Few think of Fleetwood Mac as a fierce rock band, the live performance of Rhiannon with a Southern Rock style guitar solo halfway, however, will definitely put the British-American quintet on a par with Led Zeppelin’s and Humble Pie’s gate-ramming. Likewise, few radio listeners at the time would have picked up on the low key yet highly accurate and dynamic playing-style of the rhythm section – mainly John McVie and Fleetwood.
When it comes to taking the soft, Californian musicality to firmer stomping and wall-knocking, the former British blues purists will be naturals at supplying the tempo, while at the same time not losing touch with the soloists or one another.
Of the former folkie duo – Buckingham Nicks (of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks) – Nicks would hardly be underrated as a soloist, and Buckingham was seen to peak by millions in his time, but few would list them as hugely relevant influences on US rock. Well, here you are; listen to their live performance. Buckingham is a multi-sided talent on the electric and acoustic guitar, while Nicks is a worthy successor of Janis Joplin when it comes to hysteric vocal force and character.
The song’s original radio version would not reach fans’ auditory threshold at a Kiss concert.
The nearly seven-minute live ballad, however, would be likely to send the crowds rocking at Donington Castle. It goes into an upbeat solo on the Gibson around three minutes, after which the song reaches a low, just about keeping the tempo, which almost stops altogether several times. We have known this trick of musical dynamics since Elvis and Sinatra, yet Fleetwood Mac in concert deliver it with such persuasiveness that we are completely carried away for the last two minutes of the track. Nicks, the drums, and the interplay of the whole band come near lack of control and reach an absolute peak as they promptly play the last bars.