Fleetwood Mac (1975 album)

Fleetwood Mac is the tenth studio album by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on 11 July 1975 in the United States and on 1 August 1975 in the United Kingdom by Reprise Records. It is the band's second eponymous album after their 1968 debut album and is sometimes referred to by fans as the White Album. It is the first Fleetwood Mac album with Lindsey Buckingham as guitarist and Stevie Nicks as a vocalist, after Bob Welch departed the band in late 1974. It is also the band's last album to be released on the Reprise label until 1997's The Dance; the band's subsequent albums until then were released through Warner Bros. Records, Reprise's parent company.

The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart on 4 September 1976, 58 weeks after entering the chart, and spawned three top-twenty singles: "Over My Head", "Rhiannon", and "Say You Love Me", the last two falling just short of the top ten, both at number 11. It has been certified 7x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over seven million copies in the United States. Peaking at number 23 on the UK Albums Chart, it was the start of a run of hugely successful albums for the band in Britain, with six number ones, Fleetwood Mac being followed by Rumours (1977), Tusk (1979), Mirage (1982),  Tango in the Night (1987), and Behind the Mask (1990).

Background
In 1974, Fleetwood Mac relocated from England to California to manage the band's affairs better. In California, they recorded an album, Heroes Are Hard to Find, and set out on tour. Shortly after finishing the tour, Bob Welch (guitarist, singer, and composer) left the band, ending Fleetwood Mac's ninth lineup in eight years, to form the band Paris.

Prior to Welch's departure, Mick Fleetwood met with producer Keith Olsen at Sound City Studios to listen to some demos. There, Olsen played Fleetwood an album he had recently engineered, titled Buckingham Nicks. Fleetwood particularly enjoyed the guitar solo on the song "Frozen Love", and decided to hire both Olsen and the guitarist, Lindsey Buckingham. However, Buckingham would not accept Fleetwood's offer unless he agreed to also hire Buckingham's musical and romantic partner, Stevie Nicks, even though they were close to breaking up. After an informal interview at a Mexican restaurant, Mick Fleetwood invited both Buckingham and Nicks to join the band, and this tenth lineup of the band proved to be its most successful. Within three months, the band had recorded the album Fleetwood Mac.

During the recording sessions, bassist John McVie clashed with Buckingham over creative decisions made in the studio, particularly over some of the album's bass parts. McVie reminded Buckingham that "The band you're in is Fleetwood Mac. I'm the Mac. And I play the bass." Buckingham told Billboard that Christine McVie was more receptive to Buckingham's creative input. "'It was so clear that right away that Christine and I had this thing. She was just really looking for direction. She was open to me taking liberties with her songs. So early on, that was probably the first thing that hit me about being in Fleetwood Mac was being extremely aware that I had something to contribute to Christine’s songs as a producer and possibly as a co-writer.'"

Many of the songs on Fleetwood Mac were written before Buckingham and Nicks joined the band. "Rhiannon", "I'm So Afraid", and "Monday Morning" were written and performed live by the duo and were initially slated to appear on a second Buckingham Nicks album. "Crystal" was recycled from the first Buckingham Nicks album, but with a different arrangement. Fleetwood praised these songs as "show stoppers, even as rough sketches recorded on Lindsey's four-track.

Like all of the band's studio albums, the front cover photo of Fleetwood Mac does not show the whole band, including, in this case, only drummer Mick Fleetwood (standing) and bass guitarist John McVie (kneeling).

Release and reception
Fleetwood Mac was released on 11 July 1975. Though the band experienced only modest success immediately after the release, they were determined to promote their new album, and after touring for several months, they started to see the results of their hard work. In an interview with Uncut, Stevie Nicks said of the album: "We just played everywhere and we sold that record. We kicked that album in the ass." 15 months after its release, Fleetwood Mac reached the top of the US charts.

In 2003, the album was ranked number 182 on Rolling Stone Magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time", maintaining the ranking in a 2012 revised list.

Singles
All of the singles that derived from Fleetwood Mac used mixes of the songs different from those used on the album (and occasionally different takes, as in the case of "Over My Head"). A "single mix" was also created for "Blue Letter", and this mix was only available as the B-side of the "Warm Ways" single from 1975 until it was included as a bonus track on the 2004 re-issue of the album (along with an instrumental called "Jam #2" and the single versions of "Say You Love Me", "Rhiannon (Will You Ever Win)", and "Over My Head").

In the US, the album spawned three top twenty singles: "Over My Head", "Rhiannon", and "Say You Love Me", the last two falling just short of the top ten, both at number 11. A version of "Landslide" taken from the live reunion album The Dance was released as a single in the US in 1998 and reached number 51 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In the UK, the album's first single was "Warm Ways", which was not released as a single in the US. Initially, the album generated limited interest in the UK, and the first three singles released by the new lineup failed to enter the UK Singles Chart, while "Say You Love Me" reached number 40. Following the massive success of Rumours two years later, however, interest in the band reignited, Fleetwood Mac was re-released in 1978, and a reissue of "Rhiannon" peaked at number 46.

Commercial performance
The album debuted at number 183 on the US Billboard 200 chart dated 2 August 1975. It eventually reached its peak at number one on the chart dated 4 September 1976, which was 57 weeks after it had entered the chart. On 11 September 2018, the album was certified seven times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales of over seven million copies in the United States.

In the UK, the album initially did not enter the charts and made its debut at number 49 on the UK Albums Chart dated 6 November 1976, well over a year after the album's release. It peaked at number 23 its second week on the chart. On 5 July 1978, the album was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for sales of over 100,000 copies in the UK.

Personnel
Fleetwood Mac
 * Lindsey Buckingham – electric, acoustic, and resonator guitar, banjo, vocals
 * Stevie Nicks – vocals
 * Christine McVie – keyboards, synthesizer, vocals
 * John McVie – bass guitar
 * Mick Fleetwood – drums, percussion

Additional personnel
 * Waddy Wachtel – rhythm guitar on "Sugar Daddy"

Production
 * Fleetwood Mac & Keith Olsen – producers
 * Keith Olsen – engineer
 * David Devore – engineer
 * Herbert W. Worthington III – photography