K Recommends: “Love That Burns” by Fleetwood Mac

Long before the Stevie Nicks scarves and the big hair days of Lindsey Buckingham, Fleetwood Mac was a blues band that emerged in the late sixties. Peter Green was the guitarist and one of the original members. Looking back at this iteration of the band, they are practically unrecognizable.

Sometimes credited as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, the depth and soul of the group at this time just oozed bluesy riffs and entrancing vocals. They could stretch through and explore styles on more upbeat rock songs as well as the their slower instrumentals. Always with a nod to influences that preceded them. It’s still amazing to me that the more popular version of this band had such a vastly different sound at first.

“Love That Burns” is one of my favorite songs from early Fleetwood Mac. It simmers with an intense heat and yearning. Even the title attempts to explain a sort of dual aspect of love that can lead to a boiling point: love that burns so bright it pops and bubbles over with affection or love that burns with hurt and leaves scars on the heart. The music is so tender yet sensual while the lyrics are filled with wait, worry, lust and pining. It’s a litany of side effects to most any relationship I have known.

That drum roll at the beginning is so unlike the drum rolls I have heard anywhere else. It crawls up the spine while that first lick of guitar climbs the neck. The vocals come in and hang around the ear as they plead for answers and make declarations.

“Give me your mind and your heart but please don’t leave me with a love that burns.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWWgU7sfj0U(Song recommendation by K Weber)