Stevie Nicks has shared a 52-year-old letter she sent to her parents while recording the 1973 album Buckingham Nicks. In it, she praises Lindsey Buckingham's guitar talents, and prophesies that he will go down in history as one of the best.
Although the album, co-written by the young lovers, was far from a resounding success, it did pave the way for the pair to join Fleetwood Mac just two years later, when Mac's guitarist/frontman Bob Welch quit the group. And there’s more than the shimmer of youth to the letter.
After much fluttering about her pipe dreams of a Beverly Hills home, plans for a month-long birthday celebration, and bemoaning “sitting around listening to 12 hours of music per day,” Nicks signs off with a note on one of the songs in progress.
“By the way, Dad and Chris, that rock and roll tune that you both liked (‘Baby Baby, Don’t Treat Me So Bad’) with the fancy guitar work is almost finished,” she writes. “Lindsey may go down in history as one of the ‘greats’ in guitar playing. It really is quite amazing.”
The song, which would eventually become “Don’t Let Me Down Again,” was certainly a showcase of their chemistry, with some fine, repetitive licks and a slick tone mingling with their harmonized vocals. Despite enjoying a great production from Sound City Studios’ Keith Olsen — a location Mick Fleetwood would soon scope out as he eyed another FM record — Buckingham Nicks had limited commercial impact.
But it proved to be the calm before the storm. When Welch walked out of Fleetwood Mac amid mounting personal issues and a sense of being an outcast in the group, Buckingham became the heir apparent. However, when he was approached for the role, he stressed that he and Nicks were a package deal, and the band met his demands.
Despite the pair’s success with Fleetwood Mac — their second FM album, Rumours has shifted over 40 million copies — it's taken more than 50 years for Buckingham Nicks to get an official reissue, which came in a deluxe format this past September 19, courtesy of Rhino Records.
Speaking to Guitar Player shortly before the release of Rumours, Buckingham revealed how the couple's Sound City connection reversed their fortunes after their album's poor commercial showing.
“About two months before we ended up cutting Fleetwood Mac [in January/February 1975], Mick was looking for a studio to use. Someone haphazardly turned him onto this place in the San Fernando Valley called Sound City,” he details.
“So he talked to [producer] Keith Olsen out there, and Keith put on ‘Frozen Love’ from the Buckingham Nicks album to show him what the studio sounded like and what his work was like.”
At that time, Welch was still an integral figure in the band, so the song hadn’t been played to tout Buckingham’s talents. But his chops were fresh in the drummer’s mind when Welch departed just a few days later. Talk about timing.
Sadly, Buckingham's tenure in Fleetwood Mac was plagued with troubles, many of which stemmed from the breakup of his relationship with Nicks. The two continued to have conflicts over the years, culminating in Buckingham's ouster in 2018. He was subsequently replaced by longtime Tom Petty foil Mike Campbell and Crowded House guitarist and frontman Neil Finn. (Yes, it took two guitarists to replace him.)
All of which makes Nick's decision to share her letter even more touching, given all that happened over the years.
Meanwhile, Buckingham seems to have worked his way back into the good graces of Mick Fleetwood. Back in March, it was revealed that the two men are in the studio together for the first time since the guitarist was fired.
As for Campbell, the former Heartbreakers guitarist wasn't numb to the size of the task and had to reassess his playing style for the gig, considering he’d never been tasked with playing anyone else’s music before.
“I learned a lot about the guitar by having to learn Lindsey's parts,” he admits. “Nobody sounds like somebody else, but I did the best I could and brought my own vibe to it.”
Despite the career pivot, Campbell said the gig saved him, with the opportunity arriving just months after Tom Petty’s passing.
