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Oh Well (song)

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See also: Oh Well (disambiguation)
"Oh Well"
Cover of the French release:
(back row, L-R) McVie, Kirwan, Green
(front row L-R) Spencer, Fleetwood
Single by Fleetwood Mac
A-side"Oh Well (Part 1)"
B-side"Oh Well (Part 2)"
Released26 September 1969
RecordedSummer 1969
Genre
Length3:22 (Part 1 single)
2:22 (Part 1)
5:39 (Part 2)
8:56 (Then Play On version)
LabelReprise
Songwriter(s)Peter Green
Producer(s)Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac singles chronology
"Man of the World"
(1969) 		"Oh Well"
(1969) 		"The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown)"
(1970)
Alternative cover
Side A of the UK single

"Oh Well" is a song by British rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1969 and composed by vocalist and lead guitarist Peter Green. It first appeared as a single in various countries in 1969 and subsequently appeared on US versions of that year's Then Play On album and the band's Greatest Hits album in 1971. The song was later featured on the 1992 boxed set 25 Years – The Chain, on the 2002 compilation album The Best of Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac, and on the 2018 compilation 50 Years – Don't Stop.

"Oh Well" was composed in two parts, with "Part 1" as a fast electric blues song with vocals (lasting 2:19), and "Part 2" as an entirely different instrumental piece with a classical influence (lasting 5:39). The original 1969 single features the first minute of part 2 as a fade-out coda to the A-side and then part 2 begins again on the B-side. Later releases varied in length. During concerts, only the first part was played, and live versions of the song have been released on a handful of Fleetwood Mac live albums throughout their career such as Live and Live at the BBC, as well as the B-sides of singles. After Green's departure from Fleetwood Mac, the song was sung by various other members, including Bob Welch,[2] Dave Walker,[3] Lindsey Buckingham,[4] Billy Burnette,[5] and Mike Campbell.[6]

Composition

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Peter Green wrote what would become part 2 of "Oh Well" on a Ramirez Spanish guitar, which he purchased after hearing the instrument on the radio. Part 1, which Green dismissed as a "throwaway riff", was intended to appear on the B-side of part 2, but part 1 was ultimately selected as the A-side instead.[7] He characterised the full composition as a representation of his "two extremes" and said that it was his "first sort of semiclassical attempt".[8] In a 1983 interview, Green cited Muddy Waters as the inspiration for the song title.[9]

The first part of the song consists of an eight bar blues riff played by Green on a Michigan dobro-style resonator guitar, then joined by an electric guitar, bass guitar and various percussion instruments played by Mick Fleetwood, including maracas and a cowbell.[9][10] Green sings a brief verse with no musical accompaniment, before the riff begins again and breaks into a rock shuffle with a guitar solo that lasts 16 measures.[10][11][12] The cowbell solo was an unplanned addition that Fleetwood played on accident, but Green liked the part and insisted on keeping it in the mix.[13] In his 2014 memoir, Fleetwood recalled that he encountered difficulties nailing the cowbell part for live performances and worried that he would "never get it".[14]

Where the second part follows, there is a brief pause before Green's sombre, Spanish-style acoustic guitar and low electric guitar,[11] leading into further instrumental passages of cello and recorder, played by Green's then-girlfriend, Sandra Elsdon,[15] and piano, the latter played by Jeremy Spencer. It was Spencer's only contribution to the song, as he was absent from the recording of part 1, and Green played all the other instruments on part 2.[16]

During live performances with the original lineup, Spencer frequently played supplemental percussion during the song, often maracas.[17]

Release

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Instead of including "Oh Well" on the UK track listing of Then Play On, the label chose the song as the band's next single, which came as a surprise to the songwriter, Peter Green, who expected Kirwan's "When You Say" to receive that designation.[18] Hesitant to release "Oh Well (Part 1)" as a single, Green lobbied to make "Oh Well (Part 2)" the A-side instead, but to no avail.[7] He believed that Part 1 was more likely to receive airplay, but thought that Part 2 would "take a few listens to get used to".[19]

Fleetwood said that the band initially thought "Oh Well" should be the band's next single, but he and McVie doubted its commercial viability upon listening to it again.[20] In an October 1969 interview with NME, Green said that he "would not be surprised" if the single did not perform well, but admitted that he would be "disheartened" if this was the case.[19] Fleetwood and McVie bet Green money that "Oh Well" would fail to chart on the grounds that it was "too sad",[14] but the single instead went on to chart in several territories, including number two in the UK and number 55 in the US.[14][21]

After the single was released, US versions of Then Play On were updated to include the song, replacing Kirwan's "When You Say" and "My Dream".[22] The album edit of "Oh Well" joined the two sides of the single as one track, entitled "Oh Well" (lasting 8:56), so that the second part's beginning is heard twice. It was repeated on the worldwide original CD release. A 1972 US reissue of the single featured just the electric "Oh Well (Part 1)" without the coda. Other reissues of the song, including on the Greatest Hits album and the 2013 deluxe Then Play On, feature the original single releases of part 1 (with coda) and part 2 as two separate tracks.

Chart performance

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The single's peak position on the UK Charts was No. 2 for two weeks in November 1969, spending a total of 16 weeks on the chart.[23] In the Dutch Top 40, the song peaked at No. 1 and spent a total of 11 weeks in the top 40.[24] It also reached the top 5 in Ireland, Norway, and New Zealand, as well as the top 10 in Germany and Switzerland.

"Oh Well" was a minor hit in the United States, where it reached No. 55, becoming Fleetwood Mac's first single to reach the Hot 100, as well as their only pre-Buckingham/Nicks song to earn this distinction. It did receive airplay on some FM album-oriented stations[25] and its reputation has grown in the years since its release.[11]

In Canada, the song reached No. 54.[26] It was their second charting single after "Albatross" in March 1969.[27][28]

The single was also issued in Argentina, Brazil, India, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico (as "Ah Bueno"), Portugal and Spain (as "Muy Bien"), and South Africa and Venezuela (as "Oh Bien") on Reprise Records. Other countries included Greece on Warner Bros. Records and Malaysia on Jaguare Records.

Legacy

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"Oh Well (Part 1)" has been viewed by music critics as one of the early crossovers between blues rock and heavy metal.[11] The Led Zeppelin song "Black Dog" (1971) also features a call and response with a cappella vocals - Jimmy Page was inspired to structure the song like "Oh Well".[29] John Brackett, a former professor from the University of Utah, notes that both songs employ "a syncopated ascending chromatic motif that finishes with a long sustained note."[30]

Upon its release in 1969, Peter Jones of Record Mirror said that the song seemed "a bit ponderous, despite some excellent moments".[31] In 1972, Record World said the song "shows [the] group in its finest moment."[32] The Guardian and Paste ranked "Oh Well, Part 1" number 21 and number 8 respectively on their lists of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.[33][34] Rolling Stone also ranked the song number nine on their list of the top 50 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs.[8]

Personnel

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Oh Well (Part 1)

Oh Well (Part 2)

Additional Personnel
  • Sandra Elsdon – recorder

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Chart (1969–70) Peak
position
Australia[35] 17
Austria[36] 6
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[37] 3
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[38] 5
Canada (RPM)[39] 54
Germany[40] 5
Ireland[41] 5
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[42] 1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[43] 1
Norway[44] 3
Switzerland[45] 6
UK Singles (OCC)[46] 2
US Billboard Hot 100[47] 55

Cover versions and other uses

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"Oh Well" has been covered by various other artists and groups, including Billy Gibbons, Deep Purple, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 2Cellos, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Monks of Doom, Gordon Giltrap, Joe Jackson, The Rockets, Big Country, Tribe of Gypsies, Ratt, Tourniquet, McCoy, John Parr, Oh Well, Haim, Aerosmith, Darrell Mansfield, Zona B and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit,. The song has also been played live by Jimmy Page & the Black Crowes and released on their 2000 album Live at the Greek. The Australian singer-songwriter Rick Springfield performed a version of the song in July 2013 for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.[48] Eels included a cover of the song on the bonus-disc edition of their 2014 album The Cautionary Tales of Mark Oliver Everett, and it is also found on the 2012 album Fifteen by Colin James.

Former Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch recorded a version of the song for the 2003 His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond album.[49] To outline the sections, Welch played his guitars along to the original recording so his cover would "closely match the original, but not be exact copies." After he recorded the guitars, Welch gradually muted the original recording and filled out the song with samples and MIDI tracks. Over the course of a couple weeks, Welch had amassed between 64 and 96 tracks, which he condensed into 32 tracks on his master recording through a series of premixes.[2]

An excerpt from the song can be heard in the Doctor Who story Spearhead from Space. It was filmed around the same time that the single was on the chart, and transmitted in January 1970. The song was omitted from later video releases of the story, but was reintroduced on the DVD release in 2011. The beginning of the song from Live in Boston by Fleetwood Mac can be heard in the second season of the television show Fargo.

References

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  1. ^ Molanphy, Chris (January 14, 2023). "Thinking About Tomorrow Edition". Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia (Podcast). Slate. Retrieved February 10, 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Bob Welch, August 4 – 17, 2003". The Penguin. Archived from the original on Jan 3, 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2019.
  3. ^ "Dave Walker Q&A Session, October 2000". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 24 September 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  4. ^ Swenson, John (5 October 1978). "Fleetwood Mac Clicks Without Nicks". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  5. ^ Greene, Andy (6 December 2022). "Billy Burnette on His Brief, 'Magical' Stint in Fleetwood Mac: 'No Regrets'". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 4 September 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  6. ^ Olivier, Bobby (14 March 2019). "Here's how Fleetwood Mac survived without Lindsey Buckingham at N.J. concert: review". nj.com. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  7. ^ a b "Green God Breaks His Silence". Guitar Player. November 1994. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016 – via The Blue Letter Archives.
  8. ^ a b Weingarten, Christopher R.; et al. (2 May 2022). "Fleetwood Mac's 50 Greatest Songs". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  9. ^ a b "Peter Green interview 1983 : The Lost Interview". June 1983. Archived from the original on 14 December 2005. Retrieved 6 October 2024 – via FM Legacy.
  10. ^ a b Carr, Roy; Clarke, Steve (1978). Fleetwood Mac: Rumours n' Fax. Harmony Books. p. 45. ISBN 0-517-53364-2.
  11. ^ a b c d "Oh Well". Allmusic. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  12. ^ "7 great drum tracks by Mick Fleetwood". Rhythm Magazine. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2025 – via Mick Fleetwood.com.
  13. ^ Blake, Mark (2024). "Oh Well (Parts 1 & 2): Fleetwood Mac's Mini Sgt. Pepper". The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac. New York: Pegasus Books. pp. 86–87. ISBN 978-1-63936-732-0.
  14. ^ a b c Fleetwood, Mick; Bozza, Anthony (October 2014). Play On: Now Then & Fleetwood Mac. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 99, 106. ISBN 978-0-316-40342-9.
  15. ^ Rooksby, Rikky (2004). Fleetwood Mac: The Complete Guide to Their Music – Rikky Rooksby – Google Books. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9781844494279.
  16. ^ "The Fleetwood Mac song Peter Green "used to hate playing"". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  17. ^ Ariza, Sergio (24 May 2017). "Peter Green Era Fleetwood Mac, So Great But Oh Well..." NO RECESS! Magazine: Not The Last Word In Anything. Retrieved 2019-06-24.
  18. ^ The Vaudeville Years (CD booklet notes). Fleetwood Mac. Receiver Records. 1998.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  19. ^ a b Logan, Nick (11 October 1969). "NME's Nick Logan Sits in on a Fleetwood Mac Rehearsal Session" (PDF). NME. p. 3. Retrieved 27 December 2024 – via World Radio History.
  20. ^ Logan, Nick (8 November 1969). "A Tiny Club or Albert's Hall, It Doesn't Matter to Fleetwoods" (PDF). NME. p. 3. Retrieved 15 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
  21. ^ Evans, Mike (2011). Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History. New York: Sterling. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-4027-8630-3.
  22. ^ Then Play On (Liner Notes). Fleetwood Mac. United States: Warner Bros. 2013.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ^ "Official Charts Company". Official Charts. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  24. ^ Stichting Nederlandse Top 40. "Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well! | Top 40". Top40.nl. Archived from the original on 20 September 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  25. ^ Dunphy, Dw (2019-02-14). "Two Songs By Fleetwood Mac Before They Were "Fleetwood Mac"". Retrieved 2019-06-11.
  26. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles – March 28, 1970" (PDF).
  27. ^ Canada, Library and Archives. "Results: RPM Weekly". www.bac-lac.gc.ca. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  28. ^ "RPM 100" (PDF). Record Mirror. 31 March 1969. p. 5. Retrieved 12 January 2025 – via World Radio History.
  29. ^ Guesdon, Jean-Michael; Margotin, Philippe (2018). Led Zeppelin, All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers. pp. 246-247.
  30. ^ Brackett, John (January 2008). "Examining Rhythmic and Metric Practices in Led Zeppelin's Musical Style". Popular Music. 27 (1). Cambridge University Press: 61. doi:10.1017/S0261143008001487. JSTOR 40212444. S2CID 55401670.
  31. ^ Jones, Peter (4 October 1969). "New Singles Reviewed by Peter Jones" (PDF). Record Mirror. p. 9. Retrieved 27 December 2024 – via World Radio History.
  32. ^ "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. April 1, 1972. p. 10. Retrieved 2023-04-01.
  33. ^ Petridis, Alexis (19 May 2022). "Fleetwood Mac's 30 greatest songs – ranked!". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  34. ^ Mitchell, Matt (7 August 2023). "The 30 Greatest Fleetwood Mac Songs". Paste. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  35. ^ Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book 1940–1969). Turramurra, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  36. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  37. ^ "Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50.
  38. ^ "Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well" (in French). Ultratop 50.
  39. ^ "RPM 100 Singles – Mar. 28, 1970". Library and Archives. Canada.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  40. ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts – Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  41. ^ "Search the Charts". Irish Recorded Music Association. Archived from the original (enter "Fleetwood Mac" into the "Search by Artist" box, then select "Search") on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  42. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 47, 1969" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  43. ^ "Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  44. ^ "norwegiancharts.com – Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  45. ^ "Fleetwood Mac – Oh Well – hitparade.ch". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2019-06-04.
  46. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  47. ^ "Fleetwood Mac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  48. ^ Modell, Josh (2013-07-16). "Rick Springfield covers Fleetwood Mac · A.V. Undercover: Summer Break · The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
  49. ^ "His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond". AllMusic. Retrieved 2017-06-25.
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