In the mid-1970s, Fleetwood Mac was revitalized as a pop-rock sensation when Stevie Nicks reunited with her former partner, Lindsey Buckingham. The two first met during Nicks’ senior year at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton, California when they sang a rendition of “California Dreamin” together at a Young Life Club event. This meeting marked the beginning of their musical and personal relationship.
Buckingham and Nicks both attended San José State University but left to pursue their music careers. Their first venture into music was with the psychedelic rock band Fritz. When the band broke up in 1972, the duo released the album “Buckingham Nicks” together, which received less critical acclaim and commercial success than it deserved.
In the late 1970s, while Buckingham was on tour with the Everly Brothers as a guitarist, Nicks wrote some of her most iconic songs, including “Rhiannon” and “Landslide.” The latter song reflected her troubled relationship with Buckingham, which was about to face its first of many challenges.
Producer Keith Olsen introduced the duo to drummer Mick Fleetwood in 1974. Buckingham initially joined the band as a flexible guitarist, with Fleetwood welcoming him personally. However, Buckingham agreed to join only on the condition that Nicks could accompany him. Fleetwood agreed, noting that the addition of another singer-songwriter would improve the band’s dynamic. Nicks’ songs, “Landslide” and “Rhiannon,” contributed significantly to Fleetwood Mac’s self-titled album’s commercial success in 1975. The band continued to soar to new heights with the release of “Rumours” two years later.
During the promotion of her album, “In Your Dreams,” Stevie Nicks was invited to BBC Radio 2’s renowned “Tracks of My Years” program. For her opening song, Nicks selected “Witchy Woman,” a classic Eagles track from 1972, and spoke of how the pioneers of country-rock had greatly influenced both Buckingham and herself during their early years.
“The Eagles were famous before Lindsey, and I moved to Los Angeles, We drove to LA, and I remember listening to that song, thinking what a great song it was, and of course, I’m sure as all women my age did at that point, we were all hoping that we would actually be the witchy woman. Premonition-wise, I would come to know Don Henley quite well. In fact, I even do know who the actual witchy woman was; it was someone who became a very famous jeweller.”
She added,
“The Eagles were very inspirational to both Lindsey and I because we loved their singing, and we loved their ability to bridge country and rock and roll so beautifully, I thought ‘Witchy Woman’ was just the perfect mix of country and rock and roll. And so we were very inspired by that, Lindsey and I.”