Once upon a time, when this first-ever fully retrospective Fleetwood Mac box set was new and flooding stores ahead of Christmas ’92, I owned a CD copy that was eventually ripped and purged along with thousands of others during my years-long reinvestment in vinyl.
This flimsy batch, 15 studio sets on, surely rests outside anyone’s list of the best Fleetwood Mac albums. It’s inarguably unmemorable, albeit less forgettable than what came next from this perpetually morphing and disintegrating group.
But having finally given Behind the Mask more than scant attention for the first time since it was new 35 years ago — when it epitomized all that was numbingly dull about rock at the dawn of the ‘90s, shortly before Nirvana-et-al. upended everything — I’m here to report that it doesn’t entirely suck. Depending on your need for seemingly fresh Mac nostalgia, you might actually like it.
Revisiting A&M Records No. 43
Richard Barbary: ‘Soul Machine’ (Summer ’68)
From liner notes penned by Ted Williams (of Record World, not baseball lore): ‘Have you ever had the pleasure of feeling you’ve “discovered” someone? I have, and it’s a together feeling.’
Revisiting A&M Records No. 42
Spooky Tooth: ‘It’s All About’ (July ’68)
Reissued as ‘Tobacco Road’ (June ’71)
Wish I could remember when and where and how I got the wrong impression of Spooky Tooth so I can revisit my younger self once time travel becomes possible and point out how misguided my assessment would be.
Revisiting A&M Records No. 40
Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson: ‘Israel’ (Summer ’68)
If stuffy jazzbos will forgive the comparison, this storied duo was to the late ‘60s what Silk Sonic is now: a much-heralded unification of esteemed forces.
There has yet to be a Wes Anderson film I haven’t liked on some level, including this dusty desert tale-within-a-tale.
Revisiting A&M Records No. 39
Phil Ochs: ‘Tape from California’ (July ’68)
When last we encountered the increasingly troubled, ultimately tragic antihero of the ‘60s folk scene, he had shed some (but never all) political skin in a bold leap away from his headlines-driven Elektra past and headlong into an expansive A&M era in which his allegorical approach might reach new sonic heights to match his imaginative wordplay.
Revisiting A&M Records No. 38
Artie Butler: ‘Have You Met Miss Jones?’ (May/June ’68)
First of all: get a load of that groovy cover! Easily my favorite from this late-‘60s run of CTI releases circulated by Mr. A’s & Mr. M’s burgeoning boutique.
There are so many reasons to admire this cleverly intertwined tale of tragic lovers, yet I’d scarcely know where to start praising Louis Malle’s evocative cornerstone of the French New Wave were this post not focused on its trendsetting score.
Revisiting A&M Records No. 37
Pete Jolly: ‘Herb Alpert Presents Pete Jolly’ (April/May ‘68)
‘Since liner notes are seldom written by people who come into direct contact with the artist or the recording sessions in question, and since Pete Jolly really tells his own story inside this package, I’ll forego the usual copy on his first A&M release and simply say that I’m proud to have played a part in producing an album for people of all ages with one of the finest musicians in the world today.’
