What Was Fleetwood Mac’s First U.S. Top-40 Single?

They went seven years without sniffing an American hit, even as they thrived on the charts in their native United Kingdom. That was followed by a stretch where just about everything they threw out there soared to the top of the U.S. pop rankings.

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It’s fair to argue the addition of two American artists helped break down the dam for Fleetwood Mac stateside. But it should also be noted it was one of the group’s British holdover members who wrote and sang the first song of theirs to crack the Top 40 in the United States.

An Ever-Changing Lineup

Fleetwood Mac were nothing less than a sensation in their native Great Britain in the first few years of their recording career. Their first three albums went to the Top 10 there, while they enjoyed a stretch where three straight singles made all the way to the Top 2, including the chart-topping instrumental “Albatross” in 1968.

None of that success translated to America, however. And as the band started to shuffle through lead guitarists, their momentum in their home country also flagged. By 1974, it was fair to wonder if the Mac had run its course.

They received a much-needed jolt of energy when they welcomed aboard Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, a pair of American singer/songwriters who had been performing as a duo. The group tellingly titled their 1975 album Fleetwood Mac, since it was essentially a rechristening of this collective. That record kicked off their run of U.S. chart dominance, spearheaded by an unassuming but evocative track written and sung by Christine McVie.

Getting “Over” in the U.S.

McVie was still known by her maiden name Christine Perfect when she joined Fleetwood Mac in 1971, even though she had been married for a few years by that time to John McVie, the band’s bassist. Little by little, she muscled her way into the artistic fabric of the band with her ingratiatingly warm melodies and soulful vocals.

Once Buckingham and Nicks came aboard, Christine became part of a triad of songwriters that would divvy up Fleetwood Mac albums. And even though the first album with the new lineup featured eventual classics like Nicks’ “Rhiannon” and “Landslide” and Buckingham’s “Monday Morning,” it was McVie’s “Over My Head” that was given the honor of being the opening track and first single.

Her electric piano forms the foundation for the song, which features her singing about a love affair that she can neither easily abide nor avoid. She later admitted part of the inspiration was Buckingham’s magnetic presence, even though the two never entered into a romantic relationship.

The Aftermath

“Over My Head” was by no means a runaway success, as it eked its way to No. 20 on the U.S. charts after being released as a single in 1975. But it did serve a key purpose in that it introduced the world to the new version of this band, one that was focused more on smart pop songwriting than the blues excursions of their past incarnations.

Buoyed by several more hit singles and the band’s tireless efforts playing live to promote it, the Fleetwood Mac album worked its way up to No. 1 in the United States, setting the table for the record-breaking Rumours to follow it. “Over My Head,” subtle and unshowy as it might be, helped make it all possible.

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