| "Rattlesnake Shake" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Single by Fleetwood Mac | |
| from the album Then Play On | |
| B-side | "Coming Your Way" |
| Released | September 1969 (US) [1] |
| Recorded | 1969 |
| Genre | Blues rock Psychedelic blues |
| Length | 3:32 |
| Label | Reprise |
| Songwriter(s) | Peter Green |
| Producer(s) | Fleetwood Mac [2] |
"Rattlesnake Shake" is a song by British rock group Fleetwood Mac, written by guitarist Peter Green, which first appeared on the band's 1969 album Then Play On . The track was one of the band's crowd-favorites in the late 1960s. [3]
Although "Oh Well" was a hit in the UK in October 1969, the song was not released in the United States at that time. Instead, Clifford Davis, who was Fleetwood Mac's manager at the time, selected "Rattlesnake Shake" to be released in the US, since he thought it would become a big hit, [4] but it did not chart. After the commercial failure of "Rattlesnake Shake", "Oh Well" was released as the follow-up single in January 1970, and subsequently became a minor hit, reaching No. 55 on Billboard. Mick Fleetwood ranked "Rattlesnake Shake" in his top 11 favorite Fleetwood Mac songs of all-time list since he was able to participate in bringing out the character of the song. [5]
According to Mick Fleetwood, the double-time shuffle near the end of the song was spun out of an improvised jam. "It incorporated the freedom to go off on a tangent, to jam – the classic ‘Do you jam, dude?’ We learned that as players. You hear that alive and well in the double-time structure that I put in at the end, which on stage could last half an hour. It was our way of being in the Grateful Dead." [5]
In a Q&A, Peter Green admitted that "Rattlesnake Shake" was about masturbation, reckoning that the lyrical content was inspired by Fleetwood. [6] Fleetwood would later back up this claim in his 2014 autobiography "Play On", stating that "Rattlesnake Shake" is an ode to masturbation as a cure for the blues. "I'm named in it, as a guy who does the rattlesnake shake to jerk away my sadness whenever I don't have a chick. That was an appropriate immortalisation of my younger self..." [7] To achieve the rustling noises heard at the end of each chorus, Green used the sounds of an actual rattlesnake found on an audio tape. [8]
The song has been well-received; the magazine Rolling Stone hailed the track as Peter Green's best song along with "Albatross". [9] Ultimate Classic Rock placed it at No. 7 on their Top 10 'Peter Green Fleetwood Mac Songs' list. [10] Paste Magazine also ranked the song number No. 19 on the 20 Best Fleetwood Mac Songs Of All Time, and was just one of two Peter Green songs to appear on the list, the other being "Oh Well". [11]
| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade) [12] | 4 |
A different recording of "Rattlesnake Shake" also appears on Mick Fleetwood's solo album, The Visitor . Released in 1981, this recording featured Peter Green, the track's composer, on guitar and vocals. During this time, Peter Green was beginning to reemerge professionally and had released a series of solo albums. The rerecorded 1981 version reached No. 30 on the Mainstream Rock chart. [13]
Also in 1981, Bob Welch recorded a live version of the track on his album Live at The Roxy, with contributions from Stevie Nicks (tambourine), Christine McVie (maracas), Mick Fleetwood (drums), Robbie Patton (cowbell), Alvin Taylor (guitar), Robin Sylvester (bass), Joey Brasler (guitar), and David Adelstein (keyboards). The album was released in 2004. [14]
A 1973 live version of "Rattlesnake Shake" appeared on Aerosmith box set "Pandora's Box" in 1991. [15]
In 2005, former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Rick Vito covered "Rattlesnake Shake" on an album of the same name. [16] The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band recorded a live version of "Rattlesnake Shake" for their album " Blue Again! in 2008". [17] This version featured Rick Vito on guitar and vocals.
Five years later, the song was rehearsed for a Mick Fleetwood Blues Band concert. Christine McVie had given Mick Fleetwood a call and asked him if she could play at an upcoming gig in Hawaii, to which Fleetwood agreed. The same day, Fleetwood and Rick Vito brought a piano to her hotel suite and rehearsed "Don't Stop" and "Rattlesnake Shake", both of which were played at the Hawaii concert along with "Get Like You Used to Be" and "World Turning". [18]
Personnel (Mick Fleetwood version)
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band formed in London in 1967 by guitarist and singer Peter Green. Green recruited drummer Mick Fleetwood, guitarist and singer Jeremy Spencer and bassist Bob Brunning, with John McVie replacing Brunning a few weeks after the band's first public appearance at the 1967 National Jazz & Blues Festival in Windsor. The band became a five-piece in 1968 with the addition of guitarist and singer Danny Kirwan.
Fleetwood Mac, also known as Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, is the debut studio album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in February 1968. The album is a mixture of blues covers and originals penned by guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer, who also share the vocal duties. It is the only album by the band without any involvement of keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie.
Then Play On is the third studio album by the British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 19 September 1969. It was the first of their original albums to feature Danny Kirwan and the last with Peter Green. Although still an official band member at the time, Jeremy Spencer did not feature on the album apart from "a couple of piano things". The album offered a broader stylistic range than the straightforward electric blues of the group's first two albums, displaying elements of folk rock, hard rock, art rock and psychedelia. The album reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart, becoming the band's fourth Top 20 LP in a row, as well as their third album to reach the Top 10. The album's title, Then Play On, is taken from the opening line of William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night—"If music be the food of love, play on".
Richard Francis Vito is an American guitarist and singer. He was part of Fleetwood Mac between 1987 and 1991. Vito took over as lead guitarist after Lindsey Buckingham left the group. He is best known for his blues and slide guitar style, whose influences include Elmore James, Robert Nighthawk, B.B. King, Alvino Rey, Les Paul, George Harrison, and Keith Richards.
Future Games is the fifth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 3 September 1971. It was recorded in the summer of 1971 at Advision Studios in London and was the first album to feature Christine McVie as a full member. This album was also the first of five albums to feature American guitarist Bob Welch. "He was totally different background – R&B, sort of jazzy. He brought his personality," Mick Fleetwood said of Welch in a 1995 BBC interview, "He was a member of Fleetwood Mac before we'd even played a note."
Time is the sixteenth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 10 October 1995. This album features a unique line-up for the band, featuring the addition of country vocalist Bekka Bramlett and former Traffic guitarist Dave Mason. It was the second album released after the departure of Lindsey Buckingham in 1987, and the only Fleetwood Mac album since 1974's Heroes Are Hard to Find to not feature any contribution from Stevie Nicks. Additionally, it is the final Fleetwood Mac studio album to feature Christine McVie as an official member.
Live in Boston is a live album by British blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac that was first released in 1985.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac released on CBS Records in the United Kingdom in 1971. The album assembles the band's hit singles in the UK covering the period from the band's beginning in 1968 to 1971, mostly in its original incarnation led by guitarist Peter Green. It peaked at No. 36 on the UK Albums Chart.
25 Years – The Chain is a box set by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac originally released on 24 November 1992. The set contains four CDs, covering the history of the band from its formation in 1967 to 1992. The set features four new tracks as well as several previously unreleased studio and live tracks from the archives, while some of the classic tracks were included in different and new mixes. The four new songs were "Paper Doll", which was recorded earlier than the others as it was written by and recorded with Stevie Nicks and Rick Vito, both of whom had left the band in 1991, "Love Shines" and "Heart of Stone", both Christine McVie songs, and "Make Me A Mask", contributed by then-former member Lindsey Buckingham. "Love Shines" was released as a single to promote the box set in the UK, whereas "Paper Doll" was the single in the US.
The Visitor is an album by Mick Fleetwood, released by RCA Records in 1981. All the songs were recorded in Accra, Ghana between January and February 1981 at the "Ghana Film Industries, Inc. Studio" and produced by Richard Dashut, and were later mixed in various studios in England. The album has been re-released several times, including a US CD release by Wounded Bird Records on October 18, 2011.
English Rose is a compilation album by British blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in December 1968. It was originally a US-only compilation, combining six tracks from the UK release Mr. Wonderful, three UK non-album single sides, two not-yet-released songs from the UK version of Then Play On and one other previously unreleased track. It was released some months before the UK release of The Pious Bird of Good Omen, sharing four songs with that album. Mick Fleetwood appears in drag on the cover.
"I'm So Afraid" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham for the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac for their tenth album, Fleetwood Mac. The song was intended for a second Buckingham Nicks album, but the album never came to fruition.
"Monday Morning" is a 1975 song written and sung by Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. It is the first track from the multi-platinum, second eponymous album Fleetwood Mac. The song was later included on the band's 2002 compilation album, The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac. "Monday Morning" was performed on all of the band's tours from 1975 to 1978. It reappeared on the Unleashed Tour in 2009 and later the An Evening with Fleetwood Mac Tour in 2018–2019.
Blue Again is a live album by the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, featuring Rick Vito, released in 2008. It was recorded at The Sheldon Concert Hall in St. Louis, Missouri on 8 February 2008.
"Oh Daddy" is a song written by Christine McVie that was first performed by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac as the tenth song off their 1977 album Rumours.
"Tango in the Night" is a song by British–American rock band Fleetwood Mac from their album of the same name. The song received airplay and reached No. 28 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. However, the title track was overshadowed by the album's hit singles.
"World Turning" is a song written by Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham for the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac's tenth album, Fleetwood Mac.
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