Jan. 21, 2009 - Issue #692: Sylvain Voyer

Buckingham Nicks

Buckingham Nicks
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, Buckingham Nicks

Buckingham Nicks
Buckingham Nicks
(Polydor)

Originally released: 1973 Lyndsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are inextricably associated with Fleetwood Mac, having recorded and composed with the band since the group’s 1975 self-titled record.

 

(There have been periods away from the group, but both Buckingham and Nicks are currently back in the fold.) 

 

Having drifted through numerous lineup changes since it’s inception in 1967 when founders guitarist Peter Green and drummer Mick Fleetwood splintered off from John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers—they were joined not long after by the group’s bassist, John McVie—the band had already moved from straightahead blues to a ‘70s rock direction, bolstered by a decent dose of pop melody as player’s joined and departed, bringing with them new influences. 

 

But when Buckingham and Nicks joined the bad, the duo’s influence was immediate and powerful, as the Buckingham Nicks sound became Fleetwood Mac’s sound. That the duo brought a fully-formed soundscape to the band is evident upon listening to Buckingham Nicks’s sole LP, released two years previous to their joining Fleetwood Mac.

 

On Buckingham Nicks, the songs bear a striking resemblance in quality to what the two would bring to their first and subsequent albums with Fleetwood Mac: there are Buckingham’s exquisitely-picked runs on the guitar, each note ringing clearly within the song; there are Nicks’s soaring vocals, cutting right through the centre of the music, and, occasionally, swarming in the background as part of a whole formed by the joining of her voice with Buckingham’s; and, perhaps most importantly, there are the pop sensibilities of each one of them in the songs they write—there’s an overwhelming connection in the feel here and in the albums they would go on to make with Fleetwood Mac.

 

Songs like the contemplative “Races Are Run” and the head-held-high “Without a Leg to Stand On” are marked by all of those qualities joined together, Buckingham’s shimmering guitars providing the background for his and Nicks’s voices to intertwine, their timbres seemingly designed for each other as they meld together.

 

Some of the credit should probably go to producer Keith Olsen, who understands how the two musicians work, keeping each of the parts dialed into the song and forging a whole out of the individual pieces. 

 

The percussive, Buckingham-penned “Don’t Let Me Down Again” is an ideal example of the approach to production here, with Buckingham taking the lead on the first verse, his vocals situated in the centre of the track, but not to the point that they overshadow anything else. Later, when Nicks joins in and doubles the lyrics, she sounds not like a separate instrument providing a counterpoint, but like another part of Buckingham’s voice, rounding it out and giving it more heft.

Though it has never been released on CD, the Buckingham Nicks album has been available as a bootleg for many years. The complete album can be found at buckinghamnicks.net for anyone interested in hearing a charming performance and shining example of what can be done when two perfectly matched voices come together. V 

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