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On this Day:
April 2, 1977 Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours” album goes to No. 1 & stays atop the charts for 31 weeks.
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their self-titled debut album. Danny Kirwan joined as a third guitarist in 1968. Keyboardist and vocalist Christine Perfect, who contributed as a session musician from the second album, married McVie and joined in 1970.
Primarily a British blues band at first, Fleetwood Mac scored a UK number one with “Albatross”, and had other hits such as the singles “Oh Well” and “Man of the World”. All three guitarists left in succession during the early 1970s, to be replaced by guitarists Bob Welch and Bob Weston and vocalist Dave Walker. By 1974, Welch, Weston and Walker had all either departed or been dismissed, leaving the band without a male lead vocalist or guitarist.
In late 1974, while Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he heard American folk-rock duo Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, and asked Buckingham to be their new lead guitarist, and Buckingham agreed on condition that Nicks could also join the band. The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound, and their 1975 self-titled album, Fleetwood Mac, reached No. 1 in the United States. This was their second eponymous album and it was also known as their White Album.
Rumours (1977), Fleetwood Mac’s second album after the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks, produced four U.S. Top 10 singles and remained at number one on the American albums chart for 31 weeks. It also reached the top spot in countries around the world and won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Rumours has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums in history.
Although each member of the band went through a breakup (John and Christine McVie, Buckingham and Nicks, and Fleetwood and his wife Jenny) while recording the album, they continued to write and record music together. The band’s personnel remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s began to disintegrate.
After Buckingham and Nicks each left the band, they were replaced by a number of other guitarists and vocalists. A 1993 one-off performance for the first inauguration of Bill Clinton featured the line-up of Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Nicks, and Buckingham back together for the first time in six years. A full reunion occurred four years later, and the group released their fourth U.S. No. 1 album, The Dance (1997), a live compilation of their hits. This release marked the 20th anniversary of Rumours.
Christine McVie left the band in 1998, but continued to work with the band in a session capacity. Meanwhile, the group remained together as a four-piece, releasing their most recent studio album, Say You Will, in 2003. Christine McVie rejoined the band full-time in 2014.
In 2018, Buckingham was fired from the band and replaced by Mike Campbell, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House.
Fleetwood Mac have sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world’s best-selling bands. In 1979, the group were honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998 the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
In 2018, the band received the MusiCares Person of the Year award from The Recording Academy in recognition of their artistic achievement in the music industry and dedication to philanthropy.
First, a Story:
Breaking News: Stevie Nicks was fired from her job as local weather girl today after reporting that: “Thunder only happens when it’s raining.”
Second, a Song:
Second Hand News is the first song on Fleetwood Mac’s album, Rumours. The group went on a world tour, beginning on February 24, 1977 in Uniondale, New York. They played at fourteen venues in the United States before heading to Europe for fifteen venues, which began on April 2, 1977. They did a second tour of the United States and Canada with over 50 concerts beginning May 1, 1977. Following this tour, they began touring in Australia and New Zealand on Dec. 1, 1977. They made one more stop in the United States on December 10, 1977. The tour continued on July 17, 1978 in the United States, with their last concert being on August 3, 1978 in Baton Rouge, LA.
This video is a compilation of images of the group set to the song, Second Hand News, courtesy of evie1942 and YouTube.com. I hope you enjoy this!
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpB2knD5UNc)
Thought for the Day:
“No matter what – rehearsed, under-rehearsed, over-rehearsed, doubts about rehearsing – the first gig is always the first gig, and you put on your little praying hat, batten down the hatch, and do what you do.” – Mick Fleetwood
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Have a great day!
Dave & Colleen
© 2021 David J. Bilinsky and Colleen E. Bilinsky
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