Primarily a British blues band, Fleetwood Mac scored a UK number one with "Albatross", and had other hits such as the singles "Oh Well" and "Man of the World". All three guitarists left in succession during the early 1970s, to be replaced by guitarists Bob Welch and Bob Weston and vocalist Dave Walker. By 1974, all three of them had either departed or been dismissed, leaving the band without a male lead vocalist or guitarist. In late 1974, while Fleetwood was scouting studios in Los Angeles, he was introduced to American folk-rock duo Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Fleetwood Mac soon asked Buckingham to be their new lead guitarist, and Buckingham agreed on condition that Nicks would also join the band.
The addition of Buckingham and Nicks gave the band a more pop rock sound, and their 1975 self-titled album, Fleetwood Mac, reached No. 1 in the United States. Rumours (1977), Fleetwood Mac's second album after the arrival of Buckingham and Nicks, produced four U.S. Top 10 singles and remained at number one on the American albums chart for 31 weeks. It also reached the top spot in various countries around the world and won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978. Rumours has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums in history. The band went through personal turmoil while recording the album, as both the romantic partnerships in the band (one being John and Christine McVie, and the other being Buckingham and Nicks) separated while continuing to make music together.
The band's personnel remained stable through three more studio albums, but by the late 1980s began to disintegrate. After Buckingham and Nicks each left the band, they were replaced by a number of other guitarists and vocalists. A 1993 one-off performance for the first inauguration of Bill Clinton featured the lineup of Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Nicks, and Buckingham back together for the first time in six years. A full reunion occurred four years later, and the group released their fourth U.S. No. 1 album, The Dance (1997), a live compilation of their hits, also marking the 20th anniversary of Rumours. Christine McVie left the band in 1998, but continued to work with the band in a session capacity. Meanwhile, the group remained together as a four-piece, releasing their most recent studio album, Say You Will, in 2003. Christine McVie rejoined the band full-time in 2014. In 2018, Buckingham was fired from the band and was replaced by Mike Campbell, formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, and Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House.
Fleetwood Mac has sold more than 120 million records worldwide, making them one of the world's best-selling bands. In 1979, the group was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1998 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music.
Danny Kirwan, guitarist, songwriter and early member of Fleetwood Mac (1968–1972) died in London, England, on 8 June 2018, aged 68. An obituary in The New York Times said he had died in his sleep after contracting pneumonia earlier in the year. The British music magazine Mojo quoted Christine McVie as saying: "Danny Kirwan was the white English blues guy. Nobody else could play like him. He was a one-off ... Danny and Peter [Green] gelled so well together. Danny had a very precise, piercing vibrato – a unique sound ... He was a perfectionist; a fantastic musician and a fantastic writer." One of Kirwan's songs, "Tell Me All the Things You Do" from the 1970 album Kiln House, was included in the set of the 2018–19 An Evening with Fleetwood Mac tour.
On 28 May 2020 Neil Finn, featuring Nicks and McVie, with Campbell on guitar, released the song “Find Your Way Back Home” for the Auckland, New Zealand homeless shelter Auckland City Mission.
Founding member Peter Green died on 25 July 2020 at the age of 73. In October 2020, Rumours again entered the Billboard top 10. The album received 30.6 million plays on streaming platforms the week of October 15, after a TikTok video of the song "Dreams" went viral.
On 30 November 2022, it was announced that band member Christine McVie died at the age of 79, after a short illness.
Just The Blues
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
People and take a look at the rising sun
I wake up every morning
And take a look at the rising sun
Then I realize my babe's gone
I missed her last night from holding her in my arm
And I try to see if the little girl is over there
I'm gonner ring up Turner
And I try to see if the little girl is over there
Well I know, I know my baby
I know my sweet thing by the cloth she wear
She got great big sexy legs
And she wear the shoe number three
She got great big sexy legs
And she wear the shoe number three
I got to find, I got to find my sweet thing
Because her love means everything in this world to me
Since she been gone
You know my life don't seem the same
Since she's been gone
I tell you my life don't seem the same
People you know it fills my heart with sorrow
Every time I hear another man calling my woman's name.
The song "Just The Blues" by Fleetwood Mac is a melancholy piece that revolves around the singer's heartbreak and longing for his lost love. The lyrics talk about how he wakes up every morning, takes a look at the rising sun, and realizes that his babe is no longer with him. The singer misses holding his sweetheart in his arms and decides to call Turner, hoping to find her there. He knows his girl by the cloth she wears and her shoe size, which is number three. He describes her as having "great big sexy legs" and emphasizes how much her love means to him.
The song's mood is sorrowful, and the lyrics convey the singer's pain and yearning for his lost love. It is clear from the lyrics that he cannot move on and is still deeply in love with the girl who left him. He is constantly reminded of her absence, and the thought of another man calling her name fills him with sorrow.
Line by Line Meaning
I wake up every morning
Every morning I wake up
And take a look at the rising sun
And I look at the sun as it rises
Then I realize my babe's gone
And then I become aware that my loved one is no longer with me
I missed her last night from holding her in my arm
I longed for her last night, to hold her in my arms
I'm gonner ring up Turner
I'm going to call Turner
And I try to see if the little girl is over there
To see if the woman I'm looking for is with him
Well I know, I know my baby
Well, I am sure of my lover
I know my sweet thing by the cloth she wear
I recognize my lover by the clothes she wears
She got great big sexy legs
She has attractive and large legs
And she wear the shoe number three
And she wears a size three shoe
I got to find, I got to find my sweet thing
I need to find my lover
Because her love means everything in this world to me
Because her love is everything to me
Since she been gone
Since she left me
You know my life don't seem the same
My life has been different
I tell you my life don't seem the same
I'm telling you that my life isn't the same without her
People you know it fills my heart with sorrow
People, you know that it makes me very sad
Every time I hear another man calling my woman's name.
Every time I hear another man referring to my lover by name.
Contributed by Leah H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Henri Hudson
on Tusk
Why don't you ask him if he's going to stay?
Why don't you ask him if he's going away?