'Songbird' | ||||
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Single by Fleetwood Mac | ||||
from the album Rumours | ||||
A-side | 'Dreams' | |||
Released | February 1977 | |||
Recorded | March 3–4, 1976 | |||
Studio | Zellerbach Auditorium, Berkeley, California | |||
Genre | Soft rock | |||
Length | 3:20 | |||
Label | Warner Bros. | |||
Songwriter(s) | Christine McVie | |||
Producer(s) | Fleetwood Mac, Ken Caillat, Richard Dashut | |||
Fleetwood Mac US singles chronology | ||||
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Fleetwood Mac UK singles chronology | ||||
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Rumours track listing | ||||
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The inspiring story of Joe Sacco and his part in the greatest battles of World War II, from Omaha Beach to the liberation of the concentration camp at Dachau, Germany. In his riveting debut, Where the Birds Never Sing, Jack Sacco recounts the realistic, harrowing, at times horrifying,. And the songbirds are singing, Like they know the score, And I love you, I love you, I love you, Like never before. You'll smile,and you make me feel good inside, It's a feeling,and it's so hard to hide, And I wish you all the love in the world, But most of all, I wish it from myself. And the songbirds keep singing.
'Songbird' is a song by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. The song first appeared on the band's 1977 album Rumours and was released as the B-side of the single 'Dreams'. It is one of four songs written solely by Christine McVie on the album. McVie would frequently sing the song at concerts.
The song came to Christine McVie as the band was finishing up a recording session at the Sausalito Record Plant.[1] McVie wrote the song in half an hour around midnight, but didn't have anyone around to record it. To ensure she did not forget the chord structure and melody, she remained awake the entire night.[2]
Producer Ken Caillat loved the track and suggested she record it alone in a concert style approach. Their first venue of choice, the Berkeley Community Theatre, was unavailable, so the band instead booked the Zellerbach Auditorium for March 3, 1976.[3] To create the appropriate ambience, Caillat ordered a bouquet of flowers to place on McVie's piano. He then requested three spotlights to illuminate the flowers from above. When McVie arrived at the auditorium, the house lights were dimmed so her attention was immediately brought to the illuminated flowers on the piano.[4]
For the recording session, 15 microphones were placed around the auditorium to capture the performance.[3] The recording session went into the next morning due to the difficulty of recording the song live in one take.[4] Lindsey Buckingham strummed an acoustic guitar offstage to keep the tempo.
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI)[5] | Silver | 200,000 |
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Eva Cassidy's version was released in 1998 on her posthumous compilation album of the same name Songbird. Despite being released two years after her death from melanoma, the album eventually reached number 1 in the UK in 2001.[6] 'Songbird' finally charted in the UK in September 2009 at number 56, after a contestant (Shanna Goodhead) performed the song on The X Factor.
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI)[7] | Silver | 200,000 |
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
Willie Nelson covered 'Songbird' on his own 2006 album Songbird, making it the second album to be named after the song. The album peaked at number 87 on the Billboard 200.
Summertime withers as the sun descends |
First known performance: |
Hedvig Aspenberg | performed live, 2016, Sweden | 2016 | YouTube•Hedvig Aspenberg•Instagram |
Jon Boden and the Sacconi Quartet | performed live, 2013-07-30, Old Vic, Bristol, England | 2013 | ents24.com •YouTube•Wikipedia |
Bonnie Brett | The Elvis Costello Songbook | 2003 |
Alan Broadbent | Just One Of Those Things | 2013 | YouTube•Discogs•Wikipedia |
Felipe Cadenasso and Cuarteto Filarmónico | performed live, 2012, Santiago, Chile | 2012 | info•Programme•Felipe Cadenasso |
Fear No Music | performed live 2011-04-12, Atlantic Theatre, Portland, Oregon | 2011 | Fearnomusic.org |
Flinders Quartet and Vince Jones | performed live, 2012, Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney | 2012 | Programme Notes |
Diana Gonnissen and I Musici Brucellensis | performed live, 2011, Brussels and Etterbeek, Belgium | 2011 | imusicibrucellensis.com•dianagonnissen.be |
Katarzyna Groniec | Listy Julii | 2009 | KatarzynaGroniec.pl |
Tini Kainrath and StringFizz | The Juliet Letters | 2005 | Tini Kainrath•Stringfizz |
Ines Agnes Krautwurst, Stephan König | performed live, 2009, Leipzig, Germany | 2009 | YouTube•info |
Kerry-Anne Kutz | The Juliet Letters | 2006 | Allmusic•Amazon |
Vittorio Matteucci and Quartetto Paul Klee | performed live, 2009, San Gaetano, Padova, Italy | 2009 | vittoriomatteucci.comi•quartettopaulklee.it |
Michelle Murray and David Murray | The Juliet Letters | 2006 | Allmusic•Amazon |
Steve Nieve | Costello: A Collection Of Unfaithful Music | 2015 | Mojo4music.com•Discogs |
Steve Nieve | instrumental, performed live, 2020-03-19, The Daily Improvisation, France | 2020 | Facebook - 2:42 |
Tom Norris | Tom Norris Sings The Juliet Letters | 2011 | Wikipedia•soundcloud.com |
Anne Sofie von Otter & Brooklyn Rider | So Many Things - bonus track | 2016 | YouTube•AllMusic•Amazon.uk |
Elena Rivera y el Cuarteto LatinoAmericano | The Juliet Letters | 2019 | press release•YouTube |
Drew Sarich and The Dead Poet Quartet | performed live, 2010-12-12, Porgy and Bess, Vienna, Austria | 2010 | YouTube•Wikipedia |
Tomer Sharon & Israel Contemp. String Quartet | performed live, 2007, Jewish Community Centre, Vancouver, Canada | 2007 | website•YouTube•imdb.com |
Sol String Quartet and Paul Villaluz | performed live, 2008-12-06, College of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas | 2008 | YouTube•lasvegassun.com |
Spectrum Ensemble and Bavat Marom | performed live, 2013 | 2013 | bavatmarom.com•YouTube |
Norma Waterson | Norma Waterson | 1996 | Allmusic•Amazon |
Norma Waterson | Bespoke Songs, Lost Dogs, Detours & Rendezvous | 1998 | Allmusic•Amazon |