Why so few Stevie songs on their albums?
 

Especially early on. Christine had 2 hits and Stevie had 1 from their first album, so I've always thought it interesting that Rumours only had 3 songs by Stevie, of which only 2 had her singing solo. Then, with Dreams going to #1 and Gold Dust Woman being such a concert staple, she still had the least number of songs on Tusk. After Bella Donna came out and was such a hit, I can see why the band would only get 3 songs from her, since after that she was focused on her solo career, but I wonder why it wasn't more of a level playing field for Rumours and Tusk?

Song length. She always had the opportunity to cut her songs down in length and have more featured on albums but she always preferred to have long songs. If you add up the playing time for Stevie, Lindsey and Chris on each of their albums they tend to work out roughly the same. Indeed, despite having the least number of songs on Tusk she got the longest playing time (quite considerably longer than Christine, in fact). The same might be the case for other albums too.

I guess its like looking at the glass half full or half empty. In the early days 10 songs on vinyl was the max. 10 does not divide by 3 equally. I don't think its a fair way to divide song places by commercial standards...otherwise you are simply a pop band that has no deeper interest than cranking out pop hits. 3 songs is a fair number of songs for a band fronted by 3 singers. Silver Springs would have been on Rumours if space was not an issue. IMHO the band was more than fair. Stevie had center mic for the band (something other bands would have never done for the new kid on the block). Stevie became a focal point for the band almost to the point many thought she was the lead singer. I see the band putting quality in the mix of also doing things fairly. The band also put Steive on the cover of Rumours.

A quick bit of adding up (sorry if I've miss-counted) would suggest Stevie had the second longest amount of song time on both Fleetwood Mac and Rumours, behind Christine (assuming World Turning is given half to Lindsey and half to Chris). Lindsey had considerably less space on both albums (even when Blue Letter is attributed as a Lindsey song).

I think back then it would have been fair for Christine to have the most time on the albums as she was the established, recognizable voice and face of the band when L&S joined.

What everyone else said. She had long songs. Richard joked that she was allergic to short songs.

True, but she still would have only had 3 songs, because if they had left Silver Springs on, they wouldn't have put I Don't Want to Know on the album. But 3 songs written by AND sung by Stevie would have made them all equal, with The Chain being the eleventh song, written by all of them.

Not complaining, mind you. Rumours is pretty damn perfect. Just can't help thinking it's surprising Tusk didn't have another Stevie song on it. Length of the songs versus number of songs is very different, and Sisters of the Moon and Angel could have easily been shorter. True, Sara, Storms, and Beautiful Child have Stevie singing right up til the end, but the other 2 songs could have ended sooner without affecting the lyrics. Considering the success of Dreams and GDW, I guess I would have thought Stevie earned a little more presence on future albums.

I don't understand not counting I Don't Want To know because Lindsey is singing with her on it. I think their voices go very well together on the song and its Stevie's song that she offered up. She gets full credit. You seem to not put it down as a Stevie song because she is singing with Lindsey. The group does not think in fractions. They put songs on the album that are good and deserve to be there. IDWTK is a good song and it sounds good with both singers so they put it on the album. Christine let Lindsey sing Don't Stop, Hold me and Think About me. Those are still Christine songs and Christine contributions. But its a group effort.
I think she could have had another song on Tango if she was available more often and she had a good song that the group really liked. You seem to be equating number one songs or the front microphone status should give Stevie more song than the other singers. By that standard...Lindsey has the least "hits" so should be given the least amount of songs? That is corrupt thinking IMHO. I think her songs are very well written but really need Lindsey to put them in proper order and they can be quite long.
The Chain actually is a Stevie song. They had the music but no lyrics. They took her lyrics and added it to the song. Yes the other members contributed and they thought it was important to include all members in credit to make a point but they lyrics are mostly from Stevie. So she really has 3.5 songs on Rumours ;)

Song length--as everyone else says. But by the time Mirage came around, the band was also working on a formula--three Stevie songs for every single album. Four or four-and-a-half songs for Christine; five for Lindsey. (That he got the most of all three only makes sense because he was the producer--and because as the sole male voice in the band, his songs balance the seven songs performed by women. That's my guess.) But then there is also the case that after Tusk, Stevie was hoarding her best material for her solo albums. Not until Say You Will do I sense FM is once again a priority commitment with re: to her songwriting.

It's as much a Christine song as it is a Stevie song, with Lindsey holding the threads together.

Musically, The Chain would not be so without "Keep Me There." But then we wouldn't have the fantastic (and reworked) lyrics and melody on top of it without Stevie. So...

Mirage is the one album I do think she was a bit short changed. Her song time on that album was considerably lower than both Christine and Lindsey to the tune of (the equivalent of) one whole song. Also, that was supposed to have been something of a 'come back' album. I'd have thought they'd do all they could to promote their major player as a means for shifting albums in light of Tusk's relative failure. She certainly wasn't short of material even if she was keeping her best stuff for her solo work and song for song she's arguably the strongest on Mirage.

I can see this. I do remember an interview in 1982 with Lindsey stating "they were not playing his Mirage songs on the radio" or something like that. Since Stevie was a huge solo star it could have been a subliminal attempt to remind everyone Stevie was only one member of a 5 piece band. I remember many saying that Stevie was the lead singer of Fleetwood Mac. That is what many people thought and maybe Lindsey tried to dampen the limelight a bit from her. I also believe Lindsey getting more songs was an attempt to prevent the Mac of being a "girl singer" band (to the public).

Also, they were still dealing with an ongoing lawsuit over who owned the Fleetwood Mac name.

i also think at least in the beginning she wasn't seen as the major contributor that she has become. She always talks about how in the beginning she was just happy to be there and perhaps somewhat exaggeratedly says that because she was just a "chick singer" and not a real musician she was in somewhat of a "lesser" position. So I can see this being a conscious or unconscious factor for the first album and even for Rumours because wasn't OMH a bigger hit than Rhiannon charting-wise? I think Christine was obviously the senior songwriter from FM and Lindsey being the songwriter/arranger/producer on BN material he had more clout in the beginning than Stevie. :shrug: And in those days she deferred a lot to his decisions on which of her songs to include. Then they just got into this 3 song thing and it became her mantra......kinda like the "we break for 3 years" thing in recent years. After Rumours and Tusk I agree she may have been holding onto certain songs for solo work, though she's always claimed that she shows them everything and they can use whichever they want.

If you think Stevie doesn't have a lot of songs on their albums, just wait until you see the number of songs she has on the next album coming out.

And the walls came tumbling down!!!