Stoakes’ Song of the Week
As Halloween is drawing closer, I thought that this weeks song of the week should be slightly different. Not a scary song, not a song you would necessarily associate with Halloween, however, this song has every right to be included in the ‘Horror songs’ list as this song is about a Welsh witch.
Rhiannon, who is this songs subject, was a major feature in welsh folklore and featured in the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh folk tales. Stevie Nicks wrote the song and it was recorded for Fleetwood Mac’s self titled album in 1975 after reading ‘Triad’, a novel by Mary Bartlet Leader. The novel is about a woman named Branwen, who is possessed by another woman named Rhiannon. There is mention of the Welsh legend of Rhiannon in the novel, but the characters in the novel bear little resemblance to their original Welsh namesakes.
Live performances of Rhiannon often began with Stevie Nicks saying, “This song’s about an old Welsh witch.” In the late 70’s, live performances took on a theatrical intensity not present on the radio single. The song would build and build to a climax in which Stevie’s vocals were so impassioned that, as drummer and band co-founder Mick Fleetwood recalled, “her Rhiannon in those days was like an exorcism”
Surprisingly “Rhiannon” was only voted #488 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. It peaked at #46 in the UK singles chart for three weeks after re-release in February 1978. Quite a shock, as it is such a classic song!
Fleetwood Mac weren’t enjoying popularity in the UK at the time and this was reflected in the album sales too, the album reached Gold, selling 100,000 units in the UK. This is rather low compared to the 7 x Platinum it reached in the US, selling 7 million copies.
The album was the first to feature Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham and apparently, in the studio during the recording process, bassist John McVie took offence to Buckingham’s assertive nature, particularly when telling other members what he wanted them to play. John McVie informed Lindsey Buckingham that this would not be tolerated. “The band you’re in is Fleetwood Mac. I’m the Mac. And I play the bass”
Aren’t we glad that the band learnt to get along…. Well, sort of, they have gone through numerous relationship failures, affairs and constant arguments, but it has created some of the best music on the planet with seven further albums released and a whole host of awards under their belt. Fleetwood Mac, thankyou!
