A Song Lyric Sunday Reprise

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Have you noticed how WordPress has started dropping reminders of posts we had made on this day in previous years? One of today’s for me was from 4 June 2023, which was clearly a Sunday as I posted for Song Lyric Sunday that day. This was a post I enjoyed very much, and from the level of likes and comments it attracted it seems that I wasn’t alone in that. So for this week’s midweek offering I thought I’d share it again, with a little footnote from today at the end. This is:

SONG LYRIC SUNDAY: A TASTE OF MAC

After last week’s voyage into what for me was the virtual unknown, Jim has us back on terra firma this week with his post Sorrowful Lament, in which he invites us to play some blues music. I didn’t really need to look this one up but out of curiosity I did anyway. I knew that blues music had been around for a while, but didn’t realise that its origins went back as far as the 1860s, when it came out of the Deep South of the US, at a time when the area was suffering economic hardship after the end of the Civil War. It has been the inspiration for many forms of music, and one later incarnation was what became known as British blues, a form that originated in the late 1950s and reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s. Wikipedia tells us that in Britain blues developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar, and made international stars of several acts, including the Rolling Stones, the Animals, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin and the band I’m featuring today. Those of you who only know that band from their mid Seventies onwards lineup may be surprised to see them, but back in the Sixties they were very much the genuine article here and in much of Europe, and to a lesser degree in Australia, though I don’t think they had much success in the US. I’m playing you two of their songs, though there are many more that tempt me. Here’s the first:

Is that good, or what! In those days the band were known as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, and that is the man himself on lead guitar and vocals. The lyrics, before I forget them, go like this:

Need someone’s hand to lead me through the night
I need someone’s arms to hold and squeeze me tight
Now, when the night begins, I’m at an end
Because I need your love so bad

I need some lips to feel next to mine
I need someone to stand up and tell me when I’m lyin’
And when the lights are low, and it’s time to go
That’s when I need your love so bad

So why don’t you give it up, and bring it home to me 
Or write it on a piece of paper, baby, so it can be read to me

Tell me that you love me, and stop drivin’ me mad 
Ooh, because I, I need your love so bad

Need your soft voice, that talked to me at night
I don’t want you to worry, baby
I know we can make everything alright
Listen to my plea, baby, bring it to me
Because I need your love so bad

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: John Jr. Mertis, William Edward John

Need Your Love So Bad lyrics © BMG Rights Management

The song was written and originally performed by Little Willie John in 1955. This cover version was recorded in 1968, and became the band’s fourth single. It peaked here at #31 in August of that year, but didn’t make the US charts. According to Mike Vernon, who produced the record, he suggested that a string section be added and contacted Mickey Baker, who played guitar for Little Willie John, to write an orchestral score for it. I think it underscores the song well, though purists may disagree! The band took off in a really big way with their next release: the dreamy instrumental Albatross, which was a UK #1 and was one I didn’t actually buy: my Mum beat me to it!

Their previous single had been their first to chart in the UK, getting to #37, and was a band original written by Peter Green. This may come as a surprise to some, but Santana DIDN’T do Black Magic Woman first! The original is more raw in its feel, and I much prefer it. See what you think:

A British blues band at their best, and I should perhaps have introduced them to you. In addition to Peter, there were Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer on guitars, plus the two who took their part of the name into the AOR version of the band: John McVie on bass and Mick Fleetwood on drums. I loved them then and still do. Those early records often get an airing: even though I’m a big fan of the later version of the band there is something about these that appeals to me. So much so, in fact, that one of their songs is still right up there in my all time top three favourites. Did I say I was playing you two tunes today? Make that three – how could I leave this one out:

Man Of The World was another Peter Green original composition. It was released in the UK and Europe as a single in April 1969 and peaked at #2 in the UK, but wasn’t even released in the US until 1976! I really think you guys missed out, as those days were for us a classic period. That was a momentous year for me personally, about which I have written before, and hearing this song always brings those memories flooding back. Isn’t that one of the reasons we all love our music so much?

That’s it for today, but if you’ve enjoyed these you really should check out this era of the band, as there is more to them than just the mid Seventies version. For many this incarnation has been overtaken by the big successes, though huge sales aren’t, for me, always an indication of comparative quality.

See you again for Tuesday Tunes, with a North American feel this week.

………………………………………………………………………

And this is me again today. As I said at the beginning, this was a popular post, and did much to open the eyes of North American readers to the facts that 1) Fleetwood Mac had a life before their mega-selling days, and 2) Santana’s big hit version of Black Magic Woman was actually a cover. As I said three years ago, I still prefer the original, from an incarnation of the band that I also still prefer, much though I am a fan of their later days. When they lost Peter Green they lost an inspiration.

See you again for a real Song Lyric Sunday – this time, on Sunday!

33 thoughts on “A Song Lyric Sunday Reprise”

  3. Seeing the ‘real’ Fleetwood Mac always cheers me up. I remember debating with people back then that Santana’s version was a cover of a much older song. (Though I liked his one too) I don’t get those reminders from WordPress. Perhaps because I don’t use the App, never log off the main site, and still have the Classic Admin Dashboard.

    Best wishes, Pete.

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    • Thank you, Carol anne, I’m glad you liked this. I’ve just done this again with another older post, and maybe WP’s reminders will be helpful for you too.

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  6. In those early to mid-teens of mine, there always seemed to be Fleetwood Mac (and John Mayall or The Yardbirds other chapters).
    Firstly taking blues songs and working them into their own musical way and then branching out to rise, morph or fall.
    Legends.
    To my ears there were Three Fleetwood Macs
    1.The blues band. (how many had worked with John Mayall?)
    2. The group of musicians which gave form to Peter Green’s evolution in song writing ( where did Green Manalishi come from-wow)
    And then as he became another casualty there came
    3. The impossible band which brought soap opera to personality side and should not have survived beyond their first two albums.
    As much as I liked all the versions, somehow there’s always the drifting back to the Peter Green’s years also remembering ‘Albatross’ & ‘Oh Well’

    Thanks for the memories and the songs Clive👍

    Roger

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  7. Clive, this encore post has been a treat. Thanks for the repeat. Given America’s restricted radio play for black artists, British musicians coveted old blues artists like Muddy Waters, Albert King, BB King, Howlin Wolf, etc. These Brits honed their craft and would later introduce white American kids to music they weren’t allowed to listen to. Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood were part of The Bluesbreakers, eg. Peter Green is very talented. Many thanks, Keith

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    • Thank you, Keith, I’m pleased you liked this. The British blues scene was influential here in the Sixties: though Steve Winwood was never a member of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers he and Clapton formed Blind Faith together. Peter Green was a big influence for many, and was very talented. I grew up with this version of the Mac.

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      • My bad. It was Spencer Davis Group. I loved Blind Faith. Eric Clapton was always looking for the perfect band, but he likely left the closest thing behind more than once. Keith

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      • Clapton was in The Yardbirds, The Bluesbreakers, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos….. quite a track record, and then his whole solo career followed. It’s a shame that he is turning into a right wing reactionary in his old age, though.

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  8. As you say there’s two FMs, the Blues/Brit Mk 1 version and the California Cruise Mk 2. I’ll take the the winding rugged track rather than the smooth seamless boulevard all- most times.

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  12. I’m in total agreement, Clive, this was a helluva band long before they brought in a certain twosome and became mellow southern Californians. I get strange looks from many of my fellow Yanks when I talk about the Peter Green and Danny Kirwan years. “Huh? Who?” (Similarly with the Peter Gabriel-Genesis years.)

    Maybe I already shared it, but here’s a little trib I did a number of years ago. Hope you enjoy!

    Fleetwood Mac: The Forgotten Years (Re-Post)

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    • I was a fan of the yacht rock version, but for me they never really came close to the band’s first incarnation. Glad you agree!

      Thank you for the link – that’s a very good piece. I did a short tribute to Peter Green when he passed: he is still missed.

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      • Oh, those six years went by so fast, it’s all a blur! 🤣

        You were right about me being involved in SLS in 2023. I found a post from July of that year, but I am not in the mood to go shuffling through all the other post to see if there’s anything earlier than that. Perhaps when I come back from physical therapy and I’m feeling sufficiently beat up, I’ll get in my recliner with a cool drink and surf my posts. 😊

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  14. I enjoyed this trip back in time so much! I wasn’t around for Song Lyric Sunday in 2023 so this was an entirely new post for me. It was wonderful, and I am going to rephrase something you said:  “…..I am a fan of their later days, but when they lost Peter Green, they lost an inspiration”. I miss Peter Green.

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    • I’m pleased you enjoyed this, Nancy. It’s funny how time goes, isn’t it – my first SLS post was in 2022 and I’d have guessed that you were there ahead of me!

      All three of these songs were also in the tribute post I wrote for Peter in 2020 when he passed. Very much a part of my maturing musical tastes in the late 60s.

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