Lindsey Buckingham, Lonely Guy

[JbbyStew86]

I was looking through microfilm in my school's library today and eventually got way off topic and started going through Rolling Stones. I found this article about Lindsey in a 1984 issue. It takes place just after the release of "Go Insane" It's pretty long and would take me a week to type out in its entirety, so I'll give you guys a couple of my favorite parts.

He glances around his expensively furnished living room, complete with a six-foot-high statue of King Tut and several small glass pyramids. "A house full of new furniture doesn't mean a whole lot," he says in his slightly high-pitched voice. "It doesn't mean ****. It just means you have a nice place to watch TV. But so what?"
***
The phone rings. Buckingham chats about how his new album, Go Insane, is doing, then says to the caller, "You've got a nice girlfriend, I've got a nice pool table." He laughs dryly. "Its gotten harder to be shallow. Hard to just bring a girl in. How did we used to do that?"
***
When he wants to, Buckingham can look just like a genuine L.A. rock star. Not affected, but slightly larger than life. Nouveau riche. A bit arrogant. Very cool. This is just how he looks today, strolling into his classy living room. His curly brown hair is stylishly cut a la Eraserhead, and his expressive blue-gray eyes are hidden behind large tortoise-shell shades. He's the kind of millionaire who wears the same black shirt, blue denims and scruffy gray cowboy boots for days on end, and who mixes those jeans with an expensive black-and-white striped sport coat. He has few friends but greets the ones he has with a casual "Hey dude". A down home kind of rock star. A guy who has framed stills from Elvis' Jailhouse Rock in his bathroom and leaves a platinum album celebrating the multi million sales of Rumours shunted aside in the corner of a room, as if it didn't mean a thing.
***
His manager describes him as "private" and "introverted." His brother Jeff says he's always been a loner. Growing up in Palo Alto, a suburb less than an hour south of San Francisco, Lindsey used to spend hours by himself, listening to Jeff's 45s, hits by Elvis and Buddy Holly and Little Richard. Later, after Lindsey learned how to play a few songs on a plastic Mickey Mouse guitar, his parents bought him a real instrument. He taught himself to play be accompanying Kingston Trio records. In high school, he joined Fritz, the only band he has ever played in besides Fleetwood Mac.

He is still unsure of himself. He wonders aloud if he's interesting enough to be written about. Reassurances don't help. "Do you think you have enough for a feature story?" he nervously asks on several occasions. He worries visibly about being the good host. "Can I get you anything? Are you sure everything is all right?" And later: "I don't really do that much. I told you it was going to be boring. Want to play a game of pool? Croquet?" Even in his own home, Buckingham seems the outsider.
***
On "Mirage," the group's latest LP, they returned to the less adventurous sound that had characterized their earlier success. One senses that Buckingham derived a perverse satisfaction from the failure of the album to match the sales of "Rumours."
***
Today, Buckingham feels removed from the other members of Fleetwood Mac, though theywere never close socially. "We never hung out. Never," he says. "We were never friends in the sense that I would call Mick up and go hang out." Now there isn't much of a creative bond, either. "What used to keep them together was the music," says Dashut. "These days he doesn't share much in common musically with everybody else." Buckingham is plainly bored, and a little disappointed, with what his colleagues have been up to on their own. "I've seen Stevie's show, I've seen Christine's show. To me, they both bordered on being lounge acts, simply because they were resting so heavily on Fleetwood Mac's laurels. But I think you owe it to yourself and you owe it to your audience to try at least."
***
"I've heard rumors that if I was not ready to do an album in the next three or four months, or at least talk about it, they were going to seek out somebody else," he says. "Like Pete Townshend. That's probably an idle rumor that's somehow gotten around. But at the same time I can't say that doesn't more or less coincide with the kind of psychology I've seen go on in the group at certain times. If something needs to get done, they'll get it done one way or another. And if Lindsey doesn't want to play ball, **** him. They'll fire him and get somebody else. That's the way the band works."
***

[Nico]

Thanks for sharing. I've read this article before and it appears that Lindsey has really mellowed since then. There's definitely a cynicism still lurking, but he just seems all around softer, more inclined to be nostalgic and sentimental regarding Fleetwood Mac and the members. Obviously, he seems to have a lot more to be happy about. This gives me a greater appreciation for him as an artist. Kind of let's me see how his growth as a person shows in the evolution of his own music.

[shackin'up]

I'm sure I read the whole thing in the Blue Letter Archives on the Penguin. So don't bother to type it out!

[michelej1]

Here it is: http://bla.fleetwoodmac.net/index.ph...x_v2&id=60&c=9

Hey, I just noticed the article described his eyes as "blue-gray." Reminds me of a song. Do they change with the color? Change with the sight? Are they always bright, like blue denim?

Michele

[BTFLCHLD]

~there is an intenseness in his eyes~