"Say You Love Me" is a song written by English singer-songwriter Christine McVie for

Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green (musician), Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the li ...

's 1975 self-titled album. The song peaked at No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for three weeks, and remains one of the band's most recognizable songs. Its success helped the group's eponymous 1975 album sell over eight million copies worldwide. In the UK, "Say You Love Me" was the fourth single from the ''

'' album, but the first to chart, peaking at No. 40 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in September 1976. In Canada,

Shirley Eikhard Shirley Rose Eikhard (7 November 1955 – 15 December 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter. Although moderately successful in Canada as a performer in her own right, she had her greatest Canadian and international success as a songwriter for ...

covered "Say You Love Me" and released it as a single several weeks in advance of Fleetwood Mac in early June 1976. Eikhard's version became a Canadian top 40, peaking at No. 34; Fleetwood Mac's version, released only a few weeks later, peaked at No. 29 in September.

Background

In addition to its appearance on Fleetwood Mac's self-titled 1975 album, "Say You Love Me" appears on four of the group's compilation albums:''

Greatest Hits A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

'', '' The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac,'' ''

25 Years - The Chain 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

'' and '' 50 Years – Don't Stop'' (with the single version featuring on the latter two). McVie wrote "Say You Love Me" after her fifth year in the band while she was married to the group's bassist,

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 Fleet ...

. The version used on the single release has overdubbed additional guitar work and a faster fade-out. The single mix is the one used on the compilation ''25 Years - The Chain'' (as a to 3:45 edited version, which is not available anywhere else). "Say You Love Me" has been performed on seven of Fleetwood Mac's tours since its release. On ''The Dance'' tour, John McVie sang background vocals. Previously, John McVie's only other vocal contribution was on a cover of " Cool Water", the B-side to "

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...

". During a Q&A session, he stated that his then ex-wife Christine convinced him to perform the vocal line. During the band's

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music an ...

performance of the song,

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 t ...

and

Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham (born October 3, 1949) is an American musician and record producer, best known as the lead guitarist and male lead vocalist of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fl ...

played a cocktail drum kit and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

respectively. Following Christine McVie's departure from the band, the song was performed on Fleetwood Mac's '' Unleashed Tour'' with

Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist. After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...

and

sharing lead vocals.

Reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' praised McVie's singing, noting the "easy" guitar playing, and the "good, catchy bridge." '' Cash Box'' said that "it’s an intelligent and commercial single...the music seems to flow, in mid-tempo rock rhythm; the song has a fat sound" and that "the vocals are distinctive." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...

'' said that "Christine McVie takes the lead this time and belts out a gutty vocal which is underpinned by chiming guitars and a banjo."

Personnel

* Christine McVie – lead vocals, piano *

– vocal harmonies, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, 12-string electric guitar, banjo *

– harmony vocals *

– bass guitar *

– drums, tambourine

Chart performance

Weekly charts

;Fleetwood Mac original ;Shirley Eikhard cover

Year-end charts

Cover versions

covered the song in 1976. It became a hit in Canada, spending two weeks at number 34 on the pop singles chart and number four on the Adult Contemporary chart. 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 No. 93. In the fall of 1979, singer

Stephanie Winslow Stephanie Winslow (born August 27, 1956 in Yankton, South Dakota) is an American country artist. In the late 70s and 80s, she had a series of hit singles on the ''Billboard'' country music chart. Career In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Wins ...

scored the only Top 10 country hit of her career, with her cover reaching number 10 on the country charts.

References

*''The Great Rock Discography'', 6th Edition. Martin C.Strong. Page 378.

External links

* * {{Authority control 1975 songs 1976 singles Fleetwood Mac songs Songs written by Christine McVie Shirley Eikhard songs Song recordings produced by Keith Olsen Reprise Records singles