Flashback
"In front of the stage a strange-looking woman in layers of black chiffon and velvet wound her arms about her," legendary music critic Jane Scott wrote in her review
A couple of weeks before Fleetwood Mac played the Richfield Coliseum in Ohio on July 23, 1976, a story in the Associated Press made a valiant effort to summarize the madness of the group’s previous decade in just three sentences.
“Its recent history includes two divorces, one romantic split, two religious conversions, and a messy legal battle with a former manager,” read the article, which appeared in newspapers all across the country. “Yet these five people — two women and three men — can drown their sorrows in success. After nearly 10 years as just another group, Fleetwood Mac is hot.”
That hotness was a direct result of their decision to bring Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham into the band for their self-titled LP the previous year. It felt like a last-ditch effort since they had a small caravan of guitarists come and go throughout the early Seventies, following the defection of band co-founder Peter Green. But Nicks and Buckingham were perfect fits. Not only were they incredibly charismatic performers, they also contributed “Monday Morning,” “Rhiannon,” “Landslide,” and “I’m So Afraid” to the LP.
