“This is classic”: The song Mick Fleetwood said he would take to the grave
It’s hard for any artist to worry about their legacy when they first pick up an instrument. Even if they manage to have the best songs at their disposal, most musicians can only worry about pleasing the people in front of them rather than worrying about what their tunes will sound like when their grandchildren have a listen years down the line. But after years of hindsight, there are certain moments that Mick Fleetwood wouldn’t mind having on his tombstone when he finally bows out.
But when talking about Fleetwood Mac’s legacy, it’s almost like talking about multiple bands at once. Fleetwood and John McVie may be the two constant members of the group, but looking back at their first collaborations in the middle of the London blues scene, it’s hard to imagine that the same rhythm section would one day lay down something as strange as ‘Tusk’ or work on pure AM radio gold like ‘Dreams’.
Even if it was a bit desensitising to listeners, it hardly mattered to Fleetwood. Every facet of the band seemed like a new creative endeavour, and while working with pop songs may have been their version of selling out, saying that anything they worked on with Lindsey Buckingham was easy would be a bold-faced lie.
Buckingham always approached music in the same way that Phil Spector, which meant building a massive wall of sound for everyone to play a part in. And even if Fleetwood wasn’t the best pop drummer in the world, the way he managed to fit into ‘Go Your Own Way’ is still miraculous, considering every single beat is slightly off in the verses before it goes back to a straight-ahead rhythm in the chorus.
Then again, the band’s incarnation with Peter Green is still one of the best examples of blues done right. Although Fleetwood could keep making bold new innovations with his sound, this was the musical language that he spoke first, and when it came to having a shuffling beat, he felt at home more than anywhere else.
Despite having some of the best-selling albums of all time to his name when Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were in the band, Fleetwood always had a special place in his heart for a song like ‘A Love That Burns’ from Mr Wonderful, saying, “When I hear this, it’s all about a young chap, me, knowing why Peter was so overjoyed to be playing the music that he loved so much. This is classic slow blues. A good shuffle on a slow blues is what I will take to my grave.”
Which is strange considering the wealth of songs to choose from during the band’s early years. While ‘A Love That Burns’ is still a decent shuffle from the band’s first incarnation, it’s hard not to see ‘Oh Well’ or even ‘The Green Manalishi’ doing a better job at scratching that particular itch for anyone listening for something a bit more bluesy.
But sometimes some of an artist’s favourite songs don’t come from them having the most complicated chord sequence or a signature guitar line. It’s about finding those moments where you forget you’re even playing, and for Fleetwood, there are nothing but happy memories that come from listening to the days when all he had to worry about was laying back into the groove.
