Lossless Album - CD Box Set

Fleetwood Mac were formed in 1967 in London when Peter Green left the British blues band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. Green had replaced guitarist Eric Clapton in the Bluesbreakers, and received critical acclaim for his work on their album A Hard Road. After he had been in the Bluesbreakers for some time, Green asked if drummer Mick Fleetwood could replace Aynsley Dunbar. Green had been in two bands with Fleetwood—"Peter B's Looners" and the subsequent "Shotgun Express" (which featured a young vocalist named Rod Stewart). John Mayall agreed and Fleetwood became a member of the band. The Bluesbreakers now consisted of Green, Fleetwood, John McVie and Mayall. Mayall gave Green free recording time as a gift, in which Fleetwood, McVie and Green recorded five songs. The fifth song was an instrumental which Green named after the rhythm section, "Fleetwood Mac". Green contacted Fleetwood to form a new band. The pair desperately wanted McVie on bass and even named the band 'Fleetwood Mac' as a way to entice him. However McVie opted for steady work with Mayall rather than the unknown of a new band. In the meantime Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood teamed up with talented slide player Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning, who was in the band on the understanding that he would leave if and when McVie agreed to join. The Green, Fleetwood, Spencer, Brunning version of the band made its debut on 13 August 1967 at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival. Within weeks of this show, John McVie agreed to become the bassist for the band.

Fleetwood Mac's first album, Fleetwood Mac, was a no-frills blues album and was released on the Blue Horizon label in February 1968. In fact there were no other players on the album (except for the song "Long Grey Mare", which was recorded when Bob Brunning was in the band). The album was successful in the UK, hitting no.4, though it did not have any singles on it. The band soon released two singles "Black Magic Woman" (later a big hit for Santana) and "Need Your Love So Bad".

The band's second album, Mr. Wonderful, was released in August 1968. Like the first it was an all-blues album, but this time they made a few changes. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and PA system, rather than plugged into the board. This method provided the ideal environment for producing this style of music, and gave it an authentically vintage sound. They also added horns and featured a friend of the band on keyboards, Christine Perfect of Chicken Shack.

Shortly after the release of their second album Fleetwood Mac added guitarist Danny Kirwan, then just eighteen years old, to their line-up. Green had been frustrated that Jeremy Spencer had little desire to contribute to Green's songs. A mature and accomplished self-taught guitarist, Kirwan's signature vibrato and unique style added a new dimension to an already complete band. With Kirwan the band released their first number one single in Europe, "Albatross". Around this time they released their second American album, English Rose, which contained half of Mr. Wonderful, new songs from Kirwan, and their third European album called The Pious Bird of Good Omen, which was a collection of singles, B-sides, and a selection of some work the band did with Eddie Boyd.

Tracklist:

CD 1 - Fleetwood Mac (1968):
01. My Heart Beats Like A Hammer
02. Merry Go Round
03. Long Grey Mare
04. Hellhound On My Trail
05. Shake Your Moneymaker
06. Looking For Somebody
07. No Place To Go
08. My Baby's Good To Me
09. I Loved Another Woman
10. Cold Black Night
11. World Keeps On Turning, The
12. Got To Move

CD 2 - Mr.Wonderful (1968)
01. Stop Messin' Round
02. I've Lost My Baby
03. Rollin' Man
04. Dust My Broom
05. Love That Burns
06. Doctor Brown
07. Need Your Love Tonight
08. If You Be My Baby
09. Evenin' Boogie
10. Lazy Poker Blues
11. Coming Home
12. Trying So Hard To Forget

CD 3 - The Pious Bird Of Good Omen (1969):
01. Need Your Love So Bad
02. Comin' Home
03. Rambling Pony
04. The Big Boat
05. I Believe My Time Ain't Long
06. The Sun Is Shining
07. Albatross
08. Black Magic Woman
09. Just The Blues
10. Jigsaw Puzzle Blues
11. Looking For Somebody
12. Stop Messin' Round