Michael Collins' FM 1977 Footage Rings in 2013 (Documentary Talk)
 

By Jane Heller, Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jane-h...b_2393336.html

Ringing in the New Year With Fleetwood Mac

Posted: 01/03/2013 4:39 pm

I've never been a big fan of New Year's Eve. There's so much pressure to do something out-of-this-world fabulous, not to mention have someone out-of-this-world fabulous to do it with. I remember prix fixed restaurant dinners that weren't worth the money and too-big parties whose forced gaiety made everyone feel tense and champagne hangovers that wrecked me for days. And I remember occasions when my husband was suffering from flare-ups from Crohn's disease and was too ill to celebrate at all.

My favorite memories are of quiet evenings with him and a few close friends, and this past New Year's Eve was a case in point. He was in better-than-usual health and good spirits, so out we went.

Our hosts were Martha and Michael Collins, who had lost their house in the 2008 wildfire that destroyed over 200 homes in the Santa Barbara area. After living in a trailer for four years, Martha and Michael rose from the ashes, literally, and moved last month into the spectacular new house they built on the same site -- a meticulously-crafted beacon of resilience. Some people would have been thrown by the very notion of losing everything (short of the clothes on their backs and their laptops), but Martha and Michael thrived, their marriage and partnership more solid than ever.

We were in the midst of their scrumptious meal when Michael, a filmmaker whose specialty has been chronicling the lives and music of our most accomplished rock 'n' roll artists, mentioned that among the very few material possessions he'd been able to grab before a wall of flames drove him and Martha out of their house was the documentary footage he'd shot 35 years ago of Fleetwood Mac's 1977 Japanese tour to promote their "Rumours" album.

"I'm finishing up the documentary now," he told us.

"The public has never seen Fleetwood Mac like this before," Martha chimed in. "They were so young and it was such an innocent time, and the music is beyond great since they were in their prime."

I put down my knife and fork (not easy when your hosts have prepared a feast that would rival any restaurant), and said, "Can we see this documentary? Like, tonight?"

Michael hesitated. "It's still raw -- a work in progress. But I guess I could show you clips."

I was not taking "I guess" for an answer. Fleetwood Mac has always been one of my favorite bands and on this particular New Year's Eve, when I'd felt barraged by news of Kanye West, the Gangnam Style guy and Rihanna's latest Twitpic, I was so in the mood for a little boomer music.

Michael obliged. We adjourned to the Collins's living room with its 50" flat screen, professional-grade sound system and comfy chairs, and watched avidly as cameras swooped in on the youthful faces of Mick Fleetwood, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine and John McVie. (If you liked the close-ups in Les Mis, you'll love this film.)

It's one thing to pop in the ear buds and listen to "Rhiannon" and "Go Your Own Way" on an iPod. It's quite another to see Fleetwood Mac at the height of their powers perform live in concert without pyrotechnics or cutesy crowd cutaways or even the requisite back-up singers. What was on screen was pure, unadulterated rock n' roll, as well as behind-the-scenes sequences of the band between sets. There's a wonderful moment, for example, that juxtaposes a Japanese Kabuki dancer applying makeup with painterly care with Stevie Nicks hastily drawing on her eyeliner before rushing on stage. (Seriously, can you imagine Lady Gaga doing her own makeup?)

Michael's film is still a work in progress, as he explained, but from what I saw audiences will be blown away by it. And not just for some retro thrill. Yes, there's nostalgia for a time when our top recording artists had messy personal lives but didn't make sex tapes; for a time when the biggest selling band in the world took public transportation like the rest of us; for a time when Stevie Nicks had more vocal range than she does now.

But there's a scene in Michael's film that's utterly relevant for today and strongly resonated with me. It's when Nicks holds the camera for "Landslide." She's still in her late 20's, fresh-faced and full-throated, and yet she sings with the uncanny wisdom of an over-50:

"Well, I've been afraid of changing
'Cause I've built my life around you.
But time makes you bolder.
Children get older.
I'm getting older too."

Yup, we're all getting older and there are things about aging that really piss me off, but spending New Year's Eve with cherished friends and a much-loved husband and music that had me bolting up from my chair and dancing like a fool made me grateful to be exactly the age I am.

He's finishing up the documentary now??:blob2:

Michele

That's awesome news! Thanks for reposting that article.

Thanks for posting that, Michele. As happy as I am that they're including Rosebud with the Rumours super-duper-deluxe edition, this would have been an even cooler inclusion.

Quick, someone tweet Michael Collins! We need more details.

I bet someone in Fleetwood Mac's camp will block the release. We already have this anyways.

So is this all of that Rumours tour footage that's on youtube? Or is this actually something we've never seen?

But to have it on crisp DVD would be nice.

Michele

I hope that the footage release will be smooth and not contain a bunch of legal crap with lawyers who have no idea why they're doing this case.

Yes, please!!

this would be AWESOME!! the copy i have only has rhiannon for stevie. I've seen Gold Dust Woman on youtube with a stupid counter running throughout! I've never seen Landslide from Japan... i hope this really happens... I'm still disappointed and sad about the Rosebud dvd...cuz you just KNOW it won't have any extra footage... and as Viv said in another thread... most of us have had that for 100 years!!

Thanks for the great story.I cant wait for it.

It would be really nice to have this on DVD. It will be interesting to see how he edits the thing. I hope there will be some footage we haven't seen. I give them, being anyone producing FM content, some credit - there isn't much that would surprise us. I'm all for preserving this footage (thank God he saved it from a fire!) and not just recordings from Japan. If FM is a business they should realize that they could make some good money supporting these sorts of projects, but they never said they were a well run business ;):cool:

Would love to have this but if the business side of it is anything like the IYD documentary, it's gonna be a looooong wait. Sigh.

hope this is still in the works..

Listen To This Eddie: With ‘Carry Fire’ Robert Plant Proves He’s The Most Vital Artist Of His Generation

Listen To This Eddie is a weekly column that examines the important people and events in the classic rock canon and how they continue to impact the world of popular music.

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One of the biggest tours of 1977 was Fleetwood Mac’s live run supporting their monumental new record Rumours. Onstage, and to the crowd, everything seemed relatively copacetic between the members of the band as they poured out their hearts and aired their dirty laundry to thousands of people a night. However, the same tensions that fueled their new music continued to dog the band as they flitted from arena to arena.

“Our success was wonderful but victory came with greater tension between our band members with each passing day,” drummer Mick Fleetwood recalled in his autobiography Play On Now. “There were frequent fights because our art, our business, and our personal lives were all the same, and we lived it out onstage and off, every single night.” The strain took a noticeable toll on Stevie Nicks who pushed herself and her voice relentlessly. “Midway through the tour we decided to bring Stevie’s close friend Robin on the road to look after her,” Fleetwood recalled. “But despite Robin’s presence and all the advice in the world, Stevie could not be tamed when the spirit moved her; she’d tear her instrument to shreds in deference to her songs.”

A prime example is the band’s swing through Japan at the end of the year. The whole band is on-point during this performance — Lindsey Buckingham is an absolute monster on lead guitar — but Nicks really takes the cake with sultry renditions of “Gold Dust Woman” and “Rhiannon.” Incredibly, Fleetwood said in his book that he has about 50 hours worth of footage from their time in Japan that’s he converted digitally and visually re-mastered. Let’s all collectively hope he gifts us with the fruits of that labor sooner, rather than later.



http://uproxx.com/music/robert-plant...to-this-eddie/