‘Oh Daddy’: Why Mick Fleetwood will always be a “sucker” for this ‘Rumours’ classic
Growing up, Mick Fleetwood let his artistic development be guided by the blues. However, his real graduation from aspiring musician to coveted percussionist came with a different epiphany: the power of emotionally driven playing. As a result, Fleetwood’s work became guided by feeling, enabling him to venture outside of generic convention and into a more visceral realm. As he once said: “I don’t think about what I’m going to play. I just do it spontaneously.”
Therefore, his position in Fleetwood Mac was a dream come true in many ways. The band’s dynamics, which were characterised by each member’s own emotional intensity—from anger to joy and everything in between—presented Fleetwood with an endless breeding ground for otherworldly expression. The studio became his playground, and his kit served as a conduit for thoughts and emotions that could never be put into words.
Unlike many of his contemporaries, Fleetwood was also never, as he put it, “horribly technically profound,” meaning that he had to rely heavily on his own intuition from day one. While many study such precision to reach the next level of greatness, Fleetwood always seemed to understand the value of his own trust, knowing exactly how to play to transform a good song into a great one.
Despite the hardships that defined most of Fleetwood Mac’s records, mainly Rumours, Fleetwood has never appeared particularly egotistical in his opinions towards the band and even praises many of their songs as some of his all-time favourites. For instance, he once said he one day wanted the beautiful Christine McVie-penned hit ‘Songbird’ to be played at his funeral and regards Stevie Nicks’ ‘Dreams’ as one of the greatest songs ever.
However, from the perspective of a great percussionist, the song he admitted he will always be a “sucker” for is another of McVie’s classics, ‘Oh Daddy’. On the surface, it’s easy to see why—McVie originally wrote the song in homage to Fleetwood himself, fondly referring to him as the “daddy” of the band and as someone who became their leader and emotional anchor.
But despite the sentimentality, the song would likely have organically become one of Fleetwood’s favourites as it allowed him to shine as a drummer. “I’m a sucker for this one because it really is a structured song, which is so appealing to me as a player,” he told Music Radar. “Basically, it’s me playing a slow blues with Christine. […] This is me in a very comfortable place playing, in essence, what I would deliver in a slow blues to her song.”
An unsung hero on Rumours, ‘Oh Daddy’ shows off the kind of dreamlike quality of a band who excels with their individual components, particularly with Fleetwood’s drumming, which accentuates the emotion McVie carries in her voice from start to finish. The structure and technicality give it an airy feel, showcasing a softer and more calculated side to Fleetwood, which contrasts beautifully with the more bombastic moments elsewhere on Rumours.
