Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours

 

Fleetwood Mac’s eleventh album, Rumours, was released on the fourth of February in 1977 by Warner Bros. Records. The album was introduced in 1976 when its first single Go Your Own Way was recorded. The album itself as a whole consists of 11 songs, including a total of 4 singles. The album was a huge success for the band, was at the top of the charts for 31 weeks, won the Grammy for Album of the Year and capitalistically was/ still is one of the most successful albums of all time, currently having sold over 45 million copies (Taysom, Joe). The album becomes more popular and known as the years go on.

 

The album’s cover is very confusing when you first look at it, which fits perfectly with the band, as the band was in a very confusing time when making the album (Taysom, Joe). The cover features band members Stevie Nicks and Mick Fleetwood holding hands while Mick has his foot on a stool with wooden balls hanging from his crotch area and Stevie parading in a dark robe. The photographer behind the album cover is Herbert Worthington, he was responsible for the concept and inspiration of the album cover.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Worthington was Fleetwood Mac’s main photographer for their albums but also photographed for a few of Stevie Nicks’ solo albums such as Bella Donna and The Wild Heart. Worthington was very popular in the music business as a photographer for album covers having photographed over 40 covers for several bands and artists, including Buddy Miles, Paris, Jesse Cutler, and Lita Ford, among many others, in his 30+ years as a rock music photographer. He became associated with the music scene in the 1960s, throughout his career he met musicians such as Steve Winwood, Sly Stone, Jimi Hendrix, and Buddy Miles whom he eventually worked and lived with. It was actually Jimi Hendrix’s personal photographer Ron Raffaelli, who taught Worthington about photography, what he is known for to this day (Wikipedia).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I do believe the cover relates to the theme of the album due to the idea that the confusing album cover reflects the also confusing time that the band was facing at the time. The album was all about drama, whether it be divorce, break-ups, or just rumours which is the title of the album. “The cover created imagery such as the mystical crystal ball that Fleetwood is grasping on to […]. It’s an invitation into the world of Fleetwood Mac and the crystal ball was the perfect embodiment of everything that was going on with the band at that time” (Taysom, Joe).

 

The idea of a crystal ball symbolizes being able to see into the relationship of the band, beyond what happens on stage or video, it reflects the behind-the-scenes and the fragility of the relationships in the band. At the time of the album, the bands’ couples could not have been further apart. The two couples of the group Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, as well as John and Christine McVie, were falling apart. Nicks and Buckingham having broken up their long-term relationship and the McVie having filed for divorce. In addition to all of this, Mick Fleetwood was also going through a divorce with his partner at the time after finding out about her affair. The cover ultimately reflects the confusing and trying times that the band suffered through while making the album.

 

Two songs on the album that I believe convey the themes of the album cover are Dreams and Go Your Own Way. Both songs illustrate the very downfall of the relationships within the band, specifically between Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, having each told their side of the story of the break-up through a song. Even the songs battled it out, Dreams has been the only song from the album to hit number one, and Go Your Own way only hit the #10 spot on the charts (Spotify). Ultimately meaning Nicks won the petty ‘battle’ of the songs. In the song Dreams the lyrics, “Now here I go again, I see the crystal visions / I keep my visions to myself” symbolize the crystal ball theory mentioned prior. The lyrics of the song are very dramatic, however still very upbeat. The dramatic theme of the cover is also illustrated in the following lyrics, “Thunder only happens when it's raining / Players only love you when they're playing / Women, they will come and they will go / When the rain washes you clean, you'll know”.

 

Nicks approached the situation with a very light-hearted and upbeat song, whereas Buckingham took an angrier approach to the break-up with his song Go Your Own Way. Using the lyrics, “Loving you / Isn't the right thing to do” and “Tell me why / Everything turned around / Packing up / Shacking up is all you want to do” was a very aggressive and direct attack on Nicks, which added to the drama of the album and the relationship of the group as a whole.

 

The album is probably my favourite album of all time, all the songs are very different, and when I initially saw the cover art, I did not quite get how it related to the album as a whole, but after looking more into it, I do understand the inspiration and the concept that Worthington approached the cover with. The confusion it instills goes perfectly with the music of the album.

I also personally can not relate to the album, seeing as I have never experienced a break-up or a divorce, or even rumours about myself. Despite this, I find the album comforting and very powerful, even to someone who can not relate to it first-hand.

​

​

​

Works Cited

 

Bertram, Colin. “Fleetwood Mac: Behind the Drama, Divorce and Drugs That Fueled the Making of   

 

          'Rumours'.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 8 Sept. 2020, www.biography.com/news/fleetwood-mac-rumours-album.

 

 

Taysom, Joe. “The Cover Uncovered: The Story behind Fleetwood Mac Album 'Rumours'.” Far Out Magazine, 

 

            www.faroutmagazine.co.uk/fleetwood-mac-rumours-album-covermeaning/.

 

 

“Herbert W. Worthington.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_W._Worthington

​

​

YouTube links:

 

“Dreams”:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrZRURcb1cM

 

“Go Your Own Way”:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ul-cZyuYq4

​

​

​

​

​

​