B-side "Monday Morning" Recorded February 1975 | Format Vinyl record Genre Rock, soft rock, pop | |
Released June 1976 (US)
September 1976 (UK) Length 4:11 (album version)
4:01 (single version) | ||
"Say You Love Me" is a song written by singer Christine McVie, for Fleetwood Mac's 1975 self titled album. The song peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, and remains one of their best known songs. Its success helped the group's eponymous 1975 album to sell over 8 million copies worldwide.
Contents
In the UK, "Say You Love Me" was the fourth single from the Fleetwood Mac album, but the first to chart, where it peaked at number 40 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1976. In Canada, Shirley Eikhard covered "Say You Love Me" and released it as a single several weeks in advance of Fleetwood Mac in early June 1976. Eikhard took the song into the Canadian top 40, peaking at number 34; Fleetwood Mac's version, released only a few weeks later, peaked at 29 in September.
Background
In addition to its appearance on Fleetwood Mac's self-titled 1975 album, "Say You Love Me" appears on three other compilation albums by Fleetwood Mac: Greatest Hits, The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac, and 25 Years - The Chain. During Christine McVie's departure, the song was performed on Fleetwood Mac's Unleashed Tour with Nicks and Buckingham sharing lead vocals.
McVie wrote "Say You Love Me" after her fifth year in the band. During the writing of this song, she was married to John McVie, bassist of Fleetwood Mac. The version used on the single release differs from the album version in that Lindsey Buckingham remixed the LP version and overdubbed additional guitar work. The single mix is the one used on the compilation 25 Years - The Chain.
"Say You Love Me" has been performed on seven of Fleetwood Mac's tours since its release. In a rare occurrence, John McVie sang background vocals for the song during The Dance tour. In a Q&A session, he said that his ex-wife, Christine, convinced him to do it.
Personnel
Cover versions
In the late half of the 1970s, the song proved to be a popular song to cover in country music. Singer Lynda K. Lance spent five weeks in the fall of 1976 on the American country singles chart with her version, peaking at #93. In the fall of 1979, singer Stephanie Winslow scored the only Top 10 country hit of her career, with her cover reaching number 10 on the country charts.