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"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 frequently sings the song at the end of Fleetwood Mac concerts.

"Songbird"
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Rumours
A-side	"Dreams"
Released	February 1977 (1977-02)
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
"Go Your Own Way" (1976) "Songbird" (1977) "Don't Stop" (1977)
Fleetwood Mac UK singles chronology
"Don't Stop" (1977) "Songbird" (1977) "You Make Loving Fun" (1977)

Background

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.

Personnel

• Christine McVie – piano, vocals
• Lindsey Buckingham – acoustic guitar

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[5]	Gold	400,000
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions

Rita Coolidge covered "Songbird" on her 1978 album Love Me Again (album).

Eva Cassidy version

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.

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.

References

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