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Originally Posted by stubbie7
Still liking this discussion. As another one of those aging/old/former/whatever hippies I don't always remember things unfiltered through the fogginess of time but I seem to remember being more upset when DK left than PG. I am Danny's age and somehow always related to him. I also didn't really discover FM until Then Play On; had to work backwards to discover the older stuff. So I knew Danny longer. I remember frequenting the local record stores (remember when you could go in and you knew exactly which ones had just come in? And you could spend a couple hours going through ALL the records?) constantly searching for a new Fleetwood Mac album. I remeber picking up the first one without DK and being crushed. Then discovering it was still a good album (that was Mystery to Me, right?)
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Penguin actually, but damn dude, you're bringing back a flood of memories!
Frequenting those old local record stores, hunting for for new or used LPs ... rifling through all those seemingly endless selections! Back in the days when full size LP covers provided such helpful info on the backside, all without requiring a dang magnifying glass!
Yeah I too remember when DK was let go, for me it was just one more not so pleasant blow (after Peter and Jeremy). Thankfully two cats named Welch and Weston were there to help pick up the pieces. I almost, I say
almost, "let go" with Penguin, and would have had Dave Walker stayed on board (that was NOT a good fit any way you size it). Took a while to warm to those changes, but with the arrival of Mystery To Me, I knew they were made in the shade -- and back on track. The entire front line - Welch, Weston & Christie - all come into their own on that production like never before. When Weston was let go thereafter, I wondered if the changes would
ever end (I wasn't going to be disappointed, as time soon proved).
I didn't really feel the same way when Peter left. Although I could really FEEL the difference in the direction of the music."
You cannot overstate the shock PG's departure was to the early Mac faithful. All the way to the end of the Welch era, foks were
still looking for Peter Green. Both at Mac concerts, and on Mac releases. Not just among "new" fans who were just discovering FM and wondering what the "buzz" was all about, but often older ones too! * Truth*
I did buy the first album without Bob and remember also being disappointed.
You mean Mac '75 (aka white album), that first one to feature Buckingham & Nicks? If so, wow. That was a knockout release, with a truly fresh west coast sound. Hard to believe, since that's where the "superstardom" phase began -- and a new white powder came into play.
The way I see it, one of the eternal joys of FM is you can head either forward or backward, and with ease. That seems to be reserved for only the best acts in our collections.
And yes, the discovery of a new album and all new tracks ... ahhhhh sheer bliss
. Like discovering a
really good set of headphones for the first time, or
finally completing that one-of-a-kind Best Of compilation tape of all your top favorites! Yeehaw
Although, I forget which song it is, but toward the end of Madison Blues, in the live stuff, there is a DK solo that I also think demonstrates the beginning of Danny's decline. Sometimes you can hear a solo and the guitarist might miss or mess up but you get an idea of what he is trying to do. Man, that one song I really have no idea what Danny was trying to do. And yet, Bare Trees and Future games were still to come so he still had a lot of good stuff coming. Make sense?
Maybe he was stoned at the time, perhaps nipped a bit much? I don't know if that could be a precursor of DK's decline
musically (doubt that's what you're implying), but if you mean regarding the personal demons he would increasingly battle as time went on, then yeah, who knows? Keep in mind, they ALL indulged far more than they should of in various forms of contraband, Danny included. Fortunately, as FG + BT proved, he still had plenty of fuel in his tank left.
Tell us which track you're referring to! Inquiring minds insist on knowing.
As a (pretty lame) guitarist myself I find that the only period of FM's music I try to learn and play is Peter Green era music. That is where my new appreciation for what he did comes from as well as my still huge appreciation for DK's guitar playing. I will never even be close to the caliber of either of them but figure I could have worse goals.
You put that well, and yes you could have far less admirable goals. Such a long time fan, now "rediscovering" the blues in a highly personalized way. That sounds pretty darn admirable from where I sit.