Fleetwood Mac Friday #5: “Sugar Daddy”
by Evan Hume
If Stevie Nicks is the mysterious sorceress and Lindsey Buckingham is the mad scientist, then Christine McVie is the “straight woman” – reserved and earnest. One of my earliest memories of the Mac is seeing their live performance of McVie’s “Say You Love Me” on the 1997 reunion special, The Dance. At the age of ten I thought it was incredibly lame, even embarrassing. A band of old people dressed in black and white, the rhythm section wearing black vests, some nerd playing a black banjo, and a stiff, stoic woman singing “when the lovin’ starts…” Ew. Can I go listen to my Weird Al CD now?
Seventeen years later, McVie’s odd combination of cool detachment, sincerity, and vulnerability is one of the reasons I love Fleetwood Mac so much. The overlooked track “Sugar Daddy” on side two of 1975’s self-titled “White Album” is great example of this intersection. It’s a bouncy rock ‘n’ soul number about the gap between emotional satisfaction and material needs delivered with McVie’s signature restraint, making it all the more powerful when she lets loose a little on “you give me all the love I need” in the chorus. Christine always give us what we need, too – no more and no less.
The Tusk 
One Response to “Fleetwood Mac Friday #5: “Sugar Daddy””
[…] was written and performed by Christine McVie, who, as Evan pointed out last week, was the “straight woman” to Stevie Nicks’ “mysterious sorceress.” “Songbird” was […]