Danny Kirwan, who played guitar for Fleetwood Mac from 1968 to 1972, passed away yesterday, according to an announcement on the band's Facebook page. (I'm not on FB, so I can't link it directly.) No cause of death has yet been indicated. He was 68.
Daniel David Kirwan was born in the Brixton area of London on May 13, 1950. During his teenage years, he and two other young musicians formed a trio called Boilerhouse, who played support gigs for Fleetwood Mac. A failed attempt to find better musicians to play with Kirwan led to his being invited to join Fleetwood Mac as their third guitarist-singer alongside Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer (who also played piano). This five-man lineup lasted from August 1968 to May 1970, when Green left. After continuing as a quartet for a while, they hired Christine McVie to play keyboards, and eventually Bob Welch to replace Spencer. The Fleetwood-J. McVie-C. McVie-Kirwan-Welch lineup produced two albums, Future Games (1971) and Bare Trees (1972). Besides his work with Fleetwood Mac, Kirwan played on Spencer's eponymous solo album, Christine McVie's first solo album Christine Perfect (which included a cover of his When You Say), and with the band Tramp on their two albums. Like Green and Spencer, Kirwan was very much a blues player, but helped steer Fleetwood Mac toward blues-influenced rock, and eventually toward pop-influenced rock that might have been able to fit in with some of their late 1970's material. In late 1972, Kirwan was fired after getting into an argument with Welch, smashing his guitar against a wall, and refusing to join the band on stage. He released three albums as a solo artist, but none were commercially successful.
Kirwan reportedly got married in 1971 and divorced a few years later. He was afflicted by alcoholism starting when he was in Fleetwood Mac. In recent years, he often lived in hostels or was homeless. He reportedly had one son.
Read more at the Rolling Stone, the Express, Variety, The Sun and the Daily Star.
I've used quite a few of Kirwan's songs with Fleetwood Mac during my "Music Break" posts. Let me see if I can't include some which I haven't already posted.
Fleetwood Mac's first album featuring Kirwan was Then Play On, in 1969. The opening track was his Coming Your Way, on which he and Green alternate and harmonize guitar lines.
Then Play On also included Kirwan's Like Crying, which features Green on harmony vocals and no instruments other than their two electric guitars. This video shows a live version.
After Green left, Kirwan, Spencer, Fleetwood and John McVie recorded Kiln House, with Kirwan and Spencer sharing lead vocal duties, except on Kirwan's instrumental Earl Gray. Spencer plays the piano on this one. The thumbnail shows Christine McVie's cover art. She also contributed some keyboards and backing vocals to the album, but is not officially credited.
After the release of Kiln House, Christine McVie joined Fleetwood Mac, who then recorded Kirwan's song Dragonfly as a non-album single. In 1971, after Welch replaced Spencer, they played the song live on the German TV show Beat Club.
Although I'm saddened by this news (one of the few times I've been emotionally affected by the death of a public figure), I want to finish with something upbeat. This is Danny's Chant from Bare Trees, which features Kirwan's wordless vocals and some pretty impressive guitar playing.
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