On the cover of Rumours Mick Fleetwood is seen laying a crystal ball on the palm of his right hand
as if making an offer to Stevie Nicks, who appears to be so intently gazing at it, with her left leg
bending and willingly resting on Mick's right as her body arches towards him and her arms stretches
to her back, seemingly ready to offer everything in return to pursuit to that crystal ball.
This was the way it was in 1977.
On the cover of Fleetwood Mac's second eponymous album, released two years earlier, a stretched
Mick Fleetwood is seen sipping champagne from a trumpet looking detached from a compressed
John McVie who nervously tosses a crystal ball into the air.
Maybe that crystal ball carried a different meaning in 1977, or perhaps that was a lesser ball back in
1975.
On my work above, I took the figures away from the arched French door frame that was their background and added an inversion of the image of
Mick and John at left. Now, it's John's turn to be stretched and he still has that crystal ball. The arched frame is returned at centre without the
figures and the band's name, in the calligraphy of Rumours, is added below.
These are doubled in contrasting shades to match the figures of Mick and John. The doubling tells us it's the band's second eponymous album. The
cutout from John's upper body suggests Fleetwood Mac was part history when Rumours came. Changing the background from white to the murky
shade of light yellow signifies that Rumours had greater impact on Fleetwood Mac fans than Fleetwood Mac or that the crystal ball is now seen as
a window that can foretell the future of the band.
Here's the original album cover art design.
No. 182, Rolling Stone, The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time; No. 184, The Virgin All-Time Album Top 1000
Photography by Herbert W. Worthington. Album produced by Fleetwood Mac & Keith Olsen. Reprise 1975.
Adding Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks to the group wasn’t like any other band member change that Fleetwood Mac had gone through since
their formation in the late 60s. There was something about the chemistry that just exploded, and the band decided to re-brand themselves.
Hence Fleetwood Mac (1975). If you’ll recall, the very first Mac album was also self-titled, so this move appears to be a very blatant call for a
new image. Fleetwood Mac ’75 is also the 10th studio album released by the band. So there are all sorts of reasons for the repeat name.
Fleetwood Mac ’75 reached number one on the US Billboard top 200. Maggie Felisberto's blog.
their formation in the late 60s. There was something about the chemistry that just exploded, and the band decided to re-brand themselves.
Hence Fleetwood Mac (1975). If you’ll recall, the very first Mac album was also self-titled, so this move appears to be a very blatant call for a
new image. Fleetwood Mac ’75 is also the 10th studio album released by the band. So there are all sorts of reasons for the repeat name.
Fleetwood Mac ’75 reached number one on the US Billboard top 200. Maggie Felisberto's blog.
(A) Monday Morning - Warm Ways - Blue Letter - Rhiannon - Over My Head - Crystal
(B) Say You Love Me - Landslide - World Turning - Sugar Daddy - I'm So Afraid
"Rhiannon" live from Stevie Nicks on YouTube.
