The Pious Bird of Good Omen
The Pious Bird of Good Omen is a compilation album by the British blues rock band 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 album "Mr. Wonderful", and two tracks by the 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 four 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 with cover art very closely  resembling the "Greatest Hits" album (1971), but with the addition of "Shake Your Moneymaker" and "Love That Burns". Reception. Reaction to the album has been highly positive. It was described as "excellent" by the "Rolling Stone Album Guide". "TeamRock" ranked the album in the "20 Greatest Blues Albums: 1967-70".