Stevie Nicks Signed Away 'Silver Springs' Royalties to Her Mother — Then the Song Got Cut

A recent Far Out Magazine retrospective revisits a little-known piece of music-business history from the making of Fleetwood Mac's Rumours: in 1976, Stevie Nicks quietly assigned the copyright of her song 'Silver Springs' to her mother, Barbara, without telling the rest of the band.

A gift meant to last

According to the piece, Barbara had told her daughter that 'Silver Springs' was her favorite among all of Nicks' songs. Nicks decided to sign the royalties over to her — reasoning that if the track stayed on the album, it would keep generating income and give her mother long-term financial security. Far Out draws a parallel to other artist-to-parent musical gifts, including Elvis Presley's 'My Happiness' (recorded for his mother Gladys), The Intruders' 'I'll Always Love My Mama,' Taylor Swift's 'The Best Day,' and Dolly Parton's 'Coat of Many Colours' — noting that what Nicks gave was not just a song, but its earnings.

Why 'Silver Springs' left Rumours

The plan depended on the song actually making the album. But Mick Fleetwood privately informed Nicks that there was no room left for it. The rest of the band had already decided to cut the four-minute 'Silver Springs' from the already-overlong record, suggesting she record the shorter 'I Don't Want to Know' instead. Nicks was reportedly the last person in the band to find out. 'Silver Springs' — written about her breakup with Lindsey Buckingham early in the recording sessions — ended up as the B-side to the album's first single, 'Go Your Own Way,' itself written by Buckingham from the other side of the same relationship.

The Timespace dispute and her exit from the band

Years later, while sequencing her first solo greatest-hits collection, Timespace: The Best of Stevie Nicks, Nicks wanted to include 'Silver Springs' to give the song wider exposure. Mick Fleetwood objected again, this time because he intended to save the rare track for a Fleetwood Mac retrospective box set he was overseeing, as a selling point. Nicks sent word through Fleetwood's manager that if she didn't have the master tapes by Monday, she would no longer be a member of Fleetwood Mac. The tapes never arrived. She left the band — and Christine McVie exited alongside her in a show of support.