Magic Woman
Rambling Pony
Hold Me
World Turning (Live 1975 version)
Cold Black Night (takes 1-6)
Buddy’s Song
I’m So Afraid (early version)
I’m So Afraid (The Dance version)
Sunny Side of Heaven
The Green Manalishi (with the Two Prong Crown) (Live 1975 version)
The Ghost
Albatross
Big Love (The Dance version)
Jam #2
Need Your Love So Bad (version #2, remake)

Others:

Fritz - A Dream Away
Elmore James - Dust My Broom
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - I Don’t Live Today
Cream - Strange Brew
Led Zeppelin - Bring It On Home
Howlin’ Wolf - Killing Floor
Led Zeppelin - The Lemon Song
Curtis Brothers - Blue Letter
R.E.M. - Letter Never Sent
Robert Johnson - Hellhound on My Trail
Mark Prindle - Heckhound on My Trail
Elmore James - Shake Your Money Maker
The Rolling Stones - Rip This Joint
Genesis - Looking for Someone
Buckingham Nicks - Crystal
Stevie Nicks - Crystal
Stretch - Why Did You Do It
Howlin’ Wolf - No Place to Go
Led Zeppelin - How Many More Times
Smashing Pumpkins - Landslide
The Dixie Chicks - Landslide
Glee Cast feat. Gwyneth Paltrow - Landslide
Otis Rush - All Your Love
John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers - The Super-Natural
Jefferson Starship - Light the Sky on Fire
Jean-Jacques Perrey - The Elephant Never Forgets
Robert Johnson - Traveling Riverside Blues
John Lee Hooker - Crawlin’ King Snake
Metallica - The Outlaw Torn
The Flaming Lips - Powerless
Buckingham Nicks - Long Distance Winner
Monty Python’s Flying Circus - Albatross

Band/album personnel

Fleetwood Mac (1968)

Peter Green – vocals, guitar, harmonica
Jeremy Spencer – vocals, slide guitar, piano
John McVie – bass guitar (1, 2, 3–10, 12)
Mick Fleetwood – drums (1–3, 5–10, 12)
Bob Brunning – bass guitar (3)
Mike Vernon – production
Mike Ross – engineering

Fleetwood Mac (1975)

Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion
John McVie – bass guitar
Christine McVie – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
Lindsey Buckingham – guitars, vocals
Stevie Nicks – vocals
Waddy Wachtel – rhythm guitar (10)
Fleetwood Mac – production
Keith Olsen – production, engineering
David Devore – second engineer

Credits

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:

Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Fleetwood Mac - Looking for Somebody (this episode only)

You can buy or stream Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood Mac and other albums by Fleetwood Mac at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.