"Over My Head" is a soft rock song performed by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. The song was written by group keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie. "Over My Head" was the band's first single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 since "Oh Well", ending a six-year dry spell on the American charts.
Christine McVie composed the song using a portable Hohner electric piano in a small apartment in Malibu, California, where she and then-husband John McVie (Fleetwood Mac's bassist) resided after completing a concert tour to promote Heroes Are Hard to Find, the previous album.[2]
The lyrics were inspired by her relationship with bandmate Lindsey Buckingham. “I think that was based on a sort of fantasy about Lindsey, really. I think that was a sort of an ode to the gorgeous Lindsey at the time.”[3] The original rhythm track consisted of just vocals, drums and a Dobro. Other instruments were added later to embellish the song, including McVie's Vox Continental organ.[4] Buckingham used open D tuning on the studio version and also kept a Fender Stratocaster with the same tuning onstage for early live performances.[5]
In the U.S., Reprise Records selected "Over My Head" as the lead single from the 1975 LP Fleetwood Mac, a decision that surprised the band, who believed that the song was the "least likely track on Fleetwood Mac to be released as a single."[4] Nevertheless, the song reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1976. The single's success helped the group's eponymous 1975 album sell 8 million units.[6]
The 45 RPM single version of the song released for radio airplay was a remixed, edited version that differed from the version on the Fleetwood Mac album. The single version is distinguished by a cold start (rather than the fade-in intro on the LP version), louder guitar strums in the choruses, and less ensemble vocal work overall. Additionally, the single version fades during its three-bar instrumental outro[7] whereas the album version tape-loops it to six bars upon fade-out. Further, while the album version has a relatively wide stereo image, the single version is mixed very narrowly (essentially mono) with stereo reverberation effects on some bongo passages and select guitar flourishes. The aforementioned remixed/edited version is the one included on the compilation album The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac. The single version is also available as a bonus track on the 2004 remastered CD release of the album Fleetwood Mac.
Critical reception
Cash Box wrote that "versatility is again demonstrated with a boiling rhythm subtly driving a soft McCartney-like vocal, shaded by organ and sweet, answering harmony."[8]Record World said the song has a "clean, confident folk-rock sound" and that "Christine McVie takes the lead here over a network of jangly acoustic guitars, singing in a rich, deep voice."[9] In a 1975 review, Billboard described McVie's vocal performance as "a completely distinctive voice, with a sexy huskiness that is unique in pop today."[10]
Personnel
Christine McVie – Vox Continental organ, electric piano, lead vocals
^Hung, Steffen. "Fleetwood Mac - Over My Head". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
^Martin E. Adelson. . Fleetwoodmac.net. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
^"BBC Four - Fleetwood Mac's Songbird - Christine McVie". BBC.
^ ab. www.keyboardmag.com. Archived from the original on 2015-07-10. Retrieved 2019-06-11.
^. The Blue Letter Archives. 1977-01-01. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
^. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 17, 2007. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
^Everett, Walter (May 2010). "'If you're gonna have a hit': intratextual mixes and edits of pop recordings". Popular Music. 29 (2): 239. doi:10.1017/S026114301000005X. JSTOR 40926920. S2CID 162240986.
^"CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. October 11, 1975. p. 27. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
^"Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. October 11, 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
^"Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. October 11, 1975. p. 78. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
over, head, fleetwood, song, over, head, soft, rock, song, performed, british, american, rock, band, fleetwood, song, written, group, keyboardist, vocalist, christine, mcvie, over, head, band, first, single, reach, billboard, since, well, ending, year, spell, . Over My Head is a soft rock song performed by British American rock band Fleetwood Mac The song was written by group keyboardist and vocalist Christine McVie Over My Head was the band s first single to reach the Billboard Hot 100 since Oh Well ending a six year dry spell on the American charts Over My Head Single by Fleetwood Macfrom the album Fleetwood MacB side I m So Afraid ReleasedSeptember 1975 US 27 February 1976 UK 1 RecordedFebruary 1975GenreSoft rockLength3 38 Album Version 3 09 Single Version LabelRepriseSongwriter s Christine McVieProducer s Fleetwood MacKeith OlsenFleetwood Mac singles chronology Warm Ways 1975 Over My Head 1975 Rhiannon 1976 Contents 1 Background 2 Critical reception 3 Personnel 4 Chart performance 4 1 Weekly charts 4 2 Year end charts 5 References 6 Bibliography 7 External linksBackground EditChristine McVie composed the song using a portable Hohner electric piano in a small apartment in Malibu California where she and then husband John McVie Fleetwood Mac s bassist resided after completing a concert tour to promote Heroes Are Hard to Find the previous album 2 The lyrics were inspired by her relationship with bandmate Lindsey Buckingham I think that was based on a sort of fantasy about Lindsey really I think that was a sort of an ode to the gorgeous Lindsey at the time 3 The original rhythm track consisted of just vocals drums and a Dobro Other instruments were added later to embellish the song including McVie s Vox Continental organ 4 Buckingham used open D tuning on the studio version and also kept a Fender Stratocaster with the same tuning onstage for early live performances 5 In the U S Reprise Records selected Over My Head as the lead single from the 1975 LP Fleetwood Mac a decision that surprised the band who believed that the song was the least likely track on Fleetwood Mac to be released as a single 4 Nevertheless the song reached No 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1976 The single s success helped the group s eponymous 1975 album sell 8 million units 6 The 45 RPM single version of the song released for radio airplay was a remixed edited version that differed from the version on the Fleetwood Mac album The single version is distinguished by a cold start rather than the fade in intro on the LP version louder guitar strums in the choruses and less ensemble vocal work overall Additionally the single version fades during its three bar instrumental outro 7 whereas the album version tape loops it to six bars upon fade out Further while the album version has a relatively wide stereo image the single version is mixed very narrowly essentially mono with stereo reverberation effects on some bongo passages and select guitar flourishes The aforementioned remixed edited version is the one included on the compilation album The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac The single version is also available as a bonus track on the 2004 remastered CD release of the album Fleetwood Mac Critical reception EditCash Box wrote that versatility is again demonstrated with a boiling rhythm subtly driving a soft McCartney like vocal shaded by organ and sweet answering harmony 8 Record World said the song has a clean confident folk rock sound and that Christine McVie takes the lead here over a network of jangly acoustic guitars singing in a rich deep voice 9 In a 1975 review Billboard described McVie s vocal performance as a completely distinctive voice with a sexy huskiness that is unique in pop today 10 Personnel EditChristine McVie Vox Continental organ electric piano lead vocals Lindsey Buckingham electric and acoustic guitars backing vocals Stevie Nicks backing vocals John McVie bass guitar Mick Fleetwood drums bongos shakerChart performance EditWeekly charts Edit Chart 1975 76 PeakpositionCanadian RPM Top Singles 9Canada RPM Adult Contemporary 11 30U S Billboard Hot 100 20U S Billboard Adult Contemporary 32U S Cash Box Top 100 12 18 Year end charts Edit Chart 1976 RankCanada 13 103U S Joel Whitburn s Pop Annual 14 139References Edit Hung Steffen Fleetwood Mac Over My Head Hitparade ch Retrieved 1 June 2021 Martin E Adelson The McVie Story Fleetwoodmac net Archived from the original on 2016 03 03 Retrieved 2016 10 11 BBC Four Fleetwood Mac s Songbird Christine McVie BBC a b From the Archive Christine McVie KeyboardMag www keyboardmag com Archived from the original on 2015 07 10 Retrieved 2019 06 11 Guitar Player 01 1977 Fleetwood Mac s Lindsey Buckingham The Blue Letter Archives 1977 01 01 Archived from the original on 2016 03 03 Retrieved 2023 06 26 News Rolling Stone Archived from the original on January 17 2007 Retrieved 2016 10 11 Everett Walter May 2010 If you re gonna have a hit intratextual mixes and edits of pop recordings Popular Music 29 2 239 doi 10 1017 S026114301000005X JSTOR 40926920 S2CID 162240986 CashBox Singles Reviews PDF Cash Box October 11 1975 p 27 Retrieved 2021 12 11 Hits of the Week PDF Record World October 11 1975 p 1 Retrieved 2023 03 09 Top Single Picks PDF Billboard October 11 1975 p 78 Retrieved 2020 07 16 Item Display RPM Library and Archives Canada Collectionscanada gc ca 1976 02 14 Retrieved 2018 12 21 Cash Box Top 100 Singles January 10 1976 Archived from the original on October 18 2018 Retrieved December 23 2018 Top Singles Volume 26 No 14 amp 15 January 08 1977 RPM Library and Archives Canada Archived from the original on June 10 2016 Retrieved March 13 2016 Whitburn Joel 1999 Pop Annual Menomonee Falls Wisconsin Record Research Inc ISBN 978 0 89820 142 0 Bibliography EditThe Great Rock Discography Martin C Strong Page 378 ISBN 1 84195 312 1External links EditFleetwood Mac Over My Head on YouTube Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Over My Head Fleetwood Mac song amp oldid 1166121200, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
