Sugar Daddy
 

From Cashbox review of Day on the Green #3

Ho SH*T!!!! So they DID actually do Sugar Daddy at one point! I need video!!!!!

I would pay big $$$ to have been at a show where they played Sugar Daddy! The White album tour is such a mystery.

Likewise for the live version of Crystal that was played many times on the tour (why is there NO bootlegs of this one?!)

I bet it’s a mistake. But maybe. No. 3 was August 1975 with Dave Mason, Frampton, and Robin Trower, wasn’t it? Or was this Green April/May 1976? That one had Frampton and Wright too. Fleetwood played with Gary Wright May 1977 for the third and final time.

I'll bet it is too. The writer may have just copied some titles from the back of the album.

Although maybe they did it once and dropped it like they have other songs over the years.

The date was August 3, 1975 and the set according to setlist.fm:

Station Man

Monday Morning

Over My Head

Don't Let Me Down Again
(Buckingham Nicks cover)

Frozen Love
(Buckingham Nicks cover)

Say You Love Me

Oh Well

Jumping at Shadows
(Duster Bennett cover)

Sunny Side of Heaven

Rhiannon

Blue Letter

Why

Landslide

World Turning
(+ Drum solo)

I'm So Afraid

Encore:
Hypnotized

Who to believe? But if you add Sugar Daddy to that list sign me up!

Sadly we will never know the true answer to this. It would not be that unusual for the band to try out different songs of their first album together. Maybe they did it once or twice and never bothered again. The While Album tour was unusual. It started before the White Album release and had various legs across the U.S. In August 1975, the White Album just hit the Billboard charts at #183. 13 months later it would hit #1 in September 1976. Sugar Daddy was the flip side on the Rhiannon single 45.
I am curious why Warner Brothers did not squeeze out and promote another single. Warm Ways tanked in the UK. Over My Head did fairly well and the last 2 singles were big hits at #11. Was Sugar Daddy thought of the 4th single? Total pipe dream and not true but its fun to think of the possibilities. Maybe we got to see cheap Mick in the early days. Maybe he feared Sugar Daddy would be a hit and because Waddy played guitar on the song, the band may be forced to pay him LOL :eek:

To quote Mr. Buckingham: "OMG Fleetwood Mac with hits!"

Well, I always thought they should have made it a staple, at least until the end of the 70s. It’d have been a fun tune to play. It’s among my all-time favorite Mac tunes and I HATE when (apparently deaf or humorless) people take shots at it. It’s a GREAT song made even stronger by the vocal and inspired rhythm section.

And the lyrics are clever, ironic, witty. Only the most literal person couldn’t spot the wink...

Thank you. Glad I didn't have to say it this time. ;)

I hate this song. However, I very much like Ricky, so I do not think I fail to appreciate irony or humor in a diddy.

Also like Santa Baby well enough. Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend is fun, I don’t think I object to the sugar daddy concept or take it too literally. I think Christine played the sugar daddy to unworthy men more than she sought one.

I just hate the song.

But why? I’m genuinely curious. What about this catchy pop-blues tune elicits hate from you?

This makes me wonder if any other band has done SUGAR DADDY live.

The music is perfektion!!!

I'm curious too, as to Michele's reasoning. I think everyone I've ever heard say that they hate it, is all because of "I need a sugar daddy". That it's a plea of weakness?

I always mention my own "FM Greatest hits" discs. Think About Me always makes the cut, but so does Sugar Daddy(and World Turning - those are my two White album songs that make it onto every compilation).

Agree, the music is perfection. But it's a different story for her. (for a change)
Hey, I need someone to pad my purse! car, whiskey, fur coats, etc.

I think it's a cool peak inside Christine's devilish ways. It's absolutely a genius tune, in my opinion. The early take has the amazing keyboard/organ work more prominent. I even like the vocal better on the early take.

The piano/B3 combo is probably the best keyboard work to ever come out of FM. I've been working on it for a couple weeks. Honky tonk piano with my right hand, and playing organ with my left.

It IS a genius tune!!!

Absolutely!!!!

And for all these years I thought she was singing about the candy bar :eek:

I think I hate it simply because it feels to live up to SYLM & OMH and is a disappointment in comparison. And keep in mind I don’t appreciate music the way so many of you do. So a great piano section is lost on me. I fall for a hook and while Sugar Daddy is lively, it’s not contagious. I don’t bop sling to it and I miss the emotion that I enjoy so much in even SYLM. SYLM is a light song. On the surface, it isn’t even about dejection or rejection. But I feel it anyway. There’s an underlying message that says “I’m letting myself be used. He’s not fooling me, but I’m enjoying the ride anyway.” I guess I don’t get that layering in Sugar Daddy.

And you guys will say Family Man is a great song instrumentally. But instruments do nothing for me in that way They don’t say Popeye and they don’t save Sugar Daddy for me.

I think I had greater expectations for Sugar Daddy being on the white album than I would have if it was on Tusk where I don’t like most of Christine’s songs anyway. I probably would consider a pick me up for her on Tusk, not a let down. Keep in mind, I didn’t get the entire album until years after its release. So I already knew two of her songs from that album. I also knew and loved Rhiannon and I went to the unknown Sugar Daddy with excitement hoping it would be just as good because it was going to be something “new” for me and then I didn’t think it was any good. I had a resentment. And no, I don’t like the lyrics, either.

Wow. I wonder if it's a musician thing? That maybe we're the only ones that get it?

And we're apparently opposites. The MUSIC is what does it for me. For the most part, I couldn't care less about the lyrics. Exactly why Think About Me is my favorite FM song. The music is absolutely perfect. It instantly puts me in a good mood!

The piano intro for Sugar Daddy, followed by the organ kicking in, IS THE ULTIMATE FM GROOVE.

Now that is true calling SD the ultimate FM groove.

It makes me want to get up and dance with my shawl every time.

When I first bought the White Album, it was one of my least favorite songs. It took a little while and grew on me. But its pure heaven both the track and lyrics.

I'll say that Sugar Daddy wasn't my favorite at first. But, after a while, I realized how amazing of a song it is. Especially, after hearing the early take.

Wish they'd done this live. It's a bit lyrically out of Christine's box.
No puns intended. :rolleyes:

Yes to this. It’s not just the writing but the execution of the writing that is so impressive. And it’s her brilliant vocal.

Sugar Daddy is the perfect distillation of one side of Fleetwood Mac—the McVie R&B side.

It's in the family of Spare Me, Homeward, SYLM, YMLF, and Friend

So I think it's fair to say that Sugar Daddy is FM's most under appreciated song! By the majority of fans AND the band!

Those of us who are special, get it.:p Thank god we do! :angel:

For me it’s the melody, vocal and lyrics. I mean, I am a fan of certain things like the Love Theme from St. Elmo’s fire, but rarely does instrumentation alone do anything for me. Hold Me might be an exception.

See, that's what's funny. I love it so much more than SYLM OR OMH. For me, it's a tie for which is my favorite song on White. It's either World Turning or Sugar Daddy. I never tire of either.

Edit- and THANK YOU for getting the Ledge back up and running. It was down all day.

Was not me. I didn’t even know it was down.

Wow. I got an error message all day. Until maybe 90 minutes ago. I figured you tried to log on, then fixed whatever was wrong. Thanks anyway.

It was down for a bit yesterday. Not too long, however.

Says you! :mad:

Seemed like an eternity! :lol::wavey:

That's because I'm your Karen. And you can't be away from me.

I would really like someone to do my dirty work for me. Okay Karen, you're hired!

Now worship the ground I walk on, and talk to my exes like they're dogs! :lol:

And “One in a Million”

Ho sh*t, I forgot about OIAM! Musically, I'd put it right there with Sugar Daddy. That fat organ, combined with those chromatic guitar runs. It's a bad assed song!

Her voice is so similar to Stevie Winwood on the song. The first time that I heard the song I did not even know it had 2 singers.

I had heard the song on the radio. The local rock station was not really going to play Got A Hold On Me so they dug deep into the new album and played On In A Million. This was about the time that Violet and Blue came out and once I heard them back to back on this rock station.

Ok here is a geeky story about my youth. True story. I had just celebrated my 14th birthday and my parents took me and my friends to this pizza place in the local strip mall. Christine's album just dropped. After dinner me and my friend walk over to the local department store and check it out. I go over by myself to the record/stereo area (remember back in the day the stores had stereo areas besides their albums). I try and get a sneak peak at the album by myself. I was not going to buy it in front of my friends. Christine McVie was not the coolest cat for a 14 year old. Sure enough while I had the album in my hands and reading the back cover how Eric Clapton plays on the album, the local rock station is playing on several stereos. Sure enough the hard rock station introduces the new song from Christy McVie (thats what they called her) and it was One In A Million. I was blown away and floored. OMG, I bought that album right then and there and played the crap out of it for about a year.
In life, timing is everything ;)

It's amazing how concerned we were with what our friends thought. It was never cool to like any version of FM after Bob Welch.

I was too young but I imagine the White Album and Rumours era must have been cool. Classic Rock stations today only play songs from those Mac albums. Tusk sort of killed them on mainstay rock stations and Mirage was a big no too. Tango didn't help either :eek:

I had never really thought of them in those terms, but you're right. Tusk was too quirky(except for Think About Me) and Mirage and Tango too poppy.

The guitar hero lost his crown, or ar least threw it away.

Wow, we really share a lot of the same sensibilities. I am in route from LAX - JFK and was listening to One in A Million. I thought, "Holy cow, this tune is all Christine, without Lindsey (which is a great thing) The rhythm section of Ferone and Hawkins just throttles the song in such a stern way.

Add Todd and Winwood with their solos/enhancements and Good God is this a fantastic song. I haven't listened to it loud in headphones for ages. Christine's voice is so good with Steve. What a fantastic moment on this album.

I didn't realize this album was #26 on Billboard. I didn't realize it charted that high. Is that higher than OOTC, SteveMac? LOL

Mirage is just flat out weird. Especially, for that time period. I was so weirded out by it at first. Then, I was addicted to it.

It's Law And Order with Everly Brothers and Wild Heart all smashed together. Kudos to Christine for being so dynamic her whole career. She's able to adapt to anything. Webb, Sylvester, Green, Spencer, Kirwin, Welch, Weird Buck, Normal Buck, Stevie, Rick and Billy, Neil and Mike, Winwood, Mason.. (or not Mason). lol