Sex and Drugs and Lighting Guys: The Fleetwood Mac Story

The 4th of February marked the fortieth anniversary of something great. This month in 1977, the album Rumours was released by Fleetwood Mac. Filled with memorable tracks, acerbic jabs and drug-fueled romantic angst, there is plenty for listeners of all ages and backgrounds to sink their auditory teeth into.

The Album’s Background

Rumours was designed first and foremost as an album that would contain no “filler” tracks; every track must be up to the standard of a single. Indeed, while this factor raised the bar and probably put an already high-pressure situation in a quality-analysis vice, it is undoubtedly instrumental to the album’s success. Every track is at a standard that it could be released and stand on its own two feet independently. Beyond this, the band retains its signature sound throughout, yet the trio of singers give each song a distinct and unique twist, preventing the album from stagnating or losing any magic upon repeated plays. However, beyond the acoustics and the standard of the tracks themselves is the story of the band’s turmoil, imprinted on the lyrics. The band consisted of five members, the on-again-off-again American couple Stevie Nicks and Lindsay Buckingham, who were finally heading towards calling it off for good; and the Brits, the divorcing John and Christine McVie, and lastly Mick Fleetwood, who had just discovered his wife had been having an affair with his best friend.

The Creation Process

The emotional confusion and acrimony is incredibly prevalent in the lyrics of the album. ‘You Make Loving Fun’ is a feel-good song about finding the joy of being in a relationship with someone new, penned by Christine about the group’s lighting guy and with a bass line played by her ex-lover. She also claims her song ‘Oh Daddy’ is dedicated to drummer, Mick Fleetwood, but some members of the band believe this is actually a love song dedicated to someone else. Buckingham and Nicks, in turn, use the album as a cathartic method of digesting their own views on the breakdown of their relationship. ‘Go Your Own Way’, written by Buckingham, claims “shacking up’s all you want to do”, much to Nick’s chagrin, whilst her song ‘Dreams’ analyses the ephemeral nature of love through a series of metaphors, and a quiet awareness of the relationship’s end. The McVies didn’t talk between takes, and conversely recordings were the only time Nicks and Buckingham stopped screaming at each other. In addition, friction between the Brits and Americans in the group distanced all the members further. The recording sessions are a rumour-mill in and of themselves, with it being alleged the group didn’t see daylight for days; that John McVie was descending into serious alcoholism; Nicks tried to take cocaine anally and wrapped her head in a black scarf to record ‘Gold Dust Woman’, as well as the alleged affair between Fleetwood and Nicks.

The Album Title

The group has retrospectively confirmed, as well as all the Rumours surrounding the recording, that the album was named Rumours because the tracks were the only way the band knew what was happening with the other members. This disjointed and, at times, abusive exchange of monologues was the only stream of communication between the members at such a dysfunctional time.

Where You May Have Heard The Tracks

The gravitas of these tracks is evident as they permeate day-to-day popular culture. Bill Clinton used ‘Don’t Stop’s distinctive hook “don’t stop thinking about tomorrow”, as his campaign song in his successful 1993 run for office, with the band even re-uniting to play it live. Though this perhaps overlooks the message of the song that heartbreak is eventually a memory. ‘The Chain’ and its distinctive bassline riff, the sole song that all five members have writing credits for, can be heard on the BBC’s coverage of Formula One. Several songs have been covered by the likes of Eva Cassidy (‘Songbird’) and The Corrs (‘Dreams’), and have featured in soundtracks of high profile media such as The Simpsons, Forrest Gump, Skins, Cuckoo and Guitar Hero World Tour. The album was also voted 25th out of the 500 greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone magazine.

The Hidden Gem

Even if you are familiar with the album, you may not know of the unreleased track that Mick Fleetwood and Stevie Nicks had a copyright tug of war over, ‘Silver Spring’. Replaced on the album by the marginally peppier ‘I Don’t Want To Know’, Nicks’ lyrical and musical genius is sorely overlooked. The song was recently added to the line-up in album re-releases and focuses on the breakdown of her relationship with Buckingham, with the eponymous ‘Silver Spring’ being an idealised and romantic sense of perfection. It was named after the band drove through Colorado and Nicks commented to Fleetwood that it seemed like a perfect place. For those who appreciate discovering new tracks, iTunes has many demos you probably haven’t heard before from the super-deluxe version of the album. ‘Planets of the Universe’ is particularly haunting, with poignant piano and vocals and a very raw, stripped back power behind it.

The Legacy

Rumours still hits a raw nerve with a lot of people; beyond the catchy tunes, familiar riffs and powerful vocals, the group is exploring the very real pain of being unable to hold a relationship together in a time of emotional turmoil. The album receives a lot of praise, and is almost seen as pejoratively mainstream since it has sold so many copies. So, is it overhyped? To quote Murray from Flight of the Conchords; “Rumours? No, it’s all true.”

Sophie Pawson / Inquire Live / Feb 12, 2017

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is 40 – here are 10 reasons why it’s their best album.

It’s safe to say everyone has heard of Fleetwood Mac.

Whether you’re 50 or 15, chances are there’s at least one track you know and love – and it’s pretty likely it comes from their most successful album, Rumours.

The record turns 40 this month, so what better way to mark the occasion than to provide 10 reasons why it’s their best album ever?

Dig out the tunes, get listening and read on.

1. Mick Fleetwood called Rumours ‘the most important album we ever made’, because it was this record’s success that allowed Fleetwood Mac to continue making music for years afterwards.

2. VH1 placed the album at number 16 during its 100 Greatest Albums countdown in 2003, and Rolling Stone ranked it at number 25 in its ‘The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time’ issue.

3. Rumours was Fleetwood Mac’s 11th studio album, and was released almost a decade after their first record – to achieve multi-platinum, record-breaking success so long after starting out is incredibly rare.

4. The album has received diamond certification in several countries, such as the U.S., Canada and Australia. What is diamond certification? In 1999, the diamond certification was introduced to signify that a recording had sold 10 million copies.

5. All five band mates worked through painful breakups while they created the record – The McVies were going through a divorce, Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were reaching a bitter end to their long term relationship, and Fleetwood’s wife was about to leave him for his best friend.

6. Each track on the album provides a tale of love and loss that everyone can identify with.

7. “Second Hand News” is a classic ode to rebound relationships, inspired by Buckingham’s experiences in finding new women after Stevie.

8. “Go Your Own Way” managed to be upbeat with a ‘f*** you’ vibe – quite the achievement.

9. What’s more, the line “Shackin’ up is all you wanna do” accuses an ex-lover of being a slut – then has Buckingham’s ex-lover harmonise on the hook.

10. Nicks wrote “Dreams” in a few minutes, recorded it onto a cassette, then went back to the studio and demanded the band listen to it. This simple ballad soon became part of the masterpiece – and was a number one hit.

Imogen Groome / Metro / Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, 40 Years On

This weekend (the 4th February, to be exact) marks the 40th anniversary of the release of Fleetwood Mac’s bestselling album, Rumours. The Grammy Award-winning album was released in 1977, and marked a turning point in Fleetwood Mac’s musical career. Fuelled by immense hedonism and heavy drug-use, Rumours is an album about relationships, and trying to move on after their failure. Now the ninth best-selling album of all time, Rumours has, in the words of AllMusic editor Stephen Erlewine, “transcended its era to be one of the greatest, most compelling pop albums of all time.”

“Fleetwood himself has noted the “tremendous emotional sacrifices” made by the band simply to attend the studio to record”

The production of Rumours came after a tumultuous period in the band’s history. Following the success of Fleetwood Mac’s eponymous tenth album, released in 1975, and six month of non-stop touring, Christine and John McVie (keyboard/vocals and bass guitar respectively) divorced. Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks had been in an on-off relationship during the tour as well, but their relationship began to suffer, and they fought often.

Mick Fleetwood was also struggling with family matters, after discovering that his wife had been having an affair with his best friend. Despite these problems, the band line-up remained the same for the recording of Rumours, though Fleetwood himself has noted the “tremendous emotional sacrifices” made by the band simply to attend the studio to record.

Rumours was recorded at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, with the band living in (separate) accommodation nearby, and originally went by the working title of Yesterday’s Gone. Though the band worked well together during the recording of the album, they did little together outside the studio, and often indulged in the prevalent San Francisco drug culture.

Chris Stone, one of the owners of Record Plant, reminisced in 1997 that the band “would come in at 7 at night, have a big feast, party till 1 or 2 in the morning, and then when they were so whacked-out they couldn’t do anything, they’d start recording.” Despite their heavy drug use and intense emotional conflicts, Nicks has suggested that Fleetwood Mac produced their best music when they were in the worst shape.

“The impact and legacy of Rumours shows no signs of stopping…”

The songs on the album are not without their significance. “The Chain” (the only song written by the whole band in collaboration) and “Oh, Daddy” (written by the McVies about Fleetwood and his wife, who had reconciled their differences and got back together) are about reluctance to leave a lover, even after they have treated you wrong.

“Dreams,” “Second Hand News” and “Go Your Own Way” are clearly about break-ups and an attempt to move on, while songs like “Songbird” (the only song on the album not recorded at Record Plant) and “Don’t Stop” are a little more optimistic; they seem hopeful of a better future that will come as a result of the breakup that has just occurred. “Gold Dust Woman” is a testament to Los Angeles and the hard life that such a metropolis provided; Nicks herself became addicted to cocaine after her time there, and the song references this several times.

Rumours has continued to be a classic in and of itself since its release 40 years ago. Production fraught with emotional tension and difficulty is replicated in the music itself, which is full of “raw, immediate emotional power” (Stephen Erelwine).

Now having reached 2x Diamond certification in the US and 11x Platinum in the UK, the impact and legacy of Rumours shows no signs of stopping, and will be remembered as Fleetwood Mac’s greatest contribution to music.

Ellen Smithies / Impact Magazine (University of Nottingham) / February 5, 2017