Bekka Bramlett at CMA FanFest

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by macfan 57

This is from an article in Mojo Magazine during the Dance reunion:

Also appearing on Time was one Christine McVie, who politely notes that her appearance, "was something that I had not volunteered to do; it was contractual. I don't like to harp on it very much, but I thought the music was starting to get a little strange, the choices a little funny. I wasn't really enjoying that particular incarnation of the band, and I left."

I think she was referring to Dave Mason(who she hated) being in the band at the time.

My HUNCH on that is that Mick, John, and Christine had signed a contract to do another Fleetwood Mac album after the whole Clinton "Don't Stop" thing. Those three probably assumed that Billy was going to be in the band (i.e. the "Love Shines" group), but then he took off. (My hunch on that is that he wanted to act, wanted to do a country album, and was still a little pissed about Lindsey not letting him play at that Clinton gig.) So, the band needed a male singer/songwriter and a guitarist, and Dave Mason fit that bill, and he had a name.

Here's the thing, though. If Christine was so opposed to the direction of the group, why did she let five songs go on the album? For me, contractual obligation means I put one song on the album and sing harmony on a couple of other songs. It's not like Billy and Dave couldn't have come up with four songs between them.

Originally Posted by macfan 57

This is just speculation, but maybe it has something to do with Steve Winwood. Steve & Dave Mason have had problems between them for years & Chris & Steve have been great friends for many, many years.

I think it's deeper than that. Remember, Steve, Christine, and Dave are all from Birmingham, and all go way back to the days of the Spencer Davis Group. Christine was "dating" Spencer Davis when they "discovered" Steve Winwood, and Dave Mason was a roadie for the Spencer Davis Group. (Groupies and roadies have been known to have issues.)

Furthermore, I've heard from several Mason fans that Dave still has a sweet nostril, and that Dave and Mick together boosted the cost of making "Time" by about a million bucks, hence why it got almost no promotion. Plus, Dave had a lot of power issues. Remember, the guy had been a solo artist for 27 years at that point, and really wasn't used to compromise. And, let's be honest, Dave's material was fairly weak by both the standards of Fleetwood Mac and by Dave's own body of work, solo and with Traffic. So, to sum up, Dave was burned-out, coked-up, overyly-picky, under-achieving, and bossy, which I'm sure made Christine a little less than happy to be a part of the project. And, yes, it was I who had the chat in which "asshole" came up.

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

I never quite got the Dave Mason thing either. I LOVE the Time band, save for Dave!

I TOTALLY got the Dave Mason thing. Think about it: the band had just added Bekka Bramlett to the fold. Dave Mason, having been a part of Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, and having a history of having gigs with Fleetwood Mac, was an obvious choice, at least on paper. However, Dave seems to have gotten as far removed from that as possible. He seems to have less to do with the guy who could hang with the likes of Stevie Wonder, George Harrison, and CSN, and seems more bent on being a guitar hero a la Clapton and Hendrix, which means he totally doesn't get his appeal. What really killed Dave's place in the band, though, was Billy Burnette coming back into the fold. Now, again, on paper, it should have worked, as Billy was also heavily associated with Delaney Bramlett. But, Billy stayed more true to the Delaney & Bonnie thing, and was able to develop the chemistry with Bekka that Mick probably had hoped would happen between Bekka and Dave.