Fleetwood Mac - The Pious Bird Of Good Omen / The Best Of (1969)

"The Pious Bird of Good Omen” is a compilation album by Fleetwood Mac, released in 1969.

In the Netherlands the title on the album cover called “The Best Of”, but it´s the same album.

It consisted of the first four UK singles and their B-sides, two other tracks from their previous two albums, and two tracks by blues artist Eddie Boyd with backing by members of Fleetwood Mac. These two tracks came from Boyd's album 7936 South Rhodes.

The title of the album is a phrase found in an 1817 gloss (marginal note) to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1798 epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The phrase refers to the albatross killed in the poem. ("The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen.") Its use as an album title as well as the album art is a sly wink to the featuring of the band's number 1 UK hit "Albatross."

With songs taken from “Fleetwood Mac” and “Mr. Wonderful”, “Pious Bird of Good Omen” serves as a worthy 12-track compilation of the band's early Peter Green days. Climbing to number 18 in the U.K., the album managed to catapult Fleetwood Mac's version of Little Willie John's "Need Your Love So Bad" into the English charts for the third time, resting at number 42.

The album itself was released by Blue Horizon after the group's contract with them had expired, making it one of the best routes in which to explore their mingling of Chicago and British blues. "Albatross," "Black Magic Woman," and "I Believe My Time Ain't Long" are timeless Fleetwood Mac standards, representing some of the band's best pre-Rumours work. Anyone who isn't familiar with Fleetwood Mac's origins should use Pious Bird of Good Omen as a starting point in investigating the first wave of the band, which will almost certainly lead to further interests into albums such as “English Rose”, “Then Play On”, and “Kiln House”, and then into later albums like “Bare Trees” and “Penguin”, which reveal subtle yet effective changes in the band's blues sound. But even aside from its purpose as a collection, “Pious Bird of Good Omen” makes for a terrific laid-back stroll through some of the best British blues music ever made.

Side one
A1    Need Your Love So Bad   (3:36) 
A2    Coming Home  (2:38) 
A3    Rambling Pony   (2:37) 
A4    The Big Boat   (Performer With: Eddy Boyd)   (2:35) 
A5    I Believe My Time Ain't Long   (2:55) 
A6    The Sun Is Shining  (3:10) 

Side two
B1    Albatross   (3:07) 
B2    Black Magic Woman   2:46 
B3    Just The Blues  (Performer With: Eddy Boyd) (5:35) 
B4    Jigsaw Puzzle Blues   (1:33) 
B5    Looking For Somebody   (2:50) 
B6    Stop Messin' Round   (2:17) 

Credits
Guitar, Vocals, Harmonica – Peter Green
Bass – John McVie
Drums – Mick Fleetwood
Slide Guitar – Danny Kirwen
Slide Guitar, Vocals, Piano – Jeremy Spencer
Vocals, Piano - Eddie Boyd (on tracks A4, B3)
Recorded By [Recording Engineer] – Mike Ross
Producer – Mike Vernon
Coordinator – Richard Vernon

Notes
Genre: Blues Rock
Title on labels: "The Pious Bird Of Good Omen"
Made in Holland
© 1969 Manufactured, Distributed By – CBS Records

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