Buckingham Nicks’ Crying in the Night: An Emotionally Rich 70s Time Capsule

To say that Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham had a complicated relationship is like saying Axl Rose can become “disagreeable” at times. After the two joined Fleetwood Mac their relationship would teeter between confrontational to abusive. Buckingham’s treatment of Nicks was not only boarder line abusive, but almost destroyed the band. In fact, Nicks recently said that the last time she talked to Buckingham since Mac’s heyday in the late 70s was at a celebration for Christine McVie in 2022..and that was only for “3 minutes.”

Before all of that, it was 1973 and 25 year old Stevie Nicks made a record with Buckingham, which was had a limited release but never commercially distributed. It was considered a flop and the two moved into Fleetwood Mac…and the rest was history. Surprisingly, no one ever picked the master back up to give it a wide release. Putting it on CD for a wide release was kicked around throughout the 2000s and 2010s. All along a South Korean bootleg of the record was making the rounds and old tracks appeared on a Stevie Nicks box set…but still no official release. Finally, a remaster was announced in July, 2025 and the first singles have been released.

Even though this is not a “new release” as such, the lack of a world wide commercial release, until now, fits new music for me. The track itself has a Californian 70s jam vibe to it. Made famous by the Grateful Dead, this is a sound that is a bit organic, largely acoustic guitar and hints of old school country western running throughout it. This track has that laid back vibe with slight keyboard hits, mixed with a western hint running throughout the acoustic guitar. The arrangement itself has that lovely 70s jam band looseness to it, which is in start contrast to highly arranged wall of sound stuff from either the Beatles or even some Beach Boys stuff. It just has this wonderful organic flow to it where you can get lost in the music.

Lyrically this song is kind of your classic broken heart song. It’s mainly about how a women can come into your life and leave you without any warning. She can’t help it, she has a life to live, but you are left “crying in the night.” Not overly complex, but the image of crying in the night is quite evocative and a good turn of phrase. Where this song really hits me is in Stevie’s vocal. She was 25 at the time of this recording and you get this youthful pop and nervous energy…but that Stevie Nicks’ edge is still there. I love Stevie’s vocal, so hearing her at this early stage of her career was a treat.

I can kind of see why this record never made wide commercial release. With Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Bruce Springsteen, New York Dolls, David Bowie and others pushing the boundaries of rock and music general, I can see how a west coast jam record may seem dated…even in 1973. However, listening to it now is such a treat. Hearing Nicks and Buckingham put out some fun music before it all went to hell is a great throwback. This is a must listen for both Mac fans and Nicks fans. I’m excited to see what the rest of the record has in store.

Listen to Crying in the Night