The Pious Bird of Good Omen

The Pious Bird of Good Omen
Compilation album by Fleetwood Mac
Released	15 August 1969
Recorded	September 1967, January–April 1968 & October 1968. CBS Studios, London
Genre	Blues rock
Length	36:00 64:15 (2004 release)
Label	Blue Horizon
Producer	Mike Vernon
Fleetwood Mac chronology
Mr. Wonderful (1968) The Pious Bird of Good Omen (1969) Then Play On (1969)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

The Pious Bird of Good Omen is a compilation album by Fleetwood Mac, released in 1969. It consists of their first four non-album UK singles and their B-sides, two other tracks from their previous two albums, and two tracks by blues artist Eddie Boyd with backing by members of Fleetwood Mac. These two tracks came from Boyd's album 7936 South Rhodes.

The title of the album is a phrase found in an 1817 gloss (marginal note) to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1798 epic poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The phrase refers to the albatross killed in the poem ("The ancient Mariner inhospitably killeth the pious bird of good omen"). Its use as an album title as well as the album art is a sly wink to the featuring of the band's number 1 UK hit "Albatross."

The US-only compilation English Rose was a similar package, sharing five songs with this album, and was released earlier in 1969.

In 2002, the tracks from this album were repackaged by Sony BMG and released as a new collection very closely resembling the 1971 Greatest Hits album, but with the addition of "Shake Your Moneymaker" and "Love That Burns".

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Need Your Love So Bad"	Little Willie John, Mertis John Jr.[2]	3:50
2.	"Coming Home"	Elmore James	2:38
3.	"Rambling Pony"	Peter Green	2:40
4.	"The Big Boat" (with Eddie Boyd)	Eddie Boyd	2:35
5.	"I Believe My Time Ain't Long"	Jeremy Spencer	2:55
6.	"The Sun Is Shining"	James	3:10

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Albatross"	Green	3:10
2.	"Black Magic Woman"	Green	2:46
3.	"Just the Blues" (with Eddie Boyd)	Boyd	5:35
4.	"Jigsaw Puzzle Blues"	Danny Kirwan	1:33
5.	"Looking for Somebody"	Green	2:50
6.	"Stop Messin' Round"	Clifford Adams, Green	2:18

2004 release

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Need Your Love So Bad – Version No. 2 (Remake)" (Take 4 – complete master version/remix*)	John, John Jr.	6:55
2.	"Rambling Pony" (Complete master version/remix*)	Green	3:32
3.	"I Believe My Time Ain't Long" (Master version with studio talk/remix*)	Robert Johnson	3:01
4.	"The Sun Is Shining"	James	3:10
5.	"Albatross"	Green	3:10
6.	"Black Magic Woman"	Green	2:51
7.	"Jigsaw Puzzle Blues"	Kirwan	1:33
8.	"Like Crying" (*)	Kirwan	2:29
9.	"Need Your Love So Bad – Version No. 1" (Take 1 – false start*, take 2 – incomplete* and take 3*)	John, John Jr.	11:33
10.	"Need Your Love So Bad – Version No. 2 (Remake)" (Take 1* and take 2*)	John, John Jr.	13:06
11.	"Need Your Love So Bad – Version No. 2 (Remake)" (Take 3*)	John, John Jr.	6:18
12.	"Need Your Love So Bad – USA Version" (*)	John, John Jr.	6:18

* Bonus track

Credits

Fleetwood Mac

• Peter Green – vocals, guitar, harmonica
• Jeremy Spencer – vocals, slide guitar
• Danny Kirwan – vocals, electric guitar on side 2, tracks 1 and 4
• John McVie – bass guitar
• Mick Fleetwood – drums

Additional musicians

• Eddie Boyd – vocals, piano on side 1, track 4 and side 2, track 3

Technical staff

• Mike Vernon – producer
• Mike Ross – engineer

2004 release

Fleetwood Mac

• Peter Green – vocals except on tracks 3, 4, 5, and 7, guitar except on tracks 3 and 4, harmonica on tracks 2 and 3
• Jeremy Spencer – vocals on tracks 3 and 4, guitar on tracks 3 and 4, piano on track 4
• Danny Kirwan – vocals on track 8, guitar on track 5, 7, and 8
• John McVie – bass guitar except on track 2, 3, and 8
• Mick Fleetwood – drums except on track 8
• Bob Brunning – bass guitar on track 3

Additional musicians

• Mickey "Guitar" Baker – string arrangement on track 1
• Steve Gregory – tenor saxophone on track 10 and 11
• Christine Perfect – piano on tracks 9, 10, and 11
• Terry Noonan – director of unidentified strings and horns on track 1

Technical staff

• Mike Vernon – producer
• Mike Ross – engineer

Notes

1. Allmusic review
2. "Need Your Love So Bad (Legal Title)". BMI. Retrieved 22 April 2011. Credited on the album to Little Willie John, but in fact written by both brothers.