Green described Kirwan as " a clever boy who got ideas for his guitar playing by listening to all that old-fashioned roaring twenties big-band stuff . " Kirwan was known to be " emotionally fragile " , and Green said that in the early days , Kirwan " was so into it that he cried as he played . " Mick Fleetwood described the early Fleetwood Mac as it was when Kirwan joined the band . " We were a rude , wild , fun-loving bunch of people ... Fleetwood Mac never wanted to be pure blues like John Mayall , or rock like Hendrix or Cream . We were a funny , vulgar , drunken vaudeville blues band at that time 1967-70 , playing music as much to amuse ourselves as to please an audience . " A year after forming Fleetwood Mac , Peter Green was looking for ways to extend the band and perhaps change its direction . He wanted to be open to other musical styles and bring in more original material . Kirwan was the ideal foil for Green 's new approach : he played gentle , supportive rhythm guitar to Green 's and Spencer 's fiery solo work and introduced vocal harmonies to some of the songs . Spencer said , " Peter and I had seen Danny play and thought he was very good . Peter and Danny worked well together . " Fleetwood said , " Danny worked out great from the start . His playing was always very melodic and tuneful , with lots of bent notes and vibrato . Danny 's style of playing complemented Peter 's perfectly because he was already a disciple . His sense of melody on rhythm guitar really drew Peter out , allowing him to write songs in a different style ... Playing live , he was a madman . " Fleetwood Mac biographer Leah Furman commented , " Danny provided a perfect sounding board for Peter 's ideas , added stylistic texture , and moved Fleetwood Mac away from pure blues . " Kirwan was interviewed by the British weekly music paper '' Melody Maker '' soon after joining Fleetwood Mac and gave the first indication of the breadth of his musical influences . He told '' Melody Maker '' , " I 'm not keen on blues purists who close their ears to all other forms of music . I like any good music , particularly the old big band-type things . Django Reinhardt is my favourite guitarist , but I like any music that is good , whether it is blues , popular or classical . " The band 's manager Clifford Davis , himself a musician , remembered Kirwan as " a very bright boy with very high musical standards . When we were on the road he was constantly saying ' Come on , Clifford , we must rehearse , we must rehearse , we 've got to rehearse ' . " Davis said Kirwan " was the originator of all the ideas regarding harmonies and the lovely melodies that Fleetwood Mac would eventually encompass . " Kirwan progressed from being an eighteen-year-old guitarist in a small pub band in South London to being a member of an internationally-known touring band in one move . He played his first gig with Fleetwood Mac on 14 August 1968 at the Nag 's Head Blue Horizon Club in Battersea , London . Ten days later he was on stage at the 24 August 1968 Hyde Park Free Concert in London , performing on the same bill as Family , Ten Years After and Fairport Convention ; two days later he was in the BBC radio studios in London , recording a session of twelve songs for broadcast ; three days after that he began a 50-date tour of the UK . At the end of November he was in Paris , performing in a New Year 's Eve show for French television '' ORTF ' Surprise Partie ' '' with The Who , Small Faces , Pink Floyd and The Troggs . Two days later , on 1 December 1968 , he was in New York at the start of an almost sold-out , 30-date Fleetwood Mac US tour which would include performances at major venues such as the Fillmore East in Manhattan , the Fillmore West in San Francisco , the Boston Tea Party and an appearance before 100,000 fans at the three-day Miami Pop Festival in Florida alongside , among others , Chuck Berry , Muddy Waters , BB King and The Grateful Dead
Miami Pop Festival
Miami Pop Festival (December 1968)
Danny Kirwan