(Credits: Far Out / Columbia / Sony BMG)
Mon 10 November 2025 19:03, UK
A survivor of the classic rock period, Mick Fleetwood has achieved more than most during his time in music.
The drummer and co-founding member of Fleetwood Mac, he’s been there throughout their entire history, from formation in 1967 to the present. This encompasses the band’s creative arc, including the blues rock of their early period and the chart-topping pop-rock of later years, which produced 1977’s Rumours and 1987’s Tango in the Night.
This ever-present status also means that Fleetwood has experienced the various band hardships that have occurred in their time, including the mental breakdown of fellow co-founding member and original frontman Peter Green, the moment guitarist Jeremy Spencer abruptly left to join a cult, and the cocaine-fuelled nightmare of recording Rumours.
Being the only one with complete knowledge of Fleetwood Mac’s history made Mick Fleetwood the most important commentator on the subject. When speaking to NME for the ‘Soundtrack of My Life’ segment, he provided insight by naming the song that changed his life: 1968’s hit instrumental ‘Albatross’. He told the publication: “It was a number one hit, and I was in a band called Fleetwood Mac, and that pretty much started the whirlwind of what happened to us.”
Written by Peter Green, the track is hailed as one of his masterworks. Taking inspiration from a variety of subjects, the title derives from the English phrase, “an albatross around your neck”, which is traced back to sailors who believed the bird was a sign of bad luck. The bird also appears in The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the 1798 poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which cemented this view in broader society. Green read the poem as a child, and its themes stuck with him.
Mick Fleetwood on stage. (Credits: Far Out / Raph Pour-Hashemi)
Musically, a handful of songs also inspired ‘Albatross’. Santo & Johnny’s 1959 rock and roll instrumental ‘Sleep Walk’ is said to have inspired Green when writing it. Some claims also draw parallels between ‘Albatross’ and Chuck Berry’s 1957 track ‘Deep Feeling’, a classic blues number.
In 2021, Fleetwood reflected on the Mick Fleetwood and Friends tribute concert to Peter Green that was held at London’s Palladium in February of the previous year. It featured performances from the likes of bandmate Christine McVie, as well as Noel Gallagher, Pete Townshend and Billy Gibbons. The night held great significance for Fleetwood since Peter Green passed away at the age of 73 in July 2020.
“I just thought that so many people really don’t know how the band started…people say, well, Mick Fleetwood must have started the band, and of course, it’s not true; Peter Green started this band with me as a side,” Fleetwood reflected. “And then shortly after that, John (McVie) and Jeremy (Spencer) and later a little later, Danny Kirwan joined. So I felt that it was just time. The longer the journey has been, I think the beginning of the story stands the danger of being forgotten,” he added.
“I so wanted him to just have something,” the drummer continued of his motivation for the concert, adding: “Not that he needed it. He was so humble about who he was. He really almost disconnected himself from having done any of this and written so many incredible songs. But that didn’t matter. And it still doesn’t matter.”
Fleetwood expressed: “But it certainly made it more poignant that not only were we able to do it, it’s also got a lot of personal emotions in it, in the fact that Peter passed away before I could say, ‘Hey, I just want you to sit down, have a listen and realise that we’re all really grateful’.”
Notably, the evening saw Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour join Fleetwood and the band to perform ‘Albatross’. “He had so much reverence for Peter Green’s playing and who Peter was and the songs,” Fleetwood told Rolling Stone in 2021. “He initially got cold feet. He was like, ‘I don’t know if I can interpret Peter’s work. It’s so amazing. Maybe I can’t do that… At the moment, I’m sort of passing on the idea. But later on, if this happens, I may gather enough courage.’”
The track also ended up inspiring The Beatles’ tune ‘Sun King’, In 1987, George Harrison confirmed that its inspiration had a completely different starting point: “At the time, ‘Albatross’ (by Fleetwood Mac) was out, with all the reverb on guitar.”
“So we said, ‘Let’s be Fleetwood Mac doing Albatross, just to get going.’ It never really sounded like Fleetwood Mac… but that was the point of origin.” The first notes of ‘Sun King’ are most certainly a similar motif, and the imagery created with the Fab Four’s music is equally as enticing.
Listen to ‘Albatross’ below.
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