Fleetwood Mac Tracks, #’s 5 – 1

Before the end...

Here we are, my favorite Fleetwood Mac tracks, and it’s no surprise that this list is dominated by Christine McVie songs. I so admire her as a songwriter, as a singer, and as a musician. She is the heart of Fleetwood Mac, and I feel overshadowed by her more colorful cohorts, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Yet it’s when all three of the together make music that the magic happens. I credit much of my love of Fleetwood Mac on Lindsey’s obsessive production work, Stevie’s passion, and the unique and breath-taking way the three sound when they sing together. Christine’s not alone in the Top 5 though, and Stevie makes quite a long-lasting mark with her top track. Let me know what you think!

#5 – Say You Love Me (McVie, C.) Fleetwood Mac (1975)

Another of Fleetwood Mac’s most well-known songs, “Say You Love Me” was the fourth single from the Fleetwood Mac album peaking at #11, where it hung out for three weeks. It was also the fourth single from the album in the UK, and the first to chart, reaching #40. For me, it’s the prototype of Christine McVie songs, and perhaps one of the most enduring. This woman has fallen head over heels for this guy who’s a bit of a player. Things sound great in verse one, it’s the start of a relationship, she’s smitten, then the chorus comes in and he turns on the charm and tells her he loves her. Yet in verse two suddenly things aren’t going so well, and she thinks he’s moved on, but back he comes into her life and she just wants him to treat her right. Will he? Only time will tell.

Things I love about this song? Christine’s piano really drives the song. I love the intro which is all piano, then it just steadily moves the song along. This is possibly my favorite John McVie bass line, especially the melodic part through the chorus. Lindsey’s banjo adds a lot of color to this number as well, But what makes this song so special to me, was it’s the first time I experienced that gorgeous and unique sound that comes when the three of then harmonize on the chorus. I love how their voices blend together seamlessly, but because their voices are so distinctive, you can pick out each one beautifully. It’s pure pop bliss. I used to sing this song over and over when I was a teenager, each time taking a different harmony part. And two silly things I love about this song: on some choruses, I love the way Christine sings, “And dere’s not another living soul around” instead of “there’s;” and the use of the word “woo” in “You woo me until the sun comes up.” How often do you hear the word woo? It’s a great word.

The song was remastered for the 45 release, with the banjo coming in a little brighter, and some fuzzy electric guitar licks added in to pump up the sound, but I prefer the original, piano-driven version, so I’ve included that here. Then, because of the stripped down arrangement and highlight of the vocals, I’ve also included the live version from The Dance. It’s cool to see the five of them all lined-up at the front of the stage too.

#4 – Warm Ways (McVie, C.) Fleetwood Mac (1975)

Christine McVie’s “Warm Ways” is my earliest memory of Fleetwood Mac. As a 13-year-old in the throes of puberty, this lush, sexy ballad really resonated with me. Spending the night with her lover, she’s waiting for the sun to come up because she can’t sleep with his warm ways. I could only imagine what that was like. Christine’s breathy vocals touched parts of me that other songs had not done up to this point. This song featured all the best things about the talented musicianship of the band, each part fitting the song’s tone perfectly. The heavily reverbed Fender Rhodes electric piano, the languid guitar licks and softly strummed acoustic guitar, the gentle, plush bass work, and Fleetwood’s incredible drumming came together with sublime beauty. Stevie and Lindsey’s gentle background vocals seemed to float like gauze under Christine’s exquisite voice. The slow fade-out still raises goosebumps on my arms.

It’s placement on the album, sandwiched between two of Buckingham’s rockers, “Monday Morning” and “Blue Letter” works perfectly, it’s gentle wash the perfect balm to the high energy male energy around it. A writer from PopMatters extols “Warm Ways” as Christine’s finest moment. He notes, “McVie’s contralto radiates the heat of someone who enjoyed hours of incredible sex and can’t wait for the next round. But the music is wistful. The layers of gratitude McVie’s voice folds into the line ‘You made me a woman tonight’ suggest a woman awake to erotic possibilities undreamt of twelve hours earlier.” The song speaks to a maturity that most pop rock songs eschew, and no one can pull it off like Christine McVie. Sadly, the band has never performed the song live, although there are some bootleg recordings of the band rehearsing it which I’ve included here so you can here Christine and Stevie harmonizing together.

#3 – Heroes Are Hard to Find (McVie, C.) Heroes Are Hard to Find (1974)

Here we go, the first of two surprise entries… for me, at least. The first offering from 1974’s Heroes Are Hard to Find album, the last Fleetwood Mac album before the arrival of the Buckingham Nicks team. It was just Christine McVie and Bob Welch carrying the songwriting duties, and surprisingly, in retrospect, it included some of Christine’s best and I must say, most daring work. Perhaps she subconsciously felt a change was in the wind for the band that caused her to step up her songwriting game, but whatever the reason, her songs on this album have proven to stand out amongst her prolific oeuvre.

Coming in at #3, is the title track of the album, a bold, brassy, call to the ladies that was Fleetwood Mac’s attempt at a hit single. Sadly, the song didn’t make it to the Top 100, but it diid help the album become the highest charting of the band’s career, climbing to #34 on Billboard’s Hot 200. This is an upbeat McVie number, driven by her rollicking piano, and preacher-style, call and response delivery, but punctuated with an incredibly catch horn section that adds so much color and verve to this great, great song.

Lyrically it takes Christine’s usual trope of falling for a guy that’s just no good for you, and turning the blame from the pining woman, to the no-good guy. As she sings, ” But you’ve got to pity him, and try to understand, that a hero, a hero is so hard to find.” I love how she starts the song with a call to all the ladies, “Girls you know,…” then she proceeds to gather them together to say, we’ve all been there, you get involved with a guy and they invariably disappoint you. Well, just remember, a hero is hard to find. Christine and Bob Welch provide the fun response, back-up vocals to Christine’s preaching, to add to the fun. This song always makes me smile, and it’s a nice change of pace for Christine, and one I would have loved to see more of through the years.

#2 – Silver Springs (Nicks) The Dance (1997, 1977)

Lest you thought the Top 5 was going to be all Christine McVie songs, Stevie Nicks comes crashing back in so close to the top at #2 with the gorgeous underdog track, “Silver Springs.” The story of “Silver Springs” is a fascinating one, fraught with tensions that nearly broke up the band. As a teenager, I remember discovering the songs as a b-side to the “Go Your Own Way” 45 release from Rumours. Even back then, I was stunned that this amazing song had been left of the album, only to appear as a b-side. Because of it’s elusive nature, I lost track of the song over the next 20 years, until it emerged, powerfully as the stand-out track of Fleetwood Mac’s reunion concert and live album, The Dance. Nominated for a grammy and given new live in such a dramatic way, it was certainly vindication for Stevie Nicks who fought passionately for the song to be included on the Rumours album.

Written about the collapse of her long relationship with Lindsey Buckingham, the song had been intended to be included on Rumours. For multiple reasons, including its length and relatively slower tempo and — over strenuous objections from Nicks — the song was excluded from the album, and replaced with I Don’t Wanna Know. Nicks was furious, and the tensions that arose nearly led to the break-up of the band, or at least that version. Years later, after the world tour to support their 1987 album, Tango in the Night, Nicks left the band after a dispute with Mick Fleetwood, who would not allow her to release “Silver Springs” on her 1991 compilation album, Timespace — the Best of Stevie Nicks because of his plans to include the song as part of a Fleetwood Mac box set, 1992’s 25 Years — The Chain. It’s fitting that the song was the centerpiece of the band’s 1997 reunion concert, and a vindication of sorts for Nicks.

The song clearly embodies the emotions wrapped up in Stevie and Lindsey’s break-up in a way no other song does. In the live video of the concert version, Stevie and Lindsey share a moment, singing together, and the emotion from 20+ years ago just still out from them. I love this story Stevie told “MacLean’s” magazine: After Christine McVie rejoined Fleetwood Mac in 2014, her heartbreak sisterhood with Nicks was rekindled. By that time, “Silver Springs” had already become a staple of the band’s set lists. “When I finish [performing] ‘Silver Springs,’ Christine waits for me and takes my hand,” Nicks said in 2015. “We walk off and we never let go of each other until we get to our tent. In that 30 seconds, it’s like my heart just comes out of my body.”

I love both the studio and live versions, but there’s something about the live version that really captures the intensity and the passion of the song. Stevie is in the best vocal form she had been in for years, and the live version really shows up Christine’s piano talents, forming the foundation for the song, while the studio version spotlights Lindsey’s delicate guitar work, both acoustic and electric. As always, “Silver Springs” is another amazing example of how these three vocalists come together and harmonize better than just about anyone. It’s one of Stevie’s more grounded songs lyrically as well, and she restrains from going all mystical and ethereal, which I very much appreciate for this song.

For me, this is Stevie’s crowning, song-writing achievement, and for Fleetwood Mac, it’s one of their best moments as well, and I would add, for the McVie/Buckingham/Nicks era, THE moment.

#1 – Come a Little Bit Closer (McVie, C.) Heroes Are Hard to Find (1974)

And in a surprise move, Christine McVie takes the top spot with a little-known ballad from 1974’s Heroes Are Hard to Find album. I knew this track would end up high on the list, but was pretty surprised to find it in the top spot. To tell you the truth, I’m not sure what “Come a Little Bit Closer” has that pushes it to the top, but I have loved this song since I first heard it sometime in the late 70’s, when post-Rumours I delved into my brother’s back catalog of Fleetwood Mac albums.

Not a whole lot is written about “Come a Little Bit Closer,” so I don’t know all that much about the background of the song, but several critics who laud the album as one of the most overlooked of Fleetwood Mac’s albums have universal praise for this sweeping, McVie ballad. Dave Swanson of Ultimateclassicrock.com wrote, “‘Come a Little Bit Closer’ is pop perfection from Christine McVie. The song has an almost George Harrison-like quality to it with some nice pedal steel from the legendary Sneaky Pete Kleinow.” The song is grand and bombastic in the way Christine rarely is, with crashing drums and sweeping strings. It opens with a gorgeous, piano intro, something else that Christine rarely does — show offer her piano skills — gracefully building with an ascending scale to a crash of drums and what is possibly my favorite thing about the song… the strings sweep up and slowly descend along with some big notes from Christine’s piano, in contrast to the pedal steel guitar that provides a complimentary ascension, all culminating in Christine’s gorgeous alto voice bringing it all together.

When the chorus comes in, I am practically swooning. Some might say this song is over-produced, but I think the grandiosity fits it perfect, and when Christine’s voice soars to the clouds in the line, “When you held me in your arms…” I am so choked up over the beauty. McVie and Welch provide backing vocals that are perfection, and as the chorus ends, we’re back into that sweeping ascent/descent compliment of strings and pedal steel. Rarely does Christine cut loose like this, her songs are usually pretty laid back and cool, but here she throws her heart way out there and the effect is thrilling. I distinctly remember leaping around the room to this song… if I had been a figure skater, I would have no doubt done a routine to this song — I can see just where the triple jumps would go.

Lyrically it’s not too far afield from your standard McVie song. The relationship is over, and she is yearning for a lost love. “Now all that’s left is a sweet memory…” But then the second verse seems to imply things might not be over and done with… and she asks him to give them another chance. “Come a little bit closer, ’cause I remember the time when you held me in your arms and you wanted to be mine.” Listening to it again over and over as I write this I see how it’s definitely deserving of the #1 spot in my list of favorite Mac tracks. If you’ve never heard the song (or even if you have) I’d love to hear what you think!

My favorite Fleetwood Mac song of all time.

And how about your favorites? Did I miss any of your favorite tracks? Thanks for indulging me, this was fun. I’ll be back with more, but now it’s time to check in on my love of comics again.

Rumours era
How I will always think of them…

Fleetwood Mac Tracks, #20 – 16

Behind the Mask era

It’s all about Lindsey and Christine in this batch, as we really start to explore the cream of the crop. The Top 20 is just packed with amazing songs, and it was really difficult to get them in an order I was satisfied with. Many of the songs from here on out are from the Fleetwood Mac and Rumours days, but a surprising outlier from Behind the Mask pops up in this bottom half of the Top 20. The only track from that album to crack the Top 50!

#20 – Never Going Back Again (Buckingham) Rumours 1977

There are only three Lindsey Buckingham-penned songs in the Top 20, and two of them kick things off. All three are stellar and find him at the top of his craft. All three are from Rumours. “Never Going Back Again” is mainly a song that highlights Lindsey’s proficiency with the guitar, in this case, a finger-picking delight on the acoustic guitar. The melody is so lovely, it is reminiscent of the gorgeous acoustic guitar instrumental lifted form the Buckingham Nicks album called “Stephanie.” I suspect that “Never Going Back Again” was created to be an instrumental track, then Lindsey added vocals to it at the last minute.

It was, in fact, one of the last songs to be written and recorded for the album, and the lyrics reflect a moment in Lindsey’s life where he had ended his relationship with Stevie Nicks, and had started a rebound relationship, and he naively sings he’s not going to repeat the same mistakes again. The lyrics and simple, and reflect an innocence of youth, something Buckingham himself has admitted. During recording, producer Ken Caillat asked the guitar techs to restring Lindsey’s guitar every 20 minute to keep the sound bright and clear. It certainly is that, and the simplicity of the song (just a guitar and vocals) allows both to shine. Lindsey sings with passion and vulnerability.

An earlier demo of the song, then called “Brushes”, because it featured Mick’s snare drum and brushes, also featured Lindsey on electric guitar, playing bell-sounding harmonics to augment the acoustic guitar. (I’ve included the “Brushes” audio track below as well.) It gave the song a music box quality, and while lovely, I’m glad they left it simple with the just the acoustic. “Never Going Back Again” was a staple for several of Fleetwood Mac’s and served as a bit of an emotional catharsis featuring Lindsey wailing his lyrics over the lyrical finger-picking. The song is a favorite from the album among some critics.

#19 – Go Your Own Way (Buckingham) Rumours (1977)

Coming in at #19, another Buckingham track from Rumours, and arguably his most well-known song. I think “Go Your Own Way” deserves to be higher on my list, but there are just too damn many great songs by this band! Every song in the Top 20 is superlative. The first single released from Rumours, it became the bands first Top 10 single.

As has been well-chronicled, all the members in Fleetwood Mac were in crumbling relationships during the writing and recording of Rumours, and two of those couples were in the band.”Go Your Own Way” was the first song written for the album, and is probably the best example, and perhaps the most scathing of the break-up songs. It’s clearly Buckingham working through his pain and anger over break-up with Nicks. Lindsey had known Stevie since he was 16-years-old, and he “was completely devastated when she took off.” Despite this, the two had to work together closely in the band. From Nicks’ perspective, she of Buckingham that he remove the lyrics, “Packing up, shacking up is all you wanna do.” She told Rolling Stone, “Every time those words would come onstage, I wanted to go over and kill him. He knew it, so he really pushed my buttons through that. It was like, ‘I’ll make you suffer for leaving me.’ And I did.”

Musically it’s such an intriguing song. It’s one of Fleetwood Mac’s most rocking songs, but the opening verse is very disorienting. It starts with Buckingham’s straight-forward rhythm guitar, but then the overdubbed acoustic guitar and the intriguing drum drum beats that really pull the song together, do so in such a way that it’s hard to tell where the beat is. Then, with the addition of the organ, some maracas, and the classic three-part harmonies, the chorus just erupts with pained anger. The drumming is really top notch, and Fleetwood comments on how difficult it was for him to get the beat that Lindsey wanted. And the acoustic guitar, which was the last part added, brings the whole song together.

“Go Your Own Way” has been part of every tour the band has played, even if Lindsey wasn’t with them. It’s frequently the set closer, and features an extended lead guitar solo toward the end of the song. Frequently during the performance, Stevie and Lindsey ham it up, facing each other while they sing those painful lines. Buckingham has admitted none of that is genuine. It’s play-acting for the audience, but something tells me there’s some of the hurt deep down still. I’ve included the studio version of the song below, as well as the live version from the Mirage tour in 1982.

Stevie and Christine fooling around during “Go Your Own Way.”

Interesting note: there is one more Buckingham-penned song that I ranked higher than “Go Your Own Way.” Can you figure out which song that might be? Also, interestingly enough, there is one more song with lead vocals by Buckingham that he did not write higher up on my list. Any guesses?

#18 – Skies the Limit (McVie, C; Quintela, E.) Behind the Mask (1990)

I don’t understand why this Christine McVie gem was not a bigger hit. Perhaps it was the lackluster performance of the album from which it came, 1990’s Behind the Mask, the first album since 1975’s Fleetwood Mac without Lindsey Buckingham, who departed after the release of the previous album, Tango in the Night. In addition to the two McVie’s, Nicks, and Fleetwood, guitarists/vocalists Billy Burnette and Rick Vito were added to the line-up. This jaunty of pop confection would have been my choice for the lead single off the album, but instead they released the much blander, “Save Me” (also written by McVie and then husband, Eddie Quintela). That song cracked the US Top 40 at least. At least “Skies the Limit” hit #10 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. It also kicks off the album.

The lyrics are classic, optimist McVie, describing the first brushes of new love. It’s got a very positive, feel-good message, and the harmonizing between McVie and Nicks is just lovely. I’m not sure why I love this song so much, but there’s something so bright and uplifting about it, it captures me every time I listen to it. And I love the accompanying video, and I only just saw it for the first time about a month ago!

#17 – You Make Loving Fun (McVie, C.) Rumours (1977)

I find it interesting that while relationships were collapsing throughout the band while making Rumours, Lindsey and Stevie were venting their anger and frustration, while Christine was trying to focus on the positive. “You Make Loving Fun” was written about the band’s lighting director, Curry Grant, with whom Christine was having an affair. She initially told her newly ex-husband John that the song was about her dog. “You Make Loving Fun” was the fourth single from Rumours, and was also the bands fourth Top 10 song. I love the funky vibe overlaying the more traditional McVie sound that really makes the song pop. McVie was quoted as saying early tracks of the song were recorded without Buckingham, allowing her to “build the song on my own”.

The verses are driven by McVie’s electric piano and the fabulous springy sounds she played on the clavinet. The fantastic chorus feature McVie’s beautifully controlled vocals, backed by the lush harmonies of the three, and an intricate drum pattern. Fleetwood uses a variety of percussion throughout really adding texture to the song. Lindsey provides great color with guitar filler and a great melodic solo after the first chorus. The song features one of the great outros with a call and response between McVie and her fellow singers. The live version that I’ve included is a very early version from 1977, featuring some terrific harmonies between McVie and Nicks on the choruses.

#16 – Sugar Daddy (McVie, C.) Fleetwood Mac (1975)

I have always loved this light-hearted, playful offering from McVie off the Fleetwood Mac album. It’s such a fun, jaunty number, and you can hear Christine laughing at the end of the song. It shares a lot with the much more popular “Say You Love Me,” which may explain why the band has never performed the song live. It’s really all Christine… with her piano and organ really driving the song, along with a fantastic wandering bass line by her then husband John McVie. I love the way her organ part builds as the song progresses. The song is also a rarity for the time, as it featured a guest performer, Waddy Wachtel, on rhythm guitar. Christine’s vocal performance is spot on as well.

Lyrically, the song is about Christine longing for a sugar daddy, and older, wealthy gentleman to provide her with the comforts of life, but not for love. She’s got her man for that. It’s also got that fun car horn sound affect of a car horn just after the lines, “Well, he couple pick me up in a big fancy car,” and also during the song’s intro. I’ve included an early take of the song, without any guitar, that really highlights Christine’s piano and organ playing and shows off her early bluesy roots. Some may think “Sugar Daddy” is a throwaway song for Fleetwood Mac, but it always makes me happy and is one of my favorites. It has been since the album first came out.