STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Fifty years ago, Fleetwood Mac welcomed two new members - Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GO YOUR OWN WAY")
FLEETWOOD MAC: (Singing) You can go your own way. Go your own way.
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
They're on-again, off-again relationship captivated fans and sparked hit songs. But before they joined the band in 1974, early Fleetwood Mac was hard to pin down.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BLACK MAGIC WOMAN")
FLEETWOOD MAC: (Singing) Got a black magic woman. Got a black magic woman.
RICHIE UNTERBERGER: They were quite popular in England and Europe, and they were starting to gain popularity in the United States as a really good blues rock band.
INSKEEP: Blues rock. Richie Unterberger has written more than a dozen books on rock music, including "Fleetwood Mac: The Complete Illustrated History."
UNTERBERGER: Their most famous song easily is "Black Magic Woman," which Santana made into a big hit, but they did the original version.
FADEL: The group had gone through changes to its lineup and its style. Meanwhile, Buckingham and Nicks had put out an album as a duo, which didn't sell very well.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DON'T LET ME DOWN AGAIN")
BUCKINGHAM NICKS: (Singing) Oh, don't you let me down again.
INSKEEP: Here's what happened next - a producer played that record for Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac. The band had a record to make, but the band's guitarist, singer, had just quit. So the call came on New Year's Eve. Fleetwood wanted Lindsey Buckingham.
UNTERBERGER: And Lindsey Buckingham said, if I'm going to join the group, you have to also take Stevie Nicks with whom he was in a romantic relationship still at that time. All of a sudden, they go from having one really good singer-songwriter in the group to three.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "DREAMS")
FLEETWOOD MAC: (Singing) Oh, thunder only happens when it's raining. Players only love you when they're playing.
FADEL: I love this song. Those harmonies and their new pop rock sound unlocked the American market. And Richie Unterberger says there was that chemistry.
UNTERBERGER: What I think was unexpected was that rather quickly, the relationship unraveled. But that didn't hurt the band's music or commercial prospects or even, I think, image, because people almost got interested in the soap opera aspect of it. The ups and downs of these relationships, which were being played out in public.
INSKEEP: Which helps many listeners even today connect with "Rumours," which is one of the best-selling albums of all time.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SILVER SPRINGS")
FLEETWOOD MAC: (Singing) Time cast a spell on you. You won't forget me. I know I could've loved you, but you would not let me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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