Say You Love Me (Fleetwood Mac song)
| "Say You Love Me" | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||
| Single by Fleetwood Mac | |||||||
| from the album Fleetwood Mac | |||||||
| B-side | "Monday Morning" | ||||||
| Released |
June 1976 (US) September 1976 (UK) | ||||||
| Format | Vinyl record | ||||||
| Recorded | February 1975 | ||||||
| Genre | Rock, soft rock, pop | ||||||
| Length |
4:11 (album version) 4:01 (single version) | ||||||
| Label | Reprise | ||||||
| Writer(s) | Christine McVie | ||||||
| Producer(s) | Fleetwood Mac, Keith Olsen | ||||||
| Fleetwood Mac singles chronology | |||||||
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"Say You Love Me" is a song written by singer Christine McVie, for the group Fleetwood Mac's 1975 album, Fleetwood Mac. The song peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and remains one of their best known songs. Its success helped the group's eponymous 1975 album to sell over 8 million copies worldwide.
In the UK, "Say You Love Me" was the fourth single from the Fleetwood Mac album, but the first to chart, where it peaked at #40 on the UK Singles chart in September 1976. In Canada, Shirley Eikhard covered "Say You Love Me" and released it as a single several weeks in advance of Fleetwood Mac in early June 1976. Eikhard took the song into the Canadian top 40, peaking at #34; Fleetwood Mac's version, released only a few weeks later, peaked at #29 in September.
Background
In addition to its appearance on Fleetwood Mac's self-titled 1975 album, "Say You Love Me" appears on two other compilation albums by Fleetwood Mac: Greatest Hits and 25 Years - The Chain. During Christine McVie's departure, the song was performed on Fleetwood Mac's Unleashed Tour with Nicks and Buckingham sharing lead vocals.
McVie wrote "Say You Love Me" after her fifth year in the band. During the writing of this song, she was married to John McVie, bassist of Fleetwood Mac. The version used on the single release differs from the album version in that Lindsey Buckingham remixed the LP version and overdubbed additional guitar work. The single mix is the one used on the compilation 25 Years - The Chain.
"Say You Love Me" has been performed on seven of Fleetwood Mac's tours since its release. In a rare occurrence, John McVie sang background vocals for the song during The Dance tour. In a Q&A Session, he said that his ex-wife, Christine, convinced him to do it.[1]
Personnel
- Christine McVie – lead vocals, piano
- Lindsey Buckingham – vocal harmonies, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string electric guitar, banjo
- Stevie Nicks – vocal harmonies
- John McVie – bass guitar
- Mick Fleetwood – drums, tambourine
Cover versions
In the late half of the 1970s, the song proved to be a popular song to cover in country music. Singer Lynda K. Lance spent five weeks in the fall of 1976 on the American country singles chart with her version, peaking at #93. In the fall of 1979, singer Stephanie Winslow scored the only Top 10 country hit of her career, with her cover reaching #10 on the country charts.
References
- ↑ "John McVie, Q&A Session, September 27 - October 10, 2004". The Penguin. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
- The Great Rock Discography, 6th Edition. Martin C.Strong. Page 378.
