Oregon Statesman Journal

[michelej1]

[This is the same interview, but I don't think we've previously read the part with Mick saying that Bob Welch was the most influential member who left, after Peter Green. He cited Welch as the reason for their survival in the U.S.]

Oregon Statesman Journal
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/arti...906160321/1049

June 16, 2009
By LARRY RODGERS • The Arizona Republic • June 16, 2009

Plenty of classic-rock bands, including Led Zeppelin, the Who, the Rolling Stones and Lynyrd Skynyrd, have been dangerously volatile away from the stage, falling victim to substance abuse, emotional turmoil, squabbles among members and even death.

Fleetwood Mac sits at or near the top of the list of emotionally dysfunctional groups, thanks to intra-band marriage, affairs and breakups, legal problems, a revolving door of members, a fondness for drugs and alcohol and, most important, the amazing ability of its members to emerge relatively sane and healthy after decades of drama.

Add to those challenges the fact that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band's current lineup, which has been intact for 11 years, features three strong personalities — singer Stevie Nicks, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and drummer Mick Fleetwood (the fourth member, John McVie, seems to roll with the flow) — that have repeatedly clashed on artistic and personal levels.

"We are a group of great contradictions, a group that in some strange way ... the members don't necessarily have any business being in a band together because of the range of sensibilities is disparate," says Buckingham, who was in a romantic and musical partnership with Nicks for five years before and during their early time in Fleetwood Mac.

"But that, in fact, is what makes Fleetwood Mac what it is. It's the whole being greater than the ... parts. It's the kind of energy that is created from that kind of contrast in personalities."

The four current members of Fleetwood Mac (all in their early 60s) participated in a conversation with journalists that lasted nearly two hours and provided a glimpse into the group's artistic and personal dynamics.

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Nicks and Buckingham, as well as McVie and keyboardist-singer Christine McVie (who retired in 1998), managed to coexist in Fleetwood Mac after their romances ended. (The McVies divorced in 1977, the year the band's biggest-selling album, "Rumours," was released). Nicks also has acknowledged a liaison with Fleetwood after he divorced his wife.

Nicks was asked about the search for another female member after McVie retired. Some saw McVie as serving as a buffer between Nicks and Buckingham, who to this day exhibit a level of tension when performing such emotionally charged hits as "Landslide," "Go Your Own Way" and "Silver Springs." The group came close in 2008 to recruiting Sheryl Crow, a longtime friend of Nicks. Crow, who was a new mother at the time, decided at the 11th hour that family needs were too demanding.

QUESTION: You spoke about working within Fleetwood Mac without Christine for a number of years now. I'm wondering whether you've given any thought to a new female singer joining the band and whether you would be open to that.

ANSWER: As far as having another girl in the band, after we (talked with Crow), we really realized that there wasn't going to be another woman to come in this band that was going to fix our problems. I was looking at it three years ago as a buffer between me and Lindsey. And Lindsey and I don't need a buffer, because certainly Sheryl Crow and not any other woman in this world (is) going to be able to get in the middle of Lindsey and me.

So the fact is, is that if Lindsey and I can't work out our problems by ourselves, we might as well throw in the towel. So that's what we're currently trying to do, is work out our own problems.

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Buckingham hinted that the group's last major tour — in 2003-04 to support "Say You Will," Mac's first studio album in eight years — added pressure to the band from the challenge of delivering the new songs onstage. He spoke about how the band's ongoing greatest-hits tour could be smoother.

Q: Lindsey, you have such a rebellious, adventurous spirit as an artist. I wonder if you have any mixed feelings about embarking on a greatest-hits tour.

A: By virtue of the fact that we don't have an album to push (and) we are not working on new material, we can sort of relax into just hanging as people a little bit more. I think when we left the "Say You Will" tour, there was some discontent about how everything got left and I think it just speaks of ... Fleetwood Mac as a group of people.


You wouldn't think it would be possible all these years later, but it is still to some degree a work in progress in terms of how we all interact as people. We've been down this road, a long, long road, together. And in some ways, we know each other better than we know anybody else. We share things with each other that we've never shared with other people. And I think that we all want to dignify the road we've been down.


Fleetwood talked about the mind-boggling parade of players that has come through Fleetwood Mac since he co-founded it with John McVie, Peter Green and Jeremy Spencer. (Buckingham and Nicks joined in 1974.) Other members included Bob Welch, who led the group to chart success in the early '70s, and Dave Mason, who came onboard during a weak stretch in the early '90s when Buckingham and Nicks had temporarily left the band.

Q: This band, maybe more than any other band, has gone through so many different reincarnations. I'm wondering how this constantly shifting nature of Fleetwood Mac has affected the music, the fan base and yourself.

A: There's no doubt that Peter Green, who started this band with me and John in 1967, is someone who is forever remembered as part of our band history. A couple of people have come and gone that ... didn't stay long enough, and the next person would have been Bob Welch, who's a major part of our early-'70s survival in the United States.

And all of these changes, which started right from the get-go ... have been truly part of the story of Fleetwood Mac. ... I think it's really been, looking back on it, something that has not always been easy. But change and surviving that change ... is somewhat of a miracle.


Nicks and Buckingham have written some of Fleetwood Mac's biggest hits. Nicks' credits include "Rhiannon," "Dreams," "Gold Dust Woman," "Landslide" and "Sara." Buckingham wrote "Go Your Own Way," "Second Hand News" and co-wrote "The Chain."

Buckingham talked about how the meaning of songs changes as relationships come and go and the years pass.

Q: A lot of your songs were written 25 or 30 years ago. Has the meaning of songs like "Go Your Own Way" or "Landslide" changed? Are you still comfortable playing them?

A: Even though we were drawing on our own experiences, I don't believe that we felt that the songs on "Rumours" in particular were so starkly autobiographical. I think that ... they sort of slipped into a slightly more generic vein.

The meaning of the songs of mine (has) shifted slightly in the same way that the meaning of the band has shifted. You tend to see the irony in the songs and you tend to see maybe the heroism a little bit that we possessed.

We saw that we had this destiny, and that we had to rise above the personal difficulties. And we saw that the music could actually have redemptive power for us and could be a symbol of that for other people.

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Nicks has enjoyed the most commercial success as a solo artist. Despite recording while battling and conquering addiction to cocaine and tranquilizers, five of her solo albums have been certified platinum (1 million or more in sales).

She commented on the contrast between solo and band projects.

Q: What are the different things that you get out of working as part of a group as opposed to being a prolific solo artist?

A: When you're in a band, you're a team. When you're in your solo work, I'm the boss. So I'm not the boss now, and I've realized that.

And I have gone back and forth about it in my head: "Do I like not being the boss?" And I've decided that I really actually do like being the boss. But I've been in Fleetwood Mac for so long that I understand how to not be the boss and to be a part of a team ... because we've been doing this for so long.

Fleetwood: And I'm the boss now.

Nicks: You're all fired.

[Erin]

I hope one day the full transcript from this interview session will appear. All the cherry-picking from various articles can change the tone to suit the particular interviewer. But thanks for posting it!