On The Records

When asked to name the most important rock bands, most people wouldn’t mention The Yardbirds.  If you asked them what band had three of the top five guitarists in the world (according to Rolling Stone), they still probably wouldn’t think of The Yardbirds.

America was introduced to the music of The Yardbirds in 1965 with the single “For Your Love”.  The group members were Keith Relf (vocals), Chris Dreja (guitar), Paul Samwell-Smith (Bass), Jim McCarty (drums), and Eric Clapton (lead guitar).  The single was a hit (#6), but Eric Clapton immediately left the band, because he wanted to play Blues.  So he joined John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers.  “For Your Love” is an excellent piece of rock/pop that includes a harpsichord, rather than Blues guitar.

Digression:  The only way we heard the new hits in the mid-60’s was through our transistor radios and car radios.  In small town Nebraska, the biggest influence in music came from the 50,000 Watt AM stations…like KOMA in Oklahoma City.

My family was traveling through Oklahoma in 1965, and we convinced Dad to stop at radio station KOMA.  We got a nice tour of the station (looked smaller than we’d imagined), some bumper stickers, and a copy of their own Top 40 survey.  Guess what was at #1?  “For Your Love”.

The Yardbirds had a hit, but who would replace Eric Clapton on guitar?  Jimmy Page, a young session musician, almost took the job, but instead he recommended his friend, Jeff Beck.  Good idea.

In July of 1965, The Yardbirds’ released the single “Heart Full Of Soul”.

Here’s my 1965 single cover.  You might notice that the record company didn’t bother to have a photo of the new line-up, as Eric Clapton (second from left) is still there, and Jeff Beck isn’t.  “Heart Full Of Soul” is one of the great singles of the 1960’s.  (The second-best version of the song is by Chris Isaak.)  The follow up album was Having A Rave Up With The Yardbirds.

Besides “Heart Full Of Soul”, the album includes Yardbirds fan favorites like “The Train Kept A Rollin'”, “Smokestack Lightning”, “Still I’m Sad”, and most importantly, “I’m A Man”.  This is the Bo Diddley Blues song, but the group and Jeff Beck give it a very Rock interpretation.  The guitar and harmonica break goes into double time.  Beck is using a distorted guitar played with metal on the strings to give it an early hard rock and psychedelic effect.  Remember, this was late 1965.  The psychedelic movement was still months away, and there was no hard rock.  “I’m A Man” was The Yardbirds’ third hit of the year.

The Yardbirds would also have three hits in 1966…”Shapes Of Things”, “Over Under Sideways Down”, and “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”…all with psychedelic arrangements, and great guitar work.  When Jeff Beck fell ill and was hospitalized during a tour in 1966, Jimmy Page filled in for him.

When Beck was healthy, they decided to keep the two lead guitar lineup.  Above is a shot of The Yardbirds with both Beck (left) and Page (right).  They’re together on “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”, along with friend John Paul Jones on bass.

Maybe the group just got too experimental or just didn’t have the songs, because they had no more hits.  Epic did gather their best recordings into The Yardbirds’ Greatest Hits album in 1967.  I believe it’s still the only single disc that includes all their hits, and for some reason (probably who owns the music rights), it’s no longer available.

The day this album came out, March 27th, 1967, I bought it.  It was always nice to get fresh copies of the songs on an album, instead of playing the individual singles.  At some point, I sold all my vinyl albums, but I do have the songs on my computer.

Jeff Beck officially left The Yardbirds in November of 1967, and the band called it quits in mid 1968.

But wait.  There had been appearances scheduled for later in 1968.  Jimmy Page thought it would be an opportunity to rebuild the band.  Through a recommendation, unknown vocalist Robert Plant was asked to join.  He in turn recommended his drummer friend, John Bonham.  Page had already worked with bassist/arranger John Paul Jones.  So the band was ready.  They did the dates under the name The Yardbirds, or sometimes The New Yardbirds.  But then, they decided on a new name.

The name came from a joke between members of The Who, John Entwistle and Keith Moon, during an earlier recording session with Beck and Page.  When it was suggested they all form a new super group, Entwistle said it would probably go over like a “lead balloon”, Moon joked it’d be more like a “lead Zeppelin”.   Memories of the exact details of that moment vary, but Jimmy Page remembered the joke, and simply changed the spelling, so the name would be pronounced properly as:

Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck did alright for themselves too.

Update:  Guitar great Jeff Beck passed away 1/10/23 after contracting bacterial meningitis.  He was 78.  He was such an innovator.

What Billy Joel was doin’ was playing in a piano bar,  just like those lyrics.  His career was stuck in idle.  He may have been embarrassed to be there, because he was using the name Bill Martin.  At least he got a great song out of it.

Billy Joel had been having trouble getting his career moving.  His first solo album was Cold Spring Harbor in 1971.  The crazy thing is, the label mastered the album at the wrong speed!  Joel came off a bit like The Chipmunks.  Billy moved to Columbia Records (and to L.A. from New York) in 1972, and that’s when he was playing in a piano bar.

Billy Joel’s first hit, “Piano Man”, was in 1973.  It seems like a #1 hit, but “Piano Man” only made it to #25.  The popularity of the song grew with Billy Joel’s career.  His Piano Man album did fairly well (#27), and the follow up, Streetlife Seranade (1974), did okay (#35).

His fourth album Turnstiles (1976) tanked at #122.  But here’s the thing…Turnstiles is actually one of Billy Joel’s best albums.  It includes “Say Goodbye To Hollywood”, “New York State Of Mind”, “Prelude/Angry Young Man”, “I’ve Loved These Days”, and “Miami 2017 (Seen The Lights Go Out On Broadway”).  Those all made regular appearances in his concerts, and eventually got airplay when Joel became more popular.

I wore out my first copy, bought a second, and then bought it again when it came out on CD.  I like every song.  Lest you think I’m crazy (you may be right), here’s what happened in the late ‘90’s when five of us (Joe Skare, Tim “Timmo” Cawley, Bill Barker, Jim Steel & I) were talking at our Classic Rock radio station, KTGL “The Eagle”.  We were discussing what albums we might choose if we were marooned on an island (with stereo equipment & electricity obviously), and three of us mentioned Turnstiles as a possibility.  We figured it’s because all of the songs are good, and they weren’t burned out by too much radio play.

Billy Joel finally broke big time with The Stranger, released in 1977.  It had four hit singles…”Just The Way You Are”, “Movin’ Out”, “Only The Good Die Young”, and “She’s Always A Woman”.  Plus, “The Stranger” and “Scenes From An Italian Restaurant” were regulars on FM stations.  At the time, it became Columbia Record’s all time best selling album, even passing Bridge Over Troubled Water.

Billy Joel followed that up with a string of hit albums…52nd Street, Glass Houses, The Nylon Curtain, and An Innocent Man.  During that run, he also had another 17 hit singles.  Hits that made the Top 10 included “My Life”, “You May Be Right”, “It’s Still Rock & Roll To Me” (#1), “Tell Her About It” (#1), “Uptown Girl” and “An Innocent Man”.

(My Billy Joel picture sleeves, click to enlarge.)

That’s when we were lucky to catch him in concert.  It was his “Innocent Man” tour in April of 1984.  Billy Joel was still young, energetic, and was running around a stage that had ramps and multiple keyboards at various locations.

When he introduced “The Longest Time” (love that song, what a rhyme scheme), he explained that he sang all the many vocal parts on the recording, then had to teach them to the band before they headed out on tour.  It sounded great!  Also, it was absolutely amazing to see him playing the frenetic piano part on “Prelude/Angry Young Man”.

Billy Joel continued to have hit albums into the ’90’s, The Bridge, Storm Front, and River of Dreams.  Another ten hit singles included “A Matter Of Trust”, “We Didn’t Start The Fire” (#1), and his final big hit “The River of Dreams” (#3) in 1993.

In the late ’90’s, after charting hits during three decades, Billy Joel announced he had retired from writing Pop music.  He did release an album of original classical music in 2011.

Billy Joel has been a concert draw for the longest time (though he no longer runs around the stage).  Joel had over six years of monthly sold out shows at Madison Square Garden, before a 20 month break because of the COVID pandemic.  He returned to the Garden in November of 2021, and is doing some concerts with Stevie Nicks in 2023.  Billy Joel announced that he’s ending his Madison Square Garden concerts with number 150 in July of 2024.

I looked up the list of best selling artists in the U.S.   Billy Joel outsold Michael Jackson and Elton John.  The only pop/rock solo artist to outsell Joel in the U.S. was Elvis Presley.  Billy Joel came a long way from getting tips in a piano bar.

In the summer of 1970, we were living in Escondido, California, just north of San Diego.  I was attending a Navy electronics school at Miramar Naval Air Station…the one where they filmed “Top Gun”.  My wife of less than 6-months, Jeannette, and I saw there was a Neil Diamond concert in San Diego.  We bought tickets about a day before the concert, and we got 5th row center.  That sort of thing used to happen.  If seats reserved for the artist’s friends & family weren’t going to be used, they were put on sale late.  It was our first concert together.

Singer and songwriter Neil Diamond’s success started in 1966.  “Solitary Man” and “Cherry Cherry” were his first singles, and he wrote “I’m A Believer” and “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”  for the Monkees.  “I’m A Believer” was the biggest hit of 1966.

By the time we saw him, Neil Diamond’s hits also included “Girl, You’ll Be A Woman Soon”, “Kentucky Woman”, “Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show”, “Sweet Caroline” and “Holly Holy”.  The venue was music hall size, maybe seating about 2,500 people.  We completely enjoyed his performance.

Trivia: The opening act was “Smith” who did a remake of “Baby It’s You”.

Fast forward a year.  We’re now on the east coast, at Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Guess who’s coming for a concert?   Only now, Neil Diamond is playing an arena…The Hampton Roads Coliseum.  He had the #1 hit “Cracklin’ Rosie”, Top 20 hit “He Ain’t Heavy…He’s My Brother”, and his most critically acclaimed album Tap Root Manuscript.  The album includes a concept on side two, “The African Trilogy”, which has the song “Soolaimon”.  The trilogy includes African lyrics, sounds, and rhythms…pretty unusual for a Jewish guy from New York.  Also, this was a decade-and-a-half before another Jewish guy from New York, Paul Simon, did “Graceland”.

Obviously, Neil Diamond’s popularity had grown, and now we had seats up on the side of the arena, with our friends, Don & Linda MacLeod.  The show was a bigger presentation, but the most memorable part was when Neil did his then current hit “I Am, I Said”.  Instead of playing it like the single, Neil Diamond, by himself on acoustic guitar, sang it intimately.  That’s my favorite version.

My photos didn’t turn out, but I kind of like this “impressionistic” one.

Neil Diamond went on to become one of the biggest selling artists of all time.  Other highlights include “Song Sung Blue”, and the hits from his movie “The Jazz Singer”…”Love On The Rocks”, “Hello Again” and “America”.  The sales of the album easily out performed the movie.

More than sales of his recordings, his career moved into the touring stage.  At the age of 76, he still draws crowds*.

So, would he be considered a Rock & Roll artist?  When he started in the 1960’s he fit right in with the rock/pop of the day, but Rock & Roll turned harder as the years went by.  He seemed like the singer-songwriters of the early 1970’s, but he moved in a decidedly more Pop direction.  Maybe his early work was enough, or maybe it’s because he’s been such a concert force for so long, but in 2011, Neil Diamond was inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

(Photo by Ari Michelson)

*Update:  On January 22nd, 2018, Neil Diamond announced he is retiring from touring because he was recently diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.  He says he plans to remain active in writing and recording.

Update 2:  (4/7/2023) There is a Neil Diamond musical, “Beautiful Noise” that was performed for the first time in June of 2022 at a theater in Boston.  They certainly have a huge selection of great songs to choose from.  The show moved to Broadway like Carole King’s “Beautiful”.

There are moments of clarity in music.

Like when I first dropped the needle on a new album…Dire Straits.

It was a time in the late 1970’s when disco was dominating everything.  I mean, even The Rolling Stones (“Miss You”), and The Eagles (“One Of These Nights”) dabbled in Disco.  There were some good Disco songs, but mostly Disco was annoying, and some songs had way too much falsetto screaming.  Everyone thought they could have a hit if they just put a continuous disco drum beat under their song.

In early 1978, “Saturday Night Fever” dominated.

In September 1978, “Boogie Oogie Oogie” was #1 for three weeks.

In October 1978, Dire Straits released their first album.

As their songs came out of the speakers, it was like music could breathe again.

        The modern art simplicity & clean lines of the Dire Straits cover.

This is what had been missing.  Rock had returned.  No, not raucous distorted-guitar rock & roll.  Rather, it was bass, drums, and electric guitars with a pure lead, and a vocal that wasn’t buried in the mix.  I remember thinking how different it was from everything else, and how thankful I was.

Mark Knopfler was the songwriter, lead guitarist, and lead singer for this British band.   “Sultans Of Swing” is the song that introduced Dire Straits to the world.  That first album is all good.  Other standout tracks include “Down To The Waterline”, “Setting Me Up”, “Water Of Love”, and “Southbound Again”.  It’s not that the album is full of hits, it’s that it has a lot of really good songs that hold up well.  It reached #2 on the Billboard album chart.

The next three Dire Straits albums didn’t match the quality or the sales of their first.  Their second album Communique was their poorest.  Making Movies was much better, with “Tunnel Of Love”, “Skateaway”, “Romeo And Juliet”, and “Hand In Hand”.  Their fourth album, Love Over Gold was a step backwards, and sold half as many copies as Making Movies.  So what happened next was a big surprise.

Somehow, someway, Dire Straits then released one of the best albums of the 1980’s, and one of the all time best sellers.

Who knew they had this in them?  In May of 1985, Brothers In Arms was released, and I doubt even Mark Knopfler could have expected the reception.

Fueled with radio and MTV hits “Money For Nothing” (#1), “So Far Away” (#19), and “Walk Of Life” (#7), the album spent 9 weeks at the top of the American charts, and was #1 in nearly every country.  Brothers In Arms won Grammys for Best Rock Performance (by a duo or group), and for Best Engineered Album.  It was the first major album to be recorded digitally.

1985 was a time when vinyl albums were still the norm.  I bought the record album, and then the CD when it became available.  I put the CD on, and as it started playing “Your Latest Trick”, I was shocked.  There was a whole beautiful trumpet introduction that wasn’t on the record album!  It turns out there were several tracks that had been edited down to fit the time restrictions of vinyl.  Brothers In Arms became the first album with the CD outselling the record.  It was the first CD to sell a million copies, and for quite a while was the best selling CD period.  The album has sold over 30-Million copies.

For the two years after Brothers In Arms, Dire Straits toured with 247 shows in over a hundred cities.  They burned out.  In 1988, Mark Knopfler announced the dissolution of the band.

There was one reunion album in 1991, On Every Street, which has some good tracks, but didn’t live up to expectations.  Mark Knopfler has gone on to do many solo projects, and works with other top artists.

Dire Straits may not be the long-term success story of some of the best classic bands, but Dire Straits and Brothers In Arms are two of Rock’s shining moments.

(Update:  Dire Straits was inducted with the 2018 class of The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  Great choice.)

(Update:  5/31/2018.  Last night the excellent TV series “The Americans” used the song “Brothers In Arms” to help convey an extremely important idea during the series finale of the Cold War drama.  Interestingly, “The West Wing” also used the song for their season two finale.)

 

  Al Jardine, Carl Wilson, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, & Mike Love

Surf!  Cars!  Girls!

The Beach Boys (The name was assigned to them by their record label…they had been The Pendletones) were just teenagers wanting to make records, and they did.  In the early ’60’s, The Beach Boys made me believe:   “I Get Around” in my “Little Deuce Coupe” with my “Surfer Girl” having “Fun Fun Fun”, even though I was “In My Room” stuck in the Midwest.

Once in a while, primary songwriter and group leader Brian Wilson would throw in more serious lyrics and topics, but mostly it was good feelings as their “Surf Music” came out of our radio speakers.  High quality harmony vocals and melodies meant their songs would be enjoyed for decades.

Brian Wilson knew they couldn’t just keep writing surf and car songs.  The music around him was evolving.  He was aware that Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and many other artists were raising the bar.

In 1965, Brian began using more complex musical arrangements with a wider variety of instruments.  There’s a new sophistication to the sound of “California Girls” even though the topic wasn’t new.

Then in late 1965 came Rubber Soul by The Beatles.

Brian said he was blown away by it.  He said he wanted to make a Beach Boys album like that…good all the way through.  Being a Beach Boys fan, I know their albums had some great songs, but also songs that would be considered filler.

Brian was no longer on the road with the rest of The Beach Boys.  Instead, he focused on songwriting with lyricist Tony Asher starting in December of 1965.  He also was producing instrumental tracks with L.A.’s super session musicians “The Wrecking Crew”.

Above are shots from the sessions for Pet Sounds in 1966.  That’s Carol Kaye on bass, some of the other Wrecking Crew players, and additional musicians. The Beach Boys were replaced in the studio, except for their vocals.

When The Beach Boys returned from touring, they heard the tracks for the new album, and with the exception of Carl Wilson, they weren’t enthusiastic.  In particular, Mike Love thought Brian was straying too far from the formula that had made the group popular.

Pet Sounds’ complex musical arrangements are almost classical.  The instruments are often layered in the “Wall of Sound” style, and were unusual for Rock, like a bass harmonica, harpsichord, and Electro-Theramin.  The lyrics are mostly introspective.  No one was having any “Fun Fun Fun”.

Despite reservations, the group members worked on the challenging vocal parts.  Brian Wilson has a great ear for harmonies, and he pushed for perfection.

Pet Sounds was released in May of 1966.  Reviews of the album were mixed.  It didn’t perform as well as previous Beach Boys albums, reaching #10 in Billboard, and selling under 500,000 copies.  The Beach Boys mainly blamed Capitol for not doing enough promotion.  Brian was devastated, and felt his new direction was being rejected.

In 1966 a friend and I were in a record store, and we picked out one album together…Pet Sounds.  He paid for half of the album, saying that he listens to all my records, and wanted to pitch in.  He was being a nice guy, though I feel like I still owe him half an album (maybe side two?).  It’s hard to believe Pet Sounds was in any way a failure.  It includes the now classic songs, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, “God Only Knows”, “Sloop John B”, and “Caroline No”.  Plus it has the beautiful recordings “You Still Believe In Me” and “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)”.  I’ve always thought it was easily their best album.

Years passed.  Somewhere along the line,  positive opinions of the album began to grow.  Other musicians praised it, especially Paul McCartney.  He often has said the “clever” arrangements and use of unusual instruments influenced Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.  Paul also says “God Only Knows” is one of the best songs ever written, and that he gave Pet Sounds to each of his children.

For three decades, the album was only available in mono.  I finally got to hear the stereo mix in 1996 when I obtained a promotional CD that Capitol sent to radio stations.  Pet Sounds was supposed to be released in stereo that year on it’s 30th anniversary, but for some reason, it was delayed until 1997.  Meanwhile, I’m listening to this pristine copy of the album and am amazed by how it sounds.  For the first time, I could hear the intricacies of Brian Wilson’s arrangements and the individual instruments themselves, rather than everything being mashed together through one channel.

The  instrumental accompaniments are genius.  Brian Wilson arranged all of the parts himself.  He carried around the arrangements in his head for strings, horns, keyboards, everything.  He made notes and relayed what he had in mind.  It was then translated into actual scores.  Interviews with the musicians who worked the sessions had nothing but high praise for Brian Wilson’s musical vision.

                                         My Beach Boys box sets.

Capitol Records may have dropped the ball on the initial release, but they’ve excelled since.  They’ve released box sets and special editions that include the separated instrumental backing tracks, so people could hear those genius arrangements.  I believe that’s had an effect on the perception of Pet Sounds as one of the all time best albums.

            My 1966 sleeve from Good Vibrations.

There could have been one addition that would have made Pet Sounds an instant hit.  “Good Vibrations” was started during the album sessions, but wasn’t completed.  With a few more months of work, and costing more than any previous single, “Good Vibrations” came out in October of 1966.

It was a #1 smash!  “Good Vibrations” was described by publicist Derek Taylor as a “pocket symphony”.  It has six musical sections edited together, and combines the innovation of Brian Wilson with the old “feel good” style of The Beach Boys.

The year 1966 was the musical peak of The Beach Boys’ career.  They put out an album and a single that are among the best ever recorded.

Update 2023:  Giles Martin has remixed Pet Sounds in Dolby Atmos, a form of multi-channel immersive sound, so with the right equipment, you can have a new listening experience from the 1966 album.

Bonus:  What was supposed to be the follow-up album to Pet Sounds wasn’t released for several decades.  Here’s the original cover art.

Smile wasn’t officially released until the 2000’s.  Here’s a 29-minute presentation of the album with selected stereo tracks segued together:

The list of songs used for Smile.  1. Our Prayer, 2. Gee/Trombone, 3. Heroes And Villains, 4. Roll Plymouth Rock, 5. Old Master Painter/You Are My Sunshine, 6. Cabin Essence, 7. Wonderful, 8. Child Is Father Of The Man, 9. Surf’s Up Intro/Surf’s Up, 10. Wind Chimes, 11. Cool Cool Water, 12. Good Vibrations, 13. Piano Instrumental (Heroes And Villains).

There are certainly people who prefer the late 1960’s Blues lineup of Fleetwood Mac with guitarist/songwriter Peter Green.

There may even be people who prefer the early 1970’s lineup with Bob Welch.

I’ve collected good songs from both of those versions of the band.

But the truth is, Fleetwood Mac might have mostly been a musical footnote in America without the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.

Fleetwood Mac had released nine previous studio albums, with no major breakthrough in the United States.  That’s more albums than the new Fleetwood Mac recorded.  Some of the lack of success could be due to their small blues label “Blue Horizon” from 1968 to 1970, but they had moved to “Reprise”, a major division of Warner Brothers during their rock/pop phase from 1970 to 1974.

While John McVie and Mick Fleetwood are a formidable bass & drums rhythm section, it also takes great songwriting, singing, and producing to be successful.  Christine McVie is an excellent keyboardist and singer, but there were no songs she did during those earlier albums that were so good they had to be included in Fleetwood Mac’s repertoire going forward.

With the addition of Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie now had a talented arranger/producer (and songwriter) to shape her newly written songs into great recordings.  The proof of this change is her songs on the 1975 album, Fleetwood Mac…”Over My Head”, “Warm Ways” and “Say You Love Me”.  She had no recordings of that quality on previous Fleetwood Mac albums.  You can easily hear Buckingham’s influence.  Christine went on to write some of the group’s biggest hits, including “Don’t Stop”, “You Make Loving Fun”, and “Little Lies”.

Stevie Nicks also credits Lindsey Buckingham with helping her turn her songwriting demos into completed recordings, as he did for all of the band’s songs.

When Buckingham and Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975, they brought with them the key songs “Monday Morning”, “Rhiannon”, and “Landslide”.  Lindsey’s a great lead guitarist (the reason he was hired in the first place).  That guitar style influenced his own impressive songwriting, and created a new sound for Fleetwood Mac.

So what did the addition of Stevie Nicks mean?  Stevie is a special songwriter whose topics and depth of lyrics gave Fleetwood Mac’s music greater meaning.  Her songs have held up extremely well.  She added mystique with her lyrics, and showmanship with her live performances.  Besides “Rhiannon” and “Landslide”, her songs include “Dreams”, “Gypsy” and “Gold Dust Woman”.

We can now look back with some historical perspective on Fleetwood Mac’s recordings.  What songs do fans still want to hear decades later?  An interesting gauge for assessing the popularity of songs is in iTunes.  With just a click over an album’s song list, you can place the songs in order of popularity. It’s based upon which songs are being purchased (basically the public is voting with their money).  So I did this with Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits.  Four out of the top five songs are by Stevie Nicks, and for some reason, she only has four songs on that album of sixteen songs.

Maybe it was a fluke, so I did the same thing with the 36 song collection The Very Best Of Fleetwood Mac.  Stevie Nicks wrote 9 of the top 10 purchased songs (“The Chain” was a co-write).  The other one, at number 4, was “Tusk” by Lindsey Buckingham.  He also had songs 11, 12, & 13…”Go Your Own Way”, “Monday Morning” and “Never Going Back”.  Starting with #14, Christine McVie had 5 of the next 7 songs.  Besides the hits she wrote, Fleetwood Mac often ended concerts with her beautiful ballad “Songbird”.

It’s obvious that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were the key ingredients to turn Fleetwood Mac into the amazingly successful band they became.  However, they were also lucky to get into Fleetwood Mac.  The band had a recording contract, and Lindsey and Stevie were barely getting by financially.

Fans are fortunate those particular five people came together when they did.  The only rock band in the 1970’s that was as successful as Fleetwood Mac was the Eagles.  They toured together in the 1970’s, and in July, 2017, the two groups co-headlined the “Classic West Festival” in L.A., and the “Classic East Festival” in New York.

Appropriately, Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame together in 1998 (when the Hall’s membership was still mainly rock artists).

Update:  Stevie Nicks was inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame as a solo artist (2019), the first woman inducted twice.

Update (11/30/22):  Sadly, Christine McVie has passed away at the age of 79.  She had been in poor health, and died while hospitalized.  Recently, she had been opening up about her experience in Fleetwood Mac, and how much she enjoyed that time.

Extra:  This list of significant songs by the three songwriters of Fleetwood Mac was included with my article about Christine McVie, and I thought this analysis would also benefit from it.  (Can be enlarged & saved)

Who did the song “Black Magic Woman”?

You’re right if you say Santana.  They did the hit version in 1970, but it was first done by the English band Fleetwood Mac in 1968.   The song was written by Mac founder Peter Green.  Green (an excellent Blues guitarist & singer-songwriter) had replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, and decided to start his own band with fellow Bluesbreakers Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.  They were a blues band from 1968 into 1970, and were popular in Britain, with songs like “Oh Well”, “Albatross” (a #1 instrumental), and “The Green Manalishi”.

Unfortunately, Peter Green suffered from mental problems that may have been made worse by his taking LSD.  He left the band in 1970, and that was the end of phase one.  (Update:  Peter Green passed away in his sleep on July 25th, 2020 at the age of 73.  According to Mick Fleetwood, Green had gotten past his problems and had been leading a life of painting, fishing, and playing acoustic guitar.)

(Peter Green with bassist John McVie)

1970 to 1974 was a major switch for Fleetwood Mac to a Rock/Pop sound.  The lineup changed several times, except for Mick Fleetwood (drums), John McVie (bass), and Christine McVie (keyboards & vocals).  Christine had married John McVie in 1968.  It’s of note that prior to joining Fleetwood Mac, Christine Perfect (her real name) had twice been voted Britain’s Female Artist of the Year.  She left her band Chicken Shack (real name) to officially join Fleetwood Mac in 1970.

A major addition to the band was singer-songwriter and guitarist Bob Welch (in the T-shirt above).  Fleetwood Mac had some minor success with their albums and songs like “Hypnotized”, but never really broke through.  Bob Welch left the band in 1974.  End of phase two.

When Mick Fleetwood checked on Sound City Studios as a possible location to record (the band had moved to L.A.) he heard a track from the album Buckingham Nicks played as a demonstration of the studio.  Lindsey Buckingham was introduced to Fleetwood.  Eventually, Mick offered Lindsey a job, and he accepted as long as his girlfriend and partner Stevie Nicks could also join.  Prior to the final “yes”, Stevie met with Christine McVie, because Mick Fleetwood wanted her approval too.  The two women got along great, and Fleetwood Mac began their last major phase.

Mick…………….John………..Christine……….Lindsey…..Stevie

Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks gave Fleetwood Mac an almost completely new sound.  It really was like a new band, so maybe that’s why they did what most new bands do…they titled their first album the name of the group.  (It had also been the name of the old blues band’s very first album in 1968.)

Fleetwood Mac came out in July of 1975.  Knowing that the album has “Monday Morning” (Buckingham), “Rihannon” (Nicks) “Over My Head” (McVie), “Landslide” (Nicks) and “Say You Love Me” (McVie), it might be imagined that it was an instant hit.  It wasn’t, but the band toured almost constantly, and after 15 months, the album finally hit #1.

All that touring can add stress to already tenuous relationships.  Marriages were ending for Mick Fleetwood and John & Christine McVie, as was the relationship between Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.  So, of course, it was time to make another album.

The members of Fleetwood Mac simply pushed through all their personal problems, and used them in their songwriting.  Stevie Nicks says they had worked too hard to achieve success, and they weren’t going to let anything break up the band.  Rumours is among the best albums ever recorded.

Released in February of 1977, it had four big hits…”Dreams” #1, , “Don’t Stop” #3, “You Make Loving Fun” #9, and “Go Your Own Way #10.  In addition, FM Radio played “Second Hand News”, “Never Going Back Again”, “Songbird”, “The Chain” and “Gold Dust Woman” nearly as much as the singles.  Rumors was a phenomenon,  spending 31 weeks at #1 during 1977, and ultimately selling over 40-million copies worldwide.  It won the Grammy for Album Of The Year over another phenomenal album, Hotel California (probably should have been a tie).  By the way, “Silver Springs” was recorded at this time, and was not included because of time limitations on vinyl (22 1/2 minutes per side, for best audio).  Maybe “Oh Daddy” could have been left off, and some of the fade-outs shortened to allow time for “Silver Springs”.

Once in a lifetime success can’t really be followed up at that level.  Fleetwood Mac allowed producer/arranger Lindsey Buckingham to be more experimental on 1979’s Tusk.  The double album probably should have been a single album.  It was considered a relative failure (#4 in Billboard) even though it went quadruple platinum.  The singles were Sara #7, “Tusk” #8, and “Think About Me” #20.  Other top cuts include “Brown Eyes”, “Beautiful Child”, “Never Make Me Cry” and “Walk A Thin Line”.  The video for “Tusk” featured the USC Marching Band, and the song became a staple at sporting events for years.

There was a bit of a break for Fleetwood Mac in 1981.  Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham each did solo albums.

Buckingham’s Law and Order includes the single “Trouble” which was a #9 hit, and the album is mostly Lindsey playing all the instruments.  It reached #32.

Nick’s album, Bella Donna, includes four hits “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (#3 with Tom Petty), “Edge of Seventeen”(#13), “Leather And Lace” (#6 with Don Henley), and “After The Glitter Fades” (#32).  The album was a #1 hit, and outsold Tusk.  Nicks wrote 9 of the 10 tracks.  She plays guitar and keyboards for songwriting, but not for performances.

By 1982, Mac came back with their album Mirage.  It’s considered more of a typical Fleetwood Mac album.  The hits were “Hold Me” (McVie), “Gypsy” (Nicks), and “Love In Store” (McVie).  The album Hit #1, but sold about half the copies of Tusk.

It was another 5 years (of solo albums) before they released Tango In The Night in 1987.  It had started out as a solo album by Lindsey Buckingham, but it morphed into a group album.  It had four hits, “Big Love” (Buckingham), “Seven Wonders” (Nicks), “Little Lies” & “Everywhere” (both McVie).  The album charted at #7, and sold over 3-million copies.

Then Lindsey Buckingham left the band (in 1987).

That’s a big loss.  Lindsey was the major arranger/producer for their songs, he wrote, sang lead & harmony, and is a world-class lead guitarist.  You may not even remember, but he was replaced by two guitarists/songwriters/vocalists, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito.

The album, Behind The Mask, came out in 1990. It had no big hits, and went to #18 on the album chart.  The album received really mixed reviews, with some critics calling it a refreshing change.  It did include some good songs.  My favorite is a Burnette-Vito song “When The Sun Goes Down”, but except for the cool background vocals by Nicks & McVie, the song doesn’t sound like Fleetwood Mac.  Because it’s not the classic Fleetwood Mac lineup, it’s treated by the group as if it never existed.

Speaking of not existing.  Another Fleetwood Mac album, Time, came out in 1995.  It didn’t have Lindsey Buckingham or Stevie Nicks.  It didn’t even make the Top 200 album chart.  Fleetwood Mac Broke up.

Two years later (1997) came the reunion.  The full lineup of all 5 key members reunited for a live video concert broadcast on MTV, The Dance.  It was also released as an album…a #1 chart topper that sold over 6-million copies.

A year later (1998), and tired of touring, Christine McVie left Fleetwood Mac.

The last studio album by the group was in April of 2003, Say You Will.  It sold a low 218,000 copies on release.  The magic just wasn’t there.

Fleetwood Mac has been touring off and on for years, always successfully.  Christine McVie rejoined them in 2014.

Update:  Lindsey Buckingham was not on the 2018-2019 tour…please see the “Fleetwood Mac & Lindsey Buckingham” article for more.

Update: (Feb. 2021)  In an interview with BBC radio, Christine McVee says it’s unlikely Fleetwood Mac will tour again…”Certainly not this year.”  She says the only member of the band who would probably want to tour again is Mick Fleetwood.  Fleetwood confirmed he would like to do a farewell tour with the group, possibly with Lindsey Buckingham.

Update: (Sept., 2021)  Lindsey Buckingham released a new self-titled album on September 17th, and did a solo tour.

Update: (Sept., 2021)  Lindsey Buckingham did an interview and had some very negative comments about Stevie Nicks.  That seems to close the door on him ever rejoining the band.  The story is in an article on this site…”Fleetwood Mac Attack”.

Update (11/30/22):  Sadly, Christine McVie has passed away at the age of 79.  She had been in poor health, and died while hospitalized.  Recently, she had been opening up about her experience in Fleetwood Mac, and how much she enjoyed that time.

Update (10/3/23):  Stevie Nicks says that without Christine McVie, there is no reason to go on with Fleetwood Mac.

In 1964 their first album went…nowhere.

Paul Simon went…to England.

Art Garfunkel went…back to college.

In London, Paul Simon continued his songwriting (he had only written 5 of the 12 songs on their first album), and in 1965 released a solo album in England, The Paul Simon Songbook.  Art Garfunkel was getting his master’s degree in mathematics.  So…no Simon & Garfunkel.

But on their first album was a song… “The Sound Of Silence”.  It wasn’t as we first heard it.  Instead, it was an acoustic folk song.

The album, Wednesday Morning, 3A.M., had been released in October of 1964 (“The year of The Beatles, the year of The Stones”), and it tanked.  Then in 1965, a few radio stations along the East Coast started playing “The Sound Of Silence” off the album.

Album producer Tom Wilson made a bold move that was probably the key moment in keeping Simon & Garfunkel from being the sound of silence.  In June of 1965, as Folk Rock was taking off, he had studio pros add an electric guitar, bass, and drums onto “The Sound Of Silence”.

(Columbia Records Producer Tom Wilson also worked with Bob Dylan)

Wilson didn’t bother telling Simon & Garfunkel about the changes.  Officially, they didn’t exist as a duo anymore.  The remix was released as a single in the fall of 1965.  Simon found out by seeing his song on the charts, and Garfunkel called Simon a few days later, because he had also heard about the song’s success.  By January of 1966, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100, and sold over a million copies.

All of a sudden, and to their surprise, Simon & Garfunkel were back together.  Their label wanted an album to go with the hit single.

Columbia Records was lucky Paul Simon had written songs for his solo album, as “I Am A Rock”, “Leaves That Are Green”, “A Most Peculiar Man”, “April Come She Will”, and “Kathy’s Song” were all on The Paul Simon Songbook.  Also “Somewhere They Can’t Find Me” is a reworking of “Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.” with a new chorus.  Both versions are good, “Wednesday” is folk, “Somewhere” is rock.  The album was recorded in three weeks, and released in January of 1966, while the single was still high on the charts.

Because the album name is The Sounds Of Silence, there was some confusion over whether the song is “The Sound Of Silence” or The Sounds Of Silence”.  Paul says it was always meant to be with no “s”.

Interestingly, their next single was not on the album.  “Homeward Bound” (which was recorded just after the album) reached #5 in February of 1966, and then in May, “I Am A Rock” went to #3.

Simon & Garfunkel took much more time to record their next album, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.

I remember buying this album at a bookstore in Lincoln, NE.  Each week they would feature a brand-new album on sale.  I think the price was $2.99.  It certainly was a bargain, because I like everything on it.  Highlights of the October 1966 album include, “Homeward Bound”, “Scarborough Fair” (a traditional English song), “The Dangling Conversation”, “For Emily, Whenever I May Find Her”, and “The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy)”.

Simon & Garfunkel mostly toured college campuses to support their albums.  They didn’t use a touring band until much later,  just Paul Simon’s masterful guitar playing, and the beautiful blend of their voices.

There was not another album until 1968.  However, they did release some singles…”A Hazy Shade Of Winter” #13, “At The Zoo” #16, and “Fakin’ It” #23.

Movie director Mike Nichols asked Simon & Garfunkel if he could use some of their songs for his new film.  They were reluctant, but after visiting with him, they approved the use of their songs in his movie “The Graduate”.  Smart decision.

The movie and the use of their music are now classic.  “Scarborough Fair” was featured prominently, and became another hit single.  During filming, Mike Nichols found out Paul Simon was working on a song called “Mrs. Roosevelt”.  That quickly became “Mrs. Robinson”.  The song is incomplete in the film, but Simon finished it and the single became Simon & Garfunkel’s second #1.

The movie soundtrack was released in January of 1968, and in June, Simon & Garfunkel released their 4th studio album…Bookends.

It’s another high quality effort.  Side one starts with the “Bookends Theme”, and the concept is a life cycle ending with “Old Friends/Bookends”.  The other major song on that side is “America” (“They’ve all come to look for America”).  It’s one of their best songs, and I remember using it in the ’70’s as the soundtrack for my college Television Directing presentation.

Side two features 4 hit singles, “Mrs. Robinson”, “Fakin’ It”, “A Hazy Shade Of Winter”, and “At The Zoo”.

There was only one album left.  Bridge Over Troubled Water was recorded in 1969, and released in January of 1970.  I have a vivid memory of hearing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on the radio when we were in Memphis.  It was raining, we had just parked our car, and we stayed inside to finish the song.  It was so good…it felt like an honor to hear it.

Paul Simon says the song “came to me”, and was not like other songs he had written.  Here’s a way to know a song is special.  S&G performed “Bridge Over Troubled Water” during a 1969 concert, before the song was released, and it received a standing ovation!  “Bridge” was the #1 song of 1970, and topped Billboard’s singles chart for six weeks.  The song and the album won six major Grammy Awards, including Song Of The Year and Album Of The Year.

Other singles were “The Boxer”, “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)”, and “Cecilia”.  The album’s eleven songs feature a variety of musical styles that foreshadowed Paul Simon’s impressive solo career.

The strain of recording the album when Art Garfunkel was busy filming “Catch 22”, and then his taking another acting role in early 1970, contributed greatly to the duo breaking up in the summer of that year.  It was just months after their greatest success.  There would be some performance reunions, but no more studio albums.  Their four main albums are among the best recorded in the 1960’s.

Epilogue:  If Tom Wilson had never made the “Folk Rock” version of “The Sound Of Silence”, would Simon & Garfunkel have been as we know them?  Probably not.  Paul Simon was going to have a career as a singer-songwriter, because he’s just too talented to have failed.  But, two questions remain.  1.  Would Paul have eventually asked his friend Art to join him?  (Despite his vocal ability, Garfunkel would likely have become an architect or math teacher.)  2.  How long would it have taken Simon to move to a more popular Folk Rock sound, instead of the acoustic style on his album The Paul Simon Songbook?

Update 4 Nov. 2024:  Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s relationship has been strained for many years, but according to Garfunkel, they’ve made peace.  In an interview with The Sun, Garfunkel said he and Paul Simon recently had lunch together.  He said… “It was very very warm and wonderful.  There were tears.  I was crying at a certain point, because I felt I’d hurt him.  But there were hugs, and I’m cherishing this two-week-old memory.”

It’s late July of 1973 and we’re driving by the Hampton Roads Coliseum north of Norfolk, Virginia.  The sign says a concert with Loggins & Messina and Jim Croce is coming August 6th.  Our friends, Don & Linda MacLeod, are with us.  We decide to pull in and buy 4 tickets…and we get the second row!  The Coliseum was just 3 years old at the time and a beautiful venue.

Jim Croce opens the show accompanied by another singer-guitarist, Maury Muehleisen.  They are so good.  Of course they play Croce’s hits…”Operator”, “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim”, “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” (a #1 hit), and other songs from his first two albums, including “Time In A Bottle”.

It’s really cool to hear some excellent songs from Croce’s almost finished album.  They do about five new songs, including  “I’ll Have To Say I Love You In A Song”, “I Got A Name” and “Working At The Car Wash Blues”…which Croce actually introduces as having the world’s longest song title…”Steadily Depressin’, Low Down Mind Messin’, Working At The Car Wash Blues”.

(Concert photos are by my friend, Don MacLeod, except the next three shots below are mine.  Photos enlarge with a click.)

We can tell the new album will be great, and we’re so impressed with the two performers that we wonder if Loggins & Messina could be as good.  (More on Jim Croce later.)

Kenny Loggins comes out with his acoustic guitar and sits down at the edge of the stage.  His voice and guitar fill the auditorium, no worries about quality.

Jim Messina joins Kenny, and that sounds even better.  As they go into another song, the other musicians make their way behind them, and soon the whole band joins in.   Wow, they sound just the way a country-rock band should!

I recognized Al Garth in the band (from photos and credits on the backs of albums).  He played violin and reed instruments.  I’m guessing the other players that night were also session pros.

Jim Messina had been a member of Buffalo Springfield in their latter stages, and had produced for them, as well as his group Poco.  By 1971, he was producing the first solo album for Kenny Loggins.

As Messina took a more active role, it was decided to bill the album as “Kenny Loggins with Jim Messina” and the title was  Sittin’ In.  Best cuts include…”Danny’s Song”, “Nobody But You”, “House at Pooh Corner”, “Listen To A Country Song”, and the eleven-minute “Trilogy”.

By their second album, they were definitely a duo.  Loggins And Messina was released in November of 1972.  “Your Mamma Don’t Dance” was a fun, uptempo hit, and other solid cuts were “Thinking Of You”, “Lady Of My Heart”, “Angry Eyes”, and “Whiskey”.

At the time of the concert in 1973, they were on the rise with another hit single, “My Music”, and about to release their excellent album, Full Sail.  Besides the single, it included “A Love Song” (another hit for Anne Murray, after “Danny’s Song”), “Travelin’ Blues”, “Watching The River Run” and “Sailing The Wind”.  I remember they were on the cover of the Rolling Stone with the title “There’s gold in the middle of the road”.

Loggins and Messina’s success continued, and three more studio albums followed, but I think we were lucky enough to catch L&M at a great time.  The crowd loved them.

As fans left their seats and came forward for the encores, we had to move to the back.  We didn’t want my wife, Jeannette, to get pushed against the stage, because she was eight months pregnant.  It wasn’t our future son’s first concert, we had been to other concerts in recent months, but this was the best one.

There was horrible tragedy for Jim Croce and Maury Meuhleisen.  The month following the concert, on September 20th, 1973, both were killed when their pilot took off in foggy darkness and flew their small plane into a tree.  Croce was only 30, and Meuhleisen (who was also a singer-songwriter) was just 24.  Besides the terrible personal loss for their families, it was a big loss for music fans.

Their work on the posthumously released album, I Got A Name, showed a maturing of their writing and singing.  Jim Croce and Maury Meuhleisen were certainly poised for much more success.