Like a first kiss, a first paycheck, or a first heartbreak, you probably remember the first record you ever bought. I do, and you may have owned a copy yourself, as it’s sold 7x platinum over the decades and boasts singles that still get airplay 50 years on.
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Fleetwood Mac put out their tenth studio album in July of 1975, and while it was self-titled, most of us who owned and loved this record called it “The White Album” because of the cover art being primarily that color. It was the first release that featured the lineup of the band most everyone knows, and certainly the most successful one, both financially and artistically. I am not embarrassed to say I burned through three copies of the LP, two CDs (they get scratched!), and still own a half-speed master pressing of the album, which I covet with great zeal.
In 1975 yours truly was 14, which meant I was free to pursue summer jobs, work part-time here and there, and actually acquire some disposable income, which I did indeed dispose of in fine fashion, as most 14-year-olds do. But even at that age, listening to music was a great passion, and being able to buy an album was kind of a right of passage in a sense, it meant I’d moved on from bubblegum AM radio and started to define my tastes through where I decided to place my meager but hard-earned dollars. If you’re under 30 and reading this, yes, it is true — there really was a time when every song everywhere wasn’t free, and you actually paid money to own a copy of a song, or an album. I know, sounds crazy. Maybe even crazier to you is that I still buy music, paying the artists I enjoy for their efforts. I do this because I want them to make a decent living at their art, and make more music. But I digress.
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Bob Welch had left his post as guitarist for the band in 1974, and the trio of Fleetwood and the two McVie’s (John & Christine) were shopping for a replacement, while at the same time looking at places to record their next record. They happened upon Sound City Studios in L.A. where they were treated to the “Buckingham/Nicks” record as a demo of what the studio could produce. Mick Fleetwood made a mental note of what he was hearing and soon met with Lindsey Buckingham to talk about joining the group. However, there was a condition, his girlfriend/musical partner Stevie Nicks also needed to join. Of course, they did, and in three months, The White Album was done.
If you were around then, it might have seemed like the record was on the radio, a lot. Well, it kind of was. It took 58 weeks on the Billboard chart for it to reach No. 1, and over that year, the band toured and pushed the record, playing pretty much everywhere. Hits from this 11-song session included “Say You Love Me”, “Over My Head”, and of course, the song that made Stevie Nicks a household name, “Rhiannon”. (My first cat was named “Nicks,” so yeah, I was pretty smitten.)
One of the reasons this set stands up over time so well is the depth and breadth of the songwriting talent assembled. Nicks, McVie, and Buckingham are all gifted writers, and they all contribute to the session. Lindsey has a couple of rockers with “Monday Morning” and “Blue Letter,” while McVie purrs and coos on “Warm Ways” and “Over My Head,” and of course, “Say You Love Me” is just a perfect song. Then there is Miss Nicks, who wrote songs about witches and landslides and made it work in a way that mesmerized and also served as a kind of audio palate cleanser to the other, more straight-ahead compositions. It just all works on pretty much every level you’d want music to work. The songs are diverse, played with heart, and crafted in a way that makes them accessible but not cliché.
In the end, what makes this still sound good a half century later is that the band made this record to make music — not to sell out stadiums or sell 7x platinum copies (you know they couldn’t have expected this). The chemistry was right, the timing for new members was right, and there was still space on the radio for music that while commercial sounding, wasn’t built to be commercial.
If you remember this record, give it a listen and take a walk back to the summer of 1975. If you don’t know these songs, give a listen and you’ll find a favorite or two that will probably make their way onto your playlist.
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