Song Of The Day No.38

Coming Your Way

by Fleetwood Mac (Then Play On, 1969)

Fleetwood Mac are a two-headed beast in that they had two very successful periods playing two very different styles of music. Rumours is possibly the most famous Fleetwood Mac album, but this was released in 1977, ten years after the group started. The band got together through forming three-quarters of John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers. Mick Fleetwood on drums, Peter Green on guitar and John McVie on bass eventually left (McVie just after the other two) to start their new group. They were joined by Jeremy Spencer on slide for the first two albums but by Then Play On there would be another line-up change with Danny Kirwin joining at the age of just eighteen. This would be the only album to feature both Green and Kirwin and it makes for a progressive blues-rock great.

This album opener is tribal, quite literally. The bongos and booming drums that provide the syncopated rhythm underline this atmosphere but also the 'call and response' relation between the lyrics and the guitars playing simple yet mystical sounding licks helps to induce a feeling of indigenous goings-on. Although it's a Kirwin composed song you can feel a possible influence from Green's own 'Black Magic Woman'.

AR

Song Of The Day No.32

Werewolves of London

by Warren Zevon (Excitable Boy, 1978)

Taken from his third and best-selling album 'Werewolves of London' was also the only song to break the Top 40 in the United States. Before this album Zevon had been associated with members of Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles and even writing songs for The Turtles, the Midnight Cowboy soundtrack and touring with the Everly Brothers.

John McVie and Mick Fleetwood (both of Fleetwood Mac fame) played bass and drums respectively on this track while Zevon finds himself at the ivories punching out a simple but effectively catchy and repetitive melody that continues throughout the song. The piano helps the song to skip along happily backed up by the upbeat drum style, subtle bass and the piano-mimicking, crunchy electric guitar. The track's poppy feel is complemented by the descriptive, tongue-in-cheek macabre lyrics of werewolf related happenings in the city. The chorus adds the final charm to the bracelet with a simple “Ah-wooooo, werewolves of London”.

AR