Stevie Nicks Had to Beg Fleetwood Mac to Record This Hit Song
It’s no secret that Fleetwood Mac had their share of problems behind the scenes. Many of these issues revolved around the relationships between the bandmates. However, sometimes the band would have creative disagreements. Stevie Nicks was at odds with the rest of Fleetwood Mac over “Dreams”, a song that later became one of their biggest hits.
Stevie Nicks pleaded with Fleetwood Mac to record ‘Dreams’
“Dreams” is a 1977 Fleetwood Mac song written by Stevie Nicks and released on their album Rumours. It’s one of the band’s most popular songs and remains relevant today, as it recently went viral thanks to a fantastic video involving skateboarding and cranberry juice.
Nicks wrote “Dreams” at a recording session for Rumours. In a 2005 interview with Blender, the singer said she wrote the song in “about 10 minutes” around a minimal set of chords.
“I sat down on the bed with my keyboard in front of me,” Nicks shared. “I found a drum pattern, switched my little cassette player on, and wrote ‘Dreams’ in about 10 minutes. Right away, I liked the fact that I was doing something with a dance beat because that made it a little unusual for me.”
When she showed it to the rest of her bandmates, they weren’t thrilled. However, Nicks pleaded with Fleetwood Mac to at least give it an attempt.
“They weren’t nuts about it,” Nicks said. “But I said, ‘Please! Please record this song, at least try it.’ Because the way I play things sometimes… you really have to listen.”
Lindsey Buckingham rearranged the song to make it work
During the recording of Rumours, Buckingham and Nicks dealt with an on/off relationship that led to them fighting often. However, the guitarist could still leave his personal feelings aside and work on “Dreams” to make Stevie Nicks’ song the best it could be. Christine McVie said she found the track “boring” when Nicks first showed it to her, but Buckingham’s rearrangement saved it.
“When Stevie first played it for me on the piano, it was just three chords and one note in the left hand,” McVie told Blender. “I thought, ‘This is really boring,’ but the Lindsey genius came into play, and he fashioned three sections out of identical chords, making each section sound completely different. He created the impression that there’s a thread running through the whole thing.”
How did ‘Dreams’ perform on the charts?
“Dreams” was released as the second single for Rumours after “Go Your Own Way”. “Dreams” surpassed “Go Your Own Way” on the charts as it peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It’s still their only No. 1 hit on the Billboard charts, so Stevie Nicks was justified in pushing “Dreams” on her fellow bandmates.
Rumours is also their most successful and popular album. It reached No. 1 on the charts in multiple countries and has sold over 40 million copies. With “Dreams” being so popular, fans always want to hear it when seeing Nicks in concert. While it’s gotten repetitive, Nicks has never tired of performing this song.
“Sometimes you can get tired of singing a certain song over and over again,” she explained. “But i have never gone onstage, either with Fleetwood Mac or in my solo shows, without singing ‘Dreams’. I don’t think I could.”
