Looking at the frantic, almost crazed eyes of the musicians in Fleetwood Mac during a live performance, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that you’re watching the physical effects of copious amounts of c****** and champagne backstage. But when Stevie Nicks approached the microphone to perform one of the band’s biggest hits off Rumours, there seemed to be something other than a bottomless supply of drugs fueling her. It seemed otherworldly and paranormal, which was more than fitting, given the song’s origins.
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If there were any lingering doubts about whether Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham were good fits for Fleetwood Mac, the group’s first album with their new lineup probably cleared those doubts right up. Tucked into the middle of the eponymous album’s A-side is “Rhiannon”, a Nicks composition on which she sang lead to stunning effect. Nicks regularly stunned drummer Mick Fleetwood with her passionate performances. And indeed, the song took on a whole new energy when they were on stage versus the album version.
“She’s not a person who half-cooks anything,” Fleetwood said in a Behind the Music feature on his long-time bandmate. “So, her ‘Rhiannon’ in those days was like an exorcism.” And why wouldn’t it be? That’s what the song was about.
Stevie Nicks Performed “Rhiannon” As if the Titular Goddess Was Possessing Her
As is so often the case when it comes to tremendous moments in musical history, Stevie Nicks stumbled upon the idea for “Rhiannon” by accident. In an interview with Classic Rock magazine, Nicks recalled finding “a stupid little paperback…at somebody’s house, lying on the couch” called Triad. “It was all about this girl who becomes possessed by a spirit named Rhiannon,” the Fleetwood Mac vocalist explained. “I read the book. But I was so taken with that name that I thought, ‘I’ve got to write something about this. So, I sat down at the piano and started singing this song about a woman that was all involved with these birds and magic.”
Nicks said she didn’t learn more about Rhiannon, including the Welsh goddess’ three aviary companions who sang a song “when something was happening in war” until after she finished writing the future Fleetwood Mac hit. “So, there was, in fact, a song of Rhiannon. I had no idea about any of this,” she clarified, further proving Mick Fleetwood’s original point that Nicks was tapping into a different realm. And for Nicks, it certainly felt that way from an energy standpoint.
“‘Rhiannon’ is a heavy-duty song to sing every night,” Nicks said in a 1976 interview, around the same time Fleetwood was comparing her performance to an exorcism. “On stage, it’s really a mind-tripper. Everybody, including me, is just blitzed by the end of it. And I put out so much in that song that I’m nearly down. There’s something to that song that touches people. I don’t know what it is. But I’m really glad it happened.”
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