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Fleetwood Mac Rumours Live
Warner Records
While this package certainly will appeal to a good many enthusiasts (myself included), the latest from Fleetwood Mac is hardly a “new” album. In fact, from the vintage live recordings to the classic featured photos, the content, or very similar content contained within this double-CD / double-LP set has been joyriding in various vehicles for decades. Which isn’t a bad thing.
Recorded at the Forum in Los Angeles during the final dog days of ‘77, Rumours Live captures the mighty Mac onstage during the white-hot Rumours tour. Energized by two consecutive, multi-platinum-selling, chart-topping LPs and a fistful of recent Top 40 singles, the British / American hybrid was revving to become the true “Hottest Band in the Land” — before performing death-defying, mile-high acrobatics was a requirement for music artists. OMG, Ashley! She puts on such an amazing SHOW!
Engineered by Rumours co-producer Ken Caillat, the top-shelf, 18-song set list is culled primarily from the afore-referenced mega monstrous Fleetwood Mac and Rumours albums. The 90-minute tour de force further finds the Fab Five firing on all cylinders — serving as something of a perfect Polaroid from an amazing era when rock stars were rightful “Golden Gods” who snorted blow, emptied whiskey bottles, wrecked hotels, and banged groupies. I want LARGE bread!
Rock stars of yore also put some stank on the ball — playing real instruments and singing with their own non-computer-enhanced voices — without need for backing tracks, reliance on laptops, or prior publicist approval. Case in point, Christine McVie’s funky-ass, down-and-dirty, sexy A.F. vocal / keyboard execution on “You Make Loving Fun.”
But, it’s the album’s unrestrained non-singles that perhaps prove best why Fleetwood Mac was such a superb LIVE rock band. In fact, it can be argued that Rumours Live gains the most traction when taking the roads less traveled. Lindsey Buckingham seemingly donates a full pint of plasma on the menacing six-minute bruiser, “I’m So Afraid.” Featuring a groovy signature Mick Fleetwood solo, “World Turning” is an eight-minute show-stopper, to be sure. The double-sass factor of Buckingham’s lead vocal pinned to Stevie Nicks’ harmony vocal makes “Blue Letter” an electrified, country-fried, chicken-pickin’ banger.
It might not be exactly new, but HO-LEE COW, Rumours Live is a sunny-sounding gem of a record — a feel-good time capsule from cozier days. But more importantly, it’s a bright and beautiful tribute to rock’s beloved songbird, Christine McVie. Yeah, I bought two copies. BRAVO!
Fleetwood Mac, Rumours Live in 1977
Fleetwood Mac was flying high when it began a three-night stand at the Forum in Los Angeles in August 1977. Its chart-topping eponymous 1975 album had catapulted the group to superstar status and its follow-up, Rumours, was already a No. 1 international smash that would go on to sell more than 40 million copies, making it one of the most commercially successful records of all time.
The first of those Forum concerts has just been released as Rumours Live, a title that undersells the contents, since the album includes not only nine of the 11 songs from Rumours but also eight of the 11 from Fleetwood Mac. Also featured is “Oh Well,” a composition by original member Peter Green that the group first recorded back in 1969, about five years before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band.
The material is all previously unissued, aside from “Gold Dust Woman,” which appeared as a bonus track on a 2021 deluxe edition of Live, a recording of a 1980 show that originally came out in that year. Nearly all the Rumours Live songs also feature in that other concert, however, and most of the arrangements are quite similar. For casual fans, therefore, one or the other of these albums should suffice.
That said, though, the band is in high gear throughout Rumours Live, and the material—which includes multiple major contributions from three of its members—consists largely of smash hits and radio favorites that you probably know by heart. Among the songs, many of which relate to the band’s internal romantic entanglements: Christine McVie’s “Say You Love Me,” “You Make Loving Fun,” and “Over My Head”; Lindsey Buckingham’s “Go Your Own Way” and “Monday Morning”; and Stevie Nicks’s “Dreams” and “Rhiannon.” This is consistently remarkable stuff, and serious Mac addicts can be forgiven if they want all the versions of it they can get, never mind the similarities.
Fleetwood Mac Opens The Vaults For ‘Rumours Live’ – A Band Performing At Their Peak Powers! Sublime!
As longtime readers know, I’m a huge fan of the live album (our favorites, listed here). Many live albums are a bit piecemeal. Meaning, the band chooses songs from different concerts and builds a (hopefully) coherent live album. I understand wanting to cherry pick your best performances if you’re going to release a live album. Fleetwood Mac used that method for their 1980 album Live. I’ve always been fond of that double-live album, recorded on the Tusk tour, but Tusk has always been one of my favorite double-albums. When Fleetwood Mac reunited in 1997 and released another live LP, The Dance, they used basically a single performance. Frankly, I’ve always been more of a fan of a live album taken from a single performance. I don’t know how many times I’ve left a concert thinking, I wish I had a recording of the show I just saw… and then looking at the track list on the live LP that followed the tour and being disappointed. Of course nowadays, bands do release “official bootlegs” of shows right after the performance… and I’ve purchased shows from the Chili Peppers to Pearl Jam to Springsteen (from his latest show this year) and those are generally fabulous.
1977 was truly an almost unrivaled peak for Fleetwood Mac. Or should I say, this line up of Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood Mac was famously formed by legendary blues guitar player Peter Green. That lineup really sprang out of John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers much in the same way Cream did. Sadly Peter Green suffered some mental issues after taking some acid at a party and quit the band. After that the band went through a number of line up changes. It seems prescient that Green named the band Fleetwood Mac after the rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood (drums) and John McVie (“Mac” on bass). Those two guys have been the only constant members of Fleetwood Mac through all the personnel changes. Eventually, Christine Perfect (vocals and keyboards) joined the band and married John McVie. Alas we just lost Christine McVie last year. The band found modest success briefly with Bob Welch whose tracks “Sentimental Lady” and “Hypnotized” were minor hits. But then Welch split to go solo.
By 1974/75 the band was just Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and Christine McVie. They were looking for a producer and a guitar player. When the band interviewed producer Keith Olsen, as a C.V., he gave them a copy of an album he’d just produced for a band called Buckingham Nicks. Fleetwood Mac not only hired Olsen, they tried to hire guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. He refused to join the band without vocalist and partner Stevie Nicks. They were, it seems, a package deal. The band accepted both Buckingham and Nicks the “classic” line up of Fleetwood Mac was born. Their first album together, the eponymous titled 1975 album was a big hit. Bigger than anything the Mac had had before. Classic tunes like “Over My Head,” “Landslide” and “Monday Morning” were all over the radio. The Fleetwood Mac album really set the stage for the monster next record, 20m+ selling Rumours. Typically, if you look at those “best selling albums of all time” lists, each of those records were preceded by a big album (Back In Black was preceded by Highway To Hell; Thriller was preceded by Off The Wall… I could go on).
Rumours was not only a superb collection of songs it was sort of a document of the dissolving relationships between the McVie’s and Buckingham/Nicks. I once read that it was the recording of an orgy set to music. I actually traded my brother Supertramp’s Breakfast In America for his copy of Rumours. I think it was a fair trade. Both are great albums. I’ve always considered Rumours a perfect album… although when I discovered they left off “Silver Springs” it shook my faith in that thought. Of course “Silver Springs” ended up being one of my favorite B-sides…
The tour in support of Rumours took the band around the world – from Europe to Australia. They even played Kansas City twice on that tour. I remember in ’81 sleeping out for Van Halen tickets, I asked an old hippy what was best concert he’d ever seen… his answer, “Hands down man, Fleetwood Mac.” I get it stoner dude, I get it. While the aforementioned bootleg of the show in Nashville is amazing, I have to say this L.A. show eclipses even that. It’s clear the band is pumped up to be playing for their hometown audience. It’s not a stretch to imagine their friends in the Eagles or Jackson Browne being in the audience… I saw Buckingham interviewed one time and he bristled at the thought that Fleetwood Mac had been described as “mellow.” He insisted they were melodic, not mellow. I have to say this live document kinda proves him right. His guitar playing is stellar. And I can’t say enough about the most underrated rhythm section in music – Mick’s drumming is propulsive and McVie’s bass holds down the bottom. Both Christine McVie and Stevie are exceptional.
There are so many standout tracks. I love the energy of the opener, Christine’s “Say You Love Me.” Buckingham, McVie and Nicks also harmonize so well, it’s like they’re CSNY… They do most if not all of the tracks from Fleetwood Mac and Rumours which is a pretty amazing set of songs to choose from. The only older Mac tune they do is “Oh Well” which Buckingham turns into a guitar workout. This may be the definitive version of Nicks’ “Rhiannon,” which she announces by saying, if you hadn’t caught on yet, “this is a song about a witch.” Nicks sounds absolutely possessed in this performance. It’s like they’ve been keeping her in a cage backstage and she just broke free. They simply rawk this tune. Buckingham’s “Never Going Back Again” features some nice acoustic bass from John McVie and brushwork on the drums from Mick. It only adds to the original.
“Landslide” is predictably beautiful. “Over My Head” is almost funky. The final stretch of the main set is incendiary and features Buckingham’s toughest tracks – “I’m So Afraid,” “Go Your Own Way,” “World Turning” and finally a raucous version of “Blue Letter.” They introduce “The Chain” as a “jam,” and yes it is. John McVie says, “We’ve only been together a short while so we’re out of songs,” prior and it made me smile. What a bass solo… what a guitar solo. “Second Hand News” follows and then, the most gorgeous finale, “Songbird,” Christine’s beautiful ballad. That one gives me goosebumps.
I am trying to imagine what it would have been like to be in the audience for one of these shows. A band at their absolute peak – before Stevie launched a solo career, before they kicked Lindsey out of the band – with their absolute best material featured on the setlist. OMG, it’s just a perfect live album recorded in front of their hometown fans. It is, without fail, their definitive live document.
This is a live album even people who aren’t into live albums would enjoy. It’s essential listening in the art of rock n roll. It brings everything we love about 70s rock n roll to the fore. Turn this one up loud!!!
A Moment in Time: ‘Rumours Live’ Captures Fleetwood Mac at its 1977 Peak
In August 1977, Fleetwood Mac returned to its native Los Angeles to play three shows at the Fabulous Forum — and today, Sept. 8, sees the release of Rumours Live, a collection of recordings from those fabled shows.
At this point in its career, Fleetwood Mac was untouchable. Riding a wave of acclaim and attention with the Rumours album, these Forum shows took place as the record was the No. 1 album in the United States. The buzz was palpable, and the feverish excitement from fans at the shows made these particular concerts especially electric.
Rumours Live captures the opening night of the three-show stand, which took plate on Aug. 29, 1977, and finds Fleetwood Mac — Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks — playing material from 1975’s self-titled album (the first with Buckingham and Nicks) and Rumours.
The new live release is impeccably mastered, taking the listener inside the Forum’s walls as a time machine to the era in which Fleetwood Mac was on its way to becoming the biggest band in the world (with Rumours itself eventually selling upwards of 40 million copies).
Until this full release, only “Gold Dust Woman” had surfaced previously; the other 17 live recordings on Rumours Live are receiving their first-ever official release.
Listening to Rumours Live, it showcases what a vibrant live band Fleetwood Mac was at this point in time. Buckingham’s guitar squeals with the authority of the superstar he was, Nicks’ and McVie’s (and Buckingham’s) voices sound as full of life as always, while the rhythm section of McVie and Fleetwood lays the foundation for the whole ensemble.
While it mostly features songs from 1975’s Fleetwood Mac and 1977’s Rumours, one song — “Oh Well (Pt 1)” — is included, representing the band’s nine albums that predated the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks (and the group’s burst in popularity):
It’s sure to be a classic release among Fleetwood Mac purists, and is well worth diving into for fans of any dedication level — this is the sort of live record that will no doubt win the group new fans, while also serving as a poignant tribute to the late McVie.
Fleetwood Mac, Live and Flying High
Fleetwood Mac was flying high when they began a three-night stand at the Forum in Los Angeles in August 1977. Their chart-topping eponymous 1975 album had catapulted the group to superstar status and its follow-up, Rumours, was already a #1 international smash that would go on to sell more than 40 million copies, making it one of the most commercially successful records of all time.
The first of those Forum concerts was released on Sept. 8, 2023, as Rumours Live, a title that undersells the contents, since the album includes not only nine of the 11 songs from Rumours but also eight of the 11 from Fleetwood Mac. Also featured is “Oh Well,” a composition by original member Peter Green that Fleetwood Mac first recorded back in 1969, about five years before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined the band.
The material is all previously unissued, aside from “Gold Dust Woman,” which appeared as a bonus track on a 2021 deluxe edition of Live, a recording of a 1980 show that originally came out in that year. Nearly all the Rumours Live songs also feature in that other concert, however, and most of the arrangements are quite similar. For casual fans, therefore, one or the other of these albums should suffice.
That said, though, the band is in high gear throughout Rumours Live, and the material—which includes multiple major contributions from three of its members—consists largely of smash hits and radio favorites that you probably know by heart. Among the songs, many of which relate to the band’s internal romantic entanglements: Christine McVie’s “Say You Love Me,” “You Make Loving Fun” and “Over My Head”; Buckingham’s “Go Your Own Way” and “Monday Morning”; and Nicks’ “Dreams” and “Rhiannon.” This is consistently remarkable stuff, and serious Mac addicts can be forgiven if they want all the versions of it they can get, never mind the similarities.
Fleetwood Mac : Rumours Live : 2LP Vinyl Review
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The Legacy of Fleetwood Mac:
Almost every music lover has a version of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rumours.” From the first vinyl album I ever bought to the deluxe edition that came with both vinyl and CDs, the timeless appeal of this album is undeniable. The surprise release of “Rumours Live” in 2023 was a delightful addition to my collection.
Sound Quality and Performance:
Contrary to some online opinions about the sound quality being “tinny,” my experience has been nothing short of stellar. Played on my Technics turntable through my Tannoy speakers and my Denon amp, the album sounds rich, vibrant, and immersive. The crowd’s presence is perfectly balanced, neither overwhelming nor too distant, creating an authentic live concert experience.
Track Insights:
This album is Fleetwood Mac reborn. With almost every track from “Rumours” and their self-titled album “Fleetwood Mac,” it’s a testament to the band’s ability to reinvent themselves while still paying homage to their roots. Standout performances include an 8-minute rendition of “Rhiannon,” a 7-minute “Gold Dust Woman,” and a mesmerizing version of “Songbird” to close out the set.
Packaging and Pressing:
The vinyl comes in polylined sleeves, ensuring protection and longevity. The pressing is impeccable, made in Germany, and weighs in at 180 grams. The silence between tracks is profound, highlighting the album’s dynamic range. The cover art features familiar images from “Rumours,” connecting this live version to its iconic studio counterpart.
Conclusion:
“Rumours Live” is a must-have for any Fleetwood Mac fan. It’s a testament to the band’s enduring talent and the timeless appeal of their music. The fact that such a powerful live recording remained hidden for so long is astonishing, but its release now offers fans a fresh perspective on classic tracks. If you’re contemplating adding this to your collection, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Fleetwood Mac Capture Lightning in a Bottle on 'Rumours Live'
Out of the vault comes 90 previously-unheard minutes of the band performing at both their pinnacle and breaking point
It feels impossible to understate the impact of an album like Fleetwood Mac's Rumours. As of February, it has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the sixth best-selling record of the 1970s and the ninth best-selling of all time. A TV show like Daisy Jones & the Six — and the book it was adapted from — wouldn't exist without Rumours.
Art begets art, as does the lore around it. To put it simply, Rumours is a breakup album, a portrait of a band's interpersonal machinery falling apart and their music soaring to new heights amid the emotional shrapnel.
We all know there's something different about the dynamic of a band performing live, and when there was so much drama afoot, onstage tension was bound to be palpable. That's why Rumours Live, recorded at the Forum in Los Angeles amid the titular tour on August 29, 1977, feels like lightning captured in a bottle.
Here is a band at both their pinnacle and breaking point, performing a setlist of songs that are all ostensibly classics at this point, including tracks from 1975's Fleetwood Mac and beyond. Just when you thought you had memorized every dip and grove in your Rumours vinyl, you get to hear Fleetwood Mac reinvent their best work — back when the dough was still fresh for the kneading.
These songs are still living entities to this day, but when you hear Stevie Nicks's drawn-out warbling growl at the end of the seven-plus-minute live rendition of "Gold Dust Woman," it's hard to imagine that there ever existed a version of the track without it.
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