Lindsey story on Crooks and Liars website
 

link



One of the luckiest things that ever happened to me at Reprise was when my counterpart at sister label Warner Bros thought Fleetwood Mac might be a little passe for the direction he was taking the label and offered Reprise the opportunity to release their live album, The Dance. I jumped at the chance– and the record sold millions around the world, helping me pay bonuses to every single employee of our company. Because of that I also availed myself of the opportunity to get to know these incredible musicians, particularly the 3 living in L.A., Stevie, Mick and Lindsey. Lindsey Buckingham, while best known as one of the brilliant minds behind Fleetwood Mac, always really wanted to be respected for his solo career as well. His songs were always great and I always encouraged him to record them in his own unique style. This is one of the songs he released on Under the Skin which came out last year, “Someone’s Gotta Change Your Mind.”


It has a video set to "Someone's Gotta Change Your Mind". It was written by Howie Klein, who was president of Reprise records.

Some of those comments are... eh, strange:

If there was ever a person most expendable to Fleetwood Mac it was Lindsey Buckingham. {snip} I always to be honest never thought Lindsey Buckingham was the “brains” behind the group’s success.

Okay.

Most expendable?! Well, yeah I agree with that, because when he left in 1987, I don't think anyone even noticed. Made no difference whatsoever.


Michele

Right! Nobody noticed when he came back either. Not the five million who bought The Dance and sent it to #1 on the charts. Certainly not the millions who bought Tango when it also went #1 before he left. The millions who bought Behind the Mask and Time, which both went multi-platimum and ranked #1, never noticed at all. What do you mean they didn't? They weren't? :eek: Nevermind!!!!!

Well, as I understand it, he contributed very little to TITN. That album probably sold well because people were so glad he was gone.


Despite the fact that the band has carried him for 22 years, it is my opinion that he is the least expendable of the 16. However, I realize such thoughts are irrational. Curls get in your eyes.

Michele

You guys ever see a website whose comments section wasn't filled with dozens of stupid, misinformed, or naive posts? People are stupid, and shouldn't be allowed to comment on things! ;)

You know, that is very true. Even when we have earthquakes and they interview the "man on the street" and ask what it felt like to him, I get annoyed about something and have to turn away. Whether it's Court Tv or the Home Shopping Network, if people have an opportunity to call in and state their opinions, my sanity is at risk if I don't turn away.

Blog comments about Fleetwood Mac surface a lot in the news clippings and I see statements that are mind-boggling, but I guess you just have to take that stuff with a grain of salt. Many people think Fleetwood Mac is a car.

Michele

And the beat goes on…
 

Reminds me of Genesis...Peter Gabriel's genius propelled a good band to fantastic heights, walked away and no one noticed (c'mon! Peter Gabriel was in Genesis??). Phil Collins took Gabriel's leftover material and kept the band going until Collins found his own style. Which was basically copying whatever Peter was doing at the time and making it less 'artistic', more 'pop' and much more marketable.

The same thing happened with Pink Floyd (who the heck is Roger Waters?? Oh yeah---the guy responsible for our smashing success! WTF, we don't need him, let's go on tour using the name, play his songs, write some new ones based on his old themes and sell a few more million albums---bloody brilliant!!)

So you take another good band, add genius singer/songwriter/guitarist Lindsey and hot little diva Stevie and whaddya get? A 20-million-album machine called Fleetwood Mac. Take away it's primary engine, Lindsey. Just for kicks, take away Stevie too. What happens? Not much, unless your former bandmates are blithering idiots. Any half-decent band wearing the FM moniker after 'Rumours' could go on tour playing Lindsey & Stevie songs, churn out a few radio-friendly hits of their own, sell a few million albums and most people wouldn't bat an eye. Hell, even Meatloaf, his chick singer and Todd Rundgren on guitar could have handled the job!

Lindsey expendable? Of course, as long as you feel that "Two out of three ain't bad!"

This might just be lack of sleep, but I'm not sure whether you're joking or not. I hope you are.

Oh, I'm not. Did Lindsey do anything on Tango?? I just got it because I thought he wasn't on it. It's like when I bought my Mirage dvd and I was all happy because Lindsey wasn't on the cover and I thought I was going to get my fill of Billy and Rick. Then, when I got it home and played it, Buckingham was all over the thing. I was so upset that I threw it right out. When Dave Walker left the band I was broken hearted. When Lindsey left . . . I honestly couldn't tell the difference:shrug:

Actually, if you can imagine being a Sonny and Cher fan since you were 8 years old and continuing over the next 27 years. My email clippings were set up to collect all news articles about Sonny Bono. One Tuesday I open the email and have 364 messages all telling me that Sonny has skiied into a tree and killed himself. Honestly, the only thing more shocking and devastating than that day, that week, were deaths I've experienced in my own family. So, as far as being a fan goes, that was the worst. That's #1. Right after that, right after Sonny Bono skiing into a tree and dying, is Lindsey leaving the band. That's my #2 worst fan tragedy.



Michele

How would you have felt if Lindsey ran away from Fleetwood Mac on skis and killed himself by running into a tree, on the same day? :p

When I read Carol Ann's book and she mentioned that when they first met Lindsey had a ski trip planned with Mick and Richard, I did think to myself, "Oh no. Please don't tell me Lindsey skis!"

Michele

Are we talking about the same album? Really? Lindsey produced, arranged and co-engineered the album and contributed to most of the songs on it. Heck, Tango practically is a Lindsey Buckingham album.

What? I heard Lindsey wasn't even around when they recorded the TITN album and they just overdubbed his voice onto it afterwards.

Really, this is as silly as when I said that maybe Lindsey was saying "phony magician" on Go Insane. It's just such an absurd comment on its face that I don't know why anyone would take it seriously. Yet, people were arguing about how he didn't say that. Then I theorized that he might be saying "foamy electrician." And come to think of it, it might not be that unlikely as Stevie did talk about how he ruined an electric frying pan by putting it in the dishwasher, so there could have been a foamy electrician incident and he could have worked those lyrics into Go Insane, but the odds are he didn't.

Michele

I can't really follow you anymore and I'm still not sure if you're yanking my chain or not. Right now I'm thinking yes, so I won't comment on the Tango recording.

As for the electric skillet, he put it on a heated stove. I doubt they owned a dishwasher back then.