Fleetwood Mac “Fleetwood Mac” 1975. I’m spinning Fleetwood Mac’s 10th studio LP today, January 14th, to celebrate Dave Grohl’s 50th birthday (b. 1969). Why??? Well, I’ve already written about all the Nirvana vinyl we have in the Vault and we don’t have any Foo Fighters. But Grohl, as a member of Nirvana, recorded part of Nevermind at Sound City Studios, the recording studio in L.A. at which Fleetwood Mac was recorded. He also purchased a bunch of recording equipment from the studio when it closed in 2011, including the infamous Neve 2028 mixing console, and then made a documentary about the studio in 2013. So it’s a stretch but right now it’s all I’ve got. Happy birthday Dave Grohl!

Anyway, Fleetwood Mac went to #1 on the Billboard chart and even though it was released in ‘75, it was still the second biggest selling album in ‘76 and the 10th biggest in ‘77, and then the band re-released it in ‘78 after the massive success of Rumours. It was the band’s first record to feature Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, Buckingham replacing Bob Welch on guitar and vocals after his departure following the ‘74 album Heroes Are Hard to Find. The first single from Fleetwood Mac was a UK-only release, “Warm Ways.” The second single, “Over My Head,” was released in both the US and the UK (though not at the same time) and it went to #20 on the Hot 100 chart. It’s a Christine McVie-penned track and, honestly, hers tend not to be my favorite. I far prefer the Stevie Nicks written tracks, including the third single, “Rhiannon,” which went to #11 in the US and #46 in the UK. (I also really love “Landslide,” a non-single track – but widely known and wildly popular – on Fleetwood Mac written by Nicks). The final single from the LP was “Say You Love Me” by Christine McVie, which went to #11 in the US and #40 in the UK. It’s better, in my opinion, than “Over My Head,” but still pretty tame soft rock as compared to the more witchy tracks by Nicks. Also of note are the tracks “Monday Morning” (written by Buckingham) and the blues-rock “World Turning” (written first by Fleetwood Mac founding member Peter Green and reworked for Fleetwood Mac by Buckingham and McVie).