2000 Great Songs #1400: Oh Well
Having previously snagged a few songs each from the Lindsey Buckingham and Bob Welch eras of Fleetwood Mac , it's about time we headed back to the beginning. Now, not being much of a blues guy, I don't spend a ton of time listening to the records with original guitarist Peter Green, who founded the band in 1967 with bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood, with whom he'd been playing in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers. But that version of the band's third LP (and last with Green), 1969's Then Play On (along with some contemporaneous singles), expanded on the pretty straight blues rock of the earlier records, and was a little more interesting to me. 1969 single "Oh Well" is particularly striking. Sure, it's still based on a rousing blues riff. But Green's solo vocals alternating with a full-band attack are wicked cool, as much heavy garage rock as blues, while the song then melds into a quiet acoustic guitar & flute bit that sounds li...
