I've always LOVED "Silver Springs", it's one of the BEST recordings from the Buckingham/Nicks lineup of Fleetwood Mac. For me, in the early days, Stevie was at her best when singing California country/rock. "Silver Springs" has a COUNTRY music vibe, much like "After The Glitter Fades", and "That's Alright". I could just as easily hear/envision a 1970's era Dolly Parton or Linda Ronstadt singing "Silver Springs". The song's replacement on the "Rumours" record "I Don't Want To Know" is also, at its core, a little country song. Although it is inferior to "Silver Springs", "I Don't Want To Know" sure is a cute stomping, toe-tapping number! That groove is infectious! This is HIGHWAY music at its finest!
As for the decision to leave "Silver Springs" off "Rumours", I think it just came down to the song being too long for the LP format at the time. Stevie was allowed 3 songs on the album, and "Springs" clocked in at nearly 5 minutes, an EPIC. I'm sure the band felt that "Springs" was the better of the two songs, but there just wasn't TIME, so they opted for the 3 minute "I Don't Want To Know", as there was NO WAY they were bumping "Dreams" OR "Gold Dust" OFF the record. The ONLY alternative: get rid of "Silver Springs". I AM surprised that they released it as a B-SIDE and didn't try to SAVE it for a future record, because it's just that good.
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