[Music]
it's hard to believe that 40 years ago
Fleetwood Mac released its masterpiece
rumors because the record still sounds
as beautiful and pristine and new as it
did in 1977 it's a timeless album as far
as I'm concerned a work of art that
lasts and that's really the goal isn't
it for anyone in the creative arts to
make something that feels alive months
and years and decades after its creation
so what makes rumours so good well there
are of course a lot of reasons the
skills of the individual band members
the songwriting craft the producers and
engineers and the virtually unlimited
budget and time that Fleetwood Mac got
from Warner Brothers following the
release of their self-titled album which
was burning up the radio that money in
time means a lot to a band like
Fleetwood Mac who like the Beatles or
Kanye West or Frank Ocean shines
brightest in the studio where they can
exercise minut control over every park
or song each track is like a sonic
painting as co-producer of rumors ken
Callay once described it and if you're
wondering what he means by that just
take a listen to the difference between
the demo of Stevie Nicks classic song
dreams which you're hearing right now
and the final product
when it's raining
[Music]
this is how it worked with Fleetwood Mac
in this case Stevie Nicks wrote a
beautiful piano melody and lyrics and
the band in particular Lindsey
Buckingham spent the better part of a
year adding and experimenting to create
a rich full-bodied sonic experience at
its core dreams is a pretty simple song
that consists of only two chords F and G
played over and over and over again
Nick's presented the song to the band on
a Fender Rhodes piano Buckingham added
an acoustic guitar and Christine McVie
played a Hammond b3 organ then Mick
Fleetwood added drums in John McPhee
added bass guitar a very hypnotic rhythm
section the base just alternates between
F and G with some variations and the
standout part of the drums are these
tapping high hats which run over
everything throughout the whole song
that's the track please would Mack laid
down at the recording session in
Sausalito but the song was far from
complete for example Buckingham and the
producers weren't convinced that the
drums were hypnotic enough so they
created a loop of 8 bar loop of eight
bars loop of eight bars easier said than
done
on analogue tape Calais also added a
phaser to the hi-hat so that they would
have a swishy field stick out later
Buckingham recorded an electric guitar
part adding those soupy licks that float
through the verse then tighten up in the
pre-chorus
[Music]
and eventually give way to an acoustic
guitar in the course itself
[Music]
having build up and release and change
across the sections of a pop song are
what make it compelling to the listener
Buckingham is a genius at filling in
these kinds of colors and ideas usually
spur on more ideas
Callay describes in his book on rumors
that when Nick's heard the new parts of
the song she had her own idea for
background vocals in the pre-chorus she
worked out the parts with Christine
McVie he give the sad and dreamlike song
and even more ghostly feel here take a
listen
[Music]
the song of course is about Lindsey
Buckingham and it literally feels like
it's haunting hands Stevie Nicks wrote
it shortly after their breakup and as
she says in the lyrics she couldn't go
on because Lindsey wanted his freedom
oh now and loneliness he has to dwell on
what he had and what he lost
it's a cruel twist of fate that the song
became such a hit that Buckingham had to
spend the next 40 years singing it in
concert anyway at this point the song
was almost done
Nick's Buckingham and McVie created a
tight three-part vocal harmony for the
chorus and then they brightened up the
pre courses with a vibraphone and the
second chorus with a conga drum those
are both touches that you can barely
hear and certainly don't think about
much when you listen but your brain
registers the accents when Calais mix
the song he was careful to put every
instrument in its right place and have a
wide range of sounds from bass to
mid-range to treble in the case of
dreams Calais pushed many of the
instruments down to give them a little
more bass so that the hi-hat I talked
about earlier would stand out as well as
Nick's incredible lead vocal
[Music]
also in the high-end is Buckinghams wine
and guitar a muddled longing response to
the sharp poetry of the lyrics on rumors
Fleetwood Mac made perfect pop music it
didn't reinvent the wheel it dipped the
wheel and liquid gold
these are concise gorgeous songs dressed
up with multicolored sounds but built on
foundations of real emotion and real
heartbreak I think it's pretty safe to
say that 40 years from now we'll still
be listening to Fleetwood Mac as John
Keats once wrote a thing of beauty is a
joy forever
[Music]
hey everybody thank you so much for
watching
Merry Christmas I hope you guys are with
people that you love this holiday season
I am and I'm excited to celebrate this
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thanks guys I'll see you in 2018