Happy Fleetwood Mac Friday!
Today’s discovery was the Penguin Album, the band’s 7th:
I say “discovery” because I’ve started to delve into the post- Peter Green, pre-Buckingham/Nicks era of the band… with which I am only a tad bit familiar. I own a couple of these, and am searching for the others. My interest in the pre-B/N band was, in part, sparked by the fact that my first ever concert experience included a set by Bob Welch who was touring in support of his record French Kiss (more on that later with a blog to follow).
This VG+ copy of Penguin came from the local record store Groove Merchants. It’s the only FM album to feature vocalist Dave Walker, who sang the Holland/Dozier standard Roadrunner and penned and sung the opening track on side two, The Derelict.
It also introduces us to guitarist Bob Weston, who contributed the final instrumental to side two, Caught in the Rain.
But, this is a Christine McVie and Bob Welch album, with six of the nine tracks credited to one or both of them (although Weston’s harmony vocals are key on reggae tinged Welch/McVie tune Did You Ever Love Me). The Fleetwood Mac blues rock is a thing of the past.
This album had no charted singles, but was a top 50 album… their best to date. I have no idea what the penguin is all about, but the temperature here was ~25 degrees above average yesterday and today it’s back near seasonal norms, so I’ll give Penguin credit.
It’s been just over three years since Bob Welch took his own life, June 7, 2012. R.I.P. Bob. Thanks for a great first concert.
Penguins were/are a bit of an obsession to John McVie, apparently.
That middle period of Fleetwood Mac is often overlooked. You might enjoy a survey of the albums (incl. Penguin) I posted a while back.
http://vinylconnection.com.au/2014/11/14/mac-attack-fleetwood-mac-1970-1974/
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Actually, your post was what spurred me on to collect these Fleetwood Mac records! I’ve owned Mystery To Me for ages but haven’t listened to it in ages either… time to rectify that. I recently picked up Bare Trees and Kiln House but am struggling to find Future Games and Heroes locally.
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That’s marvellous. Cheers. I’d love to know what you make of Future Games when you land it!
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