Search - The Original Fleetwood Mac - The Early Years on DVD

Not much but good

Blues Bro | Lakewood, Colorado USA | 12/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is the early fleetwood mac, so if you are a Peter Green fan this is a must. The only problem is that not all the songs that are advertised in the back of the video ara actually played, no black magic woman, stop messing round or green manalishi performances here, just collages. But there are also some very good live performances of oh well, world keep on turning, and like crying like dying. And some lip-synch as well in albatross and man of the world. But overall is great."

A good lil' video

Paul Beauparlant | east coast USA | 08/24/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"RHINO put this lil' video out back in '94(6?)chronicling the years peter green led the group.
i've read the other reviews and while some people grow tired of the lip synching found throughout this video i still find it interesting and very much enjoyable.
here is my run-down of the contents of this video:
begins with a very quick spoken summation of the years peter led the group while the song black magic woman plays in the background and various photo's and home movies are shown.
a black and white clip follows with alan price (ex-animals organist,then, apparently with his own television variety show)introducing the pre-kirwin formation of the group performing two songs, both lip synched(the dreaded lip synch!)but both peter and jeremy spencer having quite a frolicking time as jeremy mouths the vocals for heartbeat like a hammer and shake your moneymaker that were actually sung on record by peter. i love this clip because jeremy is loving pretending to sing the peter vocals and over to his left, looming in the foreground when the camera cuts to a full band shot, peter is all smiles and grins and even though the guitars are not plugged in, pete is wrapping his fingers and wrist around that neck like honey on a warm day. not sure what that means but, to watch the master, green, slide around on his guitar so effortlessly and fluidly is a joy to behold. and believe me, the man is all smiles-happy and confident.
this clip alone makes it worth it for me.
next up is a black and white clip three song mini-concert live before a real audience (you can hear a pin drop between songs-oh those were the days!).
first song sung by jeremy. yes, live, not lip synched. jeremy sings 'i'm worried' while getting in some slide licks on the side.
new addition, danny kirwin, takes the next song, a "klirwin" (as it's printed on the case) original 'like it this way'. lots of good mid range views of danny playing and singing. i point this out because for the most part this entire 3 song live set was filmed in constant.....constant facial closeups! back in the 60's film makers had an OBSESSION to film groups in this nothing but close up of the face style-so frustrating to ME, at least, because i would like the camera to at least ONCE IN A WHILE, pull back and let us look at the whole group as they're performing.
but, this is not to denegrate this video as a whole. it's more a complaint lodged at the style of filming that seemed to be the primer back then.
so, it's kind of nice when the camera pulls back to film danny from waist up playing and singing.
now, all this time during these 2 songs, the camera very sparcely gets a quick shot in of peter.
but this changes with song #3 because as danny has broken a string during his song and needs a few to get a new string(these are the pre-guitar techy days) peter takes the opportunity to treat us to a solo performance of his song world keep on turning.
the rest of the band retreats to the rear of the stage and peter displays his exquisite fretwork and soulful singing .
this is big pay-off #2 for me.
not to be missed.
after a series of still photographs of the group are shown with the song stop messing around playing in the background, we are transported to a color film clip from another television studio with live audience as a girl with a guitar introduces the group performing (performing to the record i should say) their big hit albatross.
now even though they are not performing the song live, i still get a big kick watching peter playing to this song. the man is all smiles and in just such obvious good spirits. his attitude is positively infectious!
and the song albatross-so dreamy and light as a cloud. did you all know that after john lennon heard this song he was inspired to write the music to the song 'because' from abbey road?
next on the video is very nice television studio film clip of the group playing to the record 'need your love so bad' .
the visual brightness and crispness of this clip makes this really nice to look at.
followed by, what for me, is the low point of the tape which is a black and white film clip of the group lip synching to the song 'man of the world' . as bright and clean as the previous clip was, this clip is murky, dark and unflattering. by the way, for once, the camera pulls back to get the whole group in one stage shot but pulls SO far back that they almost look like tiny soldiers.
next is a black and white 2-song set filmed before a television studio audience. the group are playing live here-not to the record.
first song is a real treat-a duet of danny and peter as they play and sing dannys' song from the 'then play on' album-a song called 'like crying'. price of the video #3.
2nd song is a song written by jeremy called 'linda' that is an obvious tribute to the musical style of buddy holly.
incorporating the signature vocal hiccup of the late great one , it's also fun to see danny and peter paired up at one mic singing the background ohhhhh's and ahhhhh's.
next on the tape is a short interview with peter and interviewer filmed during what appears to be a primitive cable-access (before the days of cable tv) tv show.
after this interview the band play a shortened version of the song 'oh well'. this is the record too-not a live performance.
also black and white.
then comes fun time! the group make an appearance at hugh hefners' playboy pad on the legendary tv show playboy after dark.
they perform a live version of, appropriately, 'rattlesnake shake'. here again we are met with a beaming, couldn't be happier peter green.
i get some kind of joy watching an unburdened peter green just enjoying himself singing and playing.
the grand finale is an extended segment featuring the last song peter recorded with his fleetwood mac buddies titled 'the green manalichi'. the segment intersperses a green-tint view of the band playing the song along with a hodge-podge of images, home movies and trippy day-glo happenings.
i recommend this lil' video and believe you can find the pleasure i did watching it.
"

Rattlesnake Shaker

Meho Midjich | Evanston, IL | 10/05/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Peter Green looked oh so uncomfortable throughout this video of mostly Milli Vanilli Mac performances from early European TV shows. One wonderful exception is the band's appearance on Hugh Heffner's "Playboy At Night" TV show. Heff makes incredibly vacuous "conversation" with someone at the mansion while segueing into an intro of the band. The camera pans to the Mac surrounded by Bunnies, Peter Green in his "Jesus" attire, grinning from ear to ear as they launch into..."Rattlesnake Shake"! Early reality TV! Surreal!This is definitely for Peter Green Mac fans. I can't imagine casual viewers enjoying much of this. But, I'm a fan and I did despite the lip-synching and brevity of the entire product."

A disappointment

Paul Beauparlant | 04/27/2000

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Of the fifteen songs only four are live, the rest lip-synchs.Not much history or interviewseither."