Fleetwood Mac To Release 1977 'Rumours Live' Concert Album

Bruce Henne | 07-23-2023

Album art

(hennemusic) Fleetwood Mac will release a 1977 Los Angeles concert as "Rumours Live", on September 8. The band was at the top of its game in August 1977 when they returned to its adopted home in Southern California to play three shows at The Forum in Los Angeles. "Rumours" had only been out a few weeks when the band left in February to tour the world, returning six months later to play three shows at The Forum for nearly 50,000 fans.

At the time, "Rumours" was the No. 1 album in America and well on its way to becoming one of the most successful ever released, eventually selling more than 40 million copies worldwide, including 21 million in the US alone.

"Rumours Live" delivers the band's opening night at The Forum on August 29, 1977; the nearly 90-minute performance includes live versions of most of the songs from "Rumours" and 1975's self-titled record, which was the group's first multi-platinum No. 1 album.

"The songs are familiar: 'Dreams,' 'Go Your Own Way,' 'Say You Love Me,' 'Over My Head,' and on and on," writes Sam Graham in the set's liner notes. "The songs are familiar: 'Dreams,' 'Go Your Own Way,' 'Say You Love Me,' 'Over My Head,' and on and on. But most of these live versions are more muscular, more ferocious, than the album recordings, driven by the powerhouse Fleetwood-John McVie rhythm section and Buckingham's febrile guitar playing; and instead of a rote recital of the hits, the group stretches out in concert, as songs like 'Rhiannon,' 'World Turning,' and 'I'm So Afraid' blossom into exuberant tours de force onstage."

The concert remained unreleased for decades until 2021, when "Gold Dust Woman" from the show was included as a bonus track on "Live: Deluxe Edition", an expanded version of Fleetwood Mac's 1980 concert album; the other 17 songs on the collection have never been released before.

Fleetwood Mac is streaming "Dreams" as the first preview to the forthcoming package; listen to the 1977 live performance here.