Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac - Live concert recordings & studio performances 1967-70

Peter Green: Give Up Livin' | John Mayall's Bluesbreakers 1965-7 | Live 1967-70 | Munich 1970 |

As a fan of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac (1967-70) since the late 1980s, I remember purchasing a couple of Best Of LPs and CDs from that time and through the 1990s, attracted by the guitar work of Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan. I loved the riff-based heavy and psychedelic rock of Green and Kirwan in combination, the emotive solo blues guitar of Green, and Spencer's classic slide work. At the time there was no definitive live concert recordings readily available, either historic - as in issued during the life of the band - or subsequent to their demise mid' 1970. That is, until I came across a 1988 double CD package called, somewhat ambiguously, Fleetwood Mac - Oh Well! - Greatest Hits Live. The music therein blew me away upon first hearing, both in regard to the quality of the recording and, of course, the playing and songwriting. I asked myself at the time - "Why wasn't this album released 'back in the day'?" If it had been, I believe it would undoubtedly have gone down as one of the greatest live rock albums of all time. Unfortunately, it was too late for that now (1988), and this semi-bootleg European (Germany and Holland) release on the Commander label was all there was. I later learnt that there had been some bootleg releases of live Fleetwood Mac material over the year, but these were generally crowd-generated and of very low quality. A good example of the latter was the London Live 68 CD of 1992 - the only other live recording I was able to locate around that time. The Oh Well! double CD pack was obviously a sound board tape, or specially recorded, such was the high quality of the recording and mixing. There was, unfortunately, no detail provided with the release, apart from a track listing. I subsequently learnt that this was the famous Boston Tea Party recording from February 1970, and it was, indeed, meant to be issued as a double live album. Fate intervened when Peter Green left the band in May of that year and the LP was shelved. I always had the feeling that Mick Fleetwood was behind the 1988 release. The recording was subsequently remastered and released as a triple CD set in 2003 on the UK Snapper Music label. Jumping forward to the present day - early 2021 - and a perusal of eBay and YouTube revealed a plethora of live recordings and radio sessions now available to fans of the early, Peter Green Fleetwood Mac. This blog aims to provide links, where available, to some of that material, along with information on official and bootleg CD / LP releases. It is arranged chronologically according to original performance date and includes live concert and radio broadcast recordings, and TV studio and concert performances, both live and mimed. The most exhaustive video compilation of live performances is available here, of duration approximately 1 hour 17 minutes. The items are arranged chronologically below, with links to available audio and video recordings of varying quality.

1967

* 13 August 1967, 7th National Jazz & Blues Festival, Windsor. Duration: 24 minutes. Tracks: Talk to Me Baby, I Goin' Home, I Need You, Fleetwood Mac, Fine Little Mama, The World Keep on Turning and Shake Your Moneymaker. Audience recording. Poor quality. This is apparently the first live show by the band. The busy bass of Bill Brunning points to the subtle playing of John McVie when paired with Mick Fleetwood, and the important role that would be in backing the free flowing, note-based, guitar work of Peter Green, alongside the high energy slide guitar and rock 'n roll of Jeremy Spencer.

* 24 September 1967, Saville Theatre, London. Poster available.

 * 28 October 1967, Falmer House, UK. Poster available.

* 7 November 1967, Top Gear, BBC radio. Tracks: Long Grey Mare, Baby Please Set a Date, Got to Move, Believe My Time Ain't Long (Dust My Broom), Looking for Somebody (broadcast 12th). Duration: 14.35 minutes. Live at the BBC. Green on harmonica last two tracks.

1968

* 16 January 1968, Top Gear, BBC radio. Tracks: Sweet Little Angel, Don't Be Cruel, The Sun is Shining, World Keeps Turning, I Can't Hold Out (broadcast 21st). CDs: Stranger Blues + Transmission Impossible.

* 26 February 1968, R3's Blues in Britain, BBC radio. Tracks: Where You Belong (24th March), World Keeps Turning. CDs: Stranger Blues + Transmission Impossible.

* 9 April 1968, Playhouse Theatre, BBC radio. Tracks: Worried Dreams, Please Find My Baby, Black Magic Woman, Peggy Sue Got Married (broadcast 13th). Black Magic Woman, Saturday Club, BBC radio. Duration: 2.42 minutes. CDs: Stranger Blues + Transmission Impossible.

* 16 April 1968, Night Ride, BBC radio. Tracks: How Blue Can You Get, My Baby is Sweet, Long Grey Mare, Buzz Me, I'm So Lonesome and Blue (broadcast 17th).  

* Saturday, 27 April, London Live 68, Main Extension Building, The Polytechnic of Central London, Little Titchfield Street, W1, London. CD, Thunderbolt / The Magnum Music Group, 1992.

London Live, 27 April 1968, Part 1, duration: 22 minutes.

 London Live, 27 April 1968, Part 2, duration: 19 minutes.

* April 1968, Marquee Club, London. Audience tape. Duration: 45 minutes.

* 27 May 1968, Top Gear, BBC radio. Tracks: That Ain't It, Mean Mistreatin' Mama, Intergalactic musicians walking on velvet (Psychedelic send up), Dead Shrimp Blues, Shelia the Blues (broadcast 2 June + 7 July). Mean Mistreatin' Mama, Live at the BBC. CDs: Stranger Blues + Transmission Impossible.

* c.May 1968, Oslo, mimed TV performance of My Heart Beat Like a Hammer and Shake Your Moneymaker, featuring Jeremy Spencer. Duration: 6.09.

* 7, 8 & 9 June 1968, Carousel Ballroom, San Francisco. Duration: 1.55.26 minutes. Sound board recordings from the Dinky Dawson collection. Good quality sound. Available through Wolfgang's Vault: 7 June 1968, 8 June 1968, 9 June 1968.

* 23 June 1968 (broadcast date), Radio Aberdeen, UK. Sound board recording. Tracks: Man of the World, Blues with a Feeling, Jumping at Shadows, Tallahassee Lassie, Albatross, Oh Well, Only You, Talk to You, You Need Love (Whole Lotta Love). Duration: 1.00.18 minutes.

* 28 - 29 June 1968, Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. Poster available featuring by The Who and Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.

* 7 July 1968, Top Gear, BBC radio. Track: Shiela. CD: Transmission Impossible

 

* 13 July 1968, The Space, New York. Audience recording. 

* 23 July 1968, The Blues Roll On, BBC radio. Track: Mean Old World. CDs: Stranger Blues + Transmission Impossible.

* July 1968, Helsinki. Audience recording. Four tracks known.

* 26 August 1968, Playhouse Theatre, BBC radio. Tracks: Need Your Love So Bad, Shake Your Moneymaker, Stop Messin' Round.  

* 27 August 1968, Top Gear, BBC radio. Tracks: A Mind Of My Own, I Have To Laugh (? Mean Old World ?), You're The One, Preaching Blues, You Need Love, A Talk With You, Bo Diddley, Wine, Whiskey, Women, Crutch And Cane, If You Be My Baby, Crazy For My Baby (broadcast 1 September). Stop Messing Around, Preachin' Blues, Need Your Love So Bad, Live at the BBC.

* c.September 1968. Need Your Love So Bad, TV film clip, mimed. Duration: 3.36 minutes. Black and white. Green plays a Fender Stratocaster.

  

*  2 September 1968, Shake Your Money Maker - Droitwich Blues Festival. Film of a section of the performance.

* 9 October 1968, Playhouse Theatre, BBC radio. Tracks: Like Crying Like Dying, Albatross, Hang on to a Dream, Baby Don't You Want to Go (broadcast 5 November). 

* 13 October 1968, Top Gear, BBC radio. Tracks: You Need Love, May I Have a Talk with You, Bo Diddley, Wine, Whiskey, Women. CD: Stranger Blues.

* 1 November 1968, BBC radio, Studio 2. Tracks: Hard Hearted Woman, Sweet Home Chicago, Crazy About My Baby, Save a Date (broadcast 26 November).  Sweet Home Chicago, Live at the BBC.

* 17 November 1968, Sweden. Poster available.

* 24 November 1968, Top Gear, BBC radio. Tracks: Crutch and Kane, If You Be My Baby, Crazy for My Baby. CD: Stranger Blues.

* 27 November or 31 December 1968, New Year's Eve party, Paris. Live TV concert video with other bands, in a studio discotheque. Good quality. Full colour. The band is using Fender amps. This is the earliest available colour footage of the band playing live. Tacks: Homework, My Baby Sweet and Dust My Broom.

1969

* 8 January 1969, Vancouver, Canada. Poster available.

* 17 January 1969, Fillmore West, San Francisco. Duration: 1.11.07 minutes. Audience bootleg. Poor quality. Brief film extract available here. Poster available.

* 25 January 1969, Shrine 69, Shrine Auditorium, Rykodisc, 1999. duration: 43.15 minutes. Good quality sound board recording from the Dinky Dawson collection. 

 

* 28 January 1969. KPIX Eyewitness News report, includes interview with Bill Graham and crowd, Fillmore East, San Francisco, with reference to the concert by Fleetwood Mac. Duration: 9.24 minutes. Raw footage plus some sound cuts. Includes Something Inside of Me.

 * 28 February 1969, Amsterdam. Duration: 37.34 minutes. Audience bootleg or sound board. Tracks: Merry Go Round, One Sided Love, Dust My Broom, Got to Move, Instrumental, Sugar Mama, I Can't Hold Out, Tallahassee Lassie. Also listed as 20 April 1969.

 

* 10 March 1969, Top Gear, BBC radio. Tracks: You Never Know What You're Missing, I Can't Believe You Wanna Leave, Heavenly, Blues with a Feeling, Tallahassee Lassie, Early Morning Come (broadcast 16th). Tallahassee Lassie, Early Morning Come, Live at the BBC.

* 14 March 1969, College of Distributive Trade, London. Audience recording. Track: Homework.

* 17 March 1969, Studio 2, BBC radio. Tracks: You'll Be Mine, Roll Along Blues, Peggy Sue Got Married, Albatross (broadcast 23rd). 

* March 1969, Copenhagen, Denmark. Duration: 70 minutes.

* 1 April 1969, Deen Hag, Amsterdam. Duration: 20 minutes. 

* 11 April 1969, Konserthuset. Available below - Coming Your Way, duration: 6.04 minutes. Audience recording.

 * 20 April, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Duration: 37.34 minutes. Soundboard recording.

* 23 April 1969, Newcastle. Poster available.

 * 14 May 1969, BBC radio. Tracks: All Over Again, Talk With You, Just Want to Tell You (broadcast 2 June).

* 19 May 1969, Man of the World, Beat Club (TV), Bremen, Germany, studio film clip, mimed. Duration: 2.50 minutes. Broadcast 7 June.

* 10 June 1969, BBC radio. Tracks: Coming Your Way, Jumping at Shadows, Linda, Man of the World (broadcast 15 June). Live at the BBC.

* 5 - 7 August 1969, Fillmore West, San Francisco. Poster available (BG185).

 

 

* 10 September 1969, Oh Well (Part 1), Like Crying and Linda, Monster Music Mash, BBC Television, London. Introduced by Alan Price. All clips available here. Elsewhere listed as recorded on 7 October.

* 22 September 1969, Albatross, Julie Christie Show, studio film clip, colour, mimed. Duration: 3.09 minutes. Better quality available here.

* September 1969 - Oh Well (Parts 1 & 2), Top of the Pops, London, (colourised 2021). Duration: 2.06 minutes. Includes the band miming to a section of Oh Well (Part 2).

* 24 September, 1969, Kultuuritalo, Helsinki, Finland. FM broadcast. Duration: 43.19 minutes.

* 6 October 1969, BBC radio. Tracks: Linda, Oh Well (Part 1), Although the Sun is Shining (broadcast 12 October).

* 9 October 1969, Albatross, Pop & Blues Festival, Essener, German. Live video. Duration: 1.21 minutes. Original source here.

* 12 October 1969, BBC radio. Tracks: Although the Sun is Shining, Oh Well (Part 1). Live at the BBC.

* 2 November 1969, Cue Club, Gothenburg, Sweden. Available at Wolfgang's Vault: 2 November 1969. Oh Well is available below:

* 3 November 1969, Njardhallen, Oslo, Norway. Live, in concert, black and white footage. Duration: 18.44 minutes. Sit down concert. The best live video of the band in concert.

1970

* 2 - 4 January 1970, Fillmore West, San Francisco. A bootleg recording and poster are available (BG210).

 

 

 

* 8 January 1970, Rattlesnake Shake / Coming Your Way, Playboy After Dark, TV show, New York. Duration: 4.14 minutes. Colour. Part of the performance of Rattlesnake Shake is seen, and whilst Coming Your Way plays through the credits.

* 18 January 1970, Munich. A poster was made available for the European tour and features a variety of dates. it featured a cloth doll image of Mick Fleetwood.

* 30 & 31 January + 1 February 1970, Warehouse, New Orleans. Three concerts were recorded, with one by Owsley Stanley, sound engineer for the Grateful Dead. Available from Wolfgang's Vault: 1 February 1970.

* 5 - 7 February 1970, Boston Tea Party, Boston. High quality recordings made over three nights for a live album. Duration: 3.08.20 hours. The definitive live album.

 * 2 April 1970, Konserthuset, Göteborg, Sweden. Duration: 1.15.31 minutes. Sound board recording.

* 9 April 1970, Paris Theatre, London, BBC radio. Tracks: Rattle Snake Shake, Underway, Stranger Blues, Instrumental, Tiger, Green Manalishi, World in Harmony, Coming Your Way, Great Balls of Fire, Twist and Shout (broadcast 19 April). Duration: 49.45 minutes. Live at the BBC.

* 23 April 1970, Usher Hall, Scotland. Soundcloud recording of the entire concert. For background on the show and track breakdown go to smilingcorgipress.com/fleetwood-mac-…urgh-scotland/. Echo laden audience recording, with aggressive playing (heavy intermittent use of chords) by Green and clean guitar solo sounds reminiscent of the New Orleans performances. Tracks: Black Magic Woman (P. Green) (8:04), Worried Dream (B.B. King) (7:00), Like It This Way (D. Kirwan)  (4:08), World In Harmony (D. Kirwan / P. Green) (3:23), (Intro 0:57) / Madison Blues (Elmore James) (3:29), Dust My Broom (Robert Johnson / arrangement E. James) (3:59), Intro (1:48) / Albatross (P. Green) (4:18), Rattlesnake Shake (P. Green) (3:29) / Fighting For Madge (M.J.K. Fleetwood) (5:08), Under Way (P. Green) (9:47), Only You (D. Kirwan) (5:08), Stranger Blues (Elmore James) (4:55), Tiger (Fabian) (3:33), Oh Well (P. Green) (2:47).

* 24 April 1970, The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm, London. Duration: 1.47.51 minutes. Available at Wolfgang's Vault: 24 April 1970. Peter Green's last official live concert performance with the band.

* 27 April 1970, BBC radio. Tracks: Sandy Mary, World in Harmony, Tiger, Only You, Leaving Her Blues (broadcast 23 May). Sandy Mary, Only You, Live at the BBC. 

* 7 July 1970, BBC radio. Tracks: Jenny Lee, When Will I Be Love, When I See My Baby, Buddy's Song, Honey Hush (broadcast 22 August). Live at the BBC.

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Peter Green: Give Up Livin' | John Mayall's Bluesbreakers 1965-7 | Live 1967-70 | Munich 1970 |

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Last updated: 2 May 2021

Michael Organ, Australia