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A former Fleetwood Mac producer opened up about making the Rumours album, and he revealed what it was like creating one of the most popular and successful records of all time. Here’s what the producer said about working with the volatile band through their messy breakups, fights, affairs, and addictions to build a body of work that has truly stood the test of time. 

Fleetwood Mac stars John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks hold awards together.
Fleetwood Mac: (L-R) John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham, and Stevie Nicks | Michael Putland/Getty Images

‘Rumours’ was Fleetwood Mac’s most successful album

Although Rumours is Fleetwood Mac’s most popular album, it was far from their first. It was the British-American rock band’s 11th studio album. Rumours was mainly recorded in California in 1976 and released on Feb. 4, 1977. It was produced by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut. The recording process took place amid several relationship breakups among the group along with heavy drug use, both of which shaped the album.

Rumours was Fleetwood Mac’s first No. 1 album on the UK Albums Chart and topped the US Billboard 200. The singles “Dreams,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Don’t Stop,” and “You Make Loving Fun” all reached the US top 10, with “Dreams” achieving the No. 1 spot. The album sold over 10 million copies worldwide within a month of its release, and won Album of the Year at the 1977 Grammy Awards. 

It has become one of the best-selling records of all time, with over 40 million copies sold worldwide.

Producer Ken Caillat said he and his co-producer Richard Dashut were forever changed after helping Fleetwood Mac create the wildly successful Rumours album. “Like Richard Dashut, I went from being a mid-level engineer to a Grammy-winning producer in one year,” Caillat told MusicRadar. “The record was like Jaws and Star Wars combined. Everybody saw those movies, and everybody during that time bought a copy of Rumours.”

The producer said he was thankful to be a part of making such a life-changing piece of work. “But that’s the kind of record Rumours is: You remember your first time hearing it. You even remember where you were when you heard it,” he said. “Not every album has that power. This one does. I was just lucky to be a part of it.”

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The producer said making the album was like capturing ‘light in a bottle’ and could ‘never happen’ today

Ken Caillat revealed that while the Rumours album had a lasting impact, it was recorded quickly, with many of the world-famous songs coming in flashes of inspiration. 

“Richard and I had to capture light in a bottle,” the producer said. “The band would be tuning up, and before you knew it, a song was going down. John [McVie] and Mick [Fleetwood] would hear something, they’d start playing, and we had to react fast.”

He said creating an album that way could never happen today. “That kind of creativity doesn’t happen these days – it’s frowned upon. In 2012, a band has to have a committee approve their songs,” Caillat explained. “Can you imagine Fleetwood Mac making Rumours under such conditions?”

“Records like Rumours don’t happen anymore,” he shared. “We spent a year and a lot of hell working on it. Lives were changed, people changed, everything became different. Something like Rumours could never happen these days. A record label would have shut us down after two weeks.”

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