FLEETWOOD MAC 101
Lesson Three: “Fleetwood Mac”
With two new members on board, and
having relocated to the United States, Fleetwood Mac was ready to make a new
album.
After only
ten days in the studio, they recorded an album simply called "Fleetwood
Mac" known to most fans as simply "The White Album." One
of the reasons why the album was recorded so quickly was that three of the
songs were already written for what would have been Buckingham and Nicks'
second album. And one song was simply a re-recording of a song on the
Buckingham Nicks album. Christine also was well-prepared with a few songs she
had ready to contribute to the album.
Only a few weeks after the White Album's release in July 1975, this new
incarnation of Fleetwood Mac was already proving to be the most commercially
successful lineup yet.
The first single taken from the
album was Christine's "Over My Head" which broke in to the top
20!! It was the first ever Fleetwood Mac song to do so in the United
States! It quickly became a radio staple at the time.
Suddenly, Fleetwood Mac was
gaining immense popularity. Their album started climbing the charts as
the band released two more singles, Stevie's
"Rhiannon" and Christine's "Say You Love Me." Both
reached number 11 on the singles charts.
The White Album eventually made it's way to number one on the Billboard Charts and stayed on
the charts for 148 weeks.
The tour was a smashing success as
well.
Christine
recalls, "We could tell by the first concert we ever did it was going to
be good. That first show went down like a storm. There was something about the
combination of people on the stage that was very special."
Fleetwood Mac was on top of the
world! They were making their way in to stardom in the music industry and
were starting to roll in some money as well.
Little did they know just what was
on the horizon, and how it would affect their lives and music history forever.