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  #1  
Old 02-22-2008, 03:50 PM
michelej1 michelej1 is offline
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[Just uploading interviews to the Blue Letter Archives and thought I'd put some here]

Greensboro News & Record (NC), June 22, 1990


Section: WEEKEND


FLEETWOOD MAC REGAINS CONFIDENCE
TOBY CRESWELL

`It was frightening, because you don't know if it's going to work,'' says Stevie Nicks, recalling Lindsey Buckingham's departure from Fleetwood Mac in 1987.

The diminutive singer, still dressed in her stage costume of white lace and brocade, is sitting backstage at the Sydney Entertainment Center, toward the end of a sold-out month of Australian shows.

``But Fleetwood Mac has an incredible lucky streak,'' she says with a laugh. ``I never worry about Fleetwood Mac, whoever is in it.''

It has become the band that wouldn't die: In the 23 years since forming Fleetwood Mac, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood have lost guitarists Danny Kirwan, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. The group has seen fake Fleetwood Macs touring America, been plagued by intragroup marital turmoil, suffered the personal bankruptcy of Mick Fleetwood - and still it has managed to sell tens of millions of albums.

Yet Buckingham's departure raised real concerns: Since the multiplatinum 1975 album ``Fleetwood Mac,'' the band's records had been shaped by Buckingham's avant-pop flair for production.

Undaunted, Mick Fleetwood enlisted guitarists Billy Burnette and Rick Vito. The newcomers have, paradoxically, helped Fleetwood Mac get back in touch with its roots: The band's hits-heavy set is now spiked with three of Green's numbers; ``Go Your Own Way,'' the show's closer, is the only Buckingham tune in the repertoire.

The real test came, however, when the band entered the studio in early 1989 to record its 16th album, ``Behind the Mask.'' Christine McVie admits she had some doubts at first, but they have since been dispelled.

``I like the fact that we really did pull it off,'' McVie says. ``The record was well arranged and well thought out despite the fact that Lindsey wasn't there.''

Burnette and Vito left a deep imprint on ``Behind the Mask,'' contributing to eight of the album's 13 songs. The guitarists say they were determined to become more than sidemen to a legendary band.

``I was always impressed with the original Fleetwood Mac,'' says Vito. ``So my philosophy has been to keep it honest and to keep those guitars out there.''

The approach has hit a responsive chord with listeners: ``Behind the Mask'' entered the British charts at No. 1. The band is now on a 10-week tour of the U.S. and Canada before continuing on to Europe.

To mark the band's silver anniversary in 1992, Mick Fleetwood is preparing a box-set retrospective, and there is talk of a show featuring all past and present guitarists. And Stevie Nicks has plans to publish the band's history.

``I'm going to write a hell of a book one of these days,'' she says. ``The story is so far superior to 'Dynasty,' 'Peyton Place,' 'Dallas' - anything you could possibly think of.''
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  #2  
Old 02-22-2008, 03:51 PM
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Greensboro News & Record (NC), June 22, 1990


Section: WEEKEND


FLEETWOOD MAC REGAINS CONFIDENCE
TOBY CRESWELL

`It was frightening, because you don't know if it's going to work,'' says Stevie Nicks, recalling Lindsey Buckingham's departure from Fleetwood Mac in 1987.

The diminutive singer, still dressed in her stage costume of white lace and brocade, is sitting backstage at the Sydney Entertainment Center, toward the end of a sold-out month of Australian shows.

``But Fleetwood Mac has an incredible lucky streak,'' she says with a laugh. ``I never worry about Fleetwood Mac, whoever is in it.''

It has become the band that wouldn't die: In the 23 years since forming Fleetwood Mac, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood have lost guitarists Danny Kirwan, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. The group has seen fake Fleetwood Macs touring America, been plagued by intragroup marital turmoil, suffered the personal bankruptcy of Mick Fleetwood - and still it has managed to sell tens of millions of albums.

Yet Buckingham's departure raised real concerns: Since the multiplatinum 1975 album ``Fleetwood Mac,'' the band's records had been shaped by Buckingham's avant-pop flair for production.

Undaunted, Mick Fleetwood enlisted guitarists Billy Burnette and Rick Vito. The newcomers have, paradoxically, helped Fleetwood Mac get back in touch with its roots: The band's hits-heavy set is now spiked with three of Green's numbers; ``Go Your Own Way,'' the show's closer, is the only Buckingham tune in the repertoire.

The real test came, however, when the band entered the studio in early 1989 to record its 16th album, ``Behind the Mask.'' Christine McVie admits she had some doubts at first, but they have since been dispelled.

``I like the fact that we really did pull it off,'' McVie says. ``The record was well arranged and well thought out despite the fact that Lindsey wasn't there.''

Burnette and Vito left a deep imprint on ``Behind the Mask,'' contributing to eight of the album's 13 songs. The guitarists say they were determined to become more than sidemen to a legendary band.

``I was always impressed with the original Fleetwood Mac,'' says Vito. ``So my philosophy has been to keep it honest and to keep those guitars out there.''

The approach has hit a responsive chord with listeners: ``Behind the Mask'' entered the British charts at No. 1. The band is now on a 10-week tour of the U.S. and Canada before continuing on to Europe.

To mark the band's silver anniversary in 1992, Mick Fleetwood is preparing a box-set retrospective, and there is talk of a show featuring all past and present guitarists. And Stevie Nicks has plans to publish the band's history.

``I'm going to write a hell of a book one of these days,'' she says. ``The story is so far superior to 'Dynasty,' 'Peyton Place,' 'Dallas' - anything you could possibly think of.''
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Old 02-22-2008, 04:06 PM
michelej1 michelej1 is offline
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[This is 1987, not 1990, but . . . ]

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, October 5, 1987

Section: CHICAGOLAND \

ON NEW TOUR, FLEETWOOD MAC RATES AS A BLOOMING SUCCESS


Chris Heim.

It is no mere coincidence that the cover of Fleetwood Mac`s latest album, ``Tango In The Night,`` pictures a lush tropical Eden. The message is that all is peace and harmony in their little pop paradise.

Of course, rumors and clues to the contrary abound. It has been five years since the last group album. Stories of tensions in the studio during the recording of the new one persisted. And Lindsey Buckingham, a pivotal figure in Mac`s conversion from an obscure, faltering British blues band into worldwide pop idols, politely declined to come along for this tour.

None of this deterred 16,000 fans from braving the unseasonable chill Saturday night to see them at Alpine Valley. Nor did it stop the group, after a somewhat cool start, from delivering nearly two hours of pop perfection that artfully touched and expanded upon some of their greatest strengths as a group.

The show rested heavily on songs from ``Fleetwood Mac`` (or the
``White Album,`` as it is affectionately known) and ``Rumours,`` the record
that finally made them stars and, until Michael Jackson`s ``Thriller,`` was
the biggest-selling album around. ``Say You Love Me,`` ``Rhiannon`` and ``Go
Your Own Way`` were highlights of the show. The few songs from ``Tango``-``
Seven Wonders,`` ``Little Lies`` and ``Isn`t It Midnight``-got a much more
lively and effective treatment in performance than on record.

Perhaps best of all, though, were the several nods to Mac`s history: a
dexterous romp through the tricky time changes of ``Oh, Well,`` a silky
performance of ``Black Magic Woman`` from their first album and a stunning
version of the bluesy ``Rattlesnake Shake.``

The band members carefully shared and exchanged the spotlight
throughout the night. Even the two, count `em two, replacements for
Buckingham, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, got time center stage, and Vito`s
lead guitar work throughout the evening was crisply exciting.

Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks (decked out, as usual, in layers of
``leather and lace,`` topped by a collection of hats someone`s grandmother
would just adore) traded lead vocals, while Mick Fleetwood and John McVie
proved they remain one of pop`s most exciting and inventive rhythm sections.

Fleetwood also emerged from behind his drum kit for a marvelously
musical-and comical-drum solo during ``World Turning`` that featured him
playing electronic drums concealed in his clothes.

Billy Burnette, referring to rumors that this was Mac`s farewell
tour, said, ``We`re only just beginning.`` But the doubts remain. Perhaps,
too, the band has just about come to the end of their artistic road.
``Tango,`` at best, repeats the same pop formulas of the past. At worst, on
the execrable elevator jingle ``You and I`` or in some of Nicks` more tortured vocals and airheaded imagery, it borders on self-parody.

Still, Fleetwood Mac has survived the departures of Peter Green,
Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch along with many other tensions and near-collapses, so the band may last. And after a charming show like this one, you can only say, to borrow a title they borrowed, ``then play on.``
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Old 02-23-2008, 10:03 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by michelej1 View Post

And Stevie Nicks has plans to publish the band's history.

``I'm going to write a hell of a book one of these days,'' she says. ``The story is so far superior to 'Dynasty,' 'Peyton Place,' 'Dallas' - anything you could possibly think of.''
Any book that takes 30 years to write is going to be a mighty tome, indeed. It will be like Gibbon's Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire.
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Old 02-25-2008, 02:59 PM
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Los Angeles Times, June 6, 1990

Don't expect great things from Fleetwood Mac when they appear Saturday night at San Diego State University's Open Air Theater.

The British group's staying power over the course of more than two decades can be attributed to a continual changing of the guard in creative leaders, each willing and able to try something new, something different: first Peter Green, then Danny Kirwin, then Bob Welch, and, most recently, Lindsey Buckingham, who signed on in 1975.

It was under the Southern California singer-songwriter- guitarist's leadership that the Mac's gradual shift in musical direction from electric blues to melodic soft-rock was completed. It was also under Buckingham that the group reached its commercial zenith, with a string of chart-topping singles and albums.

But when Buckingham left two years ago, founders Mick Fleetwood and John McVie's luck finally ran out. This time, they passed the torch to veteran session players Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, who promptly let it go out.

Fleetwood Mac's new album, "Behind the Mask," should have stayed there. Burnette and Vito appear to be more interested in maintaining the status quo than anything else, and their contributions range from innocuous to downright offensive. In the latter category is "In the Back of My Mind," a pathetic rip-off of Buckingham's brilliant "Tusk."

And while the current incarnation of the Mac's concert repertoire will undoubtedly include plenty of old stuff from the Buckingham Era, somehow, it just won't be the same.
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Old 02-25-2008, 03:02 PM
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Oregonian, The (Portland, OR), May 31, 1990

Section: LIVING


FLEETWOOD MAC ATTACKS WITH MIX OF BLUES AND POP


STUART TOMLINSON - of the Oregonian Staff

Although Fleetwood Mac's music started out copying the gritty blues of America, the band's 21-year discography is more closely allied with a more melodic pop sound.

But there were moments during the band's performance Wednesday night before 8,650 fans at Memorial Coliseum when that blues sensibility came bubbling to the surface. Both ``Is It Midnight'' and ``Oh Well'' received a blues boost from the supercharged drumming of Mick Fleetwood. Fleetwood's early days with John Mayall's Bluesbreakers are still serving him well.

What also serves the band well are the core members: Christine McVie on keyboards, Stevie Nicks on vocals, John McVie on bass and the ever tall and present Fleetwood. It's a testament to the band's longevity that Rick Vito and Billy Burnette were introduced as ``the two new guys in Fleetwood Mac.'' Both have been with the band for three years.

They may be the newest members, but they're finally starting to fit comfortably in on stage. Vito with his clean and stirring guitar leads; Burnette with his gutsy vocals. Jokes about the band needing two members to replace the departed Lindsey Buckingham just don't hold water.

Stevie Nicks also filled her usual role, adding her husky vocals to five- and sometimes six-part harmonies. A rather flat reading of ``Rhiannon'' didn't detract from her beautiful and breathy fills on tunes such as ``Save Me.''

But if you had to choose the leader, the glue that holds the band together, it would have to be Christine McVie. McVie's ready keyboard work and reedy vocals haven't changed much in 20 years.

The same could be said for the two most original members, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. In a song dedicated to another founding member, Peter Green, Vito and the duo laid down some sultry and satisfying blues on ``Black Magic Woman.''
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Old 03-18-2008, 03:09 PM
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Los Angeles Daily News Review of Concert, June 11, 1990

Daily News (Los Angeles, CA)
Copyright © 2004 Daily News of Los Angeles. All rights reserved.


June 11, 1990




Section: L.A. LIFE




REFURBISHED FLEETWOOD MAC SOLID AT IRVINE


BRUCE BRITT Daily News Music Critic

In a turbulent, ever-changing world, one can take consolation in the apparent permanence of Fleetwood Mac. The Anglo-American band has weathered numerous personnel changes in its 20-year existence, but no loss seems tragic enough to break the Mac's back.

The band has displayed an uncanny knack for maintaining its credibility in the constantly evolving pop music scene, but its luck may have changed for the worse with the departure of singer-songwriter Lindsey Buckingham , and the recruitment of guitarists Billy Burnette and Rick Vito.

''Behind the Mask,'' the band's first post-Buckingham album, is experiencing lukewarm sales, a fact that makes the Mac's current tour so crucial. It would provide fans with their first opportunity to see how well this year's model holds up to the band's previous incarnations.

The band displayed a startling lack of faith in its new album during an otherwise strong Friday night performance at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre - touted as the band's only Southern California appearance. The overwhelming majority of tunes performed were distilled from previous hit albums, giving the show an unsettling revival feel.

All this nostalgia made Burnette and Vito appear like guest musicians, rather than welcome fixtures in the band. Aside from re-creating the sounds and songs of previous Mac legends like Buckingham and Peter Green, the new members' contributions seemed scant.

What's more, the band was selective in celebrating its glorious past. Virtually no attention was paid to Fleetwood Mac's mystical early 1970s incarnation, which featured enigmatic singer-songwriter Bob Welch.

Yet with all this going against it, the refurbished Fleetwood Mac put on a solid show. Backed by two background vocalists, a percussionist and an additional keyboardist, the band rendered all its hits with punch and clarity.

Stevie Nicks continued to refine her romantic stage persona, dressing in long gossamer gowns that swept the stage. The singer would disappear for the length of an entire song, only to reappear later in a different Elizabethan-era get-up.

Surprisingly, singer Christine McVie emerged as the band's emotional catalyst. The singer's vocals were unusually forceful, and her gentle personality helped soften what might have been a cold, hit-parade performance.

Unfortunately, Burnette and Vito displayed no such confidence. Their competent, but ultimately passionless, performance bode ill for Fleetwood Mac's future.
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Old 03-18-2008, 03:11 PM
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Behind the Mask Album Review

Houston Chronicle, May 20, 1990

Section: ZEST

Recordings


MARTY RACINE

Behind the Mask Fleetwood Mac Warner Bros.

Behind the mask is Fleetwood Mac in its new incarnation.

Gone is Lindsey Buckingham, who was so important to the band's live shows. He has been replaced Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, who joined the road band after the "Tango in the Night.' What's the difference? You twist in clean spark plugs and the engine keeps running. The grimy blues band has seen many changes in its 20 years: the departure of wayward Peter Green on guitar throttle, the brief Bob Welch era, and then the addition of Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, whose hit "Rhiannon" irrevocably changed Mac into the dreamy-groovy hits factory it has continued to be for the past 15 years.

Behind the Mask hoes no new ground. It only proves that the same soil can be tilled forever if you rotate the crops properly. New horticulturists Burnette and Vito contribute some co-writing in various tandems. In their lone song together, "When the Sun Goes Down", they add a touch of the bop a la Eric Clapton's version of "Lay Down Sally" Elsewhere, it's fine to have Christine McVie's warm voice back again in four tunes, including the title track. Nicks, though, has written two of the signature songs here, "Love Is Dangerous" and "Affairs of the Heart". Both could be considered working titles for the album's tenet - that love is too delicate to be trifled with. Mac gives us its understanding of the emotion in a way few bands can - few bands being old enough to have been embroiled in well-publicized soap operas.

Musically, the LP is more down-home than recent Mac releases. A dash of accordion here, a hot guitar break there - they combine for a more earthy sound than the ethereal pop of the '80s.

The soap opera largely over, the mask comes off. Behind it is a decent, hard-working pop band whose members are starting to look more like flesh and blood and less like a collection of distracted celebrities who can't complete an album in less than three years. (3 stars) - MARTY RACINE
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Old 03-18-2008, 03:13 PM
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Behind the Mask Album Review

Orlando Sentinel, May 11, 1990

Section: CALENDAR


FLEETWOOD MAC
Bill Henderson of The Sentinel Staff

** Fleetwood Mac, Behind the Mask (Warner Bros.): Once upon a time, a king named Fleetwood Mac ruled over the land of Blues-Rock. But the mighty ruler's health was declining.

First, the appendix (Peter Green) was excised, and the patient was healthier. Later, the lungs ( Bob Welch and Danny Kirwan) had to be removed, and the transplants ( Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks) were much stronger. The patient thrived. But, alas, one lung (Buckingham) finally gave out. Instead of replacing it, the doctors substituted Billy Burnette and Rick Vito for King Mac's heart and brain. Now the fallen ruler lives in a state of creative limbo.

It has become obvious that Lindsey Buckingham was the soul of Fleetwood Mac. Sure, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks can write catchy songs that rival the best of Bucking-ham's, but it was he who consistently pushed the group into new musical areas. Each new release was a wonderful surprise, even when it failed (Tusk).

Despite Christine McVie's mature input, Behind the Mask is a failure, period. Vito and Burnette cannot measure up to Buckingham, either musically or lyrically.

Songs such as ''In the Back of My Mind'' and ''Stand on the Rock'' have all the Fleetwood trademarks, but they just don't add up. We're talking standard rock filler here. If these songs weren't on a Fleetwood Mac album, they wouldn't have been heard outside the studio.

As usual, McVie comes through with some nifty songs. ''Save Me'' is vintage McVie - her voice gets stronger with the years, and her songs become old friends. The drone guitar in ''Skies the Limit'' recalls the pioneering work of Robert Fripp. Even the title song features harmonies and hooks galore. It's too bad the same can't be said for Stevie Nicks' contributions - her songs have begun to sound like parodies of themselves.

As usual, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie provide solid backup. They're like Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones: a foundation strong enough upon which to build almost anything, except paper houses.

Burnette's rockabilly influences smother the zydeco-like ''When the Sun Goes Down'' and the Beatles clone ''Hard Feelings.'' His attempts at songwriting quickly become annoying.

Fleetwood Mac's democratic efforts prove almost fatal. At times, the group comes across as a rock version of the Highwaymen, each member given a turn. Well, some members are more equal than others. Behind the Mask is a bad Fleetwood Mac album, covering up a darned good Christine McVie solo effort.

The king is dead; long live the queen.
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Old 03-18-2008, 03:14 PM
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Behind the Mask Album Review, Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times, April 8, 1990

Section: CA-Calendar


Fleetwood Rolls on Without Buckingham
*** 1/2 FLEETWOOD MAC "Behind the Mask" Warner B ros. Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor) to five stars (a classic).
VE HOCHMAN

Fleetwood Mac has survived--even thrived--for two decades through the comings and goings of creative linchpins Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer, Danny Kirwan and Bob Welch . But the loss of Lindsey Buckingham , who spearheaded the group's longest and most successful phase, figured to be too much.

Time to refigure. Without Buckingham's obsessively unique vision, the group has embraced an all-for-one, one-for-all attitude for what sounds like the most truly group effort since "Rumours," or perhaps even since 1972's "Bare Trees."

Following a Mac tradition, newcomer singer-guitarists Rick Vito and Billy Burnette make their mark right off the bat. Eight of the album's generous 13 songs bear their writing credits, and it's in fact the Vito/Stevie Nicks burner "Love Is Dangerous" that sets the tone, reinjecting the band's original blues foundation.

Nicks and Christine McVie both seem revitalized by the changes and contribute spirited adult pop songs, while founders Mick Fleetwood and John McVie remain the stalwart rhythm anchor that's been the one constant through the years. But, again, this Fleetwood Mac is not about individuals. And to think we always assumed it was turmoil and instability that made the group interesting.
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Old 03-18-2008, 03:20 PM
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Cage Review

San Jose Mercury News (CA), December 14, 1987

Section: Living

MAC RE-CREATES ITS PAST INCARNATIONS


HARRY SUMRALL, Mercury News Pop Music Writer

Daly City Nearly 20 years ago, Fleetwood Mac -- the original version headed by guitarist Peter Green -- cut a swath across rock with some of the finest blues to emerge from England.

Fifteen years ago, the second version -- with Christine McVie and Bob Welch -- expanded rock's vocabulary with an eclectic assemblage of pop, blues and R&B forms. Ten years ago, the third version -- with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks -- soothed rock with a mellow sound that was as bland as the '70s.

And now?

Now the newest version -- formed by Buckingham's recent departure and the acquisition of guitarists Rick Vito and Billy Burnette -- is out on a tour that settled in at the Cow Palace on Saturday and Sunday.

And what is this new Mac up to? Up to its neck, that's what -- in old mates, old hits and old tricks. At a time when the group could have sat back on its latest platinum record, ''Tango In The Night'' (recorded with Buckingham), the Mac has decided instead to give the new guys a turn and give its fans a taste of history.

The Mac's Saturday show was a lesson in longevity. Playing songs from its first album to its latest, the group sounded as varied as its musical evolution.

With a touring schedule that has not allowed the group time to represent itself in its latest form, it used its newest guitarists as surrogates. Thus, Burnette became Buckingham, with his strikingly similar melodic vocals, and Vito played Green, with his not-particularly-similar blues guitar.

Miraculously, it worked.

On songs such as ''Go Your Own Way,'' from the Buckingham era, the Mac was suitably nondescript, with a sound that was steady and competent: '70s rock at its best and worst. On the older, blues-oriented material like ''Rattlesnake Shake'' and the searing ''Oh Well,'' the group displayed a fire and energy that it has not had in nearly two decades. And on a slow blues from 1968's ''Fleetwood Mac'' album, Vito sang and played in a manner that recalled the legendary Green.

If all of this sounds slightly ambivalent, it should. This was not a show by a real group, in any sense. It was, instead, a show by a group that has, as yet, no sound of its own but must play up to the history of an older group -- or several older groups -- that no longer exist.

But within this context, the Mac acquitted itself as best it could. Christine McVie is still a stunning songwriter and vocalist -- her latest work on songs like ''Little Lies,'' from ''Tango,'' is, perhaps, her finest.

And drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie still make for one of the best rhythm sections in rock, ripping out the beats and bass lines with wit and intensity. (Fleetwood's furious drum solo was played close to the vest, literally, with the bearded, buccaneerish fellow playing that part of his attire, which was fitted out with electronic drum pads.)

Only Nicks was disappointing. Done out (and in) in cascades of black velvet, with her locks frizzed, she looked a little like the Bride of Frankenstein. The only problem was that she sounded the same, hitting and missing notes and singing with a hyperbolic hoarseness.

Then there was the matter of the film crew.

''How does it feel to be in a movie?'' Vito asked at one point. Lousy, that's how. For the entire show, the group was surrounded by cameramen and remote cameras that constantly got in the way of the stage action. On many occasions, it was almost impossible to see the group for its crew. It was shameful. It was annoying. Mostly, it was a rip-off. If the group really wants to make a film of its tour, it should rent the Cow Palace for an extra day and let the fans in free for the shoot (as Duran Duran did at the Oakland Coliseum in 1984 for its film).

How much did this matter to the fans? Probably not much. They got the hits, they got the sound -- old and new -- and, thinking about the group and its tempestuous history, they were probably content with the notion that Fleetwood Mac is still playing at all.
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Old 04-18-2008, 09:12 PM
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Hobart Mercury, July 12, 1990

Fleetwood Mac seems indestructible:

1)Stevie Nicks . . . "the core members of this band, we're way beyond friends. We've been together so long, they are without a doubt my second family."

2)Mick Fleetwood, author of Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac . . . causing consternation by not letting other members of the group have a pre-publication peek at the book he says tells the truth about the band.


By GARY GRAFF Dallas

SITTING poolside in sweltering Dallas heat and talking on a portable telephone, Fleetwood Mac's Billy Burnette says it's time once again to man the bomb shelters and cover your heads.

"Things could all explode in about 2 months," the singer-guitarist-songwriter said as his band mates laughed in the background. "It could be a whole Fleetwood Mac nuclear explosion." It's no secret Fleetwood Mac is one of rock's most volatile bands.

During its 23 years it has survived 11 personnel lineups, explosive intra-group romances, a defection to a religious cult, bankruptcy and a fake Fleetwood Mac running around the world not to mention the usual rock 'n' roll vices of drugs and alcohol, which sent singer Stevie Nicks and bassist John McVie into treatment.

The new detonator may be founder-drummer Mick Fleetwood's autobiography, which is due out in August when the group will be touring to promote its latest album, Behind The Mask. The book, he says, will tell the truth about the group.

"There's been several books written about Fleetwood Mac," said the 48-year-old drummer, who cofounded the group as a blues band in London.

"Some of it has been correct, some of it incorrect. I think this book, this document is overdue." What's causing some consternation, however, is Fleetwood's adamant refusal to allow any of his band mates a pre-publication peek at Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac, written with Stephen Davis, the author of the illuminating and controversial Led Zeppelin biography Hammer of the Gods. And that includes Nicks, with whom Fleetwood had an affair during the 1970s.

"I don't want to get in a situation where you find yourself with too many chefs," he said.

"I don't want everybody saying: 'Why didn't you say this? Why didn't you say that?' or 'Why did you say this?'. That's not how to write a book. Whatever's in there is true.

"I just hope the s... doesn't hit the fan when it comes out. We're just starting this tour, which is going really well, and I guess with the book coming out there's a little bit of, uh, confusion going on, if you want to put it that way.

"But after the amount of stuff we've all been through, I figured they should be able to handle this." Indeed, Fleetwood Mac has survived the kind of problems that would have ended the careers of a less hearty bunch of musicians among them the 1971 mid-tour defection of guitarist Jeremy Spencer to the Children Of God cult and a series of lawsuits during the mid-70s to stop a bogus Fleetwood Mac from performing.

Mick Fleetwood had to file for bankruptcy in 1984.

Then there was the unimaginable tension caused by the simultaneous breakup of group relationships John and Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham and Nicks, as well as Fleetwood's own divorce during the making of the blockbuster Rumours album.

When all this behind-the-scenes turbulence is considered, Fleetwood Mac's longevity seems almost miraculous.

"It is somewhat remarkable," Fleetwood said. "The real root has been, pure and simply, that we enjoy playing music together.

"That has always been the catalyst that's pulled us through the strange times. That's the truth and, seemingly, the absolute main reason why this band is still ploughing forward." Nicks, perhaps the group's most recognisable member and a confessed "problem child" who also maintains a solo career, said: "The core members of this band, we're way beyond friends. We've been together so long, they are without a doubt my second family. They're the people I'm closest to in the whole world." These days things are calm in the Fleetwood Mac camp a change that was, fittingly, brought about by more adversity.

In 1987, after the release of the Tango in the Night album, singer-guitarist-producer Lindsey Buckingham left the group.

It was a major loss. With his edgy songwriting, distinctive guitar playing and studio skills, Buckingham had become the architect of a soft-edged rock sound that had taken Fleetwood Mac from minor success to international superstardom.

Under his direction, the band became a dependable multi-million seller the 1977 Rumours album sold 15 million.

Buckingham's decision he had grown disenchanted with touring and heavy sales expectations was no surprise, but the group's response turned a few heads.

"I think most people thought that's the end of that lot," Fleetwood said.

Instead, the remaining quartet hired Burnette and guitarist Rick Vito and set off on a long world tour.

"Rather than roll over like a dead dog, we decided that we were going to do the spunky thing and make a move to go ahead," Fleetwood said.

As far as the Macs are concerned, the decision has proven wiser than expected. The tour allowed Burnette and Vito to work their way into the group.

"That way," Burnette said, "we were a band before we went into the studio to start recording." Mick Fleetwood has heard the rumour that the band will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 1992 with a reunion concert bringing together all the celebrated guitarists who have passed through the lineup.

Fleetwood's response is: "What reunion? People keep talking about it, but we've never said anything official about it. Yes, I would love to do it. But, quite frankly, I don't think it can ever happen." Fleetwood said the group's original trio of guitarists are all in dire circumstances these days.

Danny Kirwan lives in a hostel for the homeless in England and doesn't own a guitar.

Spencer travels the world with the Children Of God. And Peter Green, Fleetwood said cryptically, is "just not in the proper state of mind, to put it bluntly".

Still, the various record companies that have released Fleetwood Mac records are considering a retrospective album to commemorate the anniversary.
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Old 04-19-2008, 01:06 AM
michelej1 michelej1 is offline
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Sydney Morning Herald, April 14, 1990


THERE was a time when Fleetwood Mac were somewhat passe. Sure, Rumours has sold 20,000,000 copies and everyone knew all the songs on the album but they had been hijacked by easy-listening radio and they seemed far removed from any sense of contemporary relevance.

But in rock music, if you can hang in there long enough, your time will come again. The revisionists, recalling their youth, have suddenly realised that between 1975 and 1977 Fleetwood Mac wrote some of the most memorable and delightful songs in the pop canon.

The result is that, although most of their audience are pushing 40, Fleetwood Mac are firmly back in favour. They've actually sold more nights at the Entertainment Centre than Phil Collins. Not bad for a band whose reputation rests on an album which is now over 13 years old.

Part of the appeal of Fleetwood Mac in live performance is that the band boasts enough genuine eccentrics to keep even the most jaded audience mesmerised.

There's Mick Fleetwood, standing over two metres tall in his doublet and hose, whose solo performance involves putting on a "drum jacket" (a waistcoat wired for sound and responsive to every touch) and then, while moving around stage like some demented stick insect, proceeding to play with himself. His genital cymbals were particularly interesting.

And then there's the incredible Stevie Nicks who, wearing preposterously high heels, teeters on and off stage with a sort of dreamy "hello birds, hello sky" demeanour. She spent most of the evening changing from one flowing robe to the next and by the end of the concert she was changing outfits with such regularity she seemed to be straying on stage from some backstage fashion show.

Compared with these mesmerising lunatics, Christine McVie and the two new members, Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, represent sanity.

The end result was one of the best big production shows I have seen. In part Fleetwood Mac's success is based on their string of wonderfully appealing hits but they are also a genuinely no-nonsense rock band boasting one of the best rock rhythm sections in the world upon which the McVie-Nicks female harmonies fit so smoothly and so perfectly.
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Old 06-15-2008, 12:43 AM
michelej1 michelej1 is offline
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Globe and Mail, November 1, 1990

HEADLINE: POP REVIEWS " A Toronto performance this week marked the end of an era for the veteran rockers, but some inspired guitar work promises a bright future as the band changes course Guitar duo takes the spotlight in Fleetwood Mac show

BYLINE: ALAN NIESTER; SPCL

BODY:


BY ALAN NIESTER
Special to The Globe and Mail
BARRING any unforeseen reunion in the distant future, Tuesday night's
performance by Fleetwood Mac at SkyDome afforded Toronto audiences their
last opportunity to see the band in its most popular configuration.
Once the current Behind The Mask Tour concludes, long-time members
Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie will no longer tour with the band
(although whether they will record with the other members is still to be
decided). It marks the end of an era, one that began back in 1970 with
McVie's entrance, and blossomed in 1975 on the wings of Stevie Nick's
impassioned vocal style.

But if anything, Tuesday's performance was not so much a eulogy for
Nicks and McVie as it was a coronation for guitarists Rick Vito and
Billy Burnette. Drummer, founder and CEO Mick Fleetwood has already
announced that the band will carry on after Nicks and McVie depart, and
judging by this performance, it would seem that the direction the band
is likely to take is guitar-oriented, a throwback to the blues-based
days of Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. Because Tuesday night, Vito and
Burnette were given every opportunity to shine, and shine they did.

The set list for this show ranged over the entire Fleetwood Mac
catalogue, all the way back to the the late sixties. Lead guitarist Vito
and rhythm guitarist Burnette were allowed to romp through songs as
ancient as Peter Green's venerable Oh Well. And while they may have
taken some questionable liberties with the vocal phrasing, the guitar
stylings were inspired, mixing classic blues elements with arena-sized
rock moves. Make no mistake, both these guys can really play, and their
presence indicates a much more guitar-dominated sound for the future of
this band, whatever that is.

For their part, McVie and Nicks ran through all the predictable
choices - Nicks on Rhiannon and Go Your Own Way, McVie on You Make
Loving Fun, for example, but their performances tended to be perfunctory.
There was no real flash here from either performer. Certainly both were
competent and professional, but hardly inspired. And Nicks' stilted
attempts at stage movement (hard to believe that this was the same woman
who used to spin like a dervish on live performances of Rhiannon) made
her seem much older that she really is.

For their part, the rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie
was as solid and unobtrusive as ever (with the exception of a truly
excessive and pointless drum solo on World Turning). The duo can
undoubtedly go on this way for decades yet, and undoubtedly will. Judging
by the performances witnessed by the 14,000 fans Tuesday, that they will
do so without Nicks and McVie is not necessarily so bad.
Sometimes in life, things we assume to be true are not necessarily so.
While it's true, for example, that Ulysses S. Grant is buried in Grant's
Tomb, it is also true that The Seven Years War lasted nine years, and
that the Battle Of Bunker Hill was actually fought at a spot called
Breed's Hill. Therefore, it should have come as no real surprise that New
Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band, which performed a short set at The
Concert Hall Sunday night, should consist of just eight members.

But it also quickly became apparent that those phantom four were not
missed anyway, that the eight musicians who did comprise the ensemble
were more than adequate to the task at hand. Consisting of two
percussionists and six brass players, the Dirty Dozen served up a serious
and spicy gumbo of jazz (both traditional and modern), R & B, and John
Philip Souza-inspired march music. With the bass parts being handled by
the big guy on Souzaphone (a wrap-around, anchor-like instrument often
mistaken for a tuba), and the percussion being split between a snare
drum player and one with a belly-mounted bass drum, the band's four
selections managed to find a place in a weird Bermuda Triangle of music
bordered by Souza on one side, Duke Ellington on the second and Blood,
Sweat and Tears on the third.

With the marching band rhythms dominating the mix, one couldn't help
but expect to look up to find the whole L.S.U. football team ready to
take the stage next. But while some of the individuals who followed did
look like linemen, they were in fact the rockers of Los Lobos, who
headlined this event.

This veteran rock band from East L.A. is probably best known for its
breakthrough reworking of Richie Valens' La Bamba, but it really is much
more than a fifties cover band. This is, in fact, one of the tightest
and most versatile rock bands touring today, and it's getting better.

The focus of Los Lobos' set was guitar-dominated rock and roll.
Numbers like Evangeline, Come On Let's Go and Will The Wolf Survive?
were simple without being simplistic. Fueled by the dual guitars of David
Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas, and with Hidalgo's clean vocals soaring into the
rafters, Los Lobos would seem to be the logical descendants of fifties
rockers like Valens, Buddy Holly and even Elvis Presley.

But the band, and Hidalgo in particular, have lately become more
interested in their own Mexican-American roots, with the result that
multi-instrumentalist Hidalgo spiced up mid-set numbers with fancy
fiddle and accordion runs, which certainly added a new dimension to Los
Lobos' already intriguing mix.
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Old 06-16-2008, 11:16 AM
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David David is offline
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"Behind the Mask"

A seamless melding of shlock form & shlock content --- true shlock art.
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