Shrine '69

Fleetwood Mac became a particularly formidable beast when Danny Kirwan joined its ranks in 1968. The Mac was already nominally a twin-guitar line-up, but Jeremy Spencer showed little inclination to perform on anyone's material other than his own variations on a theme by Elmore James and his regular rock & roll spot in the live set. With the arrival of Kirwan, Peter Green had a second guitarist with whom he could interact as well as someone to relieve the songwriting burden. more...

This lineup's live prowess had already been amply illustrated by the extensive material recorded over several sets at the Boston Tea Party a month earlier, which can be heard in its entirety on THE BOSTON BOX. However, this concert, recorded in Los Angeles on January 25th 1969, is notable for including some different material. The group's then-current single, "Albatross", shares the spotlight with a song the Mac did not record in the studio, Jimmy Rogers'"Lemon Squeezer", and "Before the Beginning" offers a preview of the band's next studio album, THEN PLAY ON. "Before the Beginning" is the set's highlight, although "Something Inside of Me" and "Need Your Love So Bad" offer strong competition.

Q (8/99, p.124)
- 3 stars (out of 5)
- "...top-class blues, sophisticated and intuitive, and startlingly good....lifts the curtain on what was still to come."

Dirty Linen (2-3/00, p.86)
- "...these young Brits attack [blues] standards....a nice glimpse into a short lived vital period of a band, who soon go off in a very different direction."