John McVie Interview, December 87

[michelej1]

San Jose Mercury News (CA),December 11, 1987



Section: Weekend

MAC'S BACK FACES HAVE CHANGED, BUT THE SONGS REMAIN ALMOST THE SAME

HARRY SUMRALL, Mercury News Pop Music Writer


IT'S the first Tuesday in December and John McVie, the ''Mac'' of Fleetwood Mac, is calling from Austin, Texas. Into the ninth week of the group's tour (which makes its way to the Cow Palace Saturday and Sunday), McVie is enjoying a two-day break, and he sounds easygoing and relaxed. ''It's nice here,'' he says. ''I just got back from a round of golf at Willie Nelson's country club.''

With Fleetwood Mac's latest album, ''Tango In The Night,'' selling platinum (1 million copies sold) and its most recent single, ''Little Lies'' just now fading on the charts, it is possible for McVie to take it easy.

But in August, it wasn't such a breezy picture. ''Tango'' was out and selling and the tour was ready to roll when guitarist Lindsey Buckingham decided to depart the group and pursue a career as a solo performer.

What was the Mac to do?

''Before Lindsey had decided to quit,'' McVie says, ''we had already thought about adding another guitarist for the tour. Instead, we ended up with two.'' The two were Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, former collaborators with drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist McVie. Both were hurriedly assembled and became full-time Fleetwoods as of an official news conference Aug. 18.

''Billy had worked with Mick's group and, in the '70s, Rick and I had played with John Mayall,'' McVie says. ''We had them by for a rehearsal, and it just worked from the start. The combination of the two of them seemed right. We just said, 'They're in!' ''

For any other group, the departure of such an important member (Buckingham co-produced ''Tango,'' played guitar and wrote several of the album's songs) might have created a crisis, or made the others in the group think about calling it a day. But, with Fleetwood Mac, it was more like business as usual. Over the course of its 20-year career, the group has changed members (particularly guitarists) the way a snake sheds its skin.

The '60s version of the Mac saw guitarist and founder Peter Green go his own way, followed by guitarists Danny Kirwan and Jeremy Spencer. At that point, guitarist Bob Welch joined, along with McVie's wife (at the time), Christine, on keyboards. But Welch quit after a time, and Buckingham and Stevie Nicks became Macs. And now, Buckingham . . .

''I think the reason the group never broke up is really down to Mick and myself,'' says McVie, 42, a founder along with Fleetwood and Green. ''We have common tastes and ways of thinking about what we want to do that have made it possible to survive when the others have quit.''

Changing, flourishing

Through it all, the Mac not only survived but also flourished. The no-compromise blues stance of the Green days (Green was one of the seminal exponents of the British blues scene), with records such as 1968's ''Fleetwood Mac'' and 1969's ''Mr. Wonderful,'' gave way, in the Welch period, to an eclectic sound that could be heard on such records as 1972's ''Bare Trees'' and 1974's ''Heroes Are Hard To Find.'' And, when Welch gave way to Buckingham/Nicks, the Mac entered the period of its greatest commercial success, with 1977's ''Rumours.'' That record, with its mellow rock sound, became one of the biggest-selling albums of all time. (Its sales have reached 20 million.)

But that record represented the apex of the Mac's musical and commercial output. Subsequent records, such as 1979's ''Tusk,'' ''Fleetwood Mac Live'' from 1980 and ''Mirage'' from 1982, seemed to lack the energy of former releases (while still selling platinum). After ''Mirage,'' the Mac disappeared for five years, as various members pursued solo careers and McVie hauled into St. Thomas for a brief respite. ''We were in touch with each other the whole time,'' he says. ''But we had to get away from each other and the group. We knew we'd get together when everyone thought the time was right.''

And now there is the new and bigger Mac.

New blood for good feeling

''In many ways, it feels good with Billy and Rick,'' McVie says. ''There's a new feeling of enthusiasm and fresh blood in the group. Lindsey was never a blues-oriented guitarist, but Rick is, and slowly, I think we're coming round to a sound that is very similar to what we did long ago.''

At this point, that sound will not be heard for a while, as the group churns out its hits on the tour. ''But we are playing a blues from the first album,'' McVie says.

''Right now, Christine and Stevie are writing new songs for the next album,'' he says. ''We start work on it next summer, and it should be out sometime in 1989.'' Vito and Burnette, at this point, are definitely a part of the Mac's plans.

''I don't know of any reason why we shouldn't do what we've always done,'' McVie says. ''With this group we have the perfect environment as people and a band. There is space in it for individuals to do what they want, but to also play as a group. We've never tried to sound a certain way -- to be successful or commercial. We just stumble about, and 99 per cent of the time it just happens to work. And through it all we try to maintain our sense of humor.

''The group is fresh because of their (Burnette's and Vito's) presence. We are out touring and having fun and that's what we like to do. When it gets to the point where it isn't fun, that's when we'll think about disbanding the group.''

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Fleetwood Mac

With the Cruzados

When: Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m.

Where: Cow Palace, Daly City.

Tickets: $18.50 reserved.