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Fleetwood Mac's Live arrived in December 1980, roughly fourteen months after the adventurous Tusk. While Tusk had peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and yielded two U.S. top ten hits, it fell off the albums chart after nine months. (Rumours, in contrast, spent 31 non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 in 1977-1978, a record for a group or duo.) With the public still hungry for new Fleetwood Mac material, the band issued the sprawling double album Live. It was the first live album from the line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood, and their only such release until 1997's The Dance. Live was certified Gold by the RIAA in November 1981 and has remained a perennial in their catalogue ever since. Now, it's returning from Rhino and Warner Records on April 9 in a deluxe 3CD/2LP/7" box set.
The original album, produced by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut, was culled primarily from the 1979-1980 Tusk tour but with a few additions from the 1977 tour supporting Rumours. It was a truly international affair, with songs recorded in cities including Tokyo, Paris, London, Nashville, Kansas City, Tucson, Cleveland, Santa Monica, St. Louis, and Oklahoma City. The band dug back to the Peter Green days for "Oh Well" but mostly celebrated their recent triumphs such as "Say You Love Me," "Dreams," "Monday Morning," "Sara," "Landslide," "Over My Head," "Rhiannon," and "Don't Stop." One rarity was "Don't Let Me Down Again" from Buckingham Nicks, as captured in Passaic, New Jersey in 1975. Three new songs premiered on Live, too: Christine McVie's "One More Night," Stevie Nicks' "Fireflies," and a "backstage" rendition of Brian Wilson and Mike Love's Beach Boys oldie "Farmer's Daughter" with rich Mac harmonies. Both "Fireflies" and "Farmer's Daughter" were issued as singles, with the former peaking at No. 60 on the Hot 100. The album itself reached No. 14 on the Billboard 200 and No. 31 on the U.K. Albums Chart.
Now, Live is being reborn just over 40 years after its initial release. The box set will be in the 12 x 12 format familiar to Mac fans through Rhino's previous sets dedicated to Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, Tusk, Mirage, and Tango in the Night. The two CDs and two LPs will both have the remastered original double album. The third CD will offer 14 previously unreleased performances plus the unique single remix of "Fireflies," while the 7-inch single offers the never-before-heard demos of "Fireflies" and "One More Night." David Wild has penned the liner notes, and the booklet also includes a full Tusk tour itinerary and rare photos.
TOUR EDITION AVAILABLE NOW FROM RHINO.COM
Those currently ordering from Rhino.com will receive an exclusive "Tour Edition" limited to 1,000 copies. This set has all of the above plus replica Mac tour swag including a ticket, backstage pass, iron-on patch, ad, button, and sticker.
You can preview the set now, as an unreleased performance of "The Chain" from Cleveland, 1980 is now streaming. You'll find the track listing and pre-order links below! The Super Deluxe Edition of Fleetwood Mac's Live is due on April 9 from Rhino.
Fleetwood Mac, Live: Super Deluxe Edition (Warner/Rhino, 2021) (Rhino.com / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
CD/LP 1-2: Original album (released as Warner Bros. 2WB 3500, 1980)
- Monday Morning
- Say You Love Me
- Dreams
- Oh Well
- Over & Over
- Sara
- Not That Funny
- Never Going Back Again
- Landslide
- Fireflies
- Over My Head
- Rhiannon
- Don't Let Me Down Again
- One More Night
- Go Your Own Way
- Don't Stop
- I'm So Afraid
- The Farmer's Daughter
CD 3 (previously unreleased except where noted)
- Second Hand News
- The Chain
- Think About Me
- What Makes You Think You're the One
- Gold Dust Woman
- Brown Eyes
- The Green Manalishi (with the Two-Pronged Crown)
- Angel
- Hold Me
- Tusk
- You Make Loving Fun
- Sisters of the Moon
- Songbird
- Blue Letter
- Fireflies (Remix - Long Version) (from Warner Bros. promo 12" PRO-A-932, 1981)
Tracks 1-14 recorded live between 1977-1982
7" single (previously unreleased)
- Fireflies (Demo)
- One More Night (Demo)
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Thank you for the great post giving some context to the songs. Wish that the Tusk tour documentary only available on VHS would have been included on DVD along with any other live footage from the tour. Seems there are no overlaps between this live album and what has been issued on the previous Super Deluxe set as bonus live material. I see that on Tusk those tracks were from Wembley and St. Louis and one track Landslide was from Omaha that this new set also has some songs from. The three songs from the Mirage tour on this bonus disc here were indeed not on the Mirage super deluxe released in 2016 even though all songs were from the same show. I would not mind getting complete shows released.
I hope that Behind the Mask will eventually get a reissue treatment, or that we get a music videos and Tango, Mirage live tours released as well.
Completely agree .... the Documentary on the making of Tusk would have been an outstanding edition ... I would have bought the entire set just to get that alone ... sad that there are never releases of past video content ....
*addition*
Tried to order this one from Holland.
It's impossible to order.
Great — do we know if there will be a CD-only version?
Also, the link is up on Amazon now.
Hopefully they’ll reconfigure all these sets without the fancy box, vinyl, etc. and just reissue to CD’s for those of us that would like the remastered CD’s sans vinyl and all the expense attached.
Exactly.
I'm a CD guy but I do like these. (and the similar ones from Rhino on the Replacements, Ramones etc.) I like the bigger better art even if I never play the vinyl.
More Rhino BS.
Just want the CDs? Too bad, here’s some overpriced vinyl you have to buy in order to get the CDs.
No turntable? That’s your problem, Mr. or Mrs. Consumer.
Also, would it have killed them to put “World Turning” on the bonus CD?
That was always a great jam in concert, and I never understood how it wasn’t included on the original album. Here was another chance to include it, and they missed it again.
we all know what a SUPER DELUXE EDITION is and this is not one.
Why did the demo versions of "Fireflies" and "One More Night" only go on the 7" vinyl? Could they not fit on Disc 3?