‘Buckingham Nicks’: The record re-release blocked by Lindsey Buckingham
Fleetwood Mac were a group famed for their internal struggles and intense arguments as much as they were for their celebrated discography. A huge part of their musical appeal came from the songwriting and performance of once-romantic partners Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, but the pair rarely had a harmonious relationship within the band. Nevertheless, Buckingham and Nicks’ musical partnership predated their joining of Fleetwood Mac, even if Buckingham would rather forget that early period.
Both performers joined the ranks of Fleetwood Mac on New Year’s Eve in 1974, after Mick Fleetwood had been exposed to a recording by Buckingham and Nicks. Their added influences forever changed the lineage of the band, moving them forever away from the blues origins of Peter Green’s original group. The 1975 self-titled album was the group’s first record with Buckingham and Nicks, and it launched the band firmly into the musical mainstream.
Subsequent records like Rumours became era-defining albums for the group, with Nicks’s vocals at the heart of their appeal. By the end of the decade, Fleetwood Mac were one of the most notable and successful bands in the world. Nevertheless, this intense level of success and acclaim did little to elevate the arguments between band members, with Buckingham and Nicks regularly butting heads over a variety of issues.
One such point of disagreement between the pair arose from their 1973 collaboration album Buckingham Nicks. Recorded and released prior to either performer joining the ranks of Fleetwood Mac, the album was largely ignored by the musical mainstream upon its release. Considered a commercial failure by the record label Polydor, the album was hardly a proud moment for Buckingham or Nicks, either.
Years later, when the pair were riding high as members of the Mac, calls came to remaster and reissue their 1973 album, introducing their early sounds to an entirely new audience. Reportedly, Nicks was receptive to that idea despite her reservations about the album itself. However, any plans for a re-release were blocked by Lindsey Buckingham, who seemed hellbent on keeping the album committed to obscurity.
Nicks revealed that Buckingham was blocking the re-release during a 1981 interview with BAM Magazine. “See, he owns half, I own half. So he can’t do anything on that record without me and vice versa,” the vocalist shared. “So as soon as he says it’s okay, it will be done, because I’ve been saying I thought it would be a great idea for a long time.”
She also noted, “Through the Fleetwood Mac tour, he said that he wants it to go on CD now, so we’ll see.”
At that time, the closest fans could get to hearing the record, aside from hunting down an original copy or gambling on one of the countless bootleg versions that have been released over the years, was to listen to ‘Long-Distance Winner’. Nicks insisted that that track, taken from the 1973 album, be included in various retrospective releases, sharing, “It’s kind of a strange, Greek, rock and roll song from my past that we could do on stage.”
In the decades since Nicks gave that interview, 1973’s Buckingham Nicks is still without a remaster or official re-release, either on CD or digitally. Back in 2011, Buckingham told NME, “We have every intention of putting that album back out and possibly even doing something along with it.”
So, perhaps in the future, the pair will finally agree on plans to re-release their early collaborations for a new age of Fleetwood Mac fans.
