A musical collage
One of Fleetwood Mac’s most popular songs, “The Chain”, had its origins in band member Christie McVie’s composition, “Keep me there”, a keyboard-driven track that was resurrected from the vaults for the album. “The Chain” was written by bringing together disparate fragments of various songs.
Dreaming almost too quickly
Stevie Nicks wrote the song, “Dreams”, in 10 minutes, using a keyboard and drum machine. The studio where she wrote it was built for Funk music pioneer, Sly Stone. The singer had wandered off there as it was just down the hall from the main studio.
A happy accident on the drums
In “Go your own way”, drummer Mick Fleetwood plays an unusual drum pattern, which is based on an incorrect attempt to emulate the song’s demo. Fleetwood credits this “happy accident” to his learning disability.
Together and apart
Fleetwood Mac’s main songwriters, Lindsay Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christie McVie, and John McVie, worked separately on various songs, coming together only to work out arrangements. However, on “The Chain”, the entire band worked together from the start.
One for the history books
The seminal album has gone eleven times platinum in the UK and 20 times platinum in the US. It has also appeared in several “all time” albums lists, including Rolling Stone magazine, which placed it at no. 7 in their “500 greatest albums of all time” 2020 list.