Fleetwood Mac 1975: Your favorite songs, grouped by singer

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by bwboy

It’s pretty much the only time I can think of that a song was sang by one of the other songwriters.

Bob wrote Keep On Going on Mystery To Me, yet Christine sang it.

[On Ice]

I went with Stevie's songs, although it would've been great at the time to have had at least one more (Sorcerer anyone?) given that Lindsey sang Crystal. That said, Stevie's harmony/background vocal makes the song just as great as Lindsey's lead. What sets her songs apart is that these two became live staples for decades and are signature tunes. Both Christine and Lindsey had their signatures come on Rumours, not to say that Dreams and Gold Dust Woman aren't, but Rhiannon and Landslide are the tunes. It comes down to the vocals though- captured on record is a tone that was never to be repeated, that's what makes them standouts in her career.

[sleepless child]

Regarding Crystal, in the beginning Stevie didn't think she had a good voice and said her main roll was backing up Lindsey. That may be why he sang lead. They recorded it for the White album because John wanted it. He loved the song and wanted it on the album. Stevie wasn't crazy about the idea but couldn't tell him no. She loved what he an Chris did with the ending though.

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by sleepless child

Regarding Crystal, in the beginning Stevie didn't think she had a good voice and said her main roll was backing up Lindsey. That may be why he sang lead. They recorded it for the White album because John wanted it. He loved the song and wanted it on the album. Stevie wasn't crazy about the idea but couldn't tell him no. She loved what he an Chris did with the ending though.

Thanks for the great info! I love hearing little behind the scenes info like that. That’s neat that John, of all of them, heard Crystal and wanted to record it as a band, and that they listened to him. It is an unusual song, lyrically and musically.

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by On Ice

I went with Stevie's songs, although it would've been great at the time to have had at least one more (Sorcerer anyone?) given that Lindsey sang Crystal. That said, Stevie's harmony/background vocal makes the song just as great as Lindsey's lead. What sets her songs apart is that these two became live staples for decades and are signature tunes. Both Christine and Lindsey had their signatures come on Rumours, not to say that Dreams and Gold Dust Woman aren't, but Rhiannon and Landslide are the tunes. It comes down to the vocals though- captured on record is a tone that was never to be repeated, that's what makes them standouts in her career.

Actually, THE big song from the white album that really broke the band with radio was Over My Head. That's the song that got tremendous radio play and drove people to the album. Rhiannon came after that... and was big on radio but even bigger live which helped cement Stevie as a performer. Over My Head live was never, ever going to do that for Chris. She followed by giving them Say You Love Me as another smash single. So Chris really has to get major credit for breaking the band and the success of that album especially on radio.

Landslide was always a concert staple and was never a big radio song. It was like those movies that don't make a ton of money when first released but end up becoming massive classics over time. So, our feelings about Landslide based on what we know now, sure, big important song. Not really at the time though. And, frankly, when Stevie first sang it with FM live it was NOT good. She eventually found her footing. Listen to some of those early shows before the white album even came out, and even after. Ray Lindsey talked about that in that documentary/interview he did with a group of other roadies for other bands. Those early shows for some reason she was just NOT good and had a really hard time dealing with it.

[bwboy]

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

Bob wrote Keep On Going on Mystery To Me, yet Christine sang it.

Good call. I don’t have any FM albums from before Buckingham Nicks joined, so I didn’t know about this particular example.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by bwboy

Good call. I don’t have any FM albums from before Buckingham Nicks joined, so I didn’t know about this particular example.

Wow, you're in for a treat if you ever explore the Welch and Kirwan era.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Wow, you're in for a treat if you ever explore the Welch and Kirwan era.

Oh, Moses smell the roses! They don't spin around like drunken sailors! Ain't gonna happen!