Live At The BBC ()

To say this album deserves less than 5 stars is nearly a sin. In fact, I find it is the best available collection of Fleetwood Mac, with wonderful notes.

I have the complete Boston Series, The Official Columbia/Sony Records and the Marquee 67 and Shrine 69 shows. Therefore believe me I know a little about the band. I also have some of the recordings made by Peter Green and John McVie with John Mayall (John Mayall Thru the Years, Decca, 1971). These boys, together with Alvin Lee´s Ten Years After, achieved the best blues-rock-pop mix, under my vision.

Blues purists might dislike the Spencer game of playing Elvis-style covers with the alter ego of Fleetwood Mac, Earl Vince and the Valiants. I find this rather offers a relaxing moment before the next blues or jam attack. In fact, I find unusual this idea of a band with an alter ego. It is part of the originality Green-McVie-Fleetwood-Spencer-Kirwan achieved during their wonderful 1969-1970 work. In these numbers we may find an excellent sound. Unfourtunately there are not some interviews, which may provide a better image of the inner conflicts that were going on inside Peter´s and Jeremy´s minds and let them to leave the band short after the last BBC programs included herein. In the other hand, the absence of interviews give the pleasure of a continous play.

Sound quality varies from track to track, because we have many different sessions compiled herein. But the tracks show a great quality of sound, not so good as the Boston Tea Party show recently issued in three volumes, but still great and more heterogeneous. From Peter own compositions to classic blues, including a curious version of Dylan´s "Hang on to a Dream" and the Elvis act of Jeremy, highly valuable. It is sad Rattlenake Shake is not extended and the jam is more compressed when compared with the superb one in Live in Boston (Vol 2). We would also love to hear the inspired second part of Oh Well as it was recorded in the studio (Then Play On), but that is another flaw from the Live in Boston series and it seems the group focused on the first part of this rendition to love making.

The variety of tracks is amazing and it is a compilation which shows all sides from this phenomenal quintet, the first one with 3 lead guitarrists. The rythm session is also captured with good detail and there is no audience making noise and allowing self-indulgence from the musicians. A mistake in the notes: Albatross did not inspire George Harrison´s "Here Comes the Sun" in Beatles´Abbey Road, but "Sun King" by John Lennon (sharing credits with Paul) in the same album.

Men, thanks to this album I got an understanding of the official history of Fleetwood Mac and begun to appreciate the whole catalog even more.

In Argentina and Brazil there are many recordings from Fleetwood Mac which can be found and the main ones are available. The official collection, unfortunately, is scarcely offered and most of it I bought it in the States and Spain. Bad for Columbia/Sony ! I discovered the band in my homeland, Venezuela, where I bought the Boston Concerts issued by Dutch seal "Zillion".

It's worth every dollar paid.