Live (Fleetwood Mac album)

Live
Live album by
Released5 December 1980
Recorded17 October 1975 – 4 September 1980
Genre
Length91:06
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
Fleetwood Mac chronology
Tusk
(1979)
Live
(1980)
Mirage
(1982)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Robert ChristgauC+[2]
Rolling Stone[3]
Record Mirror[4]

Live is a double live album released by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on 5 December 1980.[5] It was the first live album from the then-current line-up of the band, and the next would be The Dance from 1997. The album was certified gold (500,000 copies sold) by the RIAA in November 1981.[6] A deluxe edition of the album was released on 9 April 2021.[7]

Live consists of recordings taken primarily from the 1979–1980 Tusk Tour and a Buckingham Nicks track, "Don't Let Me Down Again", from the 1975 Fleetwood Mac Tour. The deluxe edition also includes a few recordings from the earlier Rumours Tour of 1977 and the later Mirage Tour of 1982. According to the liner notes, two songs were recorded at a Paris soundcheck and three at a performance at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium "for an audience of friends and road crew".

Background

Drummer Mick Fleetwood had originally suggested that the band release a live album at the time of the Rumours Tour, although the band decided against it, with recording engineer Richard Dashut arguing that it would interfere with the band's in-studio identity. The band still recorded over 400 shows from 1975-79 in case they changed their minds. At the conclusion of the Tusk Tour, Fleetwood proposed the idea again, and this time the band agreed despite Buckingham's and John McVie's initial reservations.[8] The album was digitally recorded using technology developed by Soundstream.[9] Ken Caillat mentioned in a 1981 interview that the band spent $20,000 to digitally mix the album and that it cost around $500 per day to use the digital equipment.[10] Billboard said that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab half-speed mastered the album for the audiophile market.[11]

Of particular note are three new songs—Christine McVie's "One More Night", Stevie Nicks's "Fireflies", and a backstage rendition of the Beach Boys' "The Farmer's Daughter". The latter two were released as singles; "Fireflies" reached the top 60 in the US,[12] while "The Farmer's Daughter" reached the top 10 in Austria.[13]

The band covered "Farmer's Daughter" at the request of Buckingham, who deemed the Brian Wilson tune "obscure" and "contemporary" enough to include on the album.[14] A recording of "The Farmer's Daughter" also appears on the Tusk re-release of 2004. "Don't Let Me Down Again" is a song from the Buckingham Nicks album and was recorded during a 1975 performance in Passaic.[8]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)LocationLength
1."Monday Morning"Lindsey Buckingham2/3/80, Budokan Hall, Tokyo3:51
2."Say You Love Me"Christine McVie8/25/80, Kansas Coliseum, Wichita4:18
3."Dreams"Stevie Nicks6/14/80, Palais de Sport, Paris (soundcheck)4:18
4."Oh Well"Peter Green11/5/79, Checker Dome, St. Louis3:23
5."Over & Over"Christine McVie8/22/80, Myriad Convention Center, Oklahoma City5:01
Total length:21:20
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)LocationLength
1."Sara"Stevie Nicks11/5/79, Checker Dome, St. Louis7:23
2."Not That Funny"Lindsey Buckingham5/21/80, Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland9:04
3."Never Going Back Again"Lindsey Buckingham8/28/80, McKale Center, Tucson4:13
4."Landslide"Stevie Nicks6/25/80, Wembley Arena, London4:33
Total length:25:14
Side three
No.TitleWriter(s)LocationLength
1."Fireflies"Stevie Nicks9/4/80, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica (for crew and friends)4:37
2."Over My Head"Christine McVie8/24/80, Kemper Arena, Kansas City3:27
3."Rhiannon"Stevie Nicks6/26/80, Wembley Arena, London7:43
4."Don't Let Me Down Again" (from Buckingham Nicks, 1973)Lindsey Buckingham10/17/75, Capitol Theater, Passaic3:57
5."One More Night"Christine McVie9/3/80, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica (for crew and friends)3:43
Total length:23:33
Side four
No.TitleWriter(s)LocationLength
1."Go Your Own Way"Lindsey Buckingham5/21/80, Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland5:44
2."Don't Stop"Christine McVie6/14/80, Palais de Sport, Paris (soundcheck)4:05
3."I'm So Afraid"Lindsey Buckingham5/20/80, Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland8:28
4."Farmer's Daughter"9/4/80, Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica (for crew and friends)2:25
Total length:20:47
2021 super deluxe edition
No.TitleWriter(s)LocationLength
1."Second Hand News"Lindsey Buckingham10/21/82, The Forum, Inglewood3:52
2."The Chain"
5/20/80, Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland6:50
3."Think About Me"Christine McVie8/24/80, Kemper Arena, Kansas City3:09
4."What Makes You Think You're the One"Lindsey Buckingham8/23/80, Kemper Arena, Kansas City4:20
5."Gold Dust Woman"Stevie Nicks8/29/77, The Forum, Inglewood7:23
6."Brown Eyes"Christine McVie10/22/82, The Forum, Inglewood4:27
7."The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown)"Peter Green5/18/77, State Fair Arena, Oklahoma City5:27
8."Angel"Stevie Nicks5/20/80, Richfield Coliseum, Cleveland4:49
9."Hold Me"Christine McVie10/21/82, The Forum, Inglewood4:19
10."Tusk"Lindsey Buckingham8/24/80, Kemper Arena, Kansas City6:25
11."You Make Loving Fun"Christine McVie5/19/77, BOK Center, Tulsa4:44
12."Sisters of the Moon"Stevie Nicks8/21/80, Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha7:17
13."Songbird"Christine McVie8/21/80, Omaha Civic Auditorium, Omaha4:14
14."Blue Letter"
5/20/77, Barton Coliseum, Little Rock4:48
15."Fireflies"Stevie Nicksremix – long version4:04
16."Fireflies"Stevie Nicksdemo3:41
17."One More Night"Christine McViedemo3:00
Total length:82:58


Personnel

Fleetwood Mac

Additional personnel

  • Ray Lindsey – additional guitar on "Go Your Own Way"
  • Tony Toadaro – additional percussion
  • Jeffery Sova – additional keyboards

Production

  • Richard Dashut – producer, mix-down engineer, live engineering
  • Ken Caillat – producer, live recording, mix-down engineer
  • Fleetwood Mac – producers
  • Biff Dawes – live recording
  • Trip Khalaf – live engineering
  • Carla Frederick – studio recording assistant
  • Rich Feldman – studio recording assistant
  • David (Dominguez) Ahlert – studio recording assistant
  • Ken Perry – mastering
  • Larry Vigon – art direction and design
  • Chris Callis – cover and collage photography
  • Sam Emerson – collage photography
  • Sharon Weisz – collage photography

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Live
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[26] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[6] Gold 500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Fleetwood Mac: Live". AllMusic.
  2. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: fleetwood mac". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 18 May 2021.
  3. ^ Tucker, Ken (19 February 1981). "Fleetwood Mac: Live". rollingstone.com. Rolling Stone.
  4. ^ Smith, Robin (6 December 1980). Fleetwood Mac: Live. Record Mirror. p. 20.
  5. ^ "BPI".
  6. ^ a b "American album certifications – Fleetwood Mac – Live". Recording Industry Association of America.
  7. ^ "Fleetwood Mac announce deluxe edition of classic 'Fleetwood Mac Live' album". NME. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  8. ^ a b Evans, Mike (2011). Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History. New York: Sterling. pp. 176–177, 179. ISBN 978-1-4027-8630-3.
  9. ^ McCullaugh, Jim (7 February 1981). "10 Digital Albums Are On The Top LPs & Tape Chart" (PDF). Billboard. p. 61. Retrieved 15 June 2025 – via World Radio History.
  10. ^ Sullivan, Jim (19 March 1981). "Tuning In To Digital Records: It's Not For Rock-Pop Yet". The Boston Globe. p. 75 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "For The Record" (PDF). Billboard. 28 February 1981. p. 38. Retrieved 15 June 2025 – via World Radio History.
  12. ^ "Fleetwood Mac Billboard Hot 100 History". Billboard. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  13. ^ "Fleetwood Mac - The Farmer's Daughter". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  14. ^ Jackson, Blair (January 1981). "Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham Turns a Corner". In Egan, Sean (ed.). Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac: Interviews and Encounters. Chicago Review Press (published 2016). p. 81. ISBN 978-161373-234-2.
  15. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Fleetwood Mac – Live" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  16. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Fleetwood Mac – Live". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  17. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  18. ^ "Fleetwood Mac Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Charts.nz – Fleetwood Mac – Live". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Ultratop.be – Fleetwood Mac – Live" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  21. ^ "Ultratop.be – Fleetwood Mac – Live" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  22. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2021. 26. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Fleetwood Mac – Live" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  24. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Fleetwood Mac – Live". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Fleetwood Mac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  26. ^ "British album certifications – Fleetwood Mac – Fleetwood Mac Live". British Phonographic Industry.