5 Things You Might Not Know About Fleetwood Mac’s Self-Titled Album

42 years ago today, Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled album landed atop the Billboard 200, having taking a slow and steady path to get there. To celebrate the occasion, we’ve put together a list of five things about the album that you may not have realized.

1.    “Monday Morning,” “Rhiannon,” and “I’m So Afraid” were all written before Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac.

Prior to Bob Welch’s departure from Fleetwood Mac sending the rest of the band on a search for a replacement, Buckingham and Nicks had been playing around as a duo called – not entirely surprisingly – Buckingham Nicks. After already released a self-titled album together, the duo were planning for a sophomore effort, but when those plans changed as a result of being absorbed into the lineup of Fleetwood Mac, they opted to use their new compositions for their new band.

2.    The album contained a rarity for Fleetwood Mac albums of the Buckingham-Nicks era:  a song that wasn’t written – or even co-written – by a band member.

Penned by brothers Michael and Richard Curtis, “Blue Letter” found its way onto FLEETWOOD MAC as a result of the band’s new members, with Buckingham and Nicks having met and worked with the Curtis brothers on some demos for the second Buckingham Nicks album. When Mick Fleetwood heard the Curtis brothers recording their own version, the decision was made for the band to cover it, too.

3.    “Landslide” was written by Nicks while she was trying to figure out what she wanted to do with her life.

Nicks wrote in the liner notes for CRYSTAL VISIONS that she was at a loss as to what she should do with her life when, while sitting in Aspen, Colorado, she penned the words to “Landslide.” It was a reasonable concern at the time: Buckingham Nicks had been dropped from their label, she and Buckingham were struggling with their relationship, and the thought of leaving music and going back to school was a very real consideration. Instead, fate took her hand and provided her with the music career of a lifetime…and she still ended up with an iconic song!

4.    “World Turning” was the first co-write between Buckingham and Christine McVie to appear on a Fleetwood Mac album.

For a song that was never released as a single, this is one of those tracks that’s still played often on album rock radio and has remained a staple of the band’s set lists virtually since its introduction. Little did these two songwriters know at the time that they’d eventually find their way into releasing an entire album together.

5.    It took 15 months for FLEETWOOD MAC to top the chart.

Yes, it’s true: this album was the textbook definition of a “grower,” taking more than a year to climb to the pinnacle of the Billboard 200. But that’s what happens when a band decides that they’re willing to tour until they drop to make sure that their album is appreciated properly.