Once a week Kat will share with you a rockin’ and rare video of rock & roll legends doing what they do best! Send your suggestions to kat@i100rocks.com!
THIS WEEK: 8/12/15: Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well (1969 UK TV Performance)
I couldn’t find a full version of this tune live so here is the full track as Peter Green intended it:
About this song: (From Songfacts.com)
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At the time, Fleetwood Mac was a successful Blues band known for their raucous stage shows. Their albums consistently sold about 300,000 copies and they were known as outstanding musicians. When Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined the band in 1974, they changed their sound and became one of the best-selling bands ever. Until then, this was the only Fleetwood Mac song that made the Hot 100 in America; they did have several UK hits in this era, including the #1 “Albatross.”
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This was one of Peter Green’s last contributions to Fleetwood Mac. He was revered as one of the greatest guitarists and songwriters of the time, having replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers before forming Fleetwood Mac in 1967. He became a high profile acid casualty in 1970 when he suffered a mental breakdown and left the band, devoting himself to religious practice and proclaiming money as evil. An oft-repeated tale has him entering his manager’s office with a shotgun, demanding that his royalty checks be discontinued.
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The single was released in two parts. Radio stations usually play the A-side, “Oh Well (part 1).” The B-side is “Oh Well (part 2),” an orchestral piece that sounds completely different. Both parts were written by Peter Green and go together on the album, but Green has very strong feelings about which is the better part. “The best bit was Part 2 on the other side of the record,” he told Mojo in 1996. “You miss the best bit, the Spanish guitar break. The first side was what we played on stage. I didn’t think it would be a hit and I used to hate playing that one because we played the part that wasn’t as good. I wanted a bit of moody guitar playing. They wanted the bit that was easy to do, that everyone knew.” Read more here.
