Songbird (Fleetwood Mac song)

"Songbird" is a popular song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. It first appeared on the 1977 album Rumours and was released as the B-side of the single "Dreams". It is one of four songs written solely by Christine McVie on the album. She would frequently sing the song at concerts.

"Songbird"
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Rumours
A-side"Dreams"
ReleasedFebruary 1977 (1977-02)
RecordedMarch 3–4, 1976
StudioZellerbach Auditorium, Berkeley, California
GenreSoft rock
Length3:20
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Christine McVie
Producer(s)Fleetwood Mac, Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut
Fleetwood Mac US singles chronology
"Go Your Own Way"
(1976)		 "Songbird"
(1977)		 "Don't Stop"
(1977)
Fleetwood Mac UK singles chronology
"Don't Stop"
(1977)		 "Songbird"
(1977)		 "You Make Loving Fun"
(1977)
Rumours track listing
11 tracks
Side one
  1. "Second Hand News"
  2. "Dreams"
  3. "Never Going Back Again"
  4. "Don't Stop"
  5. "Go Your Own Way"
  6. "Songbird"
Side two
  1. "The Chain"
  2. "You Make Loving Fun"
  3. "I Don't Want to Know"
  4. "Oh Daddy"
  5. "Gold Dust Woman"

Background

The song came to McVie as the band was finishing up a recording session at the Sausalito Record Plant.[1] She wrote the song in half an hour around midnight, but didn't have anyone around to record it. To ensure she did not forget the chord structure and melody, she remained awake the entire night.[2]

Producer Ken Caillat loved the track and suggested she record it alone in a concert style approach. Their first venue of choice, the Berkeley Community Theatre, was unavailable, so the band instead booked the Zellerbach Auditorium for March 3, 1976.[3] To create the appropriate ambience, Caillat ordered a bouquet of flowers to place on her piano. He then requested three spotlights to illuminate the flowers from above. When McVie arrived at the auditorium, the house lights were dimmed so her attention was immediately brought to the illuminated flowers on the piano.[4]

15 microphones were placed around the auditorium to capture the performance.[3] The recording session went into the next morning due to the difficulty of recording the song live in one take.[4] Lindsey Buckingham strummed an acoustic guitar offstage to keep the tempo.

Personnel

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[5] Silver 200,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

Eva Cassidy version

Eva Cassidy's version was released in 1998 on her posthumous compilation album of the same name Songbird. Despite being released two years after her death from melanoma, the album eventually reached number 1 in the UK in 2001.[6] "Songbird" finally charted in the UK in September 2009 at number 56, after a contestant (Shanna Goodhead) performed the song on The X Factor.

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[7] Silver 200,000

Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Willie Nelson covered "Songbird" on his own 2006 album Songbird, making it the second album to be named after the song. The album peaked at #87 on the Billboard 200.

John Frusciante covered "Songbird" at several Red Hot Chili Peppers concerts during 2007.

Glee covered "Songbird" in the episode "Rumours", with Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) performing the song.

New Zealand pop opera trio Sole Mio covered "Songbird" on their 2013 self-titled debut album.

References
  1. "Ken Caillat Revisits Rumours". GRAMMY.com. 2012-06-06. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  2. "Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie Talk Duets Album". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  3. Bosso, Joe (February 7, 2012). "Fleetwood Mac's classic album Rumours track-by-track: Songbird". MusicRadar. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  4. Runtagh, Jordan (February 3, 2017). "Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumours': 10 Things You Didn't Know". Rolling Stone. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
  5. "British single certifications – Fleetwood Mac – Songbird". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 May 2019. Select singles in the Format field. Select Silver in the Certification field. Type Songbird in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
  6. The Official UK Albums Chart Top 75, August 25, 2001. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
  7. "British single certifications – Eva Cassidy – Songbird". British Phonographic Industry.
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