by Will Emaus

Created on: September 22, 2009   Last Updated: September 27, 2009

I think it's helpful when reviewing the album Rumours to understand a bit about Fleetwood Mac and how this album came about.

Fleetwood Mac is actually a blues band from England that has been around since the 60's, they are one of these bands that was close to the top commercially for a short time, then sort of "fell" from that perch and became one of those musically viable, but 200,000 album selling bands that went through a variety of lineups and really could easily have faded into oblivion in the mid-70s.

Instead, Mick Fleetwood happened to be talking with a producer about the use of their studio in California one day and the producer showed off the facilities by playing a track from a relatively unknown duo called Buckingham/Nicks. Fleetwood Mac was yet again in the market for a singer/guitarist at the time...

Fortunately, Lindsey Buckingham happened to be there that day and Fleetwood was impressed enough to offer Lindsey the job; Buckingham insisted that Stevie (his girlfriend of about 7 years) had to be part of the deal and so they both joined the group.

They cut the Fleetwood Mac album in '75 and the combined skills of the new members and the 3 existing members suddenly created a formula that everyone loved. Buckingham, Nicks and Christine McVie were all capable writers and singers and could trade off on lead with the others doing backup, and Buckingham was a phenomenal guitarist as well.

They toured throughout '75 and '76 and grew to be one of the biggest acts in the world; Their Rhiannon performance on the Midnight Special in 1976 putting them over the top.

However coming into the studio sessions for their new album (Rumours), the band members personal lives collapsed. Buckingham and Nicks broke up. John and Christine McVie got a divorce. Mick Fleetwood was also in the process of getting a divorce.

Under these conditions, the album Rumours was both written and recorded; by people who were writing these songs about each other and then, incredibly, playing songs that one member had written about another.

In the early days ('76) of Rona Barrett style gossip, if anyone knew anything about the personal lives of anyone that was in Hollywood, it was that Fleetwood Mac was doing an album together after all the members had essentially broken up with each other.

And then the album came out. If anything, because of personal taste I reckon, I would say this album which won a Grammy and is rated one of the Top 25 albums of all time by Rolling Stone, is underrated.

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