Disco de Fleetwood Mac: “The Boston Box”

I have heard all of the early Fleetwood Mac's studio recordings and after a while you get to thinking that the studio doesn't doesn't bear all the greatness of the original Mac.However this 3 CD live set showcases all the raw energy of Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood. These three cd's are Fleetwood Mac's most powerful and forceful recordings, with each track played with high energy. It also represents everything that was the early Fleetwood Mac from blues to progressive jams (products of Peter Green and Danny Kirwan)to 50's parodies (products of Jeremy Spencer) to pop rock (products of Danny Kirwan), making the set varied in the highest sense of the word. Disc One is dominated by blues and rock originals by Green and Kirwan (Black Magic Woman, Jumping at Shadows, Like It This Way, and Only You well.) There are also long dueling guitar jams (Rattlesnake Shake, Green Manalishi) plus the slide guitar Elmore James parodies of Jeremy Spencer (I Can't Hold Out, Got to Move). Though the sound is poor, this is the best of the three discs. Disc Two has more variety starting with the pop instrumental of World in Harmony (later the b-side to The Green Manalishi) and then the legendary fast guitar blues of Oh Well that was the original Mac's most famous accomplishment. Then comes another rendition of Rattlesnake Shake, which was another dueling guitar jam that takes many twists and turns. Then Jeremy Spencer comes to the mic to perform Elmore James covers(Stranger Blues, Red Hot Mama) and some 50's parodies (Teenage Darling, Keep-A-Knocking, Jenny Jenny). Disc Two ends with a encore jam featuring Joe Walsh and Eric Clapton. Weakest of the three cds though still great. Disc Three follows the same trend with another cover of Jumping at Shadows and the Green original (which sounds like another 50's parody) Sandy Mary and then pure B.B. King blues in If You Let Me Love You. Then Danny Kirwan steps to the mic for the first time since Disc One to play the blues rock of Loving Kind, Coming Your Way. Jeremy Spencer dominates the rest of the disc with his trademark Elmore James (Madison Blues, Got to Move, The Sun is Shining, Oh Baby) and 50's covers (Tiger, Great Balls of Fire, Tutti Frutti). The three nights in Boston come to an end with a fantastic encore jam. In conclusion this is just a great live set. It features everything that was the original Fleetwood mac. Though the sound of the recording is uneven the performance overides all the problems. It is always exciting and energetic, and never boring. Get it now! Or get the three cd's separately. You're still getting the same great product.

Mark Cartier has summed these recordings up well. To Jeff Williams, what he is saying about the earlier releases is not directed at the single discs. Volumes 1 & 2 were issued and then (of course!) the record company has issued this box set containing volumes 1, 2 & 3! What he's talking about is earlier, inferior releases of most of this material. The tracks previously released are clearly marked on these new discs. Although I have not heard the original releases, they could not possibly have sounded as good as these remasters. If you have volumes 1 & 2, then wait and buy volume 3. If you hadn't yet discovered them, this box set is obviously the cheaper way to go. For fans of extended blues/rock jams and their best album, "Then Play On".

After buying several studio albums, you get the feeling that this was a band that was never captured in the studio in all its glory. Well, these recordings finally do it. THIS IS the Fleetwood Mac!

Fleetwood Mac was professionally-recorded on three consecutive nights at The Tea Party in Boston (Feb 5-7, 1970) for a projected live album. Sadly that album never came out, due to Peter Green's sudden decision a few weeks later to quit the band -- and for a long while, music altogether.

Parts of the tapes WERE released several times over the years (semi-legitimately AND bootlegged), but rarely in good quality and certainly never complete. This was a crying shame because the band was at the absolute peak of their powers and played their collective ashes off.

Luckily, this boxed set (or volumes 1-3 separately) go a long ways toward righting that wrong. The tracks have been digitally remixed and cleaned up (going back to the original 8-channel masters!) and resequenced into something CLOSER to the original running order. The exact track sequence of course would have entailed some duplication, as well as sound problems encountered early in the residence. Add to that the fact that Mac's setlist during this timeframe included an "intermission" during which Jeremy Spencer came out and sang a pastiche of cheesy lounge-singer ballads -- complete with a gold lamé suit and slicked-back hair -- billed as "Earl Vince and the Valiants."

Happily the compiler of these CDs, Roger Dopson, elected to include very little of the latter (mostly confined to disc 3). What IS here is the best blues band in the world, led by the best blues guitarist ever, captured in glorious sound quality at the peak of their powers. What more could you ask?

This 3 disc album will ripe your ears off! A totally excellent live tape of a band tearing it up. This is well before the girls joined. From when the boys played hard driven blues. I love it!