It’s been a wild week of cryptic lyrics, mysterious billboards, and Mick Fleetwood reminiscing to “Frozen Love” on his headphones. But the wait is over: Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks will finally reissue their 1973 album, Buckingham Nicks, on Sept. 19.
The first and only album from the longtime Fleetwood Mac bandmates/exes has been out of print for decades and never reissued, until now. It’s been sourced from the original analog tapes and pressed in a variety of colors on vinyl. You can hear the remastered opening track, “Crying in the Night,” here.
Released on Sept. 5, 1973, the original Buckingham Nicks was recorded at Sound City in Los Angeles. When the album flopped, they were dropped by Polydor. Nicks began working at a Beverly Hills restaurant called Clementine’s, until Buckingham Nicks producer Keith Olsen played the album for Mick Fleetwood — and the rest is history.
“[We] knew what we had as a duo, two songwriters that sang really well together. And it was a very natural thing, from the beginning,” Nicks tells Rolling Stone contributor David Fricke in the liner notes.
“It stands up in a way you hope it would, by these two kids who were pretty young to be doing that work,” Buckingham added.
Buckingham Nicks (Rhino High Fidelity) is limited to 5,000 copies, with a special edition of 2,000 copies that includes a replica of two 7-inch singles: “Crying in the Night” b/w “Stephanie” and “Don’t Let Me Down Again” b/w “Races Are Run.” In addition, the album will be available digitally and on CD, as well as on vinyl from select retailers.
In December 2012, Buckingham and Nicks spoke to Rolling Stone about the album and the possibility of a tour behind it, which fans have spent years hoping for. The interviews were conducted separately over the phone, about a week apart, with Nicks revealing that they’d recently recorded an outtake from the 1973 album that got “brushed under the carpet” all those years ago. “Next year is the 40th anniversary of Buckingham Nicks, and we’re hoping next year to get the record out,” she said at the time. “People have been waiting forever. Fleetwood Mac is totally good with us doing that. They know.”
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She also spoke about the possibility of a tour featuring the musicians who played on the record, including her longtime guitarist Waddy Wachtel and drummer Jim Keltner. “We would actually go onstage and do the complete Buckingham Nicks album … It would be trippy for Lindsey and I to revisit those songs,” she said.
Buckingham agreed, though he pointed out that any shows would have to wait until their next world tour with Fleetwood Mac concluded; he felt that it was “logistically impossible” to do it between tour legs. “Stevie, if you’re serious about touring behind Buckingham Nicks, let’s wait,” he said. “I’ve been saying to Stevie for years that we should revisit Buckingham Nicks. I know there’s a market for it … I think something elevated happens with the two of us and there’s an interest in that … It’s a bit of an intangible. But I’ve been saying that for years. To me, if you’re going to do it, do it properly.”
Will now be that time? One can dream.
Buckingham Nicks LP Track List
Side One
1. “Crying in the Night”
2. “Stephanie”
3. “Without a Leg to Stand On”
4. “Crystal”
5. “Long Distance Winner”
Side Two
1. “Don’t Let Me Down Again”
2. “Django”
3. “Races Are Run”
4. “Lola (My Love)”
5. “Frozen Love”
Buckingham Nicks Singles
A. “Crying in the Night” (Single Version)
B. “Stephanie” (Single Version)
A. “Don’t Let Me Down Again” (Single Version)
B. “Races Are Run” (Single Version)
From Rolling Stone US
