Early version of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Go Your Own Way’ and the ‘haunted’ feeling in the studio

An early version of the hit Fleetwood Mac song Go Your Own Way had a “haunted” feeling to it according to the band.

Mick Fleetwood noted the strange feeling on the initial version of the song, which was subsequently changed into the hit listeners all know and love. Rumours, the band’s 1977 album, featured Go Your Own Way as the first of four singles. It was followed by Dreams, Don’t Stop, and You Make Loving Fun. Released on February 4, 1977, Rumours received critical acclaim and has since been noted as one of the best albums of all time. But an earlier version of their eleventh studio album’s lead single had a seemingly darker presence for the album, which Fleetwood commented on.

Speaking of the song at the time, Fleetwood said it had a “distinctly bad vibe to it, as if it were haunted, which did nothing to help matters.” Success in the years leading up to Rumours had left the group in a state of drama and chaos. Christine McVie and John McVie divorced after six months of touring and went on to distance from one another.

While the pair would work together on the music, they did not speak to one another socially. Mick Fleetwood was also suffering after finding out his wife at the time, Jenny Boyd, had been having an affair with his best friend. Work on the new album began before the McVies or Fleetwood were given the chance to understand their personal changes.

It may be the reason Fleetwood noted the early version of Go Your Own Way having a “haunted” feeling to it. He would later say everyone working on the album had made “tremendous emotional sacrifices” during production. Though the group crafted what is considered one of rock music’s greatest triumphs, the members were at odds with one another.

According to Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut of Classic Albums, the Fleetwood Mac members did not socialise outside of the recording studio, with even the engineers engaging in extensive cocaine use. Record Plant studio owner Chirs Stone suggested the band were at their “most excessive” during their time recording Rumours.

He said: “The band would come in at seven at night, have a big feast, party till one or two in the morning, and then when they were so whacked-out they couldn’t do anything, they’d start recording.”

Christine McVie would note the tense relationship between the group too, suggesting Lindsey Buckingham’s lyrics would often cause drama with Stevie Nicks. She said: “A lot of Lindsey’s lyrics sparked fights with Stevie.

“I didn’t know exactly what was happening at the time, but words were flying around, particularly Lindsey’s, about their breakup. Stevie hated when Lindsey got even a little literal. The minute Lindsey would start singing his lyrics, Stevie stormed out and the session would end.”

While Fleetwood would call Go Your Own Way a “haunted” song, McVie said early versions were simply “non-musical”. She said: “Lindsey was beating his acoustic guitar as hard as he could and screaming his lungs out. The first time I heard it, I thought, What the heck is going on? [laughs] It sounded so non-musical. I didn’t know if anything would come from it.

“As the months went on, we filled it out and it became a song. Lindsey figured out some fantastic guitar parts to lay down. In particular, he did an acoustic part on the 1, a flourish overdub, and that really drove the rhythm.”