Pantheon - Podcasts for Music Lovers Ugly American Werewolf in London: Fleetwood Mac (1975)
By 1975, Fleetwood Mac had already had many iterations and lineups. Started by veterans of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers, early Fleetwood Mac were a blues based band with limited success on the US Billboard chart. By 1975, they had lost their main singer, lead guitarist and main songwriter in Bob Welch and remaining members Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood were on the search for a spark. While working at Sunset Studios, they heard the debut album from a duo that was also a couple, Buckingham Nicks. Though at first they were interested in hiring on Lindsey Buckingham as their singer and guitarist, they soon found out that he would only join if they took his singer/songwriter girlfriend Stevie Nicks as well. The rest is pop/rock history as the 1975 product of the five piece, Fleetwood Mac, would go on to sell over 7 million copies in the US alone.
Now with three lead singers/songwriters in the band, they could choose the best of the best for inclusion on the record. While the choices for singles didn't always make sense (Warm Ways was the 1st UK single, World Turning wasn't released as a single), the chemistry did and the world heard harmonies that were unknown before. While Christine McVie held her own with lilting love songs (Warm Ways, Over My Head, Say You Love Me), Lindsey Buckingham offered more upbeat rockers like Monday Morning and the brooding So Afraid.
However, the real star in the making was Stevie Nicks who turned the album's and the band's fortunes with her all-time classic Rhiannon. It really introduced the world to Stevie Nicks and the power she possessed in her voice and songwriting. She also offered the sweet Landslide, another track on this album that would go on to be a rock radio staple and part of their live show.
The success of Fleetwood Mac gave them the opportunity to release Rumours in 1977, an album that would sell over 40 million copies worldwide. But this album laid the groundwork for Rumours and all the future success for the band for the next 50 years.
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