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.
Sweet Home Chicago
Fleetwood Mac Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ride on baby don't you wanna go
Back to the same old place sweet home Chicago
Well, do you remember when the steel mill shut down
We had to go in the country, mama, 'cause you couldn't live in town
Ride on baby don't you wanna go
Back to the same old place sweet home Chicago
Well, do you remember baby back in 1934
You had the nerve to tell your daddy
That you didn't want him no more
Ride on baby, don't you wanna go
Back to the same old place sweet home Chicago
Ride on baby don't you wanna go
Ride on baby don't you wanna go
Back to the same old place sweet home Chicago
The relatively simple lyrics to Fleetwood Mac's song "Sweet Home Chicago" are steeped in the blues tradition of nostalgia, longing for a particular place and time. The opening lines urge the listener to "ride on" and leave their current location, implying a sense of wanderlust and a desire for something better. It's unclear where the singer is trying to take the listener, but they do specify that it's a "sweet home," indicating that it probably holds some sentimental value for them.
The following two verses are packed with imagery and dialogue that hint at a difficult past, particularly for African Americans in the southern United States. Mention of the "steel mill shutting down" and the family's subsequent move to the countryside implies financial hardship and displacement. Additionally, the line "you had the nerve to tell your daddy that you didn't want him no more" highlights the fraught relationships that many African Americans had with their families during this era. Despite these hardships, the singer still wants to return to "sweet home Chicago" and seemingly cling to their memories of that place as a source of comfort.
Line by Line Meaning
Ride on baby don't you wanna go
Encouragement to go on a journey back home to Chicago.
Ride on baby don't you wanna go
Repetition of encouragement to go on a journey back home to Chicago.
Back to the same old place sweet home Chicago
Desire to return to one's hometown of Chicago.
Well, do you remember when the steel mill shut down
Recollection of the closure of the steel mill, which may be a reason for leaving Chicago.
We had to go in the country, mama, 'cause you couldn't live in town
Explanation of why they had to leave Chicago after the closure of the steel mill because they couldn't live in the city.
Ride on baby don't you wanna go
Encouragement to go on a journey back home to Chicago.
Back to the same old place sweet home Chicago
Desire to return to one's hometown of Chicago.
Well, do you remember baby back in 1934
Recollection of a specific event in 1934.
You had the nerve to tell your daddy
Referring to an act of defiance towards a family member in the past.
That you didn't want him no more
The act of defiance was to express no longer wanting to be associated with the mentioned family member.
Ride on baby, don't you wanna go
Encouragement to go on a journey back home to Chicago.
Back to the same old place sweet home Chicago
Desire to return to one's hometown of Chicago.
Ride on baby don't you wanna go
Encouragement to go on a journey back home to Chicago.
Ride on baby don't you wanna go
Repetition of encouragement to go on a journey back home to Chicago.
Back to the same old place sweet home Chicago
Desire to return to one's hometown of Chicago.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: ROBERT JOHNSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ismael Flores
It blows my mind how much great music these guys put together in so short of a time. Wish Peter never had left the group. They would have been HUGE!
Green Manalishi
Ikr they I assume it’s cause technology wasn’t devouring their time
Patti Chapin Schneider Maluzenko
After all of the many changes in the line up of the band, This is my forever formation of Fleetwood Mac,
themadaboutmusic
This is exactly the kind of Chicago blues I miss so badly.
Ratskank
great stuff!! thanks for uploading, love Peter Green..he is a true master on guitar!!
Alain Bruch
C'est la meilleur version jamais entendu trop bon merci fleetwood mac
Green Manalishi
Man I swear you can go everyday your whole life and find a new early FM tune. (Cover or no cover) they recorded so many numbers in just 3-4 years
PindamonhaMAN
great version, i just missed one of those amazing solos from Green or/and Kirwan!
torridscene
I recall some doofus (here on YouTube somewhere) expressing regret that Peter Green didn't have a good enough rhythm section for him. Um... Could that doofus and everyone listen to this delicious solid groove Mick and John are laying down here? Beautiful. Great harp by Pete, too. And yes, notsovelvet, I have a smile on my face, listening to this. How could I not?
notsovelvet
Stevie Nicks is far from the best, if it wasn't for Buckingham she wouldn't even be in Fleetwood Mac. Only thing that sucks more than Stevie Nicks is that when people think of Fleetwood Mac, her name comes up more than Peter Green, Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer.