“Caught In the Rain” – Fleetwood Mac

Bob Weston was the Joe Johnston of Fleetwood Mac lore. Joe Johnson, for the Civil War-uninclined, was commander of The Army of Northern Virginia until he was shot in 1862 clearing the way for Robert E. Lee to take command and make history. For Johnson, a bullet ended his career. For Weston, it was an affair with the wife of Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood.

In 1974, it was the departure of Weston and fellow guitarist Bob Welch that paved the way for Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to join Fleetwood Mac, and subsequently, make history. Before Buckingham and Nicks, Fleetwood Mac was largely a blues outfit that, with the enlistment of Christine McVie, slowly infused pop and rock sensibilities into their work. Weston’s tenure in Fleetwood Mac was short-lived, but he contributed to two of the early Mac’s best albums – Penguin and Mystery to Me. “Caught in the Rain,” an instrumental on Penguin, is especially indicitive of the band’s shifting sound. The guitar work is a far cry from Peter Green’s work, and much closer to Buckingham’s early sound (especially the little flourish at the end.) With Christine McVie’s piano accompaniment, the song is a sign of things to come – even if the band themselves didn’t know what was on the horizon.

Of all the Fleetwood Mac dismissals, Weston’s remains the most stodgy. Considering that Jeremy Spencer once left the band after joining a cult while buying groceries and Lindsey Buckingham left the band after an incident which nearly everyone involved called “ugly,” Weston’s mere affair doesn’t seem like much. Especially considering that Mick Fleetwood would eventually cheat on the same wife with Stevie Nicks, who had affairs with Eagles Joe Walsh (cliche) and Don Henley (unforgivable.)

When dealing with Fleetwood Mac, there’s a tendency to allow the behind-the-music drama to overshadow the actual music. Penguin was no Rumours. It wasn’t even a Mirage. But it’s a decent, thoroughly enjoyable album. Weston should be remembered more for songs like this, and less for all the extracurricular hubbub.