Unless one has been living under the proverbial rock for the past 40 years or so, you know the name Fleetwood Mac. Their 1977 album“Rumors”is still one of the top selling recordings of all time, with numerous top 40 hits resulting from a creating process that took the band to the very breaking point of their creativity, and personal relationships. I discovered the band when their 1975 self-titled “white album” came out, featuring the hits “Say You Love Me," "Over My head” and “Rhiannon." It was a solid LP from start to finish, and I, along with millions of others, was hooked.
I was so taken with the white album when it came out I needed to hear more of this band. So, I turned to their previous releases. I started listening from the beginning, and what I heard was a straight ahead British blues band — yikes this is not Rhiannon!
The progression of “The Mac” is really a pretty amazing story, much too complicated and winding to go into here, but it’s all out there online.
Fifty years ago, in March 1973, Fleetwood Mac released their seventh album “Penguin." With some previous personnel (Danny Kirwan) departing and the addition of Bob Weston and Dave Walker, the recording (as so many Mac recordings have) tore off into a new direction from it’s predecessor “Bare Trees."
The result of four singers and songwriters results in a mixed bag, with some real strengths, and a couple glaring clunkers — yet “Penguin” made it into the top 50 albums on Billboard for the year. It stands as a very accurate audio postcard of the disparate musical influences shaping the first half of the decade, and the band as it searched for a defining sound. And they found it, kind of.
Christine McVie is clearly the strongest talent here, with her trademark perfect pop songs keeping the album accessible and pushing forward. Bob Welch doesn’t shine the way his songs on “Bare Trees” did, but he has some solid contributions to make that bring a solidity to most of “Penguin."
Having said that, you’ll still hear songs that have banjos, steel drums, and a mix of tempos and influences that seem to clash — but as mentioned, four songwriters, so that’s gonna happen.
Fifty years on, “Penguin” remains a very listenable set of songs, even if they don’t quite reach the level of perfection the band was striving for.
Do you have a suggestion for a record you think is fine at 50? If so, tell us about it. Send an email to joe@wuwf.org.
