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Did You Ever Love Me (Fleetwood Mac song)

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"Did You Ever Love Me"
Single by Fleetwood Mac
from the album Penguin
B-side
  • "Revelation" (US)
  • "The Derelict" (UK)
Released1973
Recorded1973
StudioRolling Stones Mobile Studio, Benifold, Hampshire
Length3:38
LabelReprise
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac singles chronology
"Remember Me"
(1973) 		"Did You Ever Love Me"
(1973) 		"For Your Love"
(1973)

"Did You Ever Love Me" is a song by British rock group Fleetwood Mac from their 1973 Penguin album. The song was co-written by Bob Welch and Christine McVie at the band's communal house in Benifold. McVie shared lead vocals with Bob Weston, who replaced Danny Kirwan following his dismissal from the band the previous year. "Did You Ever Love Me" is the only Fleetwood Mac song with lead vocal contributions from Weston, who was fired from the band later that year while touring the band's Mystery to Me album. The song was also released as a single in the UK and United States and failed to chart in either of those countries.

Background

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Welch and McVie wrote "Did You Ever Love Me" at their Benifold communal house, which the band occupied from 1971 to 1973. Much of the writing was done in one of the living rooms that was shared by Christine and John McVie.[1] The song started with McVie's keyboard part, after which the lyrics were developed over the next few days.[2] They then built the song around a groove from a drum machine.[3] Welch called the song a "true collaboration, where you can't easily separate everything out."[2] The song's lyrics pertain to a futile attempt to preserve a romantic relationship.[4]

When Fleetwood Mac was rehearsing "Did You Ever Love Me" in the studio, Weston was singing "just for fun". The band approved of what they heard, and McVie suggested that they sing the song as a duet.[5] Welch commented that the band wanted Weston to have "a little showcase" on "Did You Ever Love Me" and quipped that it was "his big chance at the "Engelbert Humperdinck" thing we all knew he was capable of."[1][6] Weston had been hired by the band chiefly for his guitar playing and did not sing on any other Fleetwood Mac song during his tenure with them.[5]

"Did You Ever Love Me" is the only song in Fleetwood Mac's discography to feature steel drums.[7] Welch said that Fleetwood owned a set of steel drums and "always liked unusual percussion instruments."[1] In a Q&A with The Penguin, Weston recalled that the band collectively decided to use steel drums on "Did You Ever Love Me".[5] Three session musicians were then enlisted to play the steel drum parts.[4]

On 22 June 1973, "Did You Ever Love Me" was released as a single in the UK. Its B-side was "The Derelict", a song written by Dave Walker, who was a member of Fleetwood Mac exclusively for the Penguin album. The single was not released in America until 29 August 1973, with Welch's song "Revelation" being selected as the B-side instead. In both countries, the single failed to chart.[8] Weston said that the band "may have performed ["Did You Ever Love Me"] live once or twice, but it wasn't a regular fixture."[5] In 2024, the song was included the Best of Fleetwood Mac 1969-1974 compilation album.[9]

Critical reception

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Billboard listed "Did You Ever Love Me" as one of its recommended single picks in the 8 September 1973 edition of its publication.[10] Earlier in the year, it had also listed "Did You Ever Love Me" as one of the best tracks on Penguin.[11] Cashbox wrote that the band had "outdone all of their previous efforts with a sensational ballad certain to be one of their biggest hits ever."[12] Tony Stewart of NME called "Did You Ever Love Me" a "soothing" song with "imaginative steel drums".[13]

In a retrospective review, Mojo believed that the song's steel drums "cemented the sense of Penguin as [an] outlier."[14] In their book, Fleetwood Mac: Rumours n' Fax, Roy Carr and Steve Clarke stated that the song possessed a "well-metered melody [that] glides in a way that is reminiscent of those Smokey Robinson velvet-gloved soul ballads." They also felt that it took an "eternity" to release another single that matched the quality of "Did You Ever Love Me" and lamented that the Welch-McVie writing partnership was not explored further.[8] David Bowling of The Daily Vault thought that the song demonstrated the compatibility of Welch and McVie as songwriters.[15] Writing for Dig!, Joe Tiller characterised "Did You Ever Love Me" as "a relaxed, mid-paced shuffle complete with steel drums" and said that the song "hint[ed] at McVie's capacity for airwave-conquering melodies."[16]

Personnel

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Bob Welch, August 4 – 17, 2003". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 3 January 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Bob Welch Q&A Session, November 1999 Part 1". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 19 October 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  3. ^ "Bob Welch Q&A Session, November 1999 Part 2". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  4. ^ a b Roubin, Olivier; Ollivier, Romuald (1 April 2025). Fleetwood Mac: All The Songs. New York: Black Dog Leventhal Publishers. p. 261. ISBN 978-0-7624-8630-4.
  5. ^ a b c d "Bob Weston Q&A Session, December 1999 Part 2". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  6. ^ "Bob Welch Q&A Session, November 1999 Part 6". The Penguin. Archived from the original on 31 October 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  7. ^ Blake, Mark (2024). "Penguin and Mystery to Me: Fleetwood Mac Go Wild in the Country". The Many Lives of Fleetwood Mac. New York: Pegasus Books. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-63936-732-0.
  8. ^ a b Carr, Roy; Clarke, Steve (1978). Fleetwood Mac: Rumours n' Fax. Harmony Books. p. 76. ISBN 0-517-53364-2.
  9. ^ "Fleetwood Mac Detail BEST OF FLEETWOOD MAC (1969-1974) Compilation". Rhino. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  10. ^ "Billboard's Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. 8 September 1973. p. 55 – via World Radio History.
  11. ^ "Billboard Radio Action and Pick LPs" (PDF). Billboard. 14 April 1973. p. 51 – via World Radio History.
  12. ^ "Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cashbox. 15 September 1973. p. 20 – via World Radio History.
  13. ^ Smith, Tony (26 May 1973). "Fleetwood Mac: "Penguin" (Reprise)". NME.
  14. ^ "Every Fleetwood Mac Album Ranked". Mojo. 9 August 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  15. ^ Bowling, David (14 August 2007). "The Daily Vault Music Reviews: Penguin". The Daily Vault. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
  16. ^ Tiller, Joe (1 March 2022). "Penguin: How A Fledgling New Fleetwood Mac Sound Emerged". Dig!. Retrieved 18 April 2025.
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