Rollingstone.com interview w/Mick 4/7/2001

[Les]

Rollingstone.com
April 7, 2001

Fleetwood Mac to Record
Mick Fleetwood says band will be "full tilt" in fall

by Richard Johnson

Mick Fleetwood, drummer and founding member of Fleetwood Mac, says that the band will definitely be back in the studio by September. Fleetwood recently visited Stevie Nicks' house with Lindsey Buckingham, and they've pulled together more than twenty new songs for the group's next project.

"There's no shortage of new material," Fleetwood says. "Lindsey is starting to work through the songs already -- that's the way we always do it in Fleetwood Mac. So Stevie and Lindsey are going to do their solo things this coming summer, and then it's going to be full tilt into Fleetwood Mac."

The role of singer and keyboardist Christine McVie remains uncertain. McVie didn't play at the group's reunion at the White House on January 6th. "I think it is fair to say that that was sort of an important gig for us, because we did it without Chris," says Fleetwood. "It proved the band could function without her." McVie may contribute to the new album, but Fleetwood is convinced she won't tour again. "She didn't enjoy touring in 1997 [when the band was promoting The Dance]. She just doesn't have a comfort with traveling and performing live any more."

Nicks' new solo album, Trouble in Shangri-La, which features co-production by and collaborations with Sheryl Crow and a guest spot by Macy Gray, is due May 1st. As for Buckingham's project, in January, he told Rolling Stone, "The music I have right now, is the best that I've ever done on my own, or with Fleetwood Mac. [I'm] tapping into some new areas." Buckingham does not yet have a release date.

[HolidayRoadGirl]

That article makes me wonder who has written all those songs! Twenty songs, all from Lindsey and Stevie? How did they have time to be so prolific while each doing solo projects? Is Christine still writing or is she retired from music completely?
Also, wonder what that means, "Lindsey is starting to work through the songs ... that's the way we always do it in FM." Any insights??
HRG

[carolyn81]

Well I think I've heard that Lindsey is a genius in the studio (and that's probably an understatement ;) ) and I remember that he had a big hand in all the songs on the Tusk album. And Tango in the Night. I think he just is so good at making a song into a record that Stevie and Chris would just leave that part of it up to him. Maybe I'm wrong, I'm just going from what I know. Hope this helps! :wavey:

[rhiannon1119]

Originally posted by HolidayRoadGirl
That article makes me wonder who has written all those songs! Twenty songs, all from Lindsey and Stevie? How did they have time to be so prolific while each doing solo projects?

I thought the same thing for a second and then realized that since the both of them were working on solo albums, maybe they had extra songs that they weren't using for their own albums.

You know, Christine said that Stevie is a "mad songwriter". She's always writing something!

:wavey:

:) Michelle

[Les]

Hi HRG,

That article makes me wonder who has written all those songs! Twenty songs, all from Lindsey and Stevie? How did they have time to be so prolific while each doing solo projects?

I think Michelle is probably right. I'm sure Lindsey and Stevie both have many, many songs they thought about using on their solo albums that they can give over to the band for everyone to work on now. Lindsey once said that he often works on 2 or even 3 times as many songs as can actually make it to an album just so that he has a lot of pick from. Stevie is probably the same way.

Is Christine still writing or is she retired from music completely?

I guess that's the big question we don't really have an answer to yet. It surely seems like she's retired from the road, but it's hard to say yet if she might contribute something to a studio album. At this point I'm starting to think she may not, but you never know. None of this is to say she's stopped writing altogether and may not still produce other things in the future with or without FM. In the Q&A session with George Hawkins here on the Penguin, he mentioned having a phone conversation with Chris last year in which she said she's still writing . . . so I guess we just have to wait and see. It's just up in the air at this point since we haven't really heard anything directly from Christine.

Also, wonder what that means, "Lindsey is starting to work through the songs ... that's the way we always do it in FM." Any insights??

Lindsey acts as the band's primary producer and arranger and has since Rumours, so I think Mick is probably talking about Lindsey's activities in that vein. Lindsey probably starts listening to all the songs by all the writers to see what sorts of arrangement ideas he can come up with and to come up with some ideas about which songs by everyone would sound best together to make a cohesive album. He can start to do some of that stuff before the band actually assembles in the studio to trade ideas and work on recordings. That's my guess.

[HolidayRoadGirl]

Wow, thanks everybody for your serious and thoughtful replies! I sure wish I could be a fly on the wall while Lindsey goes through his arranging process. How wonderful to see that talent at work (not to mention, hear the very raw, original versions of songs as the rest of us will never hear them).
As for the new album, all I can say is, "I can't wait, I can't wait!!" :>
HRG

[Skylark]

Hi Les...Thanks for the very informative article about our favorite band!
What does this all mean???
"The band will be touring next year and there are tentative plans for a
new studio album! {What does that mean? I thought you toured after
your studio album!??}! Than he ends up with"Hopefully by September
FMac will be in the studio!":confused:

You are so good at telling us how it will come about! What does Mick mean?:rolleyes:
Thanks again...I will be happy with any Lindsey~Stevie~ Mac Music...but just confused! ~ Sky ~

[HolidayRoadGirl]

The VH1.com interview with Stevie cleared things up a lot for me. She talks about how she took the songs she wasn't happy with for Trouble in Shangri-La to Lindsey so he can re-work them for Fleetwood Mac. And it's so cute how she seems thrilled and flattered that he complimented her work. You can tell she really respects his opinion and is so glad to be earning his respect as a songwriter. She also says when she gets done with her Trouble tour she will go into the studio and "polish" things up on the FM album. It's a wonderfully long, detailed interview. I'm so glad VH1 has gotten behind Stevie like they have. :thumbsup: Well, I won't ramble on since you can all read the interview for yourselves!
FM Love! :angel:
HRG