Greatest Hits ()

As a teenager in England in the late 60's I used to play these tunes repeatedly on juke boxes in cafes and pubs around where I lived. When the compilation came out in 1971 I leapt at the opportunity to listen to all of them at home. That is why I now own two copies of this on vinyl. When I try to obtain copies in a more modern format my searches yield only collections of cocaine induced ditties written & performed by some rich people in California many years later. If I had been Peter Green I too might have hidden reclusively for years in an Israeli chicken shed and moved irrigation pipes at night to provide myself with food. Anything to escape the anguish of witnessing the misuse of his brainchild.
Yes Green Manalishi is the work of genius, with it's interplay between vocal and guitar refrains, but equally so 'Oh Well' pts 1 & 2, (which in it's time occupied both sides of a single) which has the stamp of a classical composition, the slick interworking of Acoustic & Electric guitars reinforced by McVie's strong bass playing. Black Magic in it's original form is simple but captivating: no wonder Carlos Santana covered it on Abraxas in 1970. The moody and melodic instrumental Albatross was tragically never a hit in USA, and is said to have inspired the Beatles 'Sun King'. Man of the World showcases Green's surprising vocal range and like many of the tracks features Fleetwood's imaginative and almost classical use of soft mallets. Add to that a couple of well performed blues standards, 3 Green Blues compositions and Kirwan's post-Green Dragonfly and you have it.