Richard Dashut produced
Fleetwood Mac's 17-million-selling LP
Rumours (number one pop for 31 weeks in early 1977), which included the singles "Go Your Own Way" (number ten pop), "Dreams" (number one pop) "Don't Stop" (number three pop) "You Make Loving Fun" (number nine pop), and the double-platinum album Tusk.
Born in West Hollywood, CA,
Dashut started his professional recording career sweeping floors in a recording studio. His friend Keith Olson hired him as a second engineer at the Sound Factory. One of his first projects was for the singing duo of
Lindsay Buckingham and
Stevie Nicks. Though not a sales success, the resulting album, Buckingham Nicks, was heard by Mic Fleetwood when
Olsen played it as a demo of the recording studio's capabilities. A few weeks later,
Fleetwood asked the couple to join his band
Fleetwood Mac. The group retained
Dashut's services for their five-million selling Fleetwood Mac LP (number one pop, summer 1975) and to do the sound engineering for their live concerts.
The band asked
Dashut to produce their next LP,
Rumours. The tremendous success of
Rumours set a standard in pop music production, songwriting, and musicianship, winning the Grammy for Album of the Year in 1977. The follow-up album, Tusk, went to number four pop in late 1979 and spawned the singles "Tusk" (numbe eight pop) and "Sara" (number seven pop). His other albums with the group were
Fleetwood Mac Live;
Mirage (a number one hit for five weeks in summer 1982), which included the single "Hold Me," a number four pop hit; and
Tango in the Night (a number seven pop hit), which includes the singles "Big Love" (number five pop) and "Little Lies" (number four pop).
Dashut also produced critically acclaimed albums by
Shoes (Tongue Twister),
Matthew Sweet (
Altered Beast), and
Lindsay Buckingham. ~ Ed Hogan