Having taken a temporary break from listening exclusively to Bob Dylan ('The Cutting Edge'), Drive-By Truckers ('It's Great to Be Alive') and Pere Ubu (Elitism for the People'), I have delved into some old Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green era) material. Perhaps it was because I had been immersed in the way Dylan's songs developed in the course of various studio takes, that I was particularly drawn to a Peter Green song entitled 'Show Biz Blues'. This track went through numerous changes before appearing on the often overlooked 1969 album 'Then Play On' which was the first to feature Danny Kirwan and the last to feature Green himself.
Much has been made of Green's state of mind in the lead up to his departure from what had become a very successful band. People usually quote the melancholy lyrics of 'Man of the World' or the nightmare surrealism of 'The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)' to illustrate how Green was feeling at this time. They are of course absolutely correct to do so, yet I feel that 'Show Biz Blues' demonstrates just as clearly how confused and disillusioned he had become.
The recording sessions for the song took place in early to mid 1969 and listening to early versions, it is clear that it went through various changes before it's final appearance on the album released in September that year. For example, the song originally bore the title 'Do You Give a Damn For Me' which appears in two different versions on the companion compilation albums 'The Vaudeville Years of Fleetwood Mac' and 'Show-Biz Blues - Fleetwood Mac 1968- 1970'. By take 12 which features on the latter, the song had changed little but in the third verse, Green sang "If I needed anybody, I would take you home with me, ...... I don't need nobody, I don't need anybody but old me".
Do You Give A Damn For Me - Fleetwood Mac
Significantly the tempo had slowed slightly by the next version which was recorded in June 1969 and the lyrics had also altered to "... I don't need nobody, I don't need anybody 'cept Him and me". To add further significance to this alteration, the song title had also changed to 'Him and Me'. As Green himself admits, he had found God and went from being fiercely independent to acknowledging that he needed someone or something in his life. However in 1969, being into God wasn't considered especially hip so for the final version the title was changed yet again to 'Show-biz Blues' and the mood of the song was lifted by the addition of percussion in the form of tambourine and handclaps. By 1970, God had also been replaced in Green's life by LSD. His use of the drug may have ultimately led to Green's breakdown and departure from the group, but thankfully, after a period of illness, he did emerge to tell the tale.
Here is the final album version:
Show Biz Blues - Fleetwood Mac
Listening to it again after all these years, I am struck not only by what a great song it is but also that it features some terrific slide guitar playing from Green, incorporating elements of Skip James and Bukka White among others.
One sad postscript to the story of this song, concerns Rory Gallagher who himself recorded a version in 1994 for a Peter Green tribute album, 'Rattlesnake Guitar'. The words in this version are changed significantly but in the final verse Gallagher sings "Tell me anybody, do you really give a damn for me. I'll tell you a story, ..... my soul is killing me".
Showbiz Blues - Rory Gallagher
Sadly these words were to prove prophetic as by the following June, Gallagher was dead.
It has taken me a while to get my hands on this item but here it is...
It was way back in 1969 when I heard John Peel play a track called 'Born on the Wrong Side of Time' from the eponymous debut album by Taste. It wasn't long before that album and the January 1970 follow up, 'On The Boards' were in my record collection and I have remained a fan of Rory Gallagher ever since.
This box set 'I'll Remember' brings together those two albums expanded with numerous alternate versions but the point of me purchasing this package when I already own the two aforementioned albums, lies in the content of discs 3 & 4.
The final disc mixes up rare early Belfast recordings with some live material from Woburn Abbey in 1968 where Gallagher was so overwhelmed by their reception, he thanked the crowd no fewer than sixteen times. This concert also marked the end of the first Taste line-up.
The cream of this package however is probably disc 3 which features all live material from 1970. Two concerts from London and Stockholm are included and this is where Taste - and Gallagher in particular - really shine. Hearing how he switches between jazz and blues influences, it is easy to see why the Rolling Stones seriously considered Gallagher as a replacement for Mick Taylor in 1974. Incidentally the Stockholm concert includes a scintillating version of 'Sinner Boy' a song which would appear on Gallagher's first solo album a year later. Despite the undoubted quality of the performance at this concert, it was only one week later that Melody Maker would suggest that the band were close to splitting. They weren't too far from the truth.
It seems criminal that Taste only existed for three years and only produced two studio albums and that at the time they were usually in the shadow of Cream and Jimi Hendrix. On the evidence of these recordings, they were easily on a par with both of those fine acts.
It may have taken a while but the wait for this set has been well worthwhile. Four great discs, entertaining and informative liner notes and great photos and all for a little over £30.
