Buckingham Nicks (1973)
Posted on January 12, 2013 by Tim Tolbert
Now that Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are planning to tour again this year with Fleetwood Mac, I’d like to shine a light on the criminally overlooked Buckingham Nicks album, released back in 1973 on Vinyl and still today yet to be officially released on Compact Disc. Buckingham and Nicks continue to share ownership rights to the album and have thus far only hinted at a possible re-released version. At this pace, the album may outlive the age of the Compact Disc and be re-released again on Vinyl or as a high def download.
This album served as the original blueprint for the latter day Fleetwood Mac lineup and California sound; with Buckingham serving as the chief architect of the band from 1975-87. Legend has it that the duo were still a couple at the point this album was recorded but sales were slow and the album wasn’t promoted fully by Polydor. It eventually went out of print but copies can be found on EBay today.
The music inside is fantastically good and easily recognizable as signature Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham as we all know and love them today. At the time of its release, Buckingham and Nicks had just broken up their mildly successful band, Fritz, and were struggling to find their big break in the industry. That break would come on New Year’s Eve 1974 with a phone call from Mick Fleetwood to Lindsey Buckingham. Legend has it that Mick Fleetwood was in the same San Fernando Valley recording studio when Buckingham just happened to be doing some session work. Eavesdropping in on the recording session, Fleetwood knew then and there that he had found a replacement for the recently departed Bob Welch.
The Buckingham Nicks album includes four amazing songs: Frozen Love, Crystal (re-recorded on the 1975 Fleetwood Mac Album), Crying in the Night and Don’t Let Me Down Again, which was actually performed by Fleetwood Mac years later during their 1979 Tusk tour and available on the 1980 Fleetwood Mac Live album.
Check out Don’t Let Me Down Again and you may think you’ve found a long lost golden era Fleetwood Mac track.
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