Early Mac Memories

[windjammer]

The pre-Rumours days of the Mac, and indeed the pre "Greeny goes weird and gives his money away" era are easily forgotten, especially by you American friends who never had the pleasure of seeing the early Mac. Booze and crude humour featured with Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac as much as their great music. John McVie was well known for his liking for the demon alcohol in those days, indeed in his pre-Mac John Mayall days he was regularly thrown out of the band (and literally the van) by Mayall only to be reinstated for the next gig. Mick Fleetwood's excesses are also well documented as are Jeremy Spencer's, indeed the latter would regularly change some of the lyrics during songs to those of a more earthy variety! Peter was a different man to the man he became by 1969/1970, his humour was as earthy as the others, as they were not earning much in those pre chart days he didn't feel the need to give it away, and the LSD days didn't start until they toured the States supporting the Dead. The Mac felt the need to counter the essentially downbeat mood of the blues with their own brand of inimitable humour. The music itself was basic blues, even their own compositions never strayed far from the blues template. The days of "Man of the World", "Manalishi" and "Oh Well" were still over 18 months away, remember these were the days of the "Dustbin" album. The big controversy just around the corner was when they put strings on "Need Your Love So Bad"!!