Future Games (song)

Last updated
"Future Games"
Song by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Future Games
Recorded1971
Length8:18
Label Reprise
Songwriter(s) Bob Welch
Producer(s) Fleetwood Mac

"Future Games" is a song by British rock group Fleetwood Mac, written by Bob Welch, which first appeared as the title track on the band's 1971 album Future Games . He later recorded a rendition of the song for his solo album The Other One . In 2000, the song was featured in the movie Almost Famous . MGMT covered "Future Games" for the 2012 Fleetwood Mac tribute album, Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac .

Contents

Background

Welch wrote the song on a two-track tape recorder while in Paris after his band Head West had split and before his tenure with Fleetwood Mac. [1] [2] He was sharing an apartment at the time with a romantic couple when he received a phone call from Judy Wong to join Fleetwood Mac and replace Jeremy Spencer. [2] Welch said that the lyrics for "Future Games" reflected his "pretty insecure mood" he was in at the time. [3]

When I wrote "Future Games", the Vietnam War was still quite strong, they had the riots at the Democratic Convention two years before, Nixon was at the White House, they were giving people eighty-year sentences in Texas for possession of one marijuana joint, and the FBI was wiretapping your grandmother.

— Bob Welch [4]

"Future Games" was the first song that Welch recorded with Fleetwood Mac. [1] The guitar playing on the song was split between Welch and Danny Kirwan, with Welch handling the primary guitar licks and Kirwan contributing some guitar fills between certain phrases. [3] The final song possesses a run-time exceeding eight minutes. [4] Welch said that he was "thrilled" when "Future Games" was designated as the title of the album. [1] The song also received some airplay on FM radio stations. [5] [6]

Fleetwood Mac played "Future Games" live on a few occasions during Welch's time with the band, including their accompanying tour for Future Games and their Live at the Record Plant performance on 15 December 1974 for a live-broadcast on KSAN-FM filmed in Sausalito, California. [7] [8] In January 2025, Rhino Records released a limited vinyl 2-disc set of the band's Live at the Record Plant broadcast, which included a recording of "Future Games". [9] Once Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks replaced Welch, the song was dropped from Fleetwood Mac's setlists. [4]

Welch cited his solo version of "Future Games", released on The Other One as one of two songs along with "Hypnotized" that had a significant emotional impact on him and said that this was despite "neither of those [being] love songs." [10]

Critical reception and legacy

Billboard highlighted the song's "excellent harmonies" in its review for the album. [11] In their book, Fleetwood Mac: Rumours n' Fax, Roy Carr and Steve Clarke said that the song demonstrated Fleetwood Mac's ability to "build climax upon climax" with their "disciplined bouts of jamming." [12] Writing for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann said that the song had Welch's "characteristic haunting melodies, and with pruning and better editing, it could have been a hit." [13] The Guardian and Paste ranked the song number 24 and number 23 respectively on their lists of the 30 greatest Fleetwood Mac songs. [14] [15]

Cameron Crowe selected "Future Games" to appear in his semi-autobiographical movie Almost Famous during a scene where the lead guitarist of a fictional band gives a monologue to high-schoolers at a party. [4] Alexis Petridis lamented that "Future Games" did not experience the same surge in popularity as Elton John 's song "Tiny Dancer", which was also featured in the film. He said that lack of commercial success for "Future Games" following its inclusion on Almost Famous was a "pity" and that "its stoned, shimmering, melancholy fabulousness is ripe for rediscovery." [16] The band MGMT recorded a nine minute cover of "Future Games" on the 2012 tribute album, Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac . [17]

Personnel

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Bob Welch Q&A Session, November 1999 Part 5". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  2. 1 2 His Fleetwood Mac Years & Beyond (Liner Notes). Bob Welch. UK: AcadiaI. 2008.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  3. 1 2 "Bob Welch Q&A Session, November 1999 Part 6". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Blake, Mark (2024). The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac. New York: Pegasus Books. pp. 118–119. ISBN   978-1-63936-732-0.
  5. ↑ "FM Action" (PDF). Billboard . 29 January 1972. p. 78. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  6. ↑ Fleetwood, Mick; Davis, Stephen (1990). Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures with Fleetwood Mac. New York: William Morrow and Company. p. 101. ISBN   0-688-06647-X.
  7. ↑ Fleetwood Mac 1972 KISW Paramount Seattle. 10 March 1972. Retrieved 25 March 2025– via Internet Archive.
  8. ↑ Giacona, Katiana (2023). Record Plant, Sausalito Studios. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 69. ISBN   978-1-4671-0946-8.
  9. ↑ Katkins, Jamie (2 January 2025). "Fleetwood Mac, Yes, Rush Among New Series Of Limited Edition Vinyl Releases". Dig!. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  10. ↑ "Bob Welch Q&A Session, November 1999 Part 3". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 26 October 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  11. ↑ "Billboard Album Reviews". Billboard . 23 October 1971. p. 78. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  12. ↑ Carr, Roy; Clarke, Steve (1978). Fleetwood Mac: Rumours n' Fax . Harmony Books. p. 68. ISBN   0-517-53364-2.
  13. ↑ Ruhlmann, William. "Future Games - Fleetwood Mac". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  14. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (19 May 2022). "Fleetwood Mac's 30 greatest songs – ranked!". The Guardian . Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  15. ↑ Mitchell, Matt (7 August 2023). "The 30 Greatest Fleetwood Mac Songs". Paste . Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  16. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (25 July 2024). "Hard rock, ambient weirdness and UFOs: exploring the greatness of early 70s Fleetwood Mac". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 25 March 2025.
  17. ↑ Thompson, Stephen (29 July 2012). "First Listen: 'Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute To Fleetwood Mac'". NPR. Retrieved 25 March 2025.
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