"Albatross" b/w "Jigsaw Puzzle Blues" by Fleetwood Mac (Blue Horizon 3145)

The beginning of the end? Not really. We already knew Peter Green sometimes stepped out of the 12-bar format. "The Supernatural" and "The Same Way" on the Bluesbreakers' "A Hard Road" album were points in case. Besides, "Albatross" was a wonderful tune and we weren't blues purists. We were happy that 'our' band was finally making it big, which was always a sign that we had been 'right' all along. Fact is that Fleetwood Mac were steering away from the blues and wonderful singles like "Man of the world" and "Oh well" were to follow.
We were sorry to miss the second Fleetwood Mac concert we were about to witness on Sunday 2 March, 1969. Mac's touring schedule was ridiculous: they played an evening show in Rotterdam and then a post-midnight show in Amsterdam on Friday (so in Amsterdam actually on Saturday in the early hours). Two Dutch blues bands opened for them (Livin' Blues and Cuby + Blizzards), so the Mac must have come off-stage close to 3 in the morning. Then on Saturday there was a notorious concert at De Korenbeurs in Groningen (up north). This gig was ended early when the janitor pulled the plug............. On Sunday afternoon they had a show in the village of Schaijk at about 110 km from Amsterdam. And on Saturday night there was a gig planned in the village of Rijen, another 50 km west.
When we arrived at the church hall (!) in Rijen Livin' Blues was playing. Great band with future Golden Earring drummer Cesar Zuiderwijk. Then we heard an elderly woman tell the band (as it turned she was manager of the band and the guitarist was her son, Ted Oberg) to play on as there were problems with Fleetwood Mac: John McVie had collapsed and had been taken to hospital. Knowing of McVie's drinking habits we feared the worst. Strangely enough when Livin' Blues got off-stage all of Mac's new Orange equipment and the new blue drum kit were built up. Then Mick Fleetwood took the stage and said he was sorry they couldn't play as "John is a very sick man". It was the first time I noticed Mick Fleetwood was the leader of the band and not Peter Green. Fleetwood would hold the Mac together until this day. But we were very disappointed on that day. We got our money for the tickets back, but had to pay for the petrol our driver had used with his father's Volkswagen Mini Bus. And we missed the opportunity to see the Green God again. About one year later he would announce he was leaving Fleetwood Mac and things would never be the same again.
Rating: ****