1975 Songs: Monday Morning

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As I’ve mentioned, there are a number of legendary albums that are turning 50 this year. This is one of those “watershed” moments that was released in 1975. This album changed a band (for better or worse…NJ Chic would definitely argue “for worse” ), and the band changed the mid-70s. You can still hear songs from this album today on the radio. Here we go! Monday Morning - Fleetwood Mac This was Fleetwood Mac’s second album named Fleetwood Mac. The first one came out in 1968, and it didn’t sound anything like this one. No, back then, Fleetwood Mac was a blues band. Fleetwood Mac was something else: a revolving door. They had ten lineup changes by the time this album rolled around. Ten lineup changes from 1968 to 1975. Now you know why I appreciate bands like R.E.M. and Talking Heads never having a lineup change through their history? “For better or for worse,” in that Bob Welch (who’d later have a solo hit with a remake of “Sentimental Lady,” which he did on F.M.’s Bare Trees album) left. Mick Fleetwood heard the tapes of a duo that a friend had produced and decided the singer/guitarist was the perfect replacement for Welch. The problem was that the guitarist, Lindsey Buckingham, insisted on bringing his girlfriend, Yoko…ahem, Stevie Nicks along. No Stevie, no Lindsey. The punchline to that story is that, all those decades later, after HE got HER a gig in Fleetwood Mac, she had him fired! You may have seen that meme that talks about how Stevie wrote this song about what a jerk Buckingham was (“Dreams”) and “made him play guitar on it.” Nah, he easily won that battle: HE wrote a song about what a sl*t she was (“Go Your Own Way,” complete with the accusation “shacking up’s all you wanna do”), and all SHE could do was stand in the middle of the stage and sing backup on it! They probably didn’t know any of that was coming with the success of this album and that mammoth followup (Rumours). When this album came out, Fleetwood Mac was just a band that had evolved from a blues band to a “mainstream” rock band (the addition of Buckingham and Nicks had nothing to do with it, if you listen to Bare Trees or Mystery to Me you’ll hear the evolution). They weren’t what they would become over the next three years. This album pushed them that way. Anyway, I didn’t pick a hit from the album to highlight; rather, the opening song, featuring Buckingham shining brightly as singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Monday Morning Written by Lindsey Buckingham Recorded by Fleetwood Mac From Fleetwood Mac, 1975 You know you only want me when I get over you: