The album i have decided to research and write about is Rumors by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. It was released in 1977 and is the bands 11th studio album with a strong pop focus than previous albums made by the group. The album is about relationships, heartbreak, infidently and the emotional struggles that come with them. It is a raw and honest exploration of the personal lives of it's members, reflecting the emotional chaos they were living through at the time.
Background
The band's early years were formed from a series of instability, lineup changes and shifting musical styles. Formed in London in 1967 by guitarist Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac originally played a blues-based sound. After Green's departure in 1970, the band eventually evolved into the classic lineup of Mick Fleetwood (drums), Christine Mcvie (keyboards, vocals), Lindsey Buckingham (guitar, vocals), and Stevie Nicks (vocals). This final lineup was the one that would create Rumours.
By the mid-1970s, had found success with their album named Fleetwood Mac, which was produced by the band's long time friend Richard Dashut. However it was only during the recording of Rumours where the band's dynamic started to worsen. This made the creation of the album as complicated as the songs themselves.
The relationship dynamics among the band members played a major role in the production of Rumours. Lindsey and Stevie were in the process of ending their romantic relationship, while Christine and John Mcvie had already gone through a divorce during recording. These emotional events provided the raw material for most of the album's lyrics. Resulting in an album that is deeply personal and that people may relate to.
Recording
Recording began in February 1976 at the record plant in Sausalito, with engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut. Recording happened in a room equipped with a 3M 24- track tape machine, a range of high quality microphones, and API mixing consoles with 550 equalisers. Although Ken Caillat (the band's engineer) felt the room lacked ambience because of its "very dead speakers" and "Large amounts of soundproof".
It was mainly Lindsey Buckingham and Christine Mcvie who created the album's basic structures since they would play piano together. The band's sleepless nights and misuse of drugs had a negative effect on the album's production. The band would come to the studio at 1pm, party till 1 or 2 in the morning and would then try to record afterwards.
Despite all of this, Stevie Nicks believes Fleetwood Mac created the best music while in the worst shape. After the 2 months of recording in Sausalito, the band decided to go on tour for 10 days to take a break and hear fan feedback. Recording then carried on in various recording studios in Los Angeles, including the Wally Heider studios. The mastering was done at the Mastering Lab in Los Angeles, by Doug Sax.
Finalising the album was a struggle due to the overdubbing and mixing of Rumours after the tapes at the Sausalito recording studio were damaged due to repeated use during recording. After the final mastering stage and hearing the songs back to back, the band were impressed and sensed they had created something "pretty powerful"
Songwriting
"Second hand news"
The song was written by Lindsey Buckingham, and was inspired by the redemption Lindsey was finding in other women after the failed relationship with Stevie Nicks. The guitar part was inspired by the Bee Gees song "Jive Talkin'". Lindsey had also inspired the drum part by playing what he wanted on an office chair to show Mick Fleetwood the effect that he was looking for. Lindsey had also written the bass part after changing what John Mcvie had written.
"Dreams"
Dreams was written by Stevie Nicks, focuses on the sadness and regret of a relationship. Stevie had spent a lot of time alone during recording of the album, she was sat with a keyboard with a drum pattern in an empty room in the recording studio, and wrote dreams in 10 minutes. When she had shown it two the other band members, they were less than impressed including Christine Mcvie who thought it was really boring.
"Never going back again"
Never going back again, what was originally named "brushes" because of Mick Fleetwood using brushes on the drums for the song, but changed not long after recording. Written by Lindsey Buckingham, it was one of the last songs to be written and had also taken the longest to write. The song had to be recorded twice, due to the band not realising that the song had been recorded in the wrong key the first time. Due to Lindsey's strings not sounding as bright after 20 minutes of playing, the band had a tactic of changing the strings every 20 minutes.
"Don't stop"
"Don't stop" was written by Christine Mcvie during her breakup with the bands bassist John Mcvie. Christine said that "Don't stop" was just a feeling to her. The song was written as an encouragement to the band to let go of the past and look to the future. Although it was mainly highlighting the breakup with her and her husband, even though he was never aware it was written about him.
"Go your own way"
Lindsey Buckingham wrote "Go your own way" as a response to his breakup with Fleetwood Mac's vocalist Stevie Nicks. It is a powerful statement of defiance and heartache, which would later become one of Fleetwood Mac's most popular hits. The song's aggressive guitar riffs and driving beat represent how hurt Lindsey was during his breakup with Stevie Nicks.
"Songbird"
"Songbird" was written by Christine Mcvie and came to her spontaneously, and only took her 30 minutes to write. She revealed the idea came to her head in the middle of the night, and since she didn't have anything to record it on so she stayed awake all night so she wouldn't forget it. The song was then recorded at the Zellerbach auditorium at a university in California. It was recorded with 15 microphones placed around a hall in the university with Lindsey Buckingham strumming an acoustic guitar off stage in order to keep time.
"The chain"
Unlike other songs on the album, "the chain" took a while to make, and it is the only song that was written by all five band members. The song is also about the end of Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham's relationship and how they felt "chained together" during their relationship. Christine had come up with the chord progression, Mick and John had come up with the songs ending, Stevie had written the lyrics and Lindsey had taken the intro from a song he and Stevie had previously written in 1979, before Fleetwood Mac.
"You make loving fun"
"You make loving fun" which Christine had written about her new partner at the time, the band's lighting director. "Christine couldn't play her keyboard part and work the wah wah pedal at the same time, so Mick got down on his hands and knees and worked the pedal while Christine played. Being a drummer, he knew just what kind of rhythm it needed"
"I don't want to know"
"I don't want to know" was originally written by Nicks before she joined Fleetwood Mac, the song landed on Rumours as a replacement for her "Silver Springs" which was considered too long. Due to the replacement, Stevie Nicks was unhappy with the decision.
"Oh daddy"
There are a few different interpretations of "Oh daddy". But Christine later stated that the song was really about Mick Fleetwood, the only member of the band with children at that point and who had become the most parent-like figure in the group. "Instead of going to friends to talk it out, their feelings were vented through their music. It created a certain sensitivity. Our personal lives were in shambles, and the album was about the only thing we had left" Richard Dashut one of the band's engineers had stated to a writer.
"Gold dust woman"
"Gold dust woman" was written by Stevie Nicks, and was written to emphasize Stevie's wailing, witchy vocals. Stevie has never been completely clear on the meaning of the song but credited the tension of the recording sessions with producing some of the group's best work. "All of those problems, and all of those drugs, and all of the fun, and all of the craziness all made for writing all those songs". She stated after completing the album and this song.
Equipment and Techniques
The mixing console used for this album was a Neve 8028 console at the record plant in Sausalito. The majority of the recording was done on a 2-inch analog tape, a standard format for high quality recording at the time. The record plant also used Ampex 16-track tape machines. Various microphones were used during recording including brands like Shure, Neumann, and AKG. For example, the Neumann U87 was often used for vocals and acoustic instruments. The production involved a range of effects including echo and reverb in order to give depth and space on the tracks. The Eventide H910 Harmonizer was used on some vocals to add pitch-shifting effects. Other effects including delay on the guitar and vocals were also added to the songs. One technique that was used on the album was "guitar loops" that was used on "Go your own way" which Lindsey would record multiple guitar tracks and combine them in order to create rhythmic effects. Multi-track recording was also used on the album, in order to allow each band member to record themselves individually and to then mix them together. We can hear layering sounds on "The chain" and "Dreams".
Instruments
Lindsey Buckingham used a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson Les Paul for many of the album's tracks. His distinctive fingerpicking technique on "Go your own way" was done with the Strat. Stevie Nicks on the other hand played a Fender Telecaster and a Gibson Hummingbird acoustic guitar on some tracks. For the bass, John Mcvie played his iconic Fender Precision Bass and a Fender Jazz Bass. His bass work is fundamental to the album's groove, especially in "The chain". Mick Fleetwood used a Ludwig drum kit, which was one of the most popular drum kits used by many rock drummers at the time. He also employed a range of cymbals from Paiste. Christine Mcvie used a Wurlitzer electric piano and a Steinway grand piano for many of the album's tracks, particularly the more piano-driven songs like "You make loving fun" and "Songbird". Lindsey Buckingham who also contributed keyboard parts, particularly using a Fender Rhodes and a Hohner Clavinet.
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Vintage King Blog. (2024). 40 Years of Excess: The Making of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. [online] Available at: https://vintageking.com/blog/2017/11/fleetwood-mac-rumours?srsltid=AfmBOoqFUPGp7SbpJtOpN9vQtFWkXX-KChm3GksVSXZvzVc0KfY9W2Af [Accessed 2 Nov. 2024].
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