Don't Let Me Down Again

Last updated
"Don't Let Me Down Again"
Single by Buckingham Nicks
from the album Buckingham Nicks
B-side Races Are Run (US)
"Crystal" (UK)
ReleasedNovember 1973
Recorded1973
Length3:52 (album version)
3:11 (single edit)
Label Polydor
Songwriter(s) Lindsey Buckingham
Producer(s) Keith Olsen
Buckingham Nicks singles chronology
"Don't Let Me Down Again"
(1973)		"Crying in the Night"
(1974)

"Don't Let Me Down Again" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham. It was originally included on the 1973 album Buckingham Nicks , an album that Buckingham recorded with his erstwhile romantic partner Stevie Nicks. The song was issued as the album's first single and failed to break the top 100 in any market. After Buckingham and Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, the band included the song in some of their setlists. The single has been reissued on several occasions, including in 2025 as a digital download.

Contents

Release and critical reception

In the United States, "Don't Let Me Down Again" was released as a single on November 2, 1973, with "Races Are Run" as the B-side. [1] Polydor, who distributed the single, took out an ad in Record World promoting the song as "a beautiful single by two beautiful people". [2] Billboard reviewed the single in the November 24, 1973, edition of the magazine and wrote that the "energized vocals and guitar runs push this hip swaying tune. There's an infectious quality to the total production." [3] That same week, Cashbox also reviewed the single, calling it a "steady, driving rocker". They also anticipated that "chart action is certain to follow" in part due the duo's vocal harmonies, which they believed would make the song "attractive to most pop markets" and result in "a good deal of programming." [4]

The single received some airplay in certain municipalities, including Cleveland, where Kid Leo played the song on WMMS. [2] For the January 5, 1974 edition of Record World, "Don't Let Me Down" charted at number 113. [5] The song did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100 or any other publication. [2] "Don't Let Me Down Again" was not released in the UK until April 1974, where it was accompanied with "Crystal" as the B-side. Additional reissues of the single were released in 1976 and 1977 with little promotion. [1]

On Monday August 11, 2025, a video of a radio playing "Don't Let Me Down Again" was posted on the social media accounts of Buckingham and Nicks with a caption reading "Wednesday". [6] Two days later, "Don't Let Me Down Again" was released as a digital single and made available on streaming services. [7] Reviewing the re-release of Buckingham Nicks, Hillel Italie of the Associated Press said that the song's "opening gallop and heavy bass" was reminiscent of Buckingham's song "Second Hand News". [8] Piers Martin of Uncut highlighted the song's rhythm section that underpinned Buckingham's "ecstatic riffing". [9]

Live performances

When Buckingham Nicks embarked on a tour to promote their album, "Don't Let Me Down Again" was one of the songs included in the band's setlist. [2] Once Buckingham and Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, the band began to incorporate the song as an encore for their 1975–1976 Fleetwood Mac Tour. [10] A live recording from one of the band's performances in Passaic was included on their 1980 Live album. [11] After Buckingham's departure from Fleetwood Mac in 1987, the band played the song on their Shake the Cage Tour in promotion of the Tango in the Night album. [12] "Don't Let Me Down Again" was performed once in Madison, Wisconsin, for the band's 2003–04 Say You Will Tour. In one of the tour reports published by Lindsey Buckingham's niece, Cory, she mentioned that the band struggled to find a suitable location in the setlist for the song and decided to permanently retire it in favor of "Goodbye Baby". [13]

Covers

In 1977, "Don't Let Me Down Again" was covered by the Canadian singer-songwriter Shirley Eikhard on her Horizons album under the abbreviated title "Don't Let Me Down". [14] [15] The song was released as a single and peaked at number 76 on the RPM Canadian singles chart. [16]

Chart performance

Chart (1977)Peak
position
Canada RPM Top Singles [16] 76
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary [17] 19

References

  1. 1 2 Carr, Roy; Clarke, Steve (1978). Fleetwood Mac: Rumours n' Fax . Harmony Books. pp. 82–84. ISBN   0-517-53364-2.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Davis, Steven (2017). Gold Dust Woman: The Biography of Stevie Nicks. St. Martin's Publishing Group. pp. 44–45. ISBN   978-1-250-03290-4.
  3. ↑ "Billboard's Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard . November 24, 1973. p. 54. Retrieved August 3, 2025– via World Radio History.
  4. ↑ "Cashbox/Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cashbox . November 24, 1973. p. 31. Retrieved August 3, 2025– via World Radio History.
  5. ↑ "The Singles Chart: 101–150" (PDF). Record World . January 5, 1974. p. 18. Retrieved August 3, 2025– via World Radio History.
  6. ↑ "Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham tease fans with something coming Wednesday". Everett Post. August 11, 2025. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  7. ↑ Holmes, Ben (August 13, 2025). "Back from the Vault: A Stevie Nicks & Lindsey Buckingham Classic Returns After 50 Years-LISTEN HERE". CKBW. Retrieved August 13, 2025.
  8. ↑ Italie, Hillel (17 September 2025). "Music Review: 'Buckingham Nicks' is an engaging blueprint for the classics to come". Associated Press . Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  9. ↑ Martin, Piers (9 September 2025). "Buckingham Nicks reviewed: mythologised 1973 folk-rock debut finally gets reissued". Uncut . Retrieved 20 September 2025.
  10. ↑ Grissim, John (November 1976). "Big Mac (Crawdaddy)". In Egan, Sean (ed.). Fleetwood Mac on Fleetwood Mac: Interviews and Encounters. Chicago Review Press (published 2016). pp. 24–25. ISBN   978-161373-234-2.
  11. ↑ Evans, Mike (2011). Fleetwood Mac: The Definitive History. New York: Sterling. p. 179. ISBN   978-1-4027-8630-3.
  12. ↑ Oermann, Robert K. (November 15, 1987). "Restyled Fleetwood Mac tours with greatest-hits retrospective". The Tennessean . p. 180. Retrieved August 3, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ "Fan Club 2003 Exclusives: Say You Will Tour Reports". Fleetwood Mac UK. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
  14. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. p. 237. ISBN   978-0-19-531373-4 – via Internet Archive.
  15. ↑ Horizons (Liner Notes). Shirley Eikhard. Canada: Attic. 1977. LAT 1032.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. 1 2 "RPM Top Singles". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. October 7, 1976. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  17. ↑ "RPM Adult Oriented Playlist". November 26, 1976. Retrieved August 3, 2025.
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