Oklahoma Interview

[michelej1]

The Oklahoman, By George Lang

http://newsok.com/buckingham-goes-ow...222379074&pg=2

When Lindsey Buckingham discusses his life, both inside Fleetwood Mac and in the free zone of his solo career, his descriptors take on political airs. The guitarist describes music he makes on his own being "far to the left,” and the deliberations determining what parts of his solo work the band could absorb sound like what diplomatic correspondents often call "high level talks."

Buckingham, who performs tonight at Tulsa's Brady Theater, released his fifth solo disc, "Gift of Screws,” last week. It is an album that has existed in various forms for about 13 years, but great swaths of it were harvested twice: when Fleetwood Mac reunited in the late '90s for its live disc, "The Dance,” and for 2003's studio return, "Say You Will.”

"Those two are not the only times, but those are probably the most prime examples of what might be called ‘interventions' on solo work,” Buckingham said in a recent phone interview. An earlier run of solo endeavor in the mid-'80s got sidelined when Mac asked Buckingham to record what was to be his final album with the band, 1987's "Tango In the Night.”

There are two camps, or parties, who see this pattern from starkly different perspectives. There are Fleetwood Mac loyalists who still go pale recalling the stark blandness of 1990's Buckingham-free "Behind the Mask.” They believe that their favorite band cannot exist without its oddest component, the inventive string man who orchestrated the 1977 pop classic "Rumours” and then brilliantly detonated all that heartbreak and beauty with the messy and magnificent "Tusk.” And then there is a smaller group of Buckingham-loyal insurrectionists — fans who believe "Go Insane” and "Gift of Screws” offer their troubled genius in his best, undiluted state.

After "Say You Will,” Buckingham laid down the law, telling Stevie Nicks, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood that there would be a moratorium on picking over his work for future Mac projects.

"What I did was, I said to the band, ‘Look. I want to take about a three-year period and I don't want anyone knocking on my door,” he said. "My intention is to try to get two albums out in a relatively short period of time for me and to tour behind both of those albums. And when I'm done, we can talk about Fleetwood Mac again.”

When the band last knocked on his door, the resulting "Say You Will” sounded a lot like Buckingham and Nicks solo discs sandwiched together. But that meant that some odd-duck Buckingham tracks such as "Red Rover” and "Murrow Turning Over in His Grave” made the cut, and few purists would think of such songs as bedrock Fleetwood Mac material.

"The last time stuff that was that far to the left made it onto a Fleetwood Mac album was probably ‘Tusk.' So, in a way I was happy about that,” Buckingham said. "But it's not always easy to know. More often than not, what defines it as a Fleetwood Mac song is as much dictated by the politics of the band and what they are receptive to.”

As the Buckingham-free years reinforced, the guitarist's musical eccentricity is the fire that keeps that band alive. When he discusses the music he considers most pivotal in his artistic development, it is the work that most threatened Fleetwood Mac's standing in the '70s California "mellow mafia.”

"In the post-‘Rumours' environment, when we were poised to follow everyone's expectations and make ‘Rumours II,' shall we say, and to fall back on the formulas that were spontaneously created during the process of ‘Rumours,' I made the choice to make a complete left turn and to open up whole new areas of my process and bring them back to the band and take more chances and to present an album that was certainly more challenging and confounded people's expectations certainly,” he said.

"And that was the ‘Tusk' album. I kind of drew a line in the sand in terms of what was important and what wasn't, and (‘Tusk' is) the one that I always look back on as the beginning of me, you know, trying to maintain a road in which I'm making choices for the reasons that I think are important.”

In the mid-'80s, when Buckingham, Nicks, and former singer and keyboardist Christine McVie all enjoyed high-profile solo careers, it seemed Fleetwood Mac was a necessary evil, a beast that none of them particularly liked to feed anymore. This doesn't seem to be the case 25 years later. Christine McVie is retired, but the rest of the band seems more committed to the idea of Fleetwood Mac than at any time since "Rumours.”

A recent story involving Sheryl Crow and the band is a solid sign of this commitment. Earlier this year, Crow announced to Spinner.com that she and Fleetwood Mac "definitely have plans for collaborating in the future, and we'll see what happens.” Crow's forwardness — a breach of political protocol — sent the rest of the band into a defensive posture and, eventually, an offensive posture.

"That has come and gone,” Buckingham said. "I think Stevie put out the feelers and asked if she would be interested in doing that, and that was as far as it got. It was a hypothetical. And then, you know, when Sheryl was doing press for her album that was out a few months ago, she took it upon herself to announce to the world that she was joining Fleetwood Mac. And that's where all of this comes from: she made a choice to announce something which had not been even decided. The manner in which she did it was inappropriate in everyone's eyes, that if you're going to do that, you sit down as a band and announce it with everyone there.

"I know it bothered Stevie a great deal — and Mick, I think,” he said. "And I certainly thought it was off the wall. Stevie and Sheryl had some rather harsh words about it, and she was basically given her marching orders — not that she had even been in the group in the first place.”

So unless the band takes a shine to Colbie Caillat or at least someone who understands the band's modus operandi, it looks as though a four-member Fleetwood Mac will reconvene next year.

"Yeah, I think probably in January the band will start rehearsing,” Buckingham said before ironically echoing Sheryl Crow's fatal statement. "And then we'll see what happens.”

[michelej1]

Lindsey is telling tales outside of school. You know Sheryl Crow may have bothered Mick and Stevie a little, but you know who she bothered the most? Lindsey!

Michele

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by michelej1

So unless the band takes a shine to Colbie Caillat or at least someone who understands the band's modus operandi, it looks as though a four-member Fleetwood Mac will reconvene next year.

"Yeah, I think probably in January the band will start rehearsing,” Buckingham said before ironically echoing Sheryl Crow's fatal statement. "And then we'll see what happens.”

Let's just hope these rehearsals lead to a WORLD tour (I would like to see a concert at Tulsa's new downtown BOK Arena)

[mgikallaroundme]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Lindsey is telling tales outside of school. You know Sheryl Crow may have bothered Mick and Stevie a little, but you know who she bothered the most? Lindsey!

Michele

No, it was his idea. Stevie wanted it in the worst way. Mick and John shot it down. She cuts too much into their piece of the pie.

[mylittledemon]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Lindsey is telling tales outside of school. You know Sheryl Crow may have bothered Mick and Stevie a little, but you know who she bothered the most? Lindsey!

Michele

Well, the whole adding another female WAS Stevie's idea.

My guess is that Sheryl got a little over excited, and obviously, blabbed before anything was set in stone.

[CADreaming]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

Well, the whole adding another female WAS Stevie's idea.

My guess is that Sheryl got a little over excited, and obviously, blabbed before anything was set in stone.

My guess is that it was all planned and they went out to dinner after and toasted to Sheryl's inappropriate comments. Long live the Mac!

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

Well, the whole adding another female WAS Stevie's idea.

My guess is that Sheryl got a little over excited, and obviously, blabbed before anything was set in stone.

I know that, but in saying that Stevie had harsh words with Sheryl, Lindsey is relating something that is not really his to disclose -- which is what I meant by telling tales out of school. He's releasing information that the people who actually HAD the discussion would rather keep between themselves. I mean, if it didn't happen to him, why is he talking about it. Why is it his place to say, "And yeah, Stevie was really, really mad at her?"

If he wants to talk about things he wasn't involved in, why doesn't he tell us about Mick and Stevie's sex life?

I was upset about the Sheryl thing for Lindsey's sake myself. I don't believe in having anything forced upon him -- unless it's occasionally my fist on his nose. But he is just entirely carried away with himself now. All he needs to say is "that was a rumor. We discussed it, but it never came to anything." End of story.

Michele

[mgikallaroundme]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I know that, but in saying that Stevie had harsh words with Sheryl, Lindsey is relating something that is not really his to disclose -- which is what I meant by telling tales out of school. He's releasing information that the people who actually HAD the discussion would rather keep between themselves. I mean, if it didn't happen to him, why is he talking about it. Why is it his place to say, "And yeah, Stevie was really, really mad at her?"
Michele

He never said Stevie was mad at Sheryl. He said Stevie had harsh words with Sheryl not toward her. You assume he was not involved in the disucssion but how do you know he wasn't a party to this exchange? How do you know Stevie didn't have harsh words with Sheryl and those words weren't directed at somebody else? You assume they all weren't on the same page regarding this issue. Trust me. They were. Drinks after dinner were on the house.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by mgikallaroundme

He never said Stevie was mad at Sheryl. He said Stevie had harsh words with Sheryl not toward her. You assume he was not involved in the disucssion but how do you know he wasn't a party to this exchange? How do you know Stevie didn't have harsh words with Sheryl and those words weren't directed at somebody else? You assume they all weren't on the same page regarding this issue. Trust me. They were. Drinks after dinner were on the house.

I think you're usually mad when you have harsh words with someone. Stern words, maybe no madness. Harsh -- different story.

That doesn't mean that Stevie and Sheryl's friendship doesn't endure, but based on Lindsey's comments on this issue about Stevie (and Mick) being "upset" and now -- Stevie having harsh words with Sheryl, I think he's indeed saying that Stevie was mad at Sheryl. No big leap there.

I am sure they were all on the same page with Sheryl not being part of FM and I don't doubt that anything Lindsey is saying is TRUE. I just don't think it's his place to say it. Both Sheryl and Stevie have put a diplomatic face on whatever went down. Stevie said that Sheryl's baby was too young for Sheryl to make that sort of commitment. Sheryl says she doesn't even know how the rumor got started or attributed to her. She is acting like it never happened. She says she loves Stevie and all of the band really.

Only Lindsey is saying Sheryl got her walking papers. She was inappropriate. Mick and Stevie were upset, Stevie got all mad. There was a catfight. Sheryl will now be run out of the music business on a rail. I suspect she will be stoned and, to follow Emily Dickinson, the title of Lindsey's next album will be based on "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson.

And if Lindsey was there when Sheryl got her walking papers -- if Lindsey needs to talk about it (and he doesn't), why doesn't he say what HE said to Sheryl? If Stevie wants people to know she had harsh words with her, I think she would tell the press herself.

I didn't want Sheryl in the band. I don't like people cramping Lindsey's style. But I'd like to cramp him myself sometimes.

Michele

[Nico]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I think you're usually mad when you have harsh words with someone. Stern words, maybe no madness. Harsh -- different story.

That doesn't mean that Stevie and Sheryl's friendship doesn't endure, but based on Lindsey's comments on this issue about Stevie (and Mick) being "upset" and now -- Stevie having harsh words with Sheryl, I think he's indeed saying that Stevie was mad at Sheryl. No big leap there.

I am sure they were all on the same page with Sheryl not being part of FM and I don't doubt that anything Lindsey is saying is TRUE. I just don't think it's his place to say it. Both Sheryl and Stevie have put a diplomatic face on whatever went down. Stevie said that Sheryl's baby was too young for Sheryl to make that sort of commitment. Sheryl says she doesn't even know how the rumor got started or attributed to her. She is acting like it never happened. She says she loves Stevie and all of the band really.

Only Lindsey is saying Sheryl got her walking papers. She was inappropriate. Mick and Stevie were upset, Stevie got all mad. There was a catfight. Sheryl will now be run out of the music business on a rail. I suspect she will be stoned and the title of Lindsey's next album will be "The Lottery".

And if Lindsey was there when Sheryl got her walking papers -- if Lindsey needs to talk about it (and he doesn't), why doesn't he say what HE said to Sheryl? If Stevie wants people to know she had harsh words with her, I think she would tell the press herself.

I didn't want Sheryl in the band. I don't like people cramping Lindsey's style. But I'd like to cramp him myself sometimes.

Michele

I agree Michele. I believe Lindsey has released basically the same interview, or at least has "discussed" the exact same topics, for this entire press junket: the new album, Tusk, Sheryl Crow, his wife and kids with the terms "relatively" and "beautiful" thrown in there, Stevie and their current phone calls, etc. Shoot, he even said something about "cycles" in the Friday section of my paper today.

Darling man. And yet I still read them hoping there will be some spark of newness...love him as I do, he is no John Lennon in that regard. No matter how much he talks about her, Sheryl Crow doesn't seem to have much to say back.

[mgikallaroundme]

Big difference between having harsh words with someone and directing harsh words AT them. He phrased it just right so you'd interpret everything as "STEVIE AND SHERYL HAD A CAT FIGHT" never assuming he meant Stevie's harsh words with Sheryl meant they had harsh words together and both directed their harsh words at someone else. This stuff is scripted down to the last word including the ninehundred and ninty ninth mention of the beautiful wife and three children.

He also got you to take the bait on the larger point. He must be the one who didn't want Sheryl because there isn't enough room on stage for Stevie, Sheryl, and LB's big ego all at the same time. Who'd ever believe it was his idea, as it was his idea in 2002, to get Sheryl in the band? Having Sheryl drop that bomb as scheduled was a win/win. Either Sheryl would get in the band as he wanted six years ago, or he'd get other concessions to keep going without her. When plan A morphed into plan B, Sheryl willingly fell on her sword as instructed. Now Stevie and Lindsey play tag team boxing her ears over it until FM hits the road again next year. And the band played on.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by mgikallaroundme

Big difference between having harsh words with someone and directing harsh words AT them. He phrased it just right so you'd interpret everything as "STEVIE AND SHERYL HAD A CAT FIGHT" never assuming he meant Stevie's harsh words with Sheryl meant they had harsh words together and both directed their harsh words at someone else.

Very Machiavellian, but I don't believe a word of it. I believe they plot things, but never to that degree.

Furthermore, I think Mick would have welcomed Sheryl. It would be interesting to see what he has to say about it, but he's been mum since his daughter's accident.

Nico,

Why Lindsey likes to repeat things like that is both amusing and fascinating to me. It's kind of funny, because he knows that we notice to a certain extent because a couple of times during the UTS tour, people would shout out parts of his speech to him before he said it and he would say, "So, you've seen the show."

I don't even know what makes someone tick so that they'd want to say something verbatim like that repeatedly. When I read his interviews, I skip over the stuff he's said before, but I'm not exactly bored by it. I'm kind of intrigued by what makes him do it and when he deviates from form and says something different, I pounce on it. Like I'm getting an extra glimpse inside of a closed room.

As for his lyrics, I don't think he is consistently poetic (or at least he wasn't before UTS, now I think he's pretty consistent, with DYMM being the exception on this album), but from early on he had the power to snatch a phrase that stuck with me, even if it's just "fate takes time" or "memories awaken sorrow from their sleep" or sometimes it's not the phrasing so much. The words are mundane, but he puts them together in a way that expresses unspoken pain. Like with Tusk, when he says "don't say that you love me, just tell me that you want me," as if being loved never kept him from being hurt, or abandoned.

Even when the words are simple, I wonder WHY he is putting two thoughts together and why he keeps doing it, as with the phrase "here comes the night time, looking for a little more. Waiting on the right time, somebody outside the door." I would have written it off in one song, but when he repeats it, I feel it MUST have a meaning (even if it doesn't), a meaning that's deep and closeted. I feel like I'm watching a reel of intermittent flashbacks and trying to piece the plot together when I listen to his words.

So, I DO get wrapped up in his words, even if I shouldn't. Even if I'm just imagining substance that isn't really there. Michele

[Nico]

Originally Posted by michelej1

So, I DO get wrapped up in his words, even if I shouldn't. Even if I'm just imagining substance that isn't really there. Michele

Me too, Michele. Actually, I love reading his lyrics. They are very telling and there has been an incredible transformation in them over the years. Which is a magnificent thing for an artist to be able to do, imo. I mean, he went from very basic stuff- brilliant stuff of course- with key phrases that certainly made an impact (come on "Go your own way" or "packing up/shacking up" or "tusk" and I can go on and on). I really, really, really do love his lyrics. I just don't think they have too many hidden messages, or if they do you can very certainly know what they may be or who about because, love him as I do, Lindsey is quite predictable. Intense, layered, complicated, absolutely...but predictable.

I actually noticed his lyrical transformation the most when I was reading the words for Miranda. I think they are beautiful. To this day. And I pretty much think everything he did on SYW is incredible stuff. He's been at the top of his game for awhile now, which makes me so proud to be a fan and so blown away by him. At his age, given his past accolades, he could so rest on his laurels. But the fact that he cares and that he wants to challenge himself and remain as relevant as he can attain to be is really commendable.

So he can give as many repetitive interviews as he wants. I'll read them and I'll still be in awe. I'm not putting him on a pedestal here; I'm just really damn proud to be a fan.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Nico

I actually noticed his lyrical transformation the most when I was reading the words for Miranda. I think they are beautiful. To this day.

Yeah, Miranda's a show stopper. Taking the stars down, it's got so many beautiful moments, not least of which is sticking the camera into her arm like a heroin needle. And there's its mysticism. . . Miranda's a song that I think Stevie could sing and enjoy singing.

Now, Show You How stood out for me as a songwriting turning point, just because it seemed so complete. It almost had a beginning, middle and end and tied up so neatly and poignantly, with each verse being as neatly crafted as the one before it, that I wasn't even sure Lindsey had written it. I heard it online before I had the liner notes and I thought, "that's unbelievable, but can you be sure it's him?" I was so relieved it was.

I really don't know what or who most of Lindsey's songs are about. I mean, I think UTS is his most obvious album lyrically, but before (and after) that -- heck, I haven't been sure what or who he's talking about since Lola. I do think that he leaves a lot of space for me to try to read between his lines.

Now, I haven't stayed up any nights trying to figure Family Man out, but generally speaking, he has still gotten me deciphering through the years, just in a different way than I do for Stevie. Michele