The singer who became a “revelation” for Lindsey Buckingham
Rumours might have been a “blip” in Fleetwood Mac’s journey, but it was the one that cemented their legacy, for reasons that Lindsey Buckingham remains clear on.
“I think that was much of the appeal of the album’s appeal, how autobiographical it was,” he once said. “And that we made something significant in spite of all the troubles.”
We celebrate the album’s success now, and for good reason, but back then, those involved encountered countless challenges both in terms of the creative process and the fact that they had to be around each other all of the time, with the stakes high and the emotions even higher. As Buckingham reflected, each member went through everything you could imagine during the year and a half it took to make the record, all of which informed the material and sound.
But as he also mentioned, that’s also why people love it: it feels real, despite the frayed dynamics at its centre. And it feels incredibly accomplished and tight-knit despite the explosiveness that took root at its core, and even though, some days, it really was impossible to be around each other, especially Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, who each couldn’t find any closure following their breakup.
That said, it was an incredible talent and skill to be able to pour these hardships and emotions into art, and had they not already arrived as accomplished musicians in their own right, these studio sessions would have likely turned out to be nothing more than disagreements and heated arguments without much actual musical progress.
Before Rumours, Buckingham had already worked long and hard to hone his craft beyond his capabilities as a guitarist, observing the ways that many of his favourite artists combined different arrangements and styles with specific melodies and lyrics, and Buckingham knew that, to get ahead in this game, he needed to do the same, and it started with studying the great Cat Stevens, also known as Yusuf.
Recalling everything he learned from the ‘Father and Son’ singer to NME, Buckingham said it was a “revelation” the first time he stumbled upon his music. Buckingham had already been playing the guitar for around 15 years when he listened to his music for the first time, and once he made the discovery, that’s when he really felt he could start his journey into songwriting.
Mainly, it was because Yusuf’s “folk, rock and classical influences” mirrored Buckingham’s, and he became endeared to his “breathtaking” vocal performances and “sublime” melodies and rhythms. All of these aspects inspired Buckingham to “find my own way” both as a songwriter and artist. And even after establishing his own voice, Yusuf remained a touchpoint throughout every stage of progression.
These are throughlines throughout much of Buckingham’s later work, a facet that strengthened across Rumours – no doubt due to the intensity of Buckingham’s emotions at the time – which then progressed from there, both in his Fleetwood Mac material and his separate projects. It takes a lot to shed a singular label, but Buckingham succeeded by admiring and observing one of music’s longtime greats.
