"Gold Dust Woman" originally started as a folk song, but Nicks sought a darker arrangement as production on the song progressed. Nicks presented the song to bandmate
Lindsey Buckingham on an acoustic guitar and remarked that the band began recording the song two days later.
Ken Caillat, who produced
Rumours, remarked that the song "evolved slowly" and that "the basic track was very simple, kind of like a folk song. Stevie wanted it to grow. It just kind of snuck up on you. The next thing I knew it was getting kind of creepy." For basic tracking,
Mick Fleetwood was on drums,
John McVie played his recently acquired
Alembic bass guitar,
Lindsey Buckingham used a
Fender Stratocaster electric guitar,
Christine McVie played a
Rhodes piano, and Stevie Nicks laid down a
rough vocal. For a couple of early takes, Nicks played the piano instead, although she moved exclusively to vocals once Christine McVie was more familiar with the song's structure. They recorded eight takes, but none of them were satisfactory. Many unusual instruments were used in the recording, including an electric
harpsichord with a
phaser. The keys of the harpsichord were marked with tape so Fleetwood could play the right notes. To accentuate Nicks's vocals, Fleetwood broke sheets of glass. According to Caillat, "He was wearing goggles and coveralls — it was pretty funny. He just went mad, bashing glass with this big hammer. He tried to do it on cue, but it was difficult. Eventually, we said, 'Just break the glass,' and we fit it all in." ==Critical reception==