NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 They're not going their own way anymore. After much speculation, Fleetwood Mac鈥檚 Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham announced Wednesday the reissue of 鈥淏uckingham Nicks,鈥 more than 50 years after the release of their only full-length album as a duo.
Originally released in 1973, 鈥淏uckingham Nicks鈥 is not currently available on streaming platforms. According to Discogs, the album was last issued on vinyl on the Polydor label in the U.S. in 1981. The remastered version arrives Sept. 19 via Rhino Records' high-fidelity series and was sourced from the original analog master tapes. The album will also receive a CD and digital release for the first time, and the opening track, 鈥淐rying in the Night,鈥 was available to stream Wednesday.
Buckingham and Nicks were in their early to mid-20s during the making of their album. 鈥淚t was a very natural thing, from the beginning,鈥 Nicks says in the re-release's liner notes, written by music journalist David Fricke.
Despite their relative inexperience, 鈥渋t stands up in a way you would hope it would, by these two kids who were pretty young to be doing that work,鈥 Buckingham says, according to the announcement release.
The reissue announcement was foreshadowed by cryptic Instagram posts last week. Both Nicks and Buckingham shared handwritten lyrics to their official social media accounts.
鈥淎nd if you go forward鈥︹ Nicks posted, a line from their song 鈥淔rozen Love,鈥 which appears on 鈥淏uckingham Nicks.鈥
鈥淚鈥檒l meet you there,鈥 Buckingham shared, completing the lyric.
In 2011, Buckingham that he and Nicks had 鈥渆very intention of putting that album back out and possibly even doing something along with it, but I can鈥檛 put any specifics on that.鈥 In 2013, on the album鈥檚 40th anniversary, Fleetwood Mac released 鈥淓xtended Play,鈥 their first new studio material since 2003鈥檚 鈥淪ay You Will.鈥 The four-track collection featured a song titled 鈥淲ithout You,鈥 which had been originally slated for 鈥淏uckingham Nicks.鈥
The reissued version of 鈥淏uckingham Nicks鈥 features the same album cover as the original, despite Nicks' public dissatisfaction with the photograph, telling classic rock magazine MOJO that she 鈥渇elt like a rat in a trap鈥 during the shoot.
鈥淚鈥檓 actually quite prudish. So when they suggested they shoot Lindsey and I nude I could not have been more terrified if you鈥檇 asked me to jump off a speeding train,鈥 Nicks in 2013. 鈥淟indsey was like, 鈥極h, come on 鈥 this is art. Don鈥檛 be a child!鈥 I thought, 鈥榃ho are you? Don鈥檛 you know me?鈥欌
鈥淏uckingham Nicks鈥 was released one year before they joined Fleetwood Mac, and was met with little commercial success. But it did attract the attention of Mick Fleetwood, who invited Buckingham to join Fleetwood Mac. Buckingham in turn insisted Nicks come, too. The two, then a couple, voices and songwriters of the group for the four decades that followed.
The pair鈥檚 tumultuous relationship appeared across the band鈥檚 discography: She wrote 鈥淒reams鈥 about him. He wrote 鈥淕o Your Own Way鈥 about her. Infamously, they broke up while writing the 1977 hit album 鈥淩umours.鈥 Footage of Nicks staring down Buckingham 20 years later during a performance of 鈥淪ilver Springs鈥 routinely goes viral (鈥淵ou'll never get away from the sound of the woman that loves you,鈥 Nicks and Buckingham sing in unison, at one point, holding each other's gaze.)
Buckingham left the band in 1987, returning in 1996. The last time the band reunited, however, for a 2018-2019 tour, the rest of the members and as a result, He claimed he was told five days after the group appeared at Radio City Music Hall that the band would tour without him. He says he would have been paid at least $12 million for his share of the proceeds. Later that year, Buckingham said they had settled the lawsuit.
Both Buckingham and Nicks have also released reams of solo music. Some fans had theorized that Nicks and Buckingham were teasing a Fleetwood Mac reunion, which would have been the first since the in 2022.
Last year, MOJO that without McVie, 鈥渢here is no chance of putting Fleetwood Mac back together in any way.鈥
___
This story has been updated to correct reporting that 鈥淏uckingham Nicks鈥 has never been reissued. The album was last issued on vinyl on the Polydor label in the U.S. in 1981.