The song that made Stevie Nicks walk out on Fleetwood Mac: “Lindsey’s lyrics sparked fights”
By the time Fleetwood Mac had reached the mid-1970s, they had already gone through the wringer more than once. While they may have started as one of the most in-demand blues acts out of the late 1960s, their various lineup changes led to musicians dropping like flies, moving on to different things or falling out with each other. Once the band seemed to be on solid ground with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, though, it didn’t take long for fists to start flying.
When Buckingham and Nicks were just getting started, their initial vision for themselves was to play as a duo, often working on fleshing out each other’s songs on their debut album, Buckingham Nicks. Their duo, often underrated, was glistening and shimmering in all the right places. They felt like true love’s first kiss on record; however, things would sour as time passed.
By the time Mick Fleetwood started hearing what Buckingham could do behind the fretboard, he thought he would be the perfect replacement for former guitarist Bob Welch. Buckingham had a casual brilliance to his performances that made him feel both unique and comforting, like the dusty old blanket from behind the sofa.
While Buckingham gratefully accepted the invitation, he would say that Nicks would have to come with him, turning the group into a five-piece for their self-titled album in 1975. Although the album would be a smash success thanks to Nicks’ track ‘Rhiannon’ and Christine McVie’s ‘Say You Love Me’, the bad blood started once they went into the studio to craft a follow-up.
With songs like ‘Over My Head’ still in the charts, the band settled into the studio to create Rumours, all while the band members were breaking up with each other. While John and Christine McVie had been through a lengthy divorce, Buckingham and Nicks were at each other’s throats throughout the sessions, famously getting into a vicious argument recording the backing vocals for McVie’s ‘You Make Loving Fun’.
Since they had a lot of time to process their grief, the songwriters would channel their heartache into song, with Buckingham turning nasty on ‘Go Your Own Way’ and Nicks taking the dignified approach on ‘Dreams’. Although Nicks was open about how much she couldn’t stand the lyrics to ‘Go Your Own Way’, there was one song that went too far over the line for her.
Initially under the title ‘Strummer’, ‘Second Hand News’ would become the opening song off Rumours, featuring Buckingham singing about being treated like garbage by Nicks. While Buckingham tried to hide the lyrics from Nicks for as long as he could, it got volatile once he started to sing the final words.
According to producer Ken Callait, recording the song forced Nicks to walk out on her bandmates during the session, telling MusicRadar, “A lot of Lindsey’s lyrics sparked fights with Stevie. I didn’t know exactly what was happening at the time, but words were flying around, particularly Lindsey’s, about their breakup. Stevie hated when Lindsey got even a little literal. The minute Lindsey would start singing his lyrics, Stevie stormed out, and the session would end”.
The opening notes of one of the best-selling albums ever will always last long in the memories of its audience. Rumours is no different as ‘Second Hand News’ and Buckingham’s chugging guitar set the pace for the album ahead. It’s another shining example of a jaunty and joy-filled tune hiding the personal loss of another heartening relationship. It’s the kind of song that Fleetwood Mac created in their sleep, and it slides under the radar as one of the record’s better anthems.
Nicks wasn’t the only one having problems with Buckingham in the studio. Known for perfectionism, Buckingham would dictate how most of the band’s parts would sound and almost choked Callait after one of his guitar solos was wiped out. Although the band would eventually get one of the greatest albums of all time from the sessions, the lyrics behind them ended up doing a number on their souls.
