SOUNDTRACK: FLEETWOOD MAC-“The Green Manalishi (With the Two Pronged Crown)” (1969).
I know this song from Judas Priest, who made a killer cover that they played for years. Rob Halford’s voice on the song (in their live version from 1976) is incredible.
I didn’t even know there was an “original” until a decade or so ago. It seemed out of character that Judas Priest would cover a trippy Fleetwood Mac song (of course they also covered Joan Baez, so…). But wow, this song is a trip.
I mean, the lyrics alone are the stuff of legend at this point. There’s dozens of places where you can read about the song. Here’s a few paragraphs from Uncle Stylus.
Peter Green said it’s a song about the corrupting influence of money, which he equated with the devil. In 1969, the huge success of Fleetwood Mac had brought them a considerable income and Green had agreed with the band that they would would give it all to charity. One can imagine that “morning after” moment when he demanded they made good on their idealistic rush of blood. A massive quarrel ensued, and Green never forgave the other bandmembers for reneging on the idea and claimed that this was what inspired the song.
Manalishi is a word that Peter Green made up for the song. The sound of it rolling around the tongue is exotic and menacing, suffused with the mystery of demons and gremlins from a medieval Italian dark night.
Listening now it’s clear that he was really, whether consciously or unconsciously, telling us about his depressive schizophrenia and even the dark persona unleashed within him when he took certain drugs, the “green” of the manalishi being Green himself. It reads like the beginning of a story by Edgar Allan Poe.
The Judas Priest cover doesn’t really follow the original all that much (the ending wailing is so much cooler the way Halford does it). But the riff here is pretty spectacular (understandable why they’d want to cover it). Also, it was a big hit in England when it came out, so it’s not like the band was crate-digging for rarities. I had just never heard of it.
There is something some sinister about the slow menace of the Fleetwood Mac version. It’s incredible to think that this is the same band who put out Rumours (although really it isn’t, but whatever).
Check out the live from Boston version for some real heaviness. And marvel that this weird song was a hit.
[READ: November 2022] Collectibles
Evidently Lawrence Block has created several of these anthologies all loosely based around a theme. This is the first one I’ve read, although I see another one called Playing Games is on the horizon.
This collection is about collectibles. Most but not all of the stories are crime or mystery based. A couple have a touch of the supernatural as well. The term “collectible” is pretty broadly defined from one story to the next, but it’s a decent prompt to let you know what you’re getting.
Lawrence Block – The Elephant in the Living Room (An Introduction)
This is an essay about the book which includes an amusing story about Lawrence’s Uncle Jerry who ha a collection of giraffes. There were presently none in the collection because he hadn’t found one up to his standards. (more…)
I Just Read About That... 