DISCUSSION: Stevie's songs from the 1975 Fleetwood Mac album

[MacShadowsBall]

Here is the final discussion thread for the 1975 album, focusing on Stevie's songs. :)

Songs up for discussion...

1. Rhiannon
2. Crystal
3. Landslide

It was determined in the Lindsey threads that "Crystal" should go to Stevie, so that is what we will do. ;)

Discussing the numerous live versions of these songs is permitted, just remember for the sake of the FM "Battle of the Songs" countdown, the original album versions are the ones that will be judged. :cool:


***I Just updated the sticky thread, so check it out!***

[nailatixela]

Rhiannon - I think this song is so important because it gave Stevie her place in the band...showing the world that she is a valid member of this group and has something to contribute. The studio version is really beautiful and I think Stevie's vocal is incredibly sexy. This is still one of those songs that gets overshadowed by the live versions, because of all it's transformations.

Landslide - I think this one gets overshadowed by live versions as well, because it's preformed so often. I often forget how good the studio version is because I listen to so many live Landslides. Anyway, this song may be the most popular Fleetwood Mac song. At least in my (young) generation - almost everyone knows Landslide, even if they don't know Fleetwood Mac. So I think that just proves how special and universal the song is. Every single human being goes through several stages of their life where Landslide can be easily applied.

Crystal - This one will get my vote. I think it's the most beautiful one, both lyrically and musically. And Christine adds the lovely organ bit at the end.

[michelej1]

Rhiannon captures the whole band at its best. You know, you get so used to it within FM that you don't pay attention to it. In concert, I use Rhiannon to do my taxes. I just have a seat and riffle through deductions.

Yet, you hear that song unexpectedly and it can still take you by surprise in its power. When Stevie went on the Chris Isaak show and he was teasing her by playing the intro to Rhiannon, just those first little notes got me excited, bass and guitar kicking in, the mystery and menace of Stevie's lyrics and vocal interpretation on the horizon. Superb.

Michele

[GypsySorcerer]

It's so difficult not to compare the album "Rhiannon" to the live versions of the 70s. However, judged on its own merit, "Rhiannon" is wonderful on the album. It's moody, seductive. Even though it's Stevie's signature song, it's still a terrific effort from all the members.

"Landslide" just endures. It expresses such a timeless sentiment: "Can I handle the seasons of my life? I don't know." It's so easy to relate this song to my own journey. When I hear the album version, I picture a young, wistful Stevie. I love that.

"Crystal" is just beautiful to me. It contains some of my favorite lyrics Stevie's ever written. "I turned around, and the water was closing all around/like a glove/like the love that had finally, finally found me." That and the "you remain ageless" line are just gorgeous.

[Artemis]

While Rhiannon is a whole other beast when it's performed live, particularly when going back to 1975-1976, the album version is pretty much essential listening. It shows the band at it's best, and Stevie's voice is perfect. She sounds seductive, and then witchy, and then powerful. Rhiannon is the song that got me into Fleetwood Mac, and it will always be my favourite song. That guitar intro alone is just... spine-tingling. While the live versions may be incredible, there's something... amazing about the amount of restraint she shows on the album version, in comparison to how she sings(sang?) it live. I could rave about this song all day... but I won't.

Landslide, it's just immortal. So simple, but so brilliant. It's simply timeless.

Crystal, while it's a beautifully written song, I've always always always wished Stevie had sang it, instead of Lindsey. It's so essentially Stevie, but her version for the Practical Magic soundtrack just blows. It needs the whole band behind it, and, if Stevie had recorded it in 1975, instead of Lindsey...

That being said, I've always loved that Lindsey sang such a beautiful song written by Stevie, so either way, it's just a gorgeously beautiful song.

Stevie really brought her A-Game for this album, all three songs she contributed are incredible, but, Rhiannon will get my vote, it's the essential Stevie song.

[MissLadyLoki]

I don't feel like discussing today, but my vote goes to Rhiannon (especially this Rumours tour rehearsal where Christine sings it and basically hums most of it and says "Dreams unwind, etc. etc." towards the end)

[aleuzzi]

Without Rhiannon there would be no Stevie Nicks as we know Stevie Nicks. The album version is amazing. Love the backing track as much as the vocal.

Live, the song is quite something, too, obviously. But I've always been drawn, hypnotized if you will, by the white album version.

[holidayroad]

'Rhiannon' is just one of those songs you know is special from the first time you hear it. I'm glad I heard the album version before I heard any live versions. I didn't become a Stevie fan until 1985 and didn't hear 'Rhiannon' until 1987.

'Landslide' is a song I wish I had heard back in 1975. (I was only 1 year old then!). The impact is different when you know all of what Stevie has been through over the years. I always wonder what my opinion would have been of the song if I had heard it sung by 'New Fleetwood Mac member,27 year old Stevie Nicks'.(I hope that makes sense).

I know Stevie wrote 'Crystal' but I have a hard time not thinking of Lindsey when I think about it.

[HejiraNYC]

I think I would be the only one here who doesn't particularly care much for the album version of "Landslide." It's a pretty song, but oddly... flat IMHO. It is sung in an uncharacteristically low key (at the time) and it clips along like any other folkie ditty without much in the way of nuance or emotion. For me the song didn't really mean anything until I heard the Live version in 1980- the one recorded in London. Maybe it's the fact that Stevie's voice was so shredded that she could barely speak, but she gives such an intense, impassioned performance, and she even sounds like she's overcome with tears at times. Now that is how it should have been recorded in the studio.

[mlourimore]

Rhiannon

I've always found it odd that the early Buckingham Nicks performances of this song are much closer to the live shows and the recorded version of song leaves out the best part which is the kick ass ending. When it plays on the radio I find myself singing the ending . . . .

Crystal - Lindsey's voice is so beautiful on this song - it is curious why if she wrote it he sang it but it could be the whole package deal issue - she wasn't meant to be a full member.

Landslide - while this song is a classic now it's been so over played that I feel it should be retired. I don't think of this version being the classic - the Dance brought it into superstardom.

[michelej1]

I'm impressed with the age-old wisdom you can hear in young Stevie's voice on the studio version of Landslide. I liked that song a great deal in the seventies, but after that I kind of blanked it out. I liked the Dixie Chick's version, not because it was better, but just because it briefly made it new for me again.

Michele

[ryan4136]

Rhiannon: To me is the first true "Rumours Era" Fleetwood Mac song. As I stated earlier in the LB thread, the white album is a hodge-podge of styles not writen with the others truly in mind. But Rhiannon as a tune was so much still in it's infancy, it seems that the drum beat that comes out fit's Mick's style, the bass line John, etc. Like nearly every song on Rumours, it's the first to be a band song, and not an LB or CM, or SN song with parts for a drummer or bass player etc. It's catchy, it's haunting, and it set them up for the mood of the next album because it worked. While I don't list in even in my top 5 favorite songs....I rank it as the #1 most important song this band ever put out.

Landslide....well written, and is also a timeless classic, the fact that SN had multiple songs on this album become mainstream, really allowed her (or LB to let her) be a main writer in future albums.

Crystal....similar mood to Lanslide but a little less catchy a true gem as well. Get's lost in the mix sometimes, partly because LB does the vocals. Would've been a Buckingham Nicks standard had they stayed that route for a while.

[kokoro]

I think I would be the only one here who doesn't particularly care much for the album version of "Landslide." It's a pretty song, but oddly... flat IMHO. It is sung in an uncharacteristically low key (at the time) and it clips along like any other folkie ditty without much in the way of nuance or emotion. For me the song didn't really mean anything until I heard the Live version in 1980- the one recorded in London. Maybe it's the fact that Stevie's voice was so shredded that she could barely speak, but she gives such an intense, impassioned performance, and she even sounds like she's overcome with tears at times. Now that is how it should have been recorded in the studio.

I'm actually right there with you. I think the album version is rather emotionless, which is why when I see people say the Smashing Pumpkins/Dixie Chicks/Tori Amos/whatever version is better because it has more feeling, I can't disagree. All I can do is direct them to a live version of Landslide, which are always infinitely more powerful than the studio version.

All that said, I don't believe the song is at all tired, and I don't believe it ever will be that way for me. It will probably go down as Fleetwood Mac/Stevie's most important song (assuming people can get it straight on who originally recorded it). It's very simple, but it's themes are timeless, and they touch so many. It's a song that means a lot to people, me included.

On Rhiannon, I also think the studio version lacks fire. I agree that the song shows a true band, but Say You Love Me shows the same thing. It's really the live versions, particularly the early ones, that made it a true behemoth of awesomeness. I remember reading a book about the 100 best classic rock songs, and Rhiannon was included. The author noted that there might be a lot of contention for it's inclusion, but then reminded readers of the rocking, exorcism-esque live versions. Yes, please!

Crystal is a beautiful song that seems to get lost in the shuffle. It's also very rare, what with it being a sweet and not tragic love song written by Stevie and sung by Lindsey. That "you remain ageless" line gets me every time. It would've been nice to hear Stevie sing lead on it in her prime.

[chiliD]

I still don't understand the logic in re-recording a song that had already been released ("Crystal")...other than Christine's keyboard outro is an improvement, but the rest of the song is pretty much "carbon copy" to the Buckingham Nicks original.

Tale of two "Rhiannon"s: The studio version hadn't been released as a remixed single when the "tour-de-force" live versions were being thrust upon concert goers. Same lyrics, pretty much same music, whole different dynamic. Sure, the single sold like hot cakes, the record was "easy listening"; then once at the concert, the live version leaves you shell-shocked.

a fun "try this": Play Bob Welch's "Bermuda Triangle" & the album version of "Rhiannon" back to back....and then try to explain to me how the addition of Buckingham Nicks to Fleetwood Mac was such a radical change?

"Landslide"...boggles my mind how this song has become as legendary as it has.


Did Stevie not have more material to present, or were they still so unsure about her that they didn't want to present too much of her on the album (did she kind of get the "Dave Walker" treatment on this album?)

[MacShadowsBall]

...Did Stevie not have more material to present, or were they still so unsure about her that they didn't want to present too much of her on the album (did she kind of get the "Dave Walker" treatment on this album?)

I've wondered the same thing. You can tell that they really didn't want or "need" Stevie, but since her and Lindsey were a "package" deal, FM took her to get Lindsey.

Stevie really just has lead on Rhiannon and Landslide; Lindsey sings on Crystal. So Stevie's input is very limited.

Think of this album as Christine and Lindsey featuring Stevie.

[Madelow]

Hello MacShadows & all: With regards to Stevie & "Dave Walker" treatment: we all know how stubborn Mick can be when he gets his mind set on something. In this case, it was adding Lindsey as guitarist, singer, songwriter (later, producer). Suspect he saw Stevie as the Lindsey tag-along girlfriend (until he saw Rhiannon performed live,anyway). "Dreams" was the song that cemented Stevie's position as a top draw crowd pleaser. The rest, as they say, is history. Best regards, Madelow.