"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]
| "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] |
Background
editAlthough "Oh Well" charted in the UK in October 1969, it was not released in the US at the time. Instead, the band's manager selected "Rattlesnake Shake" to be released in the US as he believed that it would be a successful single.[4] However, "Rattlesnake Shake" did not chart, and "Oh Well" was released as the follow-up single in January 1970, reaching No. 55 on the Billboard Hot 100.[5]
According to Mick Fleetwood, the double-time shuffle near the end of the song was derived from 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."[6]
In a 1999 Q&A with The Penguin, Peter Green said that "Rattlesnake Shake" was about masturbation and reckoned that the lyrical content was inspired by Fleetwood.[7] Fleetwood would later back up this claim in his 2014 autobiography Play On, stating that "Rattlesnake Shake" was an ode to masturbation. "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."[8] 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.[9] In 2012, Fleetwood picked "Rattlesnake Shake" as one of his 11 greatest recordings.[6]
Critical reception
edit"Rattlesnake Shake" largely received positive reviews from music reviewers. Rolling Stone identified it as a "key track" of Green's along with "Albatross".[10] Writing for AllMusic, Michael G. Nastos characterised the song as "down-and-dirty, even-paced funk, with clean, wall-of-sound guitars."[11] Ultimate Classic Rock placed it at No. 7 on their Top 10 'Peter Green Fleetwood Mac Songs' list.[12] Holly Gleason of Paste ranked the song number No. 19 on their list of the 20 Best Fleetwood Mac Songs; it was one of two Peter Green songs to appear on the list along with "Oh Well".[13]
Personnel
edit- Fleetwood Mac
- Peter Green – guitar, vocals
- Danny Kirwan – electric guitar
- John McVie – bass guitar
- Mick Fleetwood – drums, handclaps
Chart performance
edit| Chart (1970) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40 Tipparade)[14] | 4 |
Cover versions
editMick Fleetwood later covered the song on his debut 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 had begun to reemerge professionally and released a series of solo albums up through the first half of the decade.[15] The rerecorded 1981 version reached No. 30 on the Mainstream Rock chart.[16]
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.[17]
A 1973 live version of "Rattlesnake Shake" appeared on Aerosmith's 1991 box set Pandora's Box.[18] Steven Tyler of Aerosmith recalled that he had seen one of Joe Perry's bands in the 1960s cover the song, which he partially attributed to their eventual musical partnership.[19] In 2020, Tyler later performed the song live with Fleetwood for a Peter Green tribute concert. A recording from the show later appeared on the Celebrate the Music of Peter Green and the Early Years of Fleetwood Mac live album.[20]
In 2005, former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Rick Vito covered "Rattlesnake Shake" on an album of the same name.[21] The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band recorded a live version of "Rattlesnake Shake" for their album Blue Again! in 2008, which featured Vito on guitar and vocals.[22] Five years later, the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band played the song at a concert with Christine McVie in Hawaii. McVie, who at the time had been out of Fleetwood Mac for 15 years, asked Fleetwood if she could perform with the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band for the gig, to which Fleetwood agreed. The same day, Fleetwood and Vito brought a piano to her hotel suite and rehearsed "Don't Stop" and "Rattlesnake Shake" with her. McVie played these songs at the performance along with "Get Like You Used to Be" and "World Turning".[8]
Personnel (Mick Fleetwood version)
- Peter Green – vocals, lead guitar
- Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion
- Richard Dashut – percussion
- George Hawkins – bass guitar
- Todd Sharp – guitar
- Lord Tiki – hand drums
- Tony Todaro – percussion
- The Clapettes – percussion
- Ebaali Gbiko – percussion, backing vocals
References
edit- ^ Fleetwood, Mick (1993). My 25 years in Fleetwood Mac. Hyperion. p. 159. ISBN 0-297-81336-6.
- ^ "Fleetwood Mac:Then Play On". AllMusic. Retrieved September 15, 2015.
- ^ Evans, Mike (2011). Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History. New York: Sterling. p. 56. ISBN 978-1-4027-8630-3. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
- ^ Morthland, John. "Fleetwood Mac Then Play On Album Review". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- ^ "Fleetwood Mac Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ a b Bosso, Joe (27 July 2012). "Mick Fleetwood: My 11 Greatest Recordings of All Time – Rattlesnake Shake". musicradar. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
- ^ "The Penguin Q&A Sessions: Peter Green, August 19 – September 1, 1999". The Penguin. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
- ^ a b Fleetwood, Mick; Bozza, Anthony (October 2014). Play On: Now, Then & Fleetwood Mac (First ed.). New York: Little, Brown and Company. pp. 105–106. ISBN 978-0-316-40342-9.105-106&rft.edition=First&rft.pub=Little, Brown and Company&rft.date=2014-10&rft.isbn=978-0-316-40342-9&rft.aulast=Fleetwood&rft.aufirst=Mick&rft.au=Bozza, Anthony&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Rattlesnake Shake" class="Z3988">
- ^ Fisher, Ben. "Green God Breaks His Silence (Guitar Player, November 1994)". The Blue Letter Archives. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
- ^ "Peter Green – 100 Greatest Guitarists". Rolling Stone. 18 December 2015. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ Nastos, Michael G. "Then Play On - Fleetwood Mac". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ DeRiso, Nick. "Top 10 Peter Green Fleetwood Mac Songs". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
- ^ Gleason, Holly (29 May 2014). "The 20 Best Fleetwood Mac Songs of All Time". pastemagazine.com. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 5 September 2015.
- ^ "Tipparade-lijst van week 1, 1970" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- ^ Bogdanov, Vladimir; Woodstra, Chris; Erlewine, Stephen Thomas, eds. (2003). All Music Guide to Blues (3rd ed.). Backbeat Books. p. 208. ISBN 0-87930-736-6.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Joel Whitburn Presents Rock Tracks 1981-2008. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. p. 93. ISBN 978-0-89820-174-1.
- ^ "The Penguin Discography: Rattlesnake Shake". discog.fleetwoodmac.net. Archived from the original on 2 May 2005. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
- ^ Prato, Greg. "Pandora's Box – Aerosmith". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 September 2015.
- ^ Sutcliffe, Phil (2011). "Afterword: Advice to Young Bands". In Bienstock, Richard (ed.). Aerosmith: The Ultimate Illustrated History of the Boston Bad Boys. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-7603-4106-3 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (25 February 2021). "See Steven Tyler Sing 'Rattlesnake Shake' With Mick Fleetwood and Friends". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 7 January 2025.
- ^ "Rick Vito: Rattlesnake Shake". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen. "Mick Fleetwood Blues Band: Blue Again!". AllMusic. Retrieved September 15, 2015.