Buckingham/Nicks live January 1975
 

This is a really good concert. If the date is correct, it would have been recorded after joining Fleetwood Mac. Its funny that they open with Lola which sort of became the Chain which also opened so many of their shows. They perform Monday Morning, Blue Letter, I Don't Want To Know as well as their Buck/Nicks songs. A really good Crystal too. Excellent quality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2yV3nS0hVo

haha The Buckingham/Nicks!

Love Races are Run! despite intonation dips and doosies...

That Buckingham Nicks Rhiannon always reminds me of how important Fleetwood Mac was to making some of these songs work. Mr. Fleetwood and the McVie’s really bring it all together in comparison to this.

There's just no question, they would not have survived without Fleetwood Mac.
This is good, but it's not amazing like FM.

Lindsey likely would have become a successful session player/arranger/producer. Not sure what Stevie would have done. Or maybe they would have had one more album--another chance. And maybe it would have made a little noise. But they wouldn't have made it through the 70s as an act.

They were a good act. But their sole album is wildly overrated (exception: Frozen Love) and despite claims for originality they did sound familiar, even occasionally derivative.

It was the mix of their attributes with Christine's voice, and that powerhouse rhythm section that made all of them.

I agree. This is what I"m saying. I've always been a huge fan of B/N album. But taking a step back and realizing it's not breakthrough material, opened my eyes a bit.

Especially after listening to MTM and Heroes. Those albums are really really better than I've given them credit for.

They are really good here. It sort of reminds me of that Reeses Peanut Buttercup commercial that aired around this time. Chocolate is so good. Peanut Butter is so good. But when you put them both together its a dream. Fleetwood Mac was already excellent but Lindsey's powers and her cult persona took everything to another level.
Clearly they were not amateurs listening to this concert.

And who doesn't sound good with Fleetwood, McVie McVie as your rhythm?

What is the name of the Stevie Nicks song that begins at 32:00? It is somewhat reminiscent of what would later become "Silver Springs".

While there are moments of brilliance, this concert is rough. Their live sound is very staccato--at times choppy and mechanical. Of course, having no money at the time, they probably weren't playing with the most elaborate and expensive sound system.

I've always assumed that Fleetwood Mac needed Buckingham & Nicks to break through. I now think it might be the other way around.

I absolutely think BN needed Fleetwood Mac to break through. For all intents and purposes, Fleetwood Mac had broken through already but B and N gave them that extra edge they needed to really get to that next level. I do believe Fleetwood Mac would’ve continued to have moderate success without BN but BN without FM would’ve been on the steakhouse circuit outside of Alabama.

It's funny, Tony and I were just chatting about that. I can see why they weren't picked up for another album. And that's saying a lot because I liked their album. But this isn't anything through the roof. They needed FM.

I agree with you in part but also disagree with your other part. Fleetwood Mac was much more experienced, established, and pretty much a powerhouse band. By 1974 they were well established but transformed a bit from their blues to psychedelic sounds of the early 70s. But they still had that bluesy sound for most of their music. Bob dragged the band not only to the states but also in expanding their musical horizons. This concert by Buck/Nicks really impressed me. Lindsey is so good. They are already playing some of their famous Mac tunes. Lindsey is on fire. Stevie is really good too. Lindsey's edge really was needed to make Fleetwood Mac the supergroup they became. I think if Bob stayed with the band, they would have had a breakthrough single and it may have been Chris's song. I also think Stevie and Lindsey would have had success. It was common for bands to be dropped and re-signed with another label. This concert was the peak of their Buck/Nicks success. I think I heard Stevie say once this concert almost made them rethink their Fleetwood Mac commitment because of how well they were received. To quote Paul Fiskin: Stevie was going to be a superstar or a nobody. There was no in between. Joining Fleetwood Mac just made it happen sooner and took them to a level they would not have experienced alone. The same with Fleetwood Mac. They were gaining traction in the states with their album finally cracking the top 40 with no hit single. I think the hit single was going to be on the next album regardless of Buckingham/Nicks. But again, their success would have been muted and not as sensational as with Buckingham/Nicks.

In one of her rare moments of lucidity and sheer honesty, in 1977 Stevie said of BN joining FM: "We were nowhere."