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Fleetwood Mac

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Fleetwood Mac was formed in London in July 1967 by the guitarist Peter Green, shortly after he had left John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. The drummer Mick Fleetwood and the guitarist Jeremy Spencer played with him from the start, and the bassist John McVie joined within a few weeks. In ten years the band went from British blues to American soft rock.

Music and breakthrough

In the early years Fleetwood Mac was mainly a blues band. The instrumental Albatross, released at the end of 1968, reached number 1 in England in January 1969. In 1970 Green left, and that same year the singer and keyboard player Christine McVie became a member. On New Year's Eve 1974 the guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and the singer Stevie Nicks joined. With them the sound became more melodic and lighter. The album Fleetwood Mac (1975) reached number 1 in America. Rumours (1977) was recorded while the relationships within the band were falling apart. The first single, Go Your Own Way, was written by Buckingham about his break-up with Nicks. It became the band's first American top-ten hit. Rumours won a Grammy for album of the year. By 2003 it had sold forty million copies worldwide.

Influence

After that, with the double album Tusk (1979), the band chose a stranger, rawer sound. Tango in the Night (1987) was another great success. In 1998 Fleetwood Mac was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Christine McVie died in 2022. Rumours is a textbook example of soft rock: smooth production, strong vocal melodies and lyrics about the band members' own lives.

Line-up

Core members only; touring and session musicians are not listed.

Period 1 1967–1970
Period 2 1970–1971
Period 3 1971–1974
Rumours line-up 1975–1987
Period 5 1987–1991
reunion 1997–2018
Period 7 2018–2022

Listening

Listening tip. For Go Your Own Way, Buckingham wanted the drum feel of Street Fighting Man by The Rolling Stones. Mick Fleetwood made his own version of it, across the toms and with the bass drum in an unexpected place in the middle of the bar. Listen to how that rhythm gives the song a restless momentum.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Sources

  1. Wikipedia (en): Fleetwood Mac
  2. Wikipedia (en): Albatross (instrumental
  3. Wikipedia (en): Go Your Own Way
  4. Wikipedia (en): Tusk (album
Categories: ArtistsSoft rock and AOR