I have been very fortunate to see Fleetwood Mac live twice in the original, or at least the longest-lasting, line-up. So with Lindsey Buckingham and (once with) Christine McVie. It's a real shame that Lindsey is no longer part of FWM. It takes two guitarists to replace him. That says something...
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac is a British-American band founded in London in 1967. The band experienced two relatively successful periods, characterised by the different musical styles the band adopted during those times. In the early years after its founding by Peter Green, the band mainly played blues and was originally called Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac.
The group evolved after the early years into a pop band with constantly changing line-ups. After Peter Green's departure, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie recruited musician Christine Perfect and the American duo Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. With the arrival of these musicians, a more pop-oriented path was taken between 1975 and 1987. During this period, the famous album Rumours was released, which is still considered one of the best-selling albums worldwide of all time.
The band name Fleetwood Mac comes from a track that Green, Fleetwood and McVie recorded while they were still playing with John Mayall, but it essentially is a contraction of the surnames of Mick Fleetwood and John M(a)cVie.
On 9 April 2018 it was announced that Lindsey Buckingham was leaving the band, for reasons unknown. Lindsey Buckingham was replaced by Neil Finn (formerly of Crowded House) and Mike Campbell (from Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers).
Death of Christine McVie
On 30 November 2022, Christine McVie passed away after a short illness. 'There are no words to describe our sorrow,' read the message Fleetwood Mac shared on social media. 'She was truly unique, special and extraordinarily talented. She was the best musician anyone could have in their band and the best friend anyone could have in their life. We were so lucky to have had a life with her.' McVie wrote some of the group's best-known hits, such as Little Lies, Everywhere, Don’t Stop, Say You Love Me and Songbird.
Sunday Morning Classics: Rumours
On 8 September 2019, Rumours was the album we played during our Sunday Morning Classics.
Bottles of ink have been used analysing and interpreting Fleetwood Mac's eleventh studio album – and rightly so. Rumours remains the fifth best-selling album of all time, as the music, alongside its rich melodies and proven musicianship, resonates with almost everyone whose love affairs did not end with a happy sunset.
It also serves as a prime example of how artists can masterfully transform pain into entertaining art. Imagine, for instance, how difficult it must have been for bassist John McVie to play a dozen takes of the jaunty hit 'You Make Loving Fun', a torch song sung by his ex-wife (keyboardist Christine McVie) about her then-new lover who happened to be the band's lighting technician.
The album reinforces the brilliant use of two female lead vocals and male backing vocals against a bright, instrumental backdrop that can become softly lyrical and haunting when the material calls for it. Many of the songs here deal with the painful freedom of being separated from a loved one, reflecting the personal changes between the two couples in the quintet. But overall, the tone of the LP is a sad optimism that fits perfectly within Fleetwood's English-folk-influenced rock.
Recording sessions were further complicated by the breaking relationship of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, a drama that fuelled the lyrics of 'Go Your Own Way'. Interpersonal trauma permeates almost every track on Rumours, as does the residue of huge amounts of cocaine and alcohol that shaped the gruelling, more than year-long recording and production process of the album.
But it wasn't all doom and gloom. The album opens with the relatively upbeat 'Second Hand News', and Nicks' 'Gold Dust Woman' finds her at her best with one of her most poignant character studies. And the contributions of keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie, from the aforementioned 'Don't Stop' to the sweet FM-radio-friendly 'You Make Lovin' Fun', are equally valid and timeless moments of pop happiness.
Rumours is, in any case, the ultimate proof that Fleetwood Mac at their best was so much more than the sum of its parts.
(source: Jan Liebregts and Wikipedia)
