A Fleetwood Mac Producer Wanted This ‘Rumours’ Song to Sound ‘Nastier and Dirtier’
A former Fleetwood Mac producer opened up about the making of the Rumours album and said that he wanted one sweet song by Christine McVie to sound “dirtier” and “nastier.” Here’s what producer Ken Caillat said about recording one of the classic rock band’s most popular tracks.
A Fleetwood Mac producer wanted a Christine McVie song on the ‘Rumours’ album to sound ‘nastier and dirtier’
Producer Ken Caillat worked with Richard Dashut and Fleetwood Mac to produce the 1977 album Rumours. To this day, it is the classic rock supergroup’s best-selling record, with many of their most popular songs.
In 2012, Caillat opened up about recording the track “You Make Loving Fun,” written by Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie. “My favorite-sounding song on the record,” the producer told MusicRadar. “I just love those four clicks on the hi-hat and bam! We’re right into it, with everybody playing. I still think it sounds great.”
He said they intentionally made the song sound “nastier and dirtier.” “Originally, it was done on Christine’s Yamaha electric piano. We wanted it to sound nastier and dirtier, though, because everybody was playing very hard,” said Caillat. “I made a remark about a Clavinet, and one of the engineers said there was one in Sly [Stone]’s room. We ran out and grabbed it.”
The producer described how they gave the track its distinctive sound. “To accentuate the ‘Clav-iness,’ we put it through a wah-wah pedal,” he shared. “Christine couldn’t play her keyboard part and work the wah at the same time, so Mick [Fleetwood] got down on his hands and knees and worked the pedal while Christine played. Being a drummer, he knew just what kind of rhythm it needed.”
The Fleetwood Mac producer said Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham argued viciously while recording the ‘Rumours’ song – but sang like ‘angels’
Ken Caillat said that Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, who were going through a bitter breakup while recording Rumours, argued viciously while recording “You Make Loving Fun.”
“I remember when we were doing background vocals, Stevie and Lindsey were having an argument,” the producer said. “Vicious name-calling – ‘you motherf***er’ this, ‘you f***ing bastard’ that. Back and forth it went.”
But the musicians always managed to pull it together when they were recording. “The tape would start rolling and they’d sing, ‘Yooooooou make loving fun,’ just beautiful, two little angels,” Caillat described. “The tape would stop and they’d be calling each other names again. They didn’t miss a beat.”
Christine McVie wrote the hit song about her affair
Perhaps the Fleetwood Mac producer wanted a “dirtier and nastier” sound for “You Make Loving Fun” because he knew it was about Christine McVie’s affair.
While recording Rumours, the keyboardist was married to the band’s bass guitarist, John McVie. But she was unhappy, and the couple was on the cusp of separation. Christine had an entanglement with the band’s lighting director, Curry Grant, which inspired “You Make Loving Fun.”
Christine hinted at the affair with lyrics like, “Don’t, don’t break the spell / It would be different and you know it will / You, you make loving fun / And I don’t have to tell you but you’re the only one.”
As for John, he reportedly had no idea that “You Make Loving Fun” was about his wife’s affair. “Knowing John, he probably thought it was about one of her dogs,” said drummer Mick Fleetwood (via Songfacts).
