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The Chain
"The Chain" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1977 album Rumours. It is the only song from the album with writing credits for all five band members (Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood).
"The Chain" was created from combinations of several previously rejected materials, including compositions from Buckingham, Nicks, and McVie. The song was assembled, often manually by splicing tapes with a razor blade, at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, with engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut.
Following the critical and commercial success of Rumours, "The Chain" has become a staple of the band's live shows, typically the opening song. It was featured as the opening track on The Dance, a 1997 live concert CD/DVD release, as well as several of the band's greatest hits compilations. The song has attained particular fame in the United Kingdom, where the instrumental section has been used as the theme tune for the BBC and Channel 4's television and radio coverage of Formula One.
According to interviews on the writing of Rumours, the final section of "The Chain" (beginning with a bass progression) was created by John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. "The Chain" began as a Christine McVie song, titled "Keep Me There", which was the first track Fleetwood Mac recorded for Rumours. Initial tracking took place on 2 February 1976, with Fleetwood on drums, John McVie on an Alembic bass, Christine McVie on organ, and Buckingham on a Fender Stratocaster. Ten microphones were placed around Fleetwood's drums, two were used to capture the bass guitar and the organ, and another three microphones captured Buckingham's guitar amplifiers. After the band rehearsed the song twice, Ken Caillat, who served as the producer for Rumours, recorded the band's third run-through. In the middle of this take, John McVie played the bassline that was ultimately used in the final version of "The Chain". The ending section was the only part from the original recording that the band kept for "The Chain". McVie recorded a vocal take that session and replaced it with a new vocal the following day.
When Fleetwood Mac reworked "Keep Me There" into "The Chain", they removed the blues-style motif originally found on the verses and retained the chord progression. Lindsey Buckingham recycled the intro of an earlier song from a duet with Nicks, "Lola (My Love)", originally released on their self-titled 1973 album. During the verses, Buckingham instructed Fleetwood to play a straight quarter note pattern on the kick drum. The Dobro, a type of resonator guitar, supplied the verse riff.
Stevie Nicks had written the lyrics separately, which were originally part of an entirely different song that included the words "if you don't love me now, you will never love me again". Buckingham asked Nicks to donate these lyrics for the verses, which she agreed to. Nicks and Christine McVie then reworked lyrics to create the first section of the tune. Nicks' lyrics referenced the breakup of her relationship with Buckingham, a theme of many of Nicks' and Buckingham's lyrics on Rumours.
Due to the spliced nature of the record (the drums and guitar were the only instruments recorded in each other's company) and its sporadic composition and assembly from different rejected songs, "The Chain" is one of only a few Fleetwood Mac songs whose authorship is credited to all members of the band at the time. Nicks maintained that "The Chain" was primarily her song and claimed ownership of the melody and a large portion of the lyrics. In an interview with Paul Zollo, Buckingham questioned whether Fleetwood contributed significantly to the song, but acknowledged that all five members nonetheless received writing credits. The finished song has a basic rock structure with two distinct portions: the main verse and chorus, and the outro. Influences of hard rock, folk, and country are also present.
"The Chain" has received favourable reviews from music critics. The Guardian and Paste ranked the song number ten and number one, respectively, on their lists of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs. Billboard placed the song sixth out of eleven on its list ranking every track on Rumours. They deemed the song a cornerstone of Fleetwood Mac's discography and highlighted the "heartbeat-like bass drum" and John McVie's bass playing during the coda.
The Chain
"The Chain" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released on their 1977 album Rumours. It is the only song from the album with writing credits for all five band members (Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood).
"The Chain" was created from combinations of several previously rejected materials, including compositions from Buckingham, Nicks, and McVie. The song was assembled, often manually by splicing tapes with a razor blade, at the Record Plant in Sausalito, California, with engineers Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut.
Following the critical and commercial success of Rumours, "The Chain" has become a staple of the band's live shows, typically the opening song. It was featured as the opening track on The Dance, a 1997 live concert CD/DVD release, as well as several of the band's greatest hits compilations. The song has attained particular fame in the United Kingdom, where the instrumental section has been used as the theme tune for the BBC and Channel 4's television and radio coverage of Formula One.
According to interviews on the writing of Rumours, the final section of "The Chain" (beginning with a bass progression) was created by John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. "The Chain" began as a Christine McVie song, titled "Keep Me There", which was the first track Fleetwood Mac recorded for Rumours. Initial tracking took place on 2 February 1976, with Fleetwood on drums, John McVie on an Alembic bass, Christine McVie on organ, and Buckingham on a Fender Stratocaster. Ten microphones were placed around Fleetwood's drums, two were used to capture the bass guitar and the organ, and another three microphones captured Buckingham's guitar amplifiers. After the band rehearsed the song twice, Ken Caillat, who served as the producer for Rumours, recorded the band's third run-through. In the middle of this take, John McVie played the bassline that was ultimately used in the final version of "The Chain". The ending section was the only part from the original recording that the band kept for "The Chain". McVie recorded a vocal take that session and replaced it with a new vocal the following day.
When Fleetwood Mac reworked "Keep Me There" into "The Chain", they removed the blues-style motif originally found on the verses and retained the chord progression. Lindsey Buckingham recycled the intro of an earlier song from a duet with Nicks, "Lola (My Love)", originally released on their self-titled 1973 album. During the verses, Buckingham instructed Fleetwood to play a straight quarter note pattern on the kick drum. The Dobro, a type of resonator guitar, supplied the verse riff.
Stevie Nicks had written the lyrics separately, which were originally part of an entirely different song that included the words "if you don't love me now, you will never love me again". Buckingham asked Nicks to donate these lyrics for the verses, which she agreed to. Nicks and Christine McVie then reworked lyrics to create the first section of the tune. Nicks' lyrics referenced the breakup of her relationship with Buckingham, a theme of many of Nicks' and Buckingham's lyrics on Rumours.
Due to the spliced nature of the record (the drums and guitar were the only instruments recorded in each other's company) and its sporadic composition and assembly from different rejected songs, "The Chain" is one of only a few Fleetwood Mac songs whose authorship is credited to all members of the band at the time. Nicks maintained that "The Chain" was primarily her song and claimed ownership of the melody and a large portion of the lyrics. In an interview with Paul Zollo, Buckingham questioned whether Fleetwood contributed significantly to the song, but acknowledged that all five members nonetheless received writing credits. The finished song has a basic rock structure with two distinct portions: the main verse and chorus, and the outro. Influences of hard rock, folk, and country are also present.
"The Chain" has received favourable reviews from music critics. The Guardian and Paste ranked the song number ten and number one, respectively, on their lists of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs. Billboard placed the song sixth out of eleven on its list ranking every track on Rumours. They deemed the song a cornerstone of Fleetwood Mac's discography and highlighted the "heartbeat-like bass drum" and John McVie's bass playing during the coda.