This may be second-hand news, but the Fleetwood Mac album “Rumours” remains among the top-10 selling pop platters of all time.
Since its release in 1977, the album has sold 27.9 million copies, putting it right up there with the likes of “Dark Side of the Moon” by Pink Floyd, “Back in Black” by AC/DC, and the Greatest Hits compilation by the Eagles (none of the above, by the way, is threatening to touch “Thriller” by Michael Jackson, comfortably ensconced at number-one, with 46 million sold).
To Craig Martin, whose musicians are presenting “Rumours” among their “Classic Albums” series Thursday, November 10 at Georgian College, the album’s appeal is as clear as Stevie Nicks’ crystal vision.
“It’s the perfect record,” Martin tells BarrieToday. “It has stood the test of time, with the attention to detail, the lush, complex, beautiful vocals, and the soul-open songwriting, conveying all the pain and chaos going on the lives of these people.”
“It appeals to parents, grandparents, and their kids; all those generations.”
Indeed, tracks on the album were largely autobiographical, touching on the pain of Nicks’ break-up to guitarist Lindsey Buckingham on “Dreams,” “Go Your Own Way,” “The Chain,” and “Gold Dust Woman.” Keyboardist Christine Perfect McVie was also parting ways at the time with bass player, husband John McVie, leaving drummer Mick Fleetwood to try to keep a lid on a very volatile situation.
With this superb quality of songs, Martin says, it takes a corps of singers and musicians who respect the purity of the original and work hard to bring it across accurately.
“There’s nobody pretending to be members of Fleetwood Mac,” he stresses, “We do the songs note for note, cut for cut, with four female singers, two male singers, three guitar players and a great modern day orchestra."
“We’re nameless, hard-working musicians, whose job is to curate the music,”he said, noting the band tries to give it the historical place it deserves. “We’re not a cover band, because these guys just come in and ruin everything.”
After running through the best of “Rumours,” the musicians don’t stop, they just take an intermission, then return to the stage to play more of 'The Mac’s' greatest hits from previous and subsequent years (“Fleetwood Mac,” “Tango in the Night,” “Tusk”) for a solid two hours of classic music.
The Classic Albums Live tour hits Georgian Theatre on Thursday, November 10 with “Rumours”. “It’s a great room,” says Martin.
Find more information about the series here.
