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Fleetwood Mac
The Pious Bird of Good Omen (2007 Reissue)

Speakers Corner Records / Columbia

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$70.00 SGD
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About

The Pious Bird of Good Omen is a compilation album by the British blues rock band, released in 1969. It consists of their first four non-album UK singles and their B-sides, two other tracks from their previous album Mr. Wonderful, and two tracks by the 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". The US-only compilation English Rose was a similar package, sharing four songs with this album, and was released earlier in 1969.

The 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 The 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 RoseThen 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, this compilation makes for a terrific laid-back stroll through some of the best British blues music ever made. — (via AllMusic)


Label: Blue Horizon, Speakers Corner Records
Format: Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Reissue, Stereo, 180g
Country: Europe
Released: Jun 12, 2007 / Original Release: 1969
Genre: Rock
Style: Blues Rock, Classic Rock
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File under: School Of Rock