Quote:
Originally Posted by WalkAThinLine.
50 years ago, Buckingham Nicks was released on September 5, 1973. What are your thoughts on this momentous occasion?
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I played it for my oldest sister once (probably around 1979–80), and she said it was pretty good but it was “drug music from two hippies.” I said, “Pink Floyd was drug music from four hippies.” Her musical fare at the time was America, James Taylor, Three Dog Night, Alice Cooper. More than a few hippies there.
When you listen to the timbre effect they were going for of Lindsey and Stevie singing together, it’s obvious that it wasn’t smooth, tight harmony like CSN&Y, the Birds, the Everly Brothers, the Hollies, or the Motown R&B or doo wop groups. It was more like slightly rough and sloppy roots or country, or some Buffalo Springfield and Moby Grape or even early Grateful Dead, with pedal tones and piercing electric guitar lines. Lindsey and Stevie aren’t really super-tight in the classic harmony sense. They’re both “feel” singers. So . . .
Buckingham Nicks is like Ian and Sylvia mixed with Moby Grape.
Did you guys ever hear Tommy Luxem cover “Races Are Run”? Tim ’n’ Jess cover “Long Distance Winner”? They make you appreciate Buckingham and Nicks.
Thoughts about breaking out in Birmingham. Why Birmingham? Just because one DJ decided he liked the album and started playing it a lot? That led to sold-out concerts? What if other DJs across the country had also started playing it a lot? Buckingham Nicks might have been an overnight sensation. Remember that Mick Fleetwood liked what he heard. You just had to hear it first. Imagine what could have been had people heard it in 1973–74. Something would have happened, I have no doubt.