Sisters of the Moon

Last updated
"Sisters of the Moon"
Sisters of the Moon cover.jpg
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Tusk
B-side "Walk a Thin Line"
ReleasedJune 1980
Recorded1978–1979
Genre Rock, hard rock
Length
  • 4:16 (Promo Version)
  • 4:36 (Album Version)
  • 4:42 (Single Version)
Label Warner Bros.
Songwriter(s) Stevie Nicks
Producer(s) Fleetwood Mac, Richard Dashut, Ken Caillat
Fleetwood Mac singles chronology
"Think About Me"
(1980)
"Sisters of the Moon"
(1980)
"Fireflies"
(1981)

"Sisters of the Moon" is a song by British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. It was written and sung by band-member Stevie Nicks and was released in the US as the fourth single from the 1979 album Tusk . The song peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100, although it was not released in the UK. The single version of "Sisters of the Moon" is included on the compilation The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac and both the 2004 and 2015 remasters of 'Tusk'.

Contents

When performed live, the song would usually go for over eight minutes in length, most notably the Mirage Tour version in 1982. [1] The song did not appear on any subsequent tour until their 2013 Tour. [2] "Sisters of the Moon" was also played on the North American and European legs of the On with the Show tour, but with an abbreviated guitar solo.

Cash Box said that the song is "mysterious and marvelous" and particularly praised Lindsey Buckingham's guitar playing, saying that the "notes cry out like a banshee in the night." [3]

Background

"Sisters of the Moon" was written a few years before the making of Tusk. Nicks said in an interview with Jim Ladd in the 1970s that the song was written about her deteriorating health while she was on tour with Fleetwood Mac. "I walked out in front of the mirror and looked at myself and I was sick...so [the lyric] intense silence as she walked in the room was me looking at myself. And the people they love her, that's after the gigs; they're a million people and you're being pulled every way." [4]

Walter Egan, who worked with both Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham on his Not Shy solo album (1978), performed the song live in 1977 and 1978. Egan recorded a demo of the song and intended to include it on Not Shy, although Buckingham convinced him to abandon the idea. Buckingham's decision stemmed from personal issues with Nicks rather than the merits of the song. [5]

Starting in July 1978, Fleetwood Mac embarked on their Penguin Country Summer Safari Tour, where they included "Sister of the Moon" in the setlist, their only representative from Tusk, which at that point was only a month in development. [6]

In the liner notes for the 2015 deluxe edition of Tusk, Nicks described the song as her "putting up an alter-ego or something, the dark lady in the corner, and there's this Gemini twin-thing. It wasn't a love song; it wasn't written about a man, or anything precious. It was just about a feeling I might have had over a couple days, going inward in my gnarly trollness". [7] However, producer Ken Caillat commented that the song "meant a great deal to Stevie" at the time and "represented an anthem of friendship for her sorority of girlfriends". Engineer Hernan Rojas recalled that Nicks dubbed her friend group of Sara Recor, Sharon Celani, and Robin Anderson as "members of the sisterhood", all of whom were bestowed golden half-moon pendants. [6]

Recording

Fleetwood Mac rehearsed the song in the summer, but returned to the song in October 1978 after the conclusion of their Penguin Country Summer Safari Tour. The band assembled for conference to determine which verses to retain from Nicks' demo, ultimately opting to record a six minute version. They also reserved the option to edit the song further if they felt it had "single potential". [6]

For the October tracking session, Mick Fleetwood was on drum kit that included a 26-inch kick drum, John McVie used a Fender Precision Bass, Buckingham played a distorted Fender Stratocaster plugged into a Marshall stack, Nicks sang her parts in a stained-glass vocal booth, and Christine McVie used a Yamaha electric piano, having recently received an endorsement deal from the company. John McVie swapped out the Fender bass for his new Alembic soon after. After several hours, the band still lacked a satisfactory take, so they took a break to perform poetry, including Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening". During this break, members of the rhythm section convened in the control room to listen to the soloed kick drum and snare drum tracks to detect any deviations in the song's tempo. After dinner, the band decided to increase the song's tempo by two beats per minute and resumed work at take 30. They recorded seven more passes, eventually settling on take 35 as the master. [6]

Nicks wanted the backing vocals to be all female, so she and Christine McVie recorded some harmonies during the original tracking sessions. These vocals, which Nicks belted in her head voice, were combined with additional vocals recorded at a later date. Over the next few months, Buckingham overdubbed two tracks of "electric volume swells" and reverbed arpeggio guitars, three tracks of "grungy" Stratocasters, and two acoustic guitars. [6]

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1980)Peak
position
US Billboard Hot 100 [8] 86

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lindsey Buckingham</span> American guitarist (born 1949)

Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American musician, record producer, and the lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to 1987 and 1997 to 2018. In addition to his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has released seven solo studio albums and three live albums. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. Buckingham was ranked 100th in Rolling Stone's 2011 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Buckingham is known for his fingerpicking guitar style.

"Gold Dust Woman" is a song from British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac's 11th studio album, Rumours (1977). The song was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B-side to the "Don't Stop" single and the "You Make Loving Fun" single. The song's title, "Gold Dust Woman", comes from Gold Dust Lane, a street in Wickenburg, Arizona where Nicks spent time as a child.

"Second Hand News" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham. The song was first performed by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac as the opening track of their 1977 album Rumours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">You Make Loving Fun</span> 1977 single by Fleetwood Mac

"You Make Loving Fun" is a song by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, written and sung by Christine McVie. It was released as the fourth and final single from the band's 1977 album Rumours. "You Make Loving Fun" peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became the album's fourth top-ten hit.

<i>Live</i> (Fleetwood Mac album) 1980 live album by Fleetwood Mac

Live is a double live album released by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac on 5 December 1980. It was the first live album from the then-current line-up of the band, and the next would be The Dance from 1997. The album was certified gold by the RIAA in November 1981. A deluxe edition of the album was released on 9 April 2021.

"The Ledge" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. It is the second song from the multi-platinum Tusk album and was composed by Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. The band rehearsed “The Ledge” several times for the Tusk Tour, although it was ultimately not included in the set.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara (Fleetwood Mac song)</span> 1979 single by Fleetwood Mac

"Sara" is a song written by singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks of the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, which was released as a single from the 1979 Tusk double LP. The vinyl album version length is 6 minutes 22 seconds, and the edited single version length is 4 minutes 37 seconds. The song peaked at No. 7 in the US for three weeks, No. 37 in the UK for two weeks, No. 11 in Australia, and No. 12 in Canada.

"I'm So Afraid" is a song written by Lindsey Buckingham for the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac for their tenth album, Fleetwood Mac. The song was intended for a second Buckingham Nicks album, but the album never came to fruition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Think About Me</span> 1980 single by Fleetwood Mac

"Think About Me" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in March 1980. The song was composed by Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie. "Think About Me" and "Not That Funny" were the first Tusk singles released in their remixed form.

"I Know I'm Not Wrong" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP Tusk. It was recorded as the final song of side three of the LP on 19 September 1979, written by Lindsey Buckingham, whose sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of punk rock and new wave were the leading creative force on it and other Tusk tracks. The song was worked on for the duration of the Tusk album and took around a year to complete.

"Oh Daddy" is a song written by Christine McVie that was first performed by the British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac as the tenth song off their 1977 album Rumours.

"World Turning" is a song written by Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham for the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac's tenth album, Fleetwood Mac.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Not That Funny</span> 1980 single by Fleetwood Mac

"Not That Funny" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1980. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was written as a response to the punk movement in the late 1970s. The song share some lyrics with "I Know I'm Not Wrong", another Buckingham penned song that appeared on the Tusk album.

"That’s All For Everyone" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was one of his nine songs that appeared on the Tusk album. The song was also included on Fleetwood Mac's 1992 box set, 25 Years – The Chain.

"Beautiful Child" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by vocalist Stevie Nicks, it was one of her five songs that appeared on the Tusk album. Despite not appearing on the accompanying Tusk Tour, the song resurfaced several years later on their 2003-2004 Say You Will Tour.

"Brown Eyes" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP Tusk. It was one of six songs from the album composed and sung by Christine McVie. The song includes uncredited playing from founding member Peter Green.

"Over & Over" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. It is the opening song from the multi-platinum Tusk album and was composed by Fleetwood Mac keyboardist Christine McVie. The song was played on the Tusk Tour and also appeared on the Live album in 1980.

"What Makes You Think You're the One" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was one of his nine songs that appeared on the Tusk album. The song was also included on the US 2002 and UK 2009 editions of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac.

"Storms" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1979. Composed and sung by vocalist Stevie Nicks, it was one of her five songs that appeared on the Tusk album. The song was also included on the US 2002 and UK 2009 editions of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac as the final track on disc one. An alternate mix with more stripped back production was included on the 2015 deluxe edition of Tusk. Nicks said that the song was about her affair with bandmate Mick Fleetwood, which she believed contributed to the dissolution of his marriage with Jenny Boyd.

"That's Enough For Me" is a song by Fleetwood Mac from the 1979 double LP Tusk, on which it is the shortest track. It was one of nine songs from the album composed and sung by Lindsey Buckingham, who also supplied all of the instrumentation. The song was released a B-side to "Sara" in December 1979.

References

  1. "VINTAGE VIDEO: 'Sisters of the Moon'". Stevie Nicks Info. Retrieved February 27, 2017.
  2. "FULL VIDEO: The Elusive "Sisters of the Moon" + More Photos - Fleetwood Mac Live in Philadelphia 4/6/2013". Fleetwood Mac News. Retrieved 27 February 2017.
  3. "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 24 May 1980. p. 21. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  4. Howe, Zoë (2015). Stevie Nicks: Visions, Dreams, & Rumours. Omnibus Press. pp. 63–64. ISBN   978-1-4683-1066-5.
  5. "Walter Egan, October 13 - 26, 1999: Section 2". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Caillat, Ken; Rojas, Hernan (2019). Get Tusked: The Inside Story of Fleetwood Mac's Most Anticipated Album. Guilford, Connecticut: Backbeat Books. pp. 42, 62–72. ISBN   978-1-4930-5983-6.
  7. Irvin, Jim (2015). Tusk (2015 Remastered Deluxe Edition) (Liner Notes). Fleetwood Mac. Los Angeles: Warner Bros. Records Inc. p. 16. Publisher Warner Bros #2HS-3350.
  8. "Fleetwood Mac Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.

Further reading

The Great Rock Discography by Martin C.Strong. Page 378. ISBN   1-84195-312-1