Fleetwood Mac Tracks – #’s 45 – 41

As we close in on the Top 40, we have a nice assortment of songs from various eras, including Bob Welch’s sole entry in the Top 50.

#45 – Can’t Go Back (Buckingham, L.) Mirage 1982

Mirage was an interesting album. Just as Tusk was a reaction to Rumours, I suspect Mirage was a bit of a reaction to Tusk. Gone was the raw, stripped down production, and in its place was a super-slick, sadly, almost antiseptic sheen over some admittedly fantastic pop songs. The production was impeccable, for sure, but while the production on Rumours was also slick and exacting, there was a more organic feel to that album. Mirage despite it’s bevy of songs about relationships, felt a little cool. Still, it returned the band to the #1 spot (for five weeks) on the U.S. Billboard charts — the first time since Rumours.

Not that Lindsey wasn’t still tossing out his quirky, off-beat songs, they were just a little less in your face and digestible. Can’t Go Back, another ode to the Buckingham/Nicks relationship (“she was just a dream maker, dreamer of sighs…”) with a great call and response between the keyboard and the acoustic guitar (as well as the vocals in the chorus), and a tight, propulsive drum track, showcases Buckingham’s voice, filled with longing. “Can’t Go Back” was a follow-up UK single to the chart-topping “Oh, Diane,” but it stalled at #83.

#44 – Believe Me (McVie, C.) Mystery to Me (1973)

There are so many Christine McVie songs in the Fleetwood Mac pantheon. Not surprising when you consider her tenure with the band. When listening to her pre-Buckingham/Nicks era work, I was impressed how she took more chances, and pushed at the boundaries of pop a bit more. Perhaps she was still shaking off her blues roots, or perhaps she just hadn’t quite evolved into the hit-making songwriting machine she eventually became. Mystery to Me features 4 songs on my Top 50 (all McVie songs) the most of any album not featuring Buckingham and Nicks.

Believe Me is a very cool song because at its heart, it’s a straight-forward, blues-tinged, pop-rock number in the early McVie style. What sets it apart are a very cool intro and outro. The song starts with some beautiful piano playing by McVie leading you to believe you are going to enjoy a lovely piano ballad. Then the main body song kicks off with some twangy guitar, punchy piano, traveling bass, and high-energy drumming. The song closes with an extended outro and another major mood change with some mournful slide guitar provided by Bob Weston. Somehow the whole thing works, and showcases McVie’s strong writing skills and piano playing. Lyrically it’s your basic, blues staple about a woman in love with a bit of a loser, but this one is much more musically interesting than lyrically.

Two versions of the song below, the studio track that features that piano intro and a live version from the early 70’s that features Christine’s strong vocal performance and gives Weston’s slide guitar a focus on a new intro.

#43 – Future Games (Welch, Bob) Future Games (1971)

Bob Welch makes his single appearance in my Top 50 at ##43 with the dreamy title track of the 1971 album, Future Games. It was Welch’s first of five albums with the band for which he wrote songs, sang. and played guitar from 1971 – 1974. Welch contributed quite a few songs to Fleetwood Mac, including the radio hit “Hypnotized,” from 1973’s Mystery to Me. and Bare Tree’s “Sentimental Lady” which was his biggest hit when her re-recorded it as a solo artist in 1977. Welch’s rerecorded “Sentimental Lady” was a Top 10 U.S. hit, and was produced by Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie, who also appeared on the track.

While I liked Bob Welch just fine, his songs as as rule didn’t connect with me as strongly as the other songwriting members. “Future Games” was certainly an exception. A haunting and beautiful number featuring a simmering falsetto chorus, which would be echoed in some of Buckingham’s work, “Future Games” is nearly nine minutes of dreamy rock and roll. Welch wrote the song after debating with friends about the turbulent state of the world at that time, and what the future might bring. In addition to Welch’s vocals, which really fuel the song, I love McVie’s big organ sound in the chorus, and Danny Kirwan’s smooth guitar licks add the right touch of psychedelia to this ethereal number.

#42 – Over and Over (Christine McVie) Tusk (1979)

McVie’s lovely ballad was the opening track for the band’s Tusk album, and it very deceptively might have the listener believe that Rumours part 2 had arrived. (Those misconceptions would be blown away with track 2, when “The Ledge” would come barreling in). A second listen would find “Over & Over” actually being a strong opener for Tusk, a bridge, so to speak that would draw you in rather than alienate you. There’s more raw space in the production, Buckingham’s acoustic guitar is more rhythmic than melodic, and the backing vocals are haunting and one of those lovely moments where each singer’s signature vocal style is clear.

Lyrically we’re in the usual McVie territory for many of her song. She’s trying to hang on to her man however she can. But musically, the songs is anything but simple. The lovely overlays of electric piano, acoustic guitar, Fleetwood’s deceptively intricate drumming, a touch of organ toward the end, and the interwoven electric guitar licks create a lovely tapestry for McVie’s gorgeous voice, expressing a fragility in the verses that she doesn’t use very often. She even takes a few bars of an actual piano solo in the middle. It’s those haunting vocals, both lead and back up that really lift this song to higher heights. “Over & Over” was featured during the Tusk tour and the live version had additional vocal interplay between Nicks and McVie, and a powerful build for the outro that really showed the song at its best. I’ve included both the studio and live versions here.

#41 – I’m So Afraid (Buckingham, L.) Fleetwood Mac (1975)

Buckingham wrote “I’m So Afraid” for the second Buckingham Nicks album, but when the duo joined Fleetwood Mac, it shows up on 1975’s Fleetwood Mac as a powerful and haunting closing number. One Mac’s rare out and out rockers, “I’m So Afraid” is also a staple in all of their live shows, showing off Buckingham’s guitar prowess and proving the band knows how to rock out.

“I’m So Afraid” is a dark song detailing the fear and anxiety that cripples the narrator, possibly even generating suicidal thoughts. Is it paranoia? Mental illness? Genuine fear? The song is universal as certainly everyone has felt alone and afraid in their life. Buckingham’s anguished falsetto, along with Nicks’ wailing harmony really sell the song. The pounding drumbeats, and McVie’s funereal organ add to the melancholy mood. If love the way the organ is really the backbone of the song in the live version, and how this concert performance really showcases the power of the Mac rhythm section, the three instruments providing an powerful base for Buckingham’s intricate, wailing guitar solos.

“I’m So Afraid” is the second track form the Fleetwood Mac album to appear n the Top 50. I was always intrigued how their two smash albums from the 70’s Fleetwood Mac and Rumours feature in interesting parallel structure, with Buckingham pop-rockers opening both albums, (“Monday Morning,” and “Second ‘Hand News”) and closing tracks that feature dark, haunting themes and vocals, this one, and Stevie’ Nicks’ “Gold Dust Woman” on Rumours. “I’m So Afraid” was a great closing song for the album, and as a young teenager, I was really captivated by the torment that was evident in this song, and especially Buckingham’s voice. I’ve included both the original track and one of the many live versions to show who Mac could decidedly rock out despite their polished, studio presentations. This video is from the 1982 Mirage tour.

Next up… the Top 40!