Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album

by Ken Caillat, Steven Stiefel

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Inside the making of one of the biggest-selling albums of all time: Fleetwood Mac's Rumors. Fleetwood Mac's classic 1977 Rumors album topped the Billboard 200 for thirty-one weeks and won the Album of the Year Grammy. More recently, Rolling Stone named it the twenty-fifth greatest album of all time and the hit TV series Glee devoted an entire episode to songs from Rumors, introducing it to a new generation. Now, for the first time, Ken Caillat, the album's co-producer, tells the full story show more of what really went into making Rumors-from the endless partying and relationship dramas to the creative struggles to write and record "You Make Loving Fun," "Don't Stop," "Go Your Own Way," "The Chain," and other timeless tracks. - Tells the fascinating, behind-the-music story of the making of Fleetwood Mac's Rumors, written by the producer who saw it all happen - Filled with new and surprising details, such as. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham's screaming match while recording "You Make Loving Fun," how the band coped with the pressures of increasing success, how the master tape nearly disintegrated, and the incredible attention paid to even the tiniest elements of songs, from Lindsey playing a chair to Mick breaking glass - Includes eighty black-and-white photographs. show less

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Member Reviews

6 reviews
A lot of the reviews rip this book for the writing. I guess I've read enough true crap that the writing here didn't bother me for the most part. When I can slog through something like [b:Against All Things Ending|6237780|Against All Things Ending (The Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, #3)|Stephen R. Donaldson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327934886s/6237780.jpg|6420503] or [b:Stephen King shot John Lennon|6562238|Stephen King shot John Lennon|Steve Lightfoot|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1251977401s/6562238.jpg|6755076] books of similar pain, this one comes out smelling like roses.

Is it stunning in its word and language choice? Hell no. It's a recording engineer writing about making an album. So, consider the source, then enjoy the show more ride.

And it's one hell of a fun ride.

Some say Caillat is too full of himself. Yeah, okay. When you come out of nowhere and help craft one of the greatest albums of all time, let's see you stay all humble as you recount the tales. He deserves some glory.

Overall, for me, this was a fascinating book that looks into the people that created Rumours, Fleetwood Mac's crowning achievement. It was a fascinating time in the band's history, in American history, and obviously in that particular year of Caillat's life.

Personally, I truly didn't mind the side trips into his personal life. The book would have been pretty damn dry if it just covered the music.

Go get the book. Put on Fleetwood Mac's self-titled album, then Rumours and soak up California in 1976. It's a fun time to be alive.
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Being a long-term Fleetwood Mac fan, especially of the “Rumours” line-up, I was familiar with who Ken Caillat was, but didn’t know any great details about his contribution to the band’s recording career. I’d seen his name alongside Richard Dashut’s on album covers, but names were all they amounted to.

Therefore, it proved interesting to learn more about Caillat and Dashut’s roles “behind the scenes”. It’s kind of like reading a well-known story, except with it being from another perceptive, it’s simultaneously a new story.

While other reviewers have stated their dislike of events outside the recording studio, such as Caillat’s encounters with the opposite sex, I feel this gives a fuller picture of what was going show more on. Although the book is about making the “Rumours” album, this is also Caillat’s personal story. Therefore, I see nothing wrong with him recalling his personal adventures. In fact, it makes for a fuller story. Besides, readers can always skip this if uninterested.

The most appealing parts of this book are the times Fleetwood Mac – either as a whole or as individual members – spent in the studio. How they spent hours perfecting their songs, what they did to improve them, the conflicts between members, etc., all make for fascinating reading.
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A pretty poorly written book, but an interesting insight into the making of one of my favorite albums, as well as the way recording/record labels working thirty years ago.
A pretty poorly written book, but an interesting insight into the making of one of my favorite albums, as well as the way recording/record labels working thirty years ago.
A pretty poorly written book, but an interesting insight into the making of one of my favorite albums, as well as the way recording/record labels working thirty years ago.
A pretty poorly written book, but an interesting insight into the making of one of my favorite albums, as well as the way recording/record labels working thirty years ago.

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Genres
Music, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, Biography & Memoir, History
DDC/MDS
782.42166092Arts & recreationMusicVocal musicSecular forms of vocal musicSongsGeneral principles and musical formsTraditions of secular songs {genres}Rock songsmodified standard subdivisionsHistory, geographic treatment, biographyBiography
LCC
ML421 .F57 .C35MusicLiterature on musicLiterature on musicHistory and criticismBiography
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Members
92
Popularity
349,210
Reviews
6
Rating
½ (3.42)
Languages
English
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Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
5
ASINs
2