''Mystery to Me'' is the eighth studio album by British-American rock band
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
, released on 15 October 1973. This was their last album to feature
Bob Weston
Bob Weston (born 1965) is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason AnkenyAnkeny, Jason. " Bob Weston: Overview from Allmusic.com declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over th ...
. Most of the songs were penned by guitarist/singer
Bob Welch and keyboardist/singer
Christine McVie
Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac.
McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...
, who were instrumental in steering the band toward the radio-friendly
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
that would make them successful a few years later.
''Mystery to Me'' sold moderately well, peaking at number 67 on the US
''Billboard'' 200 chart dated 22 December 1973.
Despite not being a hit single, the song "Hypnotized" became an American
FM radio
FM broadcasting is a method of radio broadcasting using frequency modulation (FM). Invented in 1933 by American engineer Edwin Armstrong, wide-band FM is used worldwide to provide high fidelity sound over broadcast radio. FM broadcasting is cap ...
staple for many years. In the wake of the
Buckingham
Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...
/
Nicks-led line-up's success a few years later, the album was certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) in 1976.
Background
''Mystery to Me'' was Fleetwood Mac's last album recorded in England, the last to have two guitarists in the line-up until ''
Behind the Mask'' and the last to be co-produced and/or engineered by
Martin Birch
Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...
. As with the preceding ''
Penguin
Penguins (order (biology), order List of Sphenisciformes by population, Sphenisciformes , family (biology), family Spheniscidae ) are a group of Water bird, aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: on ...
'', the group recorded the album at Benifold, their communal house in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, with the
Rolling Stones Mobile Studio
The Rolling Stones Mobile Studio (also known as the RSM) is a mobile recording studio inside a DAF F1600 Turbo truck, once owned by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. Numerous bands and artists have recorded music using the RSM, including ...
.
Dave Walker
David Walker (born 25 January 1945) is a British singer and guitarist who has been front-man for a number of bands; most notably The Idle Race, Savoy Brown and Humble Pie, he also served briefly with Fleetwood Mac and Black Sabbath.
Histor ...
was asked to leave during the sessions and did not feature in any capacity on the final release.
The album's name comes from a line in the chorus of "Emerald Eyes". "Hypnotized" was a minor US radio hit. "Forever" is one of only two Fleetwood Mac tracks to feature Bob Weston as a composer and one of only a small handful to feature John McVie in this capacity. "Keep On Going" was written by Bob Welch, but sung by Christine McVie because Welch decided her voice was better suited to the song than his. This was one of very few occasions when a member of Fleetwood Mac composed a song which was sung by another member.
"
For Your Love
"For Your Love" is a rock song written by Graham Gouldman and recorded by English group the Yardbirds. Released in March 1965, it was their first top ten hit in both the UK and the US. The song was a departure from the group's blues roots ...
" was originally recorded by
The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja and bassist/producer Paul Samwell ...
, and Fleetwood Mac's cover version replaced a Bob Welch song, "Good Things (Come to Those Who Wait)", on the album at a very late stage in production. Some albums came with a lyric inner sheet and outer sleeve still showing "Good Things" instead of "For Your Love". The song was also released as a single. Although Fleetwood Mac's version of "Good Things" would not see release until 2020, it was later re-recorded by Welch with different lyrics and released as "Don't Wait Too Long" on his solo album ''
Three Hearts
''Three Hearts'' is the second solo album by rock musician and former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Bob Welch.
Just like Welch's previous effort ''French Kiss'', ''Three Hearts'' was a commercial success. The album reached number 20 on the US char ...
''.
Select tunes have been included in subsequent tours. Both "Why" and "Hypnotized" were played on the band's
eponymous tour in 1975. "Just Crazy Love" was performed by Christine McVie on her solo tour in 1984. Early shows of the 2018–19
An Evening with Fleetwood Mac tour also featured "Hypnotized".
Bob Welch would rerecord five of his contributions to the album – "Emerald Eyes", "Hypnotized" and "Miles Away" for
His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond
Bob Welch: His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond was an album by former Fleetwood Mac guitarist turned solo artist Bob Welch Bob Welch may refer to:
*Bob Welch (baseball) (1956–2014), American baseball pitcher
*Bob Welch (author) (born c. 1955), Am ...
in 2003 and "The City" and "Somebody" for
its follow-up volume in 2006 although the latter only featured on the digital edition.
Tour
During the band's 1973 American tour, they appeared on the ''
Midnight Special'', but during the venture, it became clear that Bob Weston was having an affair with Mick Fleetwood's wife
Jenny
Jenny may refer to:
* Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people
* Jenny (surname), a family name
Animals
* Jenny (donkey), a female donkey
* Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of ...
. Although Fleetwood tried to carry on playing with Weston, regardless of the extramarital issues, it soon became clear that something had to give and after a gig in
Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United Sta ...
, Fleetwood told the McVies and Welch that he could no longer play with Weston in the line-up. John Courage, the band's road manager, fired Weston and put him on a plane back to the UK. With the tour cut short, the band also went back to England to break the news to their manager
Clifford Davis, who was so angry that he sent another group of musicians on the road as Fleetwood Mac, claiming that he owned the name.
Commercial performance
''Mystery to Me'' debuted at number 156 on US ''
Billboard 200
The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...
'' chart dated 17 November 1973. The album reached its peak at number 67 on the chart dated 22 December 1973, after being on the chart for six weeks.
The album ultimately spent a total of 26 weeks on the chart.
On 9 November 1976, the album was certified
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
by the
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(RIAA) for sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States.
Track listing
Personnel
Fleetwood Mac
*
Bob Welch – electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass guitar on "Keep on Going",
lead and backing vocals
*
Bob Weston
Bob Weston (born 1965) is an American musician, producer, recording engineer, and record mastering engineer. Critic Jason AnkenyAnkeny, Jason. " Bob Weston: Overview from Allmusic.com declares that "Weston's name and fingerprints are all over th ...
– electric guitar,
slide guitar
Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
, acoustic guitar, backing vocals
*
Christine McVie
Christine Anne McVie (; née Perfect; 12 July 1943 – 30 November 2022) was an English musician and songwriter. She was best known as keyboardist and one of the vocalists of the band Fleetwood Mac.
McVie was a member of several bands, nota ...
– keyboards, lead and backing vocals
*
John McVie
John Graham McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist. He is best known as a member of the rock bands John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers from 1964 to 1967 and Fleetwood Mac since 1967. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fle ...
– bass guitar
*
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells Fleetwood (born 24 June 1947) is a British musician, songwriter and occasional actor. He is best known as the drummer, co-founder, and leader of the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood, whose surname was merged with that of th ...
– drums, percussion
Additional personnel
*
Richard Hewson
Richard Anthony Hewson (born 17 November 1943) is an English producer, arranger, conductor and multi-instrumentalist, who created the studio group RAH Band.
Career
Hewson began in the late 1960s as an arranger, and has worked with musicians s ...
– string arrangements
Production
*Fleetwood Mac – production
*Martin Birch – production, engineer
*Desmond Majekodunmi – assistant engineer
*
Paul Hardiman
Paul Hardiman is a British record producer. He worked with Lloyd Cole and the Commotions (on their debut ''Rattlesnakes'') and Lloyd Cole's solo career. His other production credits include Chris de Burgh's most commercially successful albums '' ...
– assistant engineer
*
Clive Arrowsmith
Clive Arrowsmith is a London-based photographer.
Works
He has worked for many fashion publications and is one of only a few photographers, including Brian Duffy who have twice been given the commission to shoot the Pirelli Calendar. He curren ...
– photography
*Liverpool Art Student – cover design, unpaid
*Mixed at Advision Studios, London
Charts
Certification
References
{{Authority control
Fleetwood Mac albums
1973 albums
Albums produced by Martin Birch
Reprise Records albums
Albums produced by John McVie
Albums produced by Mick Fleetwood
Albums produced by Christine McVie
Albums produced by Bob Welch (musician)
Albums recorded in a home studio