Discord & Rhyme: An Album Podcast

Discord and Rhyme is a podcast where we discuss the albums we love, song by song.

109: Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (1977)

December 20, 2022  /  Amanda Rodgers

“Everything onstage is real, at that time, and offstage sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. And that’s the truth. But it’s always interesting.”

–Christine McVie

Did you hear? Discord & Rhyme is continuing our holiday tradition of discussing bands who despise each other, and this year it’s the legendary Fleetwood Mac. After their foundation as a British blues band, they went through years of unbelievable turmoil before hiring a couple of Americans to add some sunny California rock to their sound. The result of all this was 1977’s Rumours, famously one of the best-selling albums of all time and inescapable to this day on classic rock radio. We’re taking a close look at this very famous album to see whether all that hype is truly deserved, and it turns out (spoiler alert) it totally is. So come along with us. We have some dreams we’d like to sell.

Miscellany

  • The audio clip in the teaser comes from this recorded conversation the band had in a limo during the Rumours tour.

  • The early takes and demos we play throughout the episode can all be found on the expanded four-disc “super deluxe” edition of Rumours, issued by Rhino Records in 2019. It’s a fascinating peek into the band’s creative process, and is also available on Spotify.

  • There are a lot of biographies of Fleetwood Mac floating around, including two alone by Mick Fleetwood, and Paste magazine compiled a useful list detailing which ones are worth checking out and which ones are best worth skipping.

  • To give credit where it’s due, Ken Caillat co-wrote Making Rumours with Steve Stiefel. Also, that’s Ken Caillat’s dog, Scooter, biting his leg on the cover of Tusk, and this artistic decision reportedly incensed Stevie Nicks so much that she placed a hex on the dog.

  • The live version of “Silver Springs” from The Dance was released as a single in 1997 and was also nominated for a Grammy, because it’s undeniably amazing. 

  • Stevie Nicks is the first woman to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice: first as a member of Fleetwood Mac, then again as a solo artist. 

  • As we mentioned, Buckingham Nicks is long out of print and difficult to find, but you can listen to the whole thing on YouTube.

  • Unbeknownst to Mike at the time of recording, the Buckingham/Nicks lineup actually performed “The Green Manalishi” live, in the days before Rumours when they only had one album of new material. Buckingham sang the main part of the song and Nicks sang the wordless outro, further supporting Mike’s hypothesis that it may have inspired “Gold Dust Woman.”

  • Stevie Nicks’ own recommendation for new listeners to Fleetwood Mac is to start with the first album and listen to them all in a row. “Sit down and be in it for the long run, and you’ll have the best time.”

Other links 

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

  • Amanda Rodgers (moderator)

  • Rich Bunnell

  • Mike DeFabio

  • Ben Marlin 

Rumours tracklist 

  1. Second Hand News

  2. Dreams

  3. Never Going Back Again

  4. Don’t Stop

  5. Go Your Own Way

  6. Songbird

  7. The Chain

  8. You Make Loving Fun

  9. I Don’t Want to Know

  10. Oh Daddy

  11. Gold Dust Woman

  12. Silver Springs (bonus) 

Other clips used 

Fleetwood Mac:

  • Everywhere

  • Tusk

  • Believe Me

  • Albatross

  • Black Magic Woman

  • Rhiannon

  • Monday Morning

  • Second Hand News (early take) 

  • Dreams (take 2)

  • Brushes

  • Never Going Back Again (acoustic duet)

  • Hold Me

  • The Chain (demo)

  • Keep Me There (with vocal)

  • You Make Loving Fun (early take)

  • Little Lies

  • The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)

  • Gold Dust Woman (alternate mix)

  • Gold Dust Woman (demo)

  • Silver Springs (live)

  • Sisters of the Moon

  • Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonight

  • Temporary One

  • Hypnotized

  • For Duster (The Blues)

Others:

  • Christine McVie - Got a Hold on Me

  • Monty Python - Albatross (Live at Drury Lane)

  • Buckingham Nicks - Frozen Love

  • The Bee Gees - Jive Talkin’

  • Buckingham Nicks - Don’t Let Me Down Again

  • Beat Root Revival - Dreams

  • Matchbox 20 - Never Going Back Again

  • The Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man

  • DJ Phy. Ed. - Sultans of Swing Your Own Way

  • Buckingham Nicks - Lola (My Love)

  • Krofft Entertainment - Land of the Lost (1991) theme song

  • Haim - Hallelujah

  • The Avalanches - Gimix

Band/album personnel 

  • Lindsey Buckingham – lead vocals (tracks 1, 3-5, 7, 9), backing vocals (2, 6, 8, 10, 11), harmonies ("Silver Springs"), electric guitars (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 10), acoustic guitars (1-3, 10), 12-string acoustic guitar (5), 12 string guitar (9), guitars (8, 11, "Silver Springs"), chair percussion (1), tom toms (1, 8), dobro (7, 8)

  • Stevie Nicks – lead vocals (2, 7, 9, 11, "Silver Springs"), backing vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 8), harmony vocals (7), tambourine (4, 8), hand claps (9)

  • Christine McVie – lead vocals (4, 6, 7, 8, 10), backing vocals (1, 2, 5, 11), harmony vocals (7, "Silver Springs"), organ (1, 2), vibraphone (2), Fender Rhodes (2, 11), piano (4, 6, 10, "Silver Springs"), tack piano (4), Vox Continental (4), Hammond organ (5, 7), harmonium (7), electric piano (8), Hohner D6 clavinet (8), Hammond B-3 (8, 10), Wurlitzer (9), Moog (10), keyboards ("Silver Springs")

  • John McVie – bass guitar (1, 2, 4, 5, 8-11, "Silver Springs"), fretless bass guitar (7)

  • Mick Fleetwood – drums (1, 2, 4, 5, 7-11, "Silver Springs"), shakers (1), marching snare drum (1), maracas (5), cymbals (5), tambourine (7, 9), wind chimes (8), castanets (8, 10), gong (10), cowbell (11), processed electric harpsichord (11), sound effects (11), percussion ("Silver Springs")

  • Ken Caillat – producer, engineer

  • Richard Dashut – producer, engineer

  • Chris Morris – assistant engineer

  • Ken Perry – mastering

  • Charlie Watts (not that Charlie Watts) – mastering

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

  • Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

  • Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

  • The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

  • Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

  • Herbie Hancock - Hornets

  • Kraftwerk - Autobahn

  • Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

  • Fleetwood Mac - The Chain (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Rumours and other albums by Fleetwood Mac at fleetwoodmac.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.

tags / Amanda Rodgers, Rich Bunnell, Mike DeFabio, Benjamin Marlin

This website and all episodes' discussion/commentary © 2018—2024 Discord & Rhyme. Excerpts from recordings appearing in episodes are included for purposes of review only, and all rights to such material remain property of their copyright holders. Please note that we make a good-faith effort to ensure all information included in these episodes is accurate, but if we get something wrong, let us know at discordpod@gmail.com and we will print a correction in the show notes. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Website design by Amanda Rodgers. Thank you for visiting, and keep as cool as you can.

Powered by Squarespace