When Kenny Loggins duetted with Stevie Nicks in 1978, but she was his second choice
Anyone close to Fleetwood Mac during their coveted Rumours tour would have had a first-row seat to one of the most goddamn explosive eras in Stevie Nicks’ history.
Kenny Loggins was one of those people. In the late 1970s, Loggins was the band’s opening act during the tour, which propelled him to a new level of fame and also drew him closer to one of the biggest stars in rock. Nicks and Loggins grew so close, in fact, that they ended up singing a duet together, even though Nicks wasn’t his first choice for the song.
Around the same time, things were still very much heating up for the Mac following the release of the record. While it’s no surprise that one of the most prickly records for the group would then lead into an equally tumultuous touring cycle, the Rumours tour preceded a tough few years for the band, with the following shows being defined by the band’s mounting drug abuse, secrecy, and internal struggles.
After all, after breaking up with Lindsey Buckingham just before the recording sessions started, Nicks then started seeing Mick Fleetwood ahead of the tour, which they both attempted to keep from the rest of the band over the course of their tour dates. And then after, when they hit the road again, they all had to spend time together over a long stretch of time, all while ramping up the partying and other endeavours that frayed their internal dynamics.
“Somebody once said that with the money we spent on champagne on one night, they could have made an entire album,” Christine McVie later said, reflecting on how they each went into their own spiral of alcohol and cocaine, making for an unstable environment where tensions were high. Suppose it’s some sort of miracle, therefore, that all of this was going on while the music spoke for itself, while some, like Nicks, even had time to collaborate with others.
Loggins had written a song with Melissa Manchester called ‘Whenever I Call You Friend’, and initially wanted Manchester to be the one who dueted with him on the recorded version. However, with Manchester being under a different contract, Loggins ended up singing it with Nicks, which might have been sort of fated considering that the theme of the song is something Nicks knows well – when friendships mix over into romantic relationships.
However, according to Nicks, Loggins’ militant approach when it came to recording the song was so intense that it also made her opt out entirely. But when she considers the bigger picture, she understands why he was so disciplined with getting the song to sound a certain way and having no one get in the way.
As she recalled to High Times in 1982, “That was a discipline thing. I call him Slave-Driver Loggins. He cracked the whip on me for two days to get that particular performance. And I was downright angry at points where I was going, ‘I’m not going to do this.’ He said, ‘Yes, you are.’” According to Nicks, his approach worked in the end, but she walked away feeling completely “knocked out”.
Considering that Loggins had a specific vision in mind when it came to the track, with Manchester’s vocals, it’s no surprise that he felt he needed to be harsher with Nicks in the studio, likely also knowing how often the members of Fleetwood Mac lost focus due to other hold-ups, like their hedonism or disagreements with each other. But they pulled it off in the end, and it became the step that elevated Loggins’ career to new heights, without him even knowing that that’s what would happen.
As he later recalled, “I didn’t realise at the time how difficult it was to go from a successful duo into being a successful soloist, and I credit Stevie Nicks a lot with my breakthrough, because it was the duet with Stevie that ultimately made a huge difference in launching my solo career, ’cause she was so loved at the time.”
