(A Fairly Exhaustive) Timeline

[Moz]

I've been working on a fairly exhaustive and detailed timeline consisting of important dates and events in Fleetwood Mac history. Here is the first part I have completed - the 1960s and band member birthdates. As I type up and add information to the rest of the timeline (1970-2008), I'll update this thread.

Please reply if you have anything to add to the timeline or if there is a wrong date! Most of my information comes from "Q Encyclopedia of Rock Stars", Mick's books (though the book's facts are questionable), the Ledge, various interviews, and personal recollections here on the boards.

1933
November 29 - John Mayall is born in Macclesfield, Cheshire.

1943
June 29 - Robert Brunning is born in Bournemouth, Dorset.
July 12 - Christine Anne Perfect is born in Bouth, Lake District.

1944
May 10 - David Thomas Mason is born in Worcester, Worcestershire.
June 19 - Peter Bardens is born Westminster, Central London.

1945
January 25 - David Walker is born in Walsall, Staffordshire.
August 31 - Robert Welch Jr. is born in Los Angeles, California.
November 26 - John Graham McVie is born in Ealing, West London.

1946
October 29 - Peter Allen Greenbaum is born in Bethnal Green, London.

1947
June 24 - Michael John Kells Fleetwood is born in Redruth, Cornwall.
November 1 - Robert Joseph Weston is born in Plymouth, Devon.

1948
May 26 - Stephanie Lynn Nicks is born in Phoenix, Arizona.
July 4 - Jeremy Spencer is born Hartlepool, County Durham.

1949
October 3 - Lindsey Adams Buckingham is born in Palo Alto, California.
October 13 - Rick Vito is born in Darby, Pennsylvania.

1950
May 13 - Daniel David Kirwan is born in Brixton, South London.

1953
May 8 - William Beau Burnette III is born in Memphis, Tennessee.

1965
August - Peter Green replaces Eric Clapton's spot in the Bluesbreakers for a few gigs.

1966
May? - Peter Green joins Peter B's Looners, fronted by Peter Bardens.
July - Green joins John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers to replace Eric Clapton full-time.

1967
February 16 - A Hard Road is released by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, featuring future Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie and guitarist/vocalist Peter Green.
April - Mick Fleetwood, previously a member of the Cheynes, the Bo Street Runners, Peter B's Looners, and Shotgun Express (the latter with Rod Stewart), joins John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, replacing drummer Aynsley Dunbar. The new Bluesbreakers consists of Mayall, Fleetwood, John McVie and Peter Green. Green had previously played with Fleetwood as a member of both the Looners and Shotgun Express. In spare studio time offered by Mayall, Green, Fleetwood, and McVie record five songs, including early versions of "Fleetwood Mac," "Double Trouble," and "It Hurts Me Too." The three form a close alliance, though within a month, Fleetwood is fired from the Bluesbreakers, while Green leaves to form Fleetwood Mac.
July - Without Mayall, the Bluesbreakers have recently worked for Blue Horizon label owner Mike Vernon as a backing band for US bluesman Eddie Boyd, who has been keen to sign a domestic blues outfit for his label. After auditioning and firing Midlands-based band The Levi Set, he introduces their guitarist, Jeremy Spencer, to Green and Fleetwood.
Green contacts Fleetwood, wanting to start a new band. Fleetwood agrees, and they try to entice McVie into joining their new band, naming it after him. He declines, as he has been a steady member of the Bluesbreakers for some time. Fleetwood and Green team up with slide guitarist Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning, forming Fleetwood Mac. The new group holds early warm-up gigs at the Black Bull pub in Falham, London.
August 13 - Fleetwood Mac makes its major debut at the Windsor Jazz & Blues Festival at Windfor, Berks. Ironically, future Fleetwood Mac member and wife of John McVie, Christine Perfect, appears on stage with Chicken Shack at its first concert.
September 17 - Following its London bow at the Marquee club and an appearance at an open-air festival in the Midlands, the group plays at the Saville Theatre, London.
John McVie, who left the Bluesbreakers after they were becoming 'too jazzy', joins to replace Brunning, who left to form the Sunflower Brunning Blues Band.
November 3 - The group releases its debut single "I Believe My Time Ain't Long," billed as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac. It becomes the resident house band for the Blue Horizon label, backing Otis Spann, Duster Bennett, and others on a variety of albums.

1968
February 24 - Fleetwood Mac, the band's debut album, is released.
March - A new blues boom hits Britain and the band's debut album hits UK #4 and makes US #198.
April - "Black Magic Woman," written by Green, reaches UK #37. Santana's version will hit US #4 in January 1971.
April 19 - Rebekka Ruth Lazone Bramlett is born.
May - Fleetwood Mac embarks on a short tour of Scandinavia.
July - Their cover of Little Willie John's "Need Your Love So Bad," highlighted by Mickey Baker's string arrangement, reaches UK #31, as the group begins its first US tour, debuting at Detroit, Michigan's Grande Ballroom. They go on to perform in San Francisco and at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA.
July 13 - Fleetwood Mac guests on CBS-TV's "The Ed Sullivan Show".
Early August - John McVie and Christine Perfect are married.
August 23 - Mr. Wonderful is released. Christine Perfect, a member of Chicken Shack, makes her first appearance on a Mac album as a session player.
August 25 - The group begins a two-month UK tour at the Nag's Head Pub, Battersea, London, with a new addition, eighteen year old Danny Kirwan. Kirwan had been spotted by Green playing in the trio Boilerhouse. A Melody Maker ad placed for a new guitarist received 300 replies, with no applicant proving good enough. Kirwan is added due to Green's frustration with Jeremy Spencer's musical contributions.
September - Mr. Wonderful hits UK #10.
November - John Mayall's new album Blues From Laurel Canyon is released. Green is featured on one track. Throughout the rest of the late 1960s and 1970s, Green makes more contributions on albums by Eddie Boyd, Duster Bennett, Otis Spann, Brunning Sunflower Blues Band, Jeremy Spencer, Peter Bardens, and others.
December 4 - They begin a 30-date US tour, including shows at the Fillmore East, Boston Tea Party, and Chicago's Electric Factory.
December 23 - Fleetwood Mac takes part in the Miami Pop Festival in Hallandale, Florida, with Marvin Gaye, Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, and the Grateful Dead, among others.

1969
Date unknown - Clifford Davis, Fleetwood's Mac manager from 1967-1974, releases two singles (with help from Fleetwood Mac), "Before The Beginning" / "Man of the World" and "Come On Down And Follow Me" / "Homework", the former a coupling of two Fleetwood Mac songs.
Date unknown - Tramp, the self-titled album by the band of the same name, is released, featuring ex-Mac bassist Bob Brunning, and current members Fleetwood and Kirwan.
Date unknown - The Brunning Sunflower Blues Band, fronted by Bob Brunning, releases its first album with a guest appearance by Green.
January - English Rose is released, consisting of six tracks from Mr. Wonderful and three unreleased tracks.
January 4 - Fleetwood Mac records at Chicago's Chess Ter-Mar Studios with Willie Dixon, Otis Spann, J.T. Brown, S.P. Leary, and Honeyboy Edwards. The Blues Jam would end up being the band's last all-blues recording.
January 9 - Otis Spann's The Biggest Thing Since Colossus is released, featuring Danny Kirwan, John McVie, and Peter Green.
January 25 - A concert from the Shrine Auditorium in LA is recorded, later released in 1999 as [I]Shrine '69[I/]
January 29 - "Albatross", written by Green, tops the UK chart. A haunting guitar instrumental, it lifts the group out of the blues bracket and establishes its name throughout Europe.
February - English Rose peaks at US #184.
February 5, 6, 7 - Three shows are recorded at the Boston Tea Party and are later released on Madison Blues Live in 1994, and Live at the Boston Tea Party, released in 1999.
March - The group embarks on a European tour, including an eight-date UK segment, with B.B. King, Sonny Terry & Brownie McGhee and Duster Bennett.
May - Green-penned "Man of the World" hits UK #2, behind the Beatles' "Get Back". The group's contract with Blue Horizon ends amid financial acrimony and it signs a one-off deal with Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label, not least because interest is also currently being expressed by the Beatles' Apple label (Fleetwood and George Harrison were brothers-in-law), although nothing comes of this.
August - "Need Your Love So Bad" is reissued, this time making UK #32.
September - Pious Bird of Good Omen reaches UK #18. While the group negotiates a new contract, Blue Horizon releases a collection of old material, and re-promotes "Need Your Love So Bad", which charts for a third time at UK #42.
September 9 - Then Play On is released. It includes songs by Danny Kirwan and Peter Green, with some piano work by Christine McVie. While Jeremy Spencer is still in the band, he only appears on "Oh Well", doing some "piano things." At the time of recording Then Play On, Spencer goes on to record the band's first solo album by a member, simply titled Jeremy Spencer, which is released in 1970. He is backed by Fleetwood, McVie, Kirwan, and Green.
October - Then Play On hits UK #6 and peaks at US #109, marking their debut on the Reprise label.
November - "Oh Well" hits UK #2. The song's religious overtones reflect Green's renouncement of his Jewish faith and his embracing of Christianity. He begins to appear on stage in a long white robe, underlining a new messiah image.
December 5 - Blues Jam at Chess/Fleetwood Mac in Chicago is released, featuring the group and a selection of blues greats recorded in January 1969.