Maps of Music

Rumours (1977)

Where the lyrics of Rumours take you, and where it was really made.

The album that topped the charts was made while the band members were breaking up with one another and struggling with heavy drug use.

Key places

Where the sessions began (1977)

Recording site Record Plant — Fleetwood Mac convened at the Record Plant in Sausalito in February 1976. Most of the album's early sessions took place here before work moved to Los Angeles. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Los Angeles sessions (1977)

Recording site The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — After the tour, recording resumed at venues in Los Angeles, including Wally Heider Studios. The band struggled there to finish overdubbing and mixing after the Sausalito tapes were damaged. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Songbird in a concert hall (1977)

Recording site Zellerbach Auditorium (Berkeley) — Christine McVie's Songbird was recorded during an all-night session at Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkeley. The venue lay across San Francisco Bay from Sausalito, where most of the sessions had taken place. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Rumours: eleventh studio album by Fleetwood Mac
• British-American rock band; released 4 February 1977 by Warner Bros. Records
• Largely recorded in California in 1976
• Produced by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut
• Sessions shaped by breakups among members and heavy drug use
• Lyrics concern personal and often troubled relationships
• Release was postponed by delays in the mixing process
• Band promoted the album with a worldwide concert tour

Background

• Recorded as a pop album to expand on the commercial success of Fleetwood Mac (1975)
• Fleetwood Mac (1975) reached No. 1 in the U.S. in 1976
• After Bob Welch left in 1974, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band
• The McVies divorced after John McVie's severe alcoholism, ending eight years of marriage
• Buckingham and Nicks had an on/off relationship that led to fights between takes
• Fleetwood faced domestic problems of his own
• Ken Caillat was first hired as engineer after the success of 'Rhiannon'
• The recording process ultimately took a year

Recording

• Band convened in February 1976 at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California
• Most members wanted to record at home, but Fleetwood did not allow any moves
• Sessions included all-night work and extensive cocaine use, according to the source
• The Sausalito tapes were damaged by repeated use during recording
• A sell-out autumn US tour was cancelled to allow completion of the album
• A specialist used a vari-speed oscillator to rectify the Sausalito tapes
• Engineers used the Aphex Aural Exciter to restore some lost top-end clarity
• After the concerts, recording resumed at venues in Los Angeles, including Wally Heider Studios

Cover

• Front cover: stylised shot of Fleetwood with his foot raised on a stool, and Nicks in her 'Rhiannon' stage persona
• Back cover: montage of band portraits
• All photographs taken by Herbert Worthington

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in July 1967 by Peter Green after leaving John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, with Mick Fleetwood on drums.
• The name combines Fleetwood's surname with bassist John McVie, who joined in 1967.
• Early line-up was primarily a British blues band; "Albatross" reached UK No. 1 in 1968.

Members

• Core members over time: Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham.
• Buckingham and Nicks joined at the end of 1974 and drove the band's global success.

Career

• Rumours (1977) is one of the best-selling albums of all time and won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1978.
• The band has sold more than 120 million records worldwide.
• Received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 1979 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
• Received the MusiCares Person of the Year award in 2018.
• Christine McVie died in 2022; Stevie Nicks later said she saw no reason to continue the band.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Album garnered universal acclaim from critics
• Critics praised the production quality and the vocal harmonies of the band's three singers
• Rolling Stone's John Swenson believed the interplay among the three vocalists was one of the album's most pleasing elements
• Robert Christgau in The Village Voice described it as more consistent and more eccentric than its predecessor
• Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times was less receptive and called it frustratingly uneven
• Finished fourth in The Village Voice's 1977 Pazz & Jop critics' poll

Reappraisal

• AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album five stars in a retrospective review
• Barry Walsh of Slant Magazine described it as a timeless five-star record
• Continues to receive acclaim and is widely considered Fleetwood Mac's magnum opus
• Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003
• Selected for the National Recording Registry in 2017 by the Library of Congress
• Ranked seventh in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2020

Records

• Won Album of the Year at the 1978 Grammy Awards
• Topped the Billboard 200 for 31 non-consecutive weeks
• Reached number one on the UK Albums Chart in January 1978, the band's first number one there
• Multi-platinum certifications in Australia, Canada, Denmark, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States
• Over 40 million copies sold worldwide as of February 2023
• Certified 14 times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry
• Diamond Award from the RIAA for 20 times platinum

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• John McVie suggested the title because he felt the members were writing journals and diaries about each other through music.
• Christine McVie's Songbird was recorded during an all-night session at Zellerbach Auditorium in Berkeley, across the bay from Sausalito.
• The 2023 Tony-award-winning play Stereophonic is a fictionalized depiction of the album's recording sessions.
• Ken Caillat sued the creators of that play in 2024, alleging they adapted his memoir without permission.
• Christine McVie and Nicks did not attend most of the Los Angeles sessions and took time off until they were needed for remaining vocals.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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