I like them a lot but I am just a casual fan. can you recommend:
1- Some good songs from before Stevie Knicks
2- Some of the good but lesser know songs from any era
Thanks
You do realize that FM 1st-gen sounds nothing like 3rd-gen Buckingham-Nicks FM? They were originally “Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac” - he was the star, coming off his stint (with Fleetwood and McVie) in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, after Green replaced Clapton there.
Try Albatross, a big instrumental hit for them: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ombnqWR3eA
Never been a fan of FM, but the song “Tusk” has always been one that I consistantly liked through the years.
Tusk is great, especially if I catch it while I’m driving and I can turn it way up, but, for me, it’s never really sounded like a typically FM song.
I use the riff off Oh Well to check the bass response of guitars I am checking out. Great, durable riff.
Oh, gotta name-check Green’s song Black Magic Woman, which Santana covered with great success. As I have said a number of times here, Santana basically owes his entire style of playing to Peter Green, adding a Latin beat for spice…
Pete Green as* Earl Vince and the Valiants* Somebody’s Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight
Rattlesnake Shake (great wanking song).
“My Heart Beat Like a Hammer” and Shake You Money Maker" (these both have Jeremy Spencer on vocal, I think, who was even more into the blues roots than Green. For some reason, they are introduced here by Alan Price of The Animals).
“I Loved Another Woman” (This is one where you can really clearly hear what Santana ripped off.)
“Need Your Love so Bad” ( great vocal from Green).
As WordMan said, though its a totally different band and sound from the Buckingham-Nicks incarnation. I love it, but if you like the later Fleetwood Mac sound you might not.
From the “in between” period–post-Peter Green but pre-Buckingham and Nicks:
The Buckingham - Nicks relationship summed up in three songs:
The only way to listen to Rhiannon is live. Mick Fleetwood used to describe Stevie singing that song in concert in the 70s as “a nightly exorcism.”
Most of these have been mentioned, like the mesmeric “Hynotized” and the glorious “Sentimental Lady,” but the Bob Welch hits from his era of Fleetwood Mac are first rate.
The biggest must not mentioned is Future Games.*
“Oh Well” came out on 45 with part 1 the A-side and part 2 the B-side. You have to play them together for the full effect.
That link goes to a different song. Which is good. The only way to listen to Rhiannon is on the album. The production of the song is awesomely perfect and you can’t match that live. If you do want to hear Stevie wail and the band cook and Lindsey’s fine solo try this live version.
*Are others getting annoying pauses in almost every song on YouTube lately?
That was the version I meant to link to. Awesome live, and while I agree that the studio version(s)* are beautifully produced, they just don’t match the intensity of the song live.
I’ve been seeing FM live since the Bob Welch days, and I remember what energy B&N brought to the live show when they joined.
*Compare the album version with the single version. Completely different guitar solos from Lindsey, and a different fade-out.
Since nobody has posted two of my Peter Green favorites…
Jumping At Shadows, my favorite version of this cover. Amusing that the comments are all arguing about which version from the same live compilation is better. The answer is clearly this one :D.
Green Manalishi, Peter Green’s last contribution to the band as he began to fall to his demons ( quite literally manifested here ). Studio version - there are some much longer live versions out there.
Probably my favorite Christine McVie song: Spare Me a Little of Your Love, from Bare Trees.
I see that the album Kiln House hasn’t been getting much love… it was the one after Peter Green left and before Christine McVie joined, and it got pegged as lightweight when it came out, due to Jeremy Spencer’s retro-Buddy Holly-R’n’R-country schtick. But I like a lot of it, especially tracks 1-4:
This Is the Rock
Station Man
Blood on the Floor
Hi Ho Silver
I don’t think any of those are going to remind anyone much of the Buckingham/Nicks Fleetwood Mac!
I’m a big fan of Bob Welch Fleetwood Mac. They really stretched out on these records, John in particular. Welch was a helluva songwriter. The albums:
Future Games
Bare Trees
Penguin
Mystery To Me
Heroes Are Hard To Find
Fantastic listens, all of them.
As a person who first heard that song on the Judas Priest Live album, hearing it show up in a Fleetwood Mac album really threw me! Like Joan Baez’ “cover” 
of Diamonds and Rust, hearing FM do a Priest song is…weird.
Judas Priest did “Diamonds and Rust”? [checks it out]
ARRRGGHH! ARGH! AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!
I prefer JPs myself. it’s faster, got a great rock crunch, and it eliminates the Dylan-specific references.
But, that might be a case of “what’s first is best”. I heard the JP before the JB.
When I was in college in the 70’s, there was an “Oh Well Part 2” on the jukebox at the pizza place, and it became the favorite song of me and the girl I wish I had married. It’s a slow, haunting guitar and ocarina-ish instrumental. Haven’t thought of it for years, but now I guess I’ll see if I can find it.