Say You Love Me (Fleetwood Mac song)

"Say You Love Me" is a song written by singer Christine McVie for Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self-titled album. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and remains one of the band's best-known songs. Its success helped the group's eponymous 1975 album sell over eight million copies worldwide.

"Say You Love Me"
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Fleetwood Mac
B-side"Monday Morning"
ReleasedJune 1976 (US)
September 1976 (UK)
RecordedFebruary 1975
GenreSoft rock
Length4:11 (album version)
4:01 (single version)
LabelReprise
Songwriter(s)Christine McVie
Producer(s)Fleetwood Mac, Keith Olsen
Fleetwood Mac singles chronology
"Rhiannon"
(1976)		 "Say You Love Me"
(1976)		 "Go Your Own Way"
(1977)
Audio sample
"Say You Love Me"
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In the UK, "Say You Love Me" was the fourth single from the Fleetwood Mac album, but the first to chart, peaking at No. No. 40 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1976. In Canada, Shirley Eikhard covered "Say You Love Me" and released it as a single several weeks in advance of Fleetwood Mac in early June 1976. Eikhard took the song into the Canadian top 40, peaking at No. 34; Fleetwood Mac's version, released only a few weeks later, peaked at No. 29 in September.

Background

In addition to its appearance on Fleetwood Mac's self-titled 1975 album, "Say You Love Me" appears on three of the group's compilation albums: Greatest Hits, The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac and 25 Years - The Chain. Following Christine McVie's departure, the song was performed on Fleetwood Mac's Unleashed Tour with Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham sharing lead vocals.[1]

McVie wrote "Say You Love Me" after her fifth year in the band while she was married to the group's bassist, John McVie. The version used on the single release has overdubbed additional guitar work and a faster fade-out.[2] The single mix is the one used on the compilation 25 Years - The Chain.

"Say You Love Me" has been performed on seven of Fleetwood Mac's tours since its release. On The Dance tour, John McVie sang background vocals. Previously, his only other vocal contribution was on a cover of "Cool Water", the B-side to "Gypsy". In a Q&A session, he claimed that ex-wife Christine convinced him to perform the vocal line.[3] During the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame performance of the song, Mick Fleetwood and Lindsey Buckingham played a cocktail drum kit and banjo respectively.[4]

Reception

Billboard Magazine praised McVie's singing, the "easy" guitar playing, and the "good, catchy bridge."[5]

Personnel

Chart performance

Cover versions

Shirley Eikhard covered the song in 1976. It became a hit in Canada, spending two weeks at number 34 on the pop singles chart[13] and number four on the Adult Contemporary chart.[14]

In the late half of the 1970s, the song proved to be a popular song to cover in country music. Singer Lynda K. Lance spent five weeks in the fall of 1976 on the American country singles chart with her version, peaking at No. 93. In the fall of 1979, singer Stephanie Winslow scored the only Top 10 country hit of her career, with her cover reaching number 10 on the country charts.

References
  1. "2009 Unleashed". fleetwood-mac.info. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  2. Everett, Walter (May 2010). "'If you're gonna have a hit': intratextual mixes and edits of pop recordings". Popular Music. 29 (2): 239. doi:10.1017/S026114301000005X. JSTOR 40926920.
  3. "John McVie, Q&A Session, September 27 - October 10, 2004". The Penguin. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  4. Greene, Andy (2018-10-09). "Flashback: Fleetwood Mac Enter the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  5. "Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. June 19, 1976. p. 72. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  6. David Kent's "Australian Chart Book 1970-1992"
  7. "RPM Top Singles" (PDF). RPM. 11 September 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  8. "RPM MOR Playlist". Library and Archives Canada. 2 October 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  9. "Fleetwood Mac". www.officialcharts.com. Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  10. [Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002]
  11. Whitburn, Joel (1993). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–1993. Record Research. p. 88.
  12. CASH BOX Top 100 Singles - Week ending SEPTEMBER 11, 1976
  13. "RPM Top Singles". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 7 October 1976. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  14. "RPM MOR Playlist". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. 1976-07-24. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  15. "Top Singles – Volume 26, No. 14 & 15, January 08 1977". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  16. "Top 100 Hits of 1976/Top 100 Songs of 1976". www.musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2019-04-18.
  • The Great Rock Discography, 6th Edition. Martin C.Strong. Page 378.
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