Why Crystal?
 

Fleetwood Mac's recording of "Crystal" came up on the ol' iPod today, and it got me wondering: why did they record this song in the first place?

Did neither Stevie nor Lindsey have another new song to offer for the album? And if they didn't, why did the band choose this particular Buckingham Nicks song? Have any of them ever commented on this?

I mean, it doesn't seem like "Crystal" was a song they were all just dying to include in the Mac catalogue. It wasn't released as a single or anything, and I don't think it was ever a regular feature of their concerts, if they ever played it at all. (Yet "Don't Let Me Down Again" was performed at Mac concerts, though they never recorded it.)

Things that make you go hmm...

It's possible that they were unsatisfied with the way it sounded on the Buckingham Nicks album and wanted to try it again.
Or maybe Mick wanted to re-record it? It's something I can imagine he would suggest.

It just seems a very odd choice, given what eventually happened with the song (that is, nothing - at least until Stevie did her version a few years back). You'd think if it were a song that they really wanted to re-record and breathe some new life into, it would have turned into something more than just an album track that they never even bothered to perform in concert.

I think everyone just liked the song.

I think it was redone because they had a decent keyboard player to do the synth part on the end...the BN version's keyboard part is kind of remedial & infantile.

John in particular....


"John McVie wanted to put that [Crystal] on the Fleetwood Mac album. The first time he heard it he said, "I want this on the album" and I didn't really because it took the place of a new song. Since I write so much I don't like to keep putting old songs which take the place of new songs, which means those new songs are backlogged for the next, for the next, and for the next. But he was so insistent, so I said alright. Christine did a whole beautiful thing which I loved with that little piano thing through the end of it... when I think of Crystal, I think of those days with Fleetwood Mac."
~Stevie Nicks

U put the words right into my mouth

Personally I would have liked a reworking of Frozen Love instead because that could have been transformed into a masterpiece live. However they did Crystal justice on Fleetwood Mac. At the time however they may have felt it was to mellow to do on stage. Doing it live in 2005 is a whole different story. The fans would love it. :nod:

Thank you! That's exactly the kind of answer I was looking for. Interesting...

Of course, there's no reason they couldn't have played "Frozen Love" without having recorded it. They played "Don't Let Me Down Again," after all, and they did one or two of Chris' Chicken Shack songs along the way as well.

And you also have to wonder why Stevie chose to re-record it a third time as a solo artist for Practical Magic....

It's kind of like a Stevie Jeopardy question....

I'll take ""Things that Make you go Hmmmm" for $1000, Alex....

Q: The song Stevie Nicks recorded and released as a solo artist and in all the bands she was ever in?

A: What is Crystal?

Love this song. One of my top favorites.

I think you're right on there. :nod:

That's a cool tidbit. I had no idea that John wanted "Crystal" on the White Album so badly. I love that song and Chris' touches on it are just perfect.

Crystal is such a great song! So much so that I can overlook Stevie's lyrical redundancy (and repetitivness! lol). "Do you trust your First Initial feeling." It's also notable because it's the only song that has been rendered by Buckingham Nicks, Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks.

It is a little curious that they never performed it live. (That song and Sugar Daddy and Warm Ways). However that doesn't mean anything. A lot of songs are written and produced, sometimes with the knowledge that they are essentially studio tracks, with no intentions of them ever being performed live.