February 4, 1977: Fleetwood Mac Release "Rumours"

Mick Fleetwood (left) and Stevie Nicks

February 4, 1977: Fleetwood Mac release their album Rumours. Although it's some of the most well-put-together music of its era, the band, like the relationships within, was coming apart.

It was the band's 11th album, but its 2nd since it was seriously retooled. Guitarists Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer left in 1971. Guitarist Danny Kirwan left in 1972. Guitarist Bob Welch joined in 1971, but left in 1974.

Drummer Michael "Mick" Fleetwood, from Gloucestershire in England's West Country, was a founding member in 1967. So was bass guitarist John McVie, from West London. Keyboard player Christine McVie, from Bouth, Cumbria, in the north of England, joined in 1970. Guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, from the San Francisco Bay Area, and singer Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks, from Southern California, joined in 1975.

Left to right: Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie,

Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, John McVie

This lineup recorded the album Fleetwood Mac, released on July 11, 1975. Unusual for most bands, "The Mac" varied the lead vocals, usually depending on who did most of the writing on the song. Buckingham sang lead on "Monday Morning," "I'm So Afraid," "Blue Letter" (written by Michael & Richard Curtis) and "Crystal" (written by Nicks). Christine McVie sang lead on "Warm Ways," "Over My Head," "Say You Love Me" and "Sugar Daddy." They combined on writing, and sang lead on, "World Turning." And Nicks sang lead on "Rhiannon" and "Landslide."

The McVies were married to each other. Buckingham and Nicks were not, but were a couple. And Fleetwood was separated from his wife, Jenny Boyd, who was having an affair with his best friend. She was the sister of model Patti Boyd, ex-wife of former Beatle George Harrison and wife of Eric Clapton.

The tour in support of Fleetwood Mac the album was difficult, and the McVies divorced. But they stayed friends, and so neither left the band. They began recording a new album at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, north of South Francisco, in February 1976, with Stevie and Christine staying in condominiums near the city's waterfront; while Mick, John and Lindsay stayed in a lodge next to the studio. (There have also been Record Plants in New York and Los Angeles, but only the Los Angeles version is still in operation in 2022.)

The original title of the album was Yesterday's Gone, which became a key line in the song "Don't Stop." Among the things that didn't stop was the drinking of alcohol and the use of cocaine. Nicks has said that the band created their best music when they were in their worst shape. Christine McVie said, "The sessions were like a cocktail party every night."

And on top of the McVies splitting up, Buckingham and Nicks split up, and Nicks and Fleetwood started an affair. Nicks later said, "The sound of breaking hearts filled the studio." By the time recording finished, the album was titled Rumours, with the British spelling giving it an extra U that the American spelling wouldn't have, but the British spelling was kept for the American release.

Buckingham wrote and sang lead on the album's nastiest song, "Go Your Own Way," and also on "Second Hand News" and "Never Going Back Again." Nicks wrote and sang lead on "Dreams," which became the group's only Number 1 hit on the U.S. charts; and also on "I Don't Want to Know" and "Gold Dust Woman."

Christine McVie wrote and sang lead on "Don't Stop," "Songbird," "Oh Daddy" and "You Make Loving Fun" -- which was not about John, but about her new boyfriend, the band's lighting director, Curry Grant. All 5 members combined to write "The Chain," with Buckingham sharing lead vocals with Stevie and Christine.

It became the biggest-selling album of 1977, ahead of The Eagles' Hotel California. (The soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever was released too late in the calendar year to claim the title, but did become the biggest-selling album of 1978.) With all their baggage, literal and emotional, the band toured for most of the year. It might have been the peak -- or, perhaps, the nadir -- of the cliché, "Sex, drugs, and rock & roll."

The album seemed to tap into the malaise that hit the Baby Boom generation in the post-Civil Rights, post-Vietnam, post-Watergate era, as real life crept up on them. It sold 13 million copies in its 1st 3 years, and 40 million in its 1st 25 years. Various surveys have called it one of the greatest albums of all time, or at least of the 1970s, but others suggest that it has been heavily overrated.

Christine McVie later had a relationship with Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys, while Stevie Nicks had them with 2 members of The Eagles, Don Henley and Joe Walsh.

In 1992, running for President, Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas made "Don't Stop," with its refrain of "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow," his campaign theme song. Given his marital issues, before and after, it may not have been the best of choices.

The band stayed together, even if no two members of any couple did. Buckingham talked Fleetwood into letting him be the creative force on the next album. The result, Tusk, was a disappointment, and killed their momentum. There would be 5 more albums from 1982 to 2003, but, essentially, Fleetwood Mac have been a touring band since.

Bob Welch died in 2012. Danny Kirwan died in 2018. Peter Green died in 2020. As of February 4, 2022, Jeremy Spencer and the entire Rumours lineup are still alive.

UPDATE: Christine McVie died on November 30, 2022. It was announced that this would be the end of anyone appearing in concert under the Fleetwood Mac name.

And it took me until 2024 to think of this, but the 1970s were Schrödinger's Decade. There was too much overwrought music, and, at the same time, not enough of it.

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February 4, 1977 was a Friday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 6 games played in the NBA that night:

* The New York Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 113-112 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 99-98 at the Boston Garden.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Denver Nuggets, 124-111 at Cobo Hall (now Huntington Place) in Detroit. Bob Lanier scored 40 points and grabbed 21 rebounds.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Kansas City Kings, 102-101 at the Kemper Arena (now the Hy-Vee Arena) in Kansas City.

* The Golden State Warriors beat the Phoenix Suns, 109-106 at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix.

* And the Washington Bullets beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 109-106 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

There was 1 game played in the NHL: The Atlanta Flames beat the Boston Bruins, 6-3 at The Omni in Atlanta. There were 3 games in the World Hockey Association:

* The Birmingham Bulls beat the Quebec Nordiques, 7-0 at the Jefferson County Civic Center in Birmingham, Alabama.

* The Houston Aeros beat the New England Whalers, 4-1 at The Summit in Houston.(The arena has since been converted into the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.") 

* And the Winnipeg Jets beat the San Diego Mariners, 8-2 at the Winnipeg Arena.