Thanks, mfm, I appreciate the sentiment.
Hmmm...I can see on one hand where the 1970 Fleetwood Mac COULD be considered "commercial", but that seemed to be accidental..."Albatross" was a #1 hit because some TV producer who had a popular show picked up on this little obscure instrumental ditty and used it for the show's theme song. (prompting a lot of their blues-purist fans to scream "sell out!" way back then!!). "Oh Well" was a hit for some weird reason; it breaks almost every rule in the "write a hit song" handbook. Don't even get me started on "Green Manalishi"...there's really nothing remotely "hit song" about it...even for 1970's standards.
Fleetwood Mac, at the time, was heading in a direction where they would've been on par with the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, The Who, the Allman Bros Band, etc...a band where lengthy blues/rock instrumental jams (led by perceived "Guitar Gods") ruled the day. When Peter left, they kind of lost that momentum (talk about your lack of respect for the talents of Danny Kirwan!!!)
I think Peter left mainly due to the literal description of "creative differences"...he wanted to go in one direction, the band didn't, he felt he was "carrying" the band, so, the only healthy thing was for him to leave the band. Even though the effects of his LSD trip(s?) DID kind of spur on some of his split in attitude with the rest of the band.
Any real "commercial" success for Fleetwood Mac came long after Peter left.
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