Why in 1975?

[bretonbanquet]

Originally Posted by HejiraNYC

Also, for whatever reason, FM just happened to be able to put lightning in a bottle with their first albums. Who woulda thunk that blues would become such a sensation during Beatlemania? I think it had more to do with sheer luck than with making good records.

The 'whatever reason' was the best blues guitarist on the British scene at the time, with the debatable exception of Clapton, together with an experienced rhythm section and an attention-grabbing loon doing uncanny musical impressions of anyone he felt like doing. To suggest their success was anything to do with luck is utterly ridiculous.

As for blues becoming a sensation during Beatlemania... the Stones had been selling blues records (of a sort) at least as long as the Beatles had been around, and their kind of blues was selling well in the UK right through the 60s. Also, not everyone was buying into the Beatlemania as much as you might think. Sure, all their records sold zillions, but many people just wanted more serious music. Lots of people didn't go along with the trippy Sgt Pepper stuff and preferred the kind of simple blues that Mac had started to do - not forgetting that you couldn't actually go and and watch the Beatles because they'd stopped playing in '66. Mac's success also stemmed from the fact that they did the blues better than the other Brit blues bands, and received acceptance from many of the original US blues artists.

I know a lot of Mac fans who don't dig the early years don't really understand or acknowledge the band's early success, but it was down to the same reasons as the BN line-up's success. The right thing at the right time, done extremely well - luck had sod all to do with it. The other thing people underestimate is the level of success they enjoyed in the UK in the late 60s. They were huge, and their singles sold better here in the 60s than they ever did in the 70s...