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Showbiz Blues 1968-1970

Fleetwood Mac - Showbiz Blues 1968-1970 Audio CD

A fair review of the Fleetwood Mac "Showbiz Blues 1968-1970" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Fleetwood Mac reviews here, or go back to the Fleetwood Mac tabs.

Band: Fleetwood Mac
Title: Showbiz Blues 1968-1970
Rating:

Release Date: 2002-03-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Soul Dressing 2: If You Want to Be Happy 3: Outrage 4: Sun Is Shining 5: Don't Be Cruel 6: I'm So Lonely and Blue 7: How Blue Can You Get? 8: My Baby's Sweeter 9: Long Grey Mare 10: Buzz Me Baby 11: Mind of My Own 12: I Have to Laugh 13: You're the One 14: Do You Give a Damn for Me 15: Him and Me 16: Showbiz Blues 17: Fast Talking Woman Blues 18: World in Harmony 19: Leaving Town Blues 20: Black Magic Woman 21: Jumping at Shadows 22: Rattlesnake Shake/Underway 23: Stranger Blues 24: World in Harmony 25: Tiger 26: Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown) 27: Coming Your Way 28: Great Balls of Fire 29: Twist and Shout

Where do they FIND this stuff?!
Just when I thought I'd heard it all comes this set! Most of the tracks are interesting, but clearly cutting room floor material. I've been a Fleetwood Mac fan (mostly the Peter Green version) since 1970. The stuff only us Mac fanatics could appreciate.

But some of the tracks are incredible! Among the groups best stuff and lying in a vault for over thirty years?!

Exhibit A: "Black Magic Woman" Green's jam favorite is from the Boston concerts and is the best version I've heard. His Hendrix influenced wah-wah makes the instrumental jam second half of this performance interesting. Mesmerizing, soaring Green guitar that loops around Danny Kirwan's vibrato-laden guitar wails take this Otis Rush inspired piece to incredible heights. Worth the price of the set on its own.

Exhibit B: "Coming Your Way" Kirwan's Afro/Surf jam, marred by poor sound quality and some meandering "solo" playing by Kirwan. Yet, it is a more driving version than the Boston recording, with Fleetwood and Mac laying down an irresistable backbeat. World dance music from the Mac in 1970! Listen to how Green prods Kirwan after Mick Fleetwood's drum solo.

Exhibit C: The four piece Mac! An extremely rare instance where Green and Jeremy Spencer played as a UNIT instead of Green simply backing the slide meister. "I Have to Laugh" is an intensely brooding Otis Rush song driven by Jeremy's powerful vocals and Peter's wonderfully evocative and unobtrusive lead guitar work. This is one of my favorite Mac tunes of all time. Several times, I've played this for friends who are simply stunned. "Who is THAT?"

There are many more wonderful tracks here, with the second cd full of terrific 1970 live performances that were among the band's last recordings in the Peter Green incarnation.

You have to be a fan to enjoy the entire cd. But, all you need is a heart to enjoy the best cuts.

The Best Years - Raw And Gutsy
It was also before Christine joined. This is the original Mac blues band, the Peter Green band with John & Mick laying down the rhythm for Peter and his young acolites Jeremy Spencer & Danny Kirwan. So if you like Mac for that little . . . Stevie or for Lindsay, please don't buy this. . . . . it's reserved for the original Mac fans.

Having got that out of my system, here's what you probably want to know about this set. I think it can join with the Chicago sessions and The Boston Tea Party set to showcase the best of the original Mac. However, along with the earlier companion set The Vaudeville Years, it does hold a secondary place in the ultimate collection of the early band.

You really should get both the Vol. I Vaudeville and this Vol. II Show-Biz Blues . Personally I think this set has a bit better tracks. . . . Jeremey gets nicely into his Elvis/Buddy Holly/Elmore James groove with Don't Be Cruel, Great Balls of Fire, and a slowed down Twist & Shout. . . . . but the strength of the set lies in a killer Black Magic Woman followed by what I think is the best version of Jumpin' At Shadows and then a great Shake following that. . . all on Disc 2.

But this one is worth purchasing because it gives full hearing to the band that became famous for jamming, driving rhythm section, and both brilliant and roaring fun guitarists. Mac evolved, but this was a very special time and for anyone who fell in love with the Boston Tea Party releases, this one will fix you up for a couple more years.

It ain't nobody but Him and Me

For those who find the Original blues band to be better than the pop rock Rumours Mac this is a 5 star gem. Once again the fine people involved with Fleetwood Mac pump out another brilliantly compiled ORIGINAL Fleetwood Mac outakes collection. The first disc is a collection of outakes, featuring some fine blues numbers from Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, and Jeremy Spencer. Jeremy also delivers some good 50's songs. It also has some excellent slide play on the takes of what became Showbiz Blues as well as great alternative versions of songs on the Vaudeville Years collection.
Disc Two is the best reason why you should get this album. The first two songs are from the famed Boston performances now available on three discs. (Though these two versions of Black Magic Woman are not on the new Boston CDs. ) The rest of it is a exciting BBC performance. The performance is very loose and passionate, featuring some of the Mac's best improvisational jams. (I've always thought that the original Mac were up there with the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers when it came to live jamming. ) Though the sound is patchy, the performance is very entertaining.
So if you've been a long time fan of the Original Fleetwood Mac this is a gem you must have! It is both interesting and at times great! If you're beginning to get into the Original Mac I would reccomend the Boston cd's or Then Play On.

PETER GREEN'S FLEETWOOD MAC AT THEIR BEST!!!
This was arguably the finest British Blues outfit to come out the late 60's, led by the brilliant eccentric genious, Peter Green, and ably assisted by Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, John Mcvie & Mick Fleetwood. First, a disclaimer: this is PETER GREEN'S (ORIGINAL)FLEETWOOD MAC, not the Buckingham-Nicks-Christine McVie pop juggernaut. This is a welcome collection of rare, never before releasd material: one side studio and one side live in concert. About half of the live CD's 73 minutes were from a BBC radio broadcast that was heavilly bootlegged. 2 other live cuts are scortching alternate versions from the '70 Boston Tea Party shows. The sound on the live disc is very good for the era during which the material was recorded. The performances are truly inspired, among the best ever. It's a great selection of this band's best songs. Peter Green is the frontman on the majority, with a few ably fronted by Jeremy Spencer or Danny Kirwan. The studio CD is more of a mixed-bag. Cuts 1-3 are by Green & Fleetwood in Peter B's Looners, a 1966 R&B outfit put together by keyboardist Peter Bardens (of later fame with Camel & Them). These cuts are OK, but are welcome due to their rarity and historical significance. There is a higher percentage of Jeremy Spencer on this studio disc, doing his Elvis/Buddy Holly/Elmore James routine to the max. There is a lot of Peter Green material here pre-Kirwan. There are 3 versions of "Showbiz Blues" fascinatingly showing the evolution of the song from the earliest demo into an alternate take, very close to the final version that appeared on "Then Play On". The sound quality of this studio CD varies quite a bit, due to the time range from 1966-1970. There are over 50 pages of text and rare photos in this fine package. As with the recent excellent releases of original Fleetwood Mac material on CD, we've once again hit the motherlode with this EXCELLENT collection. I Highly recommend this release, along with its 2CD twin set, "The Vaudeville Years". Also absolutely essential are The "Blue Horizon Years"(a 6-CD budget Box Set), the 3CD "Boston Tea Party" Box Set, and of course Peter Green's phenominal Fleetwood Mac swansong, "Then Play On". All of this material is among the finest music ever recorded; essential, powerful, passionate British Blues and Beyond! This music smokes!!! However, if you are into Fleetwood Mac's later Pop offerings, you probably will not like this at all. Apples & oranges.

Now this is More Like It
HOWEVER, if you are a Original Fleetwood Mac fan, this thing will be a diamond in the rough!!!

This has some of the earliest sides Peter Green ever cut, as the first few tracks sound like something Santana would do. I gave this a four rating due to it being out-takes & extra live cuts. . . done in 1966. The real keeper on disc 1 is tracks 14-16, as the same song goes through a metamorphis with the lryics & the feel. Green (on slide!!) goes through different styles with the song. One cut, he takes Son House's style, the other is more like Skip James. . . . it's quite revealing. The last cut on the first disc is Peter on guitar. . . . & a violin player!!!

The second disc has more live cuts from the Boston Tea Party that hasn't been available before, along with live cuts from a gig that is not mentioned I believe. . . believe it or not, some of these cuts are even better than the Tea Party live cuts vol. 1-3. The Jumpin' at Shadows is more melodic, while Green Manalishi has a wah wah bass solo by Green. None of the songs are played note for note, & every track is DEFINITELY worth hearing. Rattlesnake Shake is shorter, & rather different. A great Black Magic Woman. Take that Carlos! Peter is in fine form throughout.

This is one hell of a compilation for all the Peter Green fanatics out there. It completely outdoes the Vaudville set, which is actually quite a find in its own right. The liner notes are fantastic as well. Highly recommended set for the fans of "Fleetwood Mac".

Sorry, no "Silver Springs" on this set. It's all about the "Man of the World. ".

You can see a complete list of all Fleetwood Mac discography, or go back to the Fleetwood Mac tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.