Live is a double live album released by British-American rock bandFleetwood Mac on 5 December 1980.[5] It was the first live album from the then-current line-up of the band, and the next would beThe Dance from 1997. The album was certifiedgold (500,000 copies sold) by theRIAA in November 1981.[6] A deluxe edition of the album was released on 9 April 2021.[7]
DrummerMick Fleetwood had originally suggested that the band release a live album at the time of theRumours Tour, although the band decided against it, with recording engineerRichard Dashut arguing that it would interfere with the band's in-studio identity. The band still recorded over 400 shows from 1975-79 in case they changed their minds. At the conclusion of theTusk Tour, Fleetwood proposed the idea again, and this time the band agreed despite Buckingham's and John McVie's initial reservations.[8] The album was digitally recorded using technology developed bySoundstream.[9] Ken Caillat mentioned in a 1981 interview that the band spent $20,000 to digitally mix the album and that it cost around $500 per day to use the digital equipment.[10]Billboard said thatMobile Fidelity Sound Labhalf-speed mastered the album for theaudiophile market.[11]
Of particular note are three new songs—Christine McVie's "One More Night",Stevie Nicks's "Fireflies", and a backstage rendition ofthe Beach Boys' "The Farmer's Daughter". The latter two were released as singles; "Fireflies" reached the top 60 in the US,[12] while "The Farmer's Daughter" reached the top 10 in Austria.[13]
The band covered "Farmer's Daughter" at the request of Buckingham, who deemed theBrian Wilson tune "obscure" and "contemporary" enough to include on the album.[14] A recording of "The Farmer's Daughter" also appears on theTusk re-release of 2004. "Don't Let Me Down Again" is a song from theBuckingham Nicks album and was recorded during a 1975 performance inPassaic.[8]
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