The Vinyl Word: The record that made Fleetwood Mac an 'overnight success'

Anglo-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. Photo / Getty Images

COMMENT: Browsing through the thousands of alphabetically filed records I came across an absolute gem.

I'm sitting writing this article listening to an absolute classic album by Fleetwood Mac. No, it's not Rumours or Tusk, it's Fleetwood Mac at the start of their musical journey.

On a recent trip to Auckland I visited my favourite record store at the top of Queen St called Real Groovy Records.

For lovers of music and vinyl in particular, this place is the holy mecca. It's packed full LPs of all genres and years, new and second hand. I love the place.

Browsing through the thousands of alphabetically filed records I came across an absolute gem. It was a brand-new copy of the original Fleetwood Mac's debut studio album simply called Fleetwood Mac.

The album was released on February 28, 1968, making it 51 years old today.

It's a mix of blues covers and originals penned by guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer who also share vocals.

This particular album is the only Fleetwood Mac album not to feature Christine McVie in any capacity.

At the time Christine was a member of a band called Chicken Shack.

Her band and Fleetwood Mac often performed at the same gigs around England and she was a huge fan of Fleetwood Mac. The other two Mac originals are also present in Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.

The release of the album brought the band overnight success in the UK and reached Number 4 on the charts where it stayed for 37 weeks.

Interestingly not one single came for that LP. A Rolling Stone magazine review at the time of the album's release praised the album describing it "as potent enough to make the South side of Chicago take notice".

It's also been described by Ultimate Classic Rock magazine as "maybe the best album from the British Blue boom". It placed in the top 10 best blues albums of the 1960s.

If you love blues, you will absolutely love this album.