Two long CDs' worth of outtakes, alternate versions, and full-length versions from the Peter Green era, most in exemplary sound quality. Although much of this is interesting, and it's occasionally very good, it resembles Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac Live at the BBC in its unevenness, both in aesthetic quality and in stylistic tone. One is struck by how much the numbers featuring Green's singing and songwriting surpass those in which the other guitarists come to the fore. When Jeremy Spencer's in charge, it means you get 1950s rock pastiches and blues satires (though he does an OK Elmore James schtick with "Talk to Me Baby" and "My Baby Is Sweeter"). These aren't without their amusing points -- there's the entire session of songs that would have made a bonus EP with Then Play On, on which Spencer does fairly humorous impressions of Alexis Korner and John Mayall -- but deathless art it's not. Green shines on a live version of "Oh Well" (everything else here, incidentally, is from the studio) and alternates of "Showbiz Blues" and "Love that Burns." There are also alternates of "Man of the World" and "The Green Manalishi," though frankly these aren't so different from the familiar renditions that they'll jar you into taking notice. Some of the cuts are nothing more than shapeless jams or instrumental tracks with ideas that sometimes got pumped up into full tunes on official albums. So it's kind of like having a high-quality, easily available bootleg of the Green-era Mac, accent on the Then Play On era. But those who like that period of Fleetwood Mac a lot will want to hear this, its luster enhanced by a 48-page booklet with an essay by Green biographer Martin Celmins.
The Vaudeville Years of Fleetwood Mac 1968 to 1970 (or just The Vaudeville Years) is an album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1998. It was a compilation of outtakes and unreleased tracks from the band's early line up, none of which had previously seen the light of day officially.
DISC 1:
01. Introlazy Poker Blues
02. My Baby's Sweeter
03. Love That Burns
04. Talk To Me Baby
05. Everyday I Have The Blues - 1
06. Jeremy's Contribution To Doo Wop
07. Everyday I Have The Blues - 2
08. Death Bells
09. (Watch Out For Yourself) Mr Jones
10. Man Of Action
11. Do You Give A Damn For Me
12. Man Of The World
13. Like It This Way
14. Blues In B Flat Minor
15. Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight
16. Although The Sun Is Shining
17. Showbiz Blues
DISC 2:
01. Peter Green - Underway
02. John Mcvie, Fleetwood Mac - The Madge Sessions - 1
03. John Mcvie, Fleetwood Mac - The Madge Sessions - 2
04. Jeremy Spencer - (That's What) I Want To Know
05. Peter Green - Oh Well
06. Danny Kirwan - Love It Seems
07. Pomas, Shuman - Mighty Cold
08. Peter Green - Fast Talking Woman Blues
09. Danny Kirwan - Tell Me From The Start
10. Danny Kirwan, Peter Green, John Mcvie - October Jam 1
11. Danny Kirwan, Peter Green, John Mcvie - October Jam 2
12. Peter Green - The Green Manalishi (With The Two Prong Crown)
13. Danny Kirwan, Peter Green - World In Harmony
14. Danny Kirwan - Farewell
