Can It Be So? Rumours At 35

Long time readers of this blog know my undisputed favorite album. What they don’t know is that my second favorite album varies upon my mood. I could blog about a number of second favorite cds, but this post is about an album that came out 35 years ago this month…

I was eight when Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours was released. I’m not going to write about the hedonistic lifestyles or personal (not professional) breakups of drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie, guitarist/vocalist Lindsey Buckingham and vocalist Stephanie “Stevie” Nicks. I don’t really know any of the backstory as the group recorded the album. That just leaves the music.

It has been argued that Rumours is hugely successful (40 million units sold to date) due to the three main songwriter’s songs giving the impression that one was listening to entirely different bands. Fleetwood Mac’s record label certainly believed that, releasing Lindsey’s “Go Your Own Way”, Christine’s “Don’t Stop”, Stevie’s “Dreams” and Christine’s “You Make Loving Fun” as singles in that order from the 1977 album.

Exceptional musicians in their own right, Christine and Lindsey would write songs around their instruments. Christine wrote songs where her keyboards could groove (“You Make Loving Fun”), boogie-woogie (“Don’t Stop”) and gently lilt (“Songbird”), while Lindsey’s song were rife with guitar sounds both electric (“Go Your Own Way”) and acoustic (“Never Going Back Again”).

Lindsey was especially good at crafting the group’s sound. Listen to the guitar playfully bounce around in “You Make Loving Fun” or shimmer in unexpectedly at the 1:44 mark of “Dreams”. Lindsey had the ability to punch up Christine’s trite exclamations of love as well as tone down Stevie’s wildly imaginative musings. Christine returned the favor by having Lindsey share lead vocals on “Don’t Stop”, while Stevie sang her heart out on the background vocals of Lindsey’s “Go Your Own Way”, despite knowing it was a direct rebuke to their relationship.

The signature sound was filled by Mick and John’s rhythm section. Playing together when Fleetwood Mac was a British blues band, they instinctively knew when the beat should be driven forward and when to pull it back. Even though Stevie was the least talented musician in the group, she was equally important. She wrote the albums only number one song (“Dreams”) while giving the band someone to front the group. Her mystical chanteuse image and flower power movements on stage provided the brand for Fleetwood Mac, enhancing the music and giving listeners focus.


So 1970s!  (L-to-R) John, Lindsey, Stevie, Mick and Christine


The song that holds Rumours together is ironically titled “The Chain”. Credited to all five members, “The Chain” combines unfinished songs by the three songwriters while being bridged by the rhythm section (listen for a thumping bass solo by John). If Fleetwood Mac’s members were highly dysfunctional, then the music overcame their faults. After 35 years, shouldn’t Rumours finally be judged by the music and not by the lives of the members?