Fleetwood Mac are releasing a deluxe edition of their 1977 juggernaut, Rumours, to coincide with the band’s ongoing tour.
The 4-CD set, coming October 25 via Rhino, replicates the 2013 deluxe edition that included numerous previously unreleased takes from the album’s recording sessions and live performances from the subsequent world tour.
In recent years, the band have been methodically issuing deluxe editions of much of their 1970s and 1980s output. The new Rumours release raises eyebrows since the 2013 deluxe edition of the album is still in print. (The new edition omits the latter’s DVD and vinyl release of the studio LP.)
The 2019 deluxe edition of Rumours includes the original album and the b-side “Silver Springs,” a dozen live recordings from the group’s 1977 world tour, an entire disc filled with takes from the album’s recording sessions, and an additional disc of outtakes.
The album, Fleetwood Mac’s 11th studio effort, was originally released on February 4, 1977. With the band having switched from their longtime home of Reprise Records to the parent company Warner Bros., Rumours, co-produced by Fleetwood Mac with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut, found immediate success. Record buyers related to the intimate songs, several of which were inspired by romantic entanglements and disentanglements (John McVie and Christine McVie had divorced while Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were having their own spats).
The album yielded four Top 10 singles in the U.S., though none fared particularly well in the U.K.: “Go Your Own Way” (#10 in the U.S.; #38 in the U.K.), “Dreams” (#1, #24), “Don’t Stop” (#3, #32) and “You Make Loving Fun” (#9, #45).
The new deluxe edition includes a disc of live recordings that’s identical to the 2013 release, namely 12 performances in Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Nashville and Columbia, S.C. from the band’s 1977 Rumours tour. The songs include “The Chain,” “Gold Dust Woman,” “Don’t Stop” and “Go Your Own Way,” as well as “World Turning” and “Rhiannon,” two tracks from the group’s 1975 self-titled release.
Rumours went on to earn the Grammy Award for Album of the Year and has sold a reported 40 million copies worldwide.