Never Going Back Again

Fleetwood Mac, 1977, from Rumours. Solo by Lindsey Buckingham.

Buckingham's fast Travis-style fingerpicking on acoustic is the whole arrangement.

There is no solo here in the usual sense, because the whole track is the guitar part. Lindsey Buckingham fingerpicks a quick, rolling Travis-style pattern on acoustic, thumb keeping a steady bass while his fingers skip melody notes across the top, and the vocal simply rides on it. What makes it remarkable is how full two hands and six strings can sound when every note is placed with care. On Rumours it gave a pop audience a small, exact dose of folk picking, and countless players have since learned it as a rite of passage. Listen for the way the thumb never loses its pulse, even when the melody on top speeds up and doubles back.

Never Going Back Again by Fleetwood Mac is featured in our Folk Rock (#24) list. The solo is played by Lindsey Buckingham and the song was released in 1977.

In our lists

• The Most-Taught Solos — #26
• The 25 Greatest Folk Rock Guitar Solos — #24
• The Best Fleetwood Mac Guitar Solos — #15
• The Best Lindsey Buckingham Guitar Solos — #5

Sources