L.A. Story by Lindsey Buckingham

[elle]

http://www.lamag.com/laculture/lasto...sey-buckingham

Lindsey Buckingham

The Fleetwood Mac member on humble beginnings, Bel-Air bachelor pads, and digging in

Posted on 5/23/2013 10:39:00 AM by Julia St. Pierre
Photograph by Jeremy Cowart


I grew up in Atherton, right near Stanford. Stevie [Nicks] and I were in a band that bottomed out, but there was interest in us as a duo. We came up with enough material for an album, and we intuited that if we were going to make things happen, we needed to move to where the action was. We lived right off Coldwater—it wasn’t a dirt road, but it was close. L.A. was an adjustment, for sure—it’s big, it’s random.

Less than six months after we moved, we got a record deal. We had one album, Buckingham Nicks, and it didn’t sell, so we lost our deal. We had to make ends meet, so we did a lot of shows to get extra money. I remember playing a club with Stevie called the Starwood on Santa Monica. We also played the Troubadour. At Sound City studios the owner was very gracious to let us use Studio B when there was nobody booked to work on a second album. It was there that we ran into Mick Fleetwood, who was really just looking for a studio. He didn’t know [guitarist-vocalist] Bob Welch was going to quit Fleetwood Mac. I walked into Studio A, and the band was listening to our song “Frozen Love” at top volume and Mick was completely grooving to the guitar solo. A couple of weeks later Mick called and said, “Do you want to join Fleetwood Mac?” and I said, “You have to take my girlfriend, too.” That was a very lucky moment for us.

I had a house up in Bel-Air for a long time. It was not a family house; it was a bachelor house. So we bulldozed it. My wife was quite happy because there was a lot of symbolism to having everything that went before bulldozed. We are in Brentwood now. We needed to come down off the hill.


QUE 'EM UP

Gift of Screws
(2008)
On this solo effort, "Time Precious Time" shows off Buckingham's guitar chops, while "Did You Miss Me" is pure, perfect pop.

Tusk
(1979)
Yes, Rumours was the breakout Fleetwood Mac hit, but this double album, initially deemed a failure, was Buckinham's creative magnum ops and became a band favorite.

Buckinham Nicks
(1973)
The lesser-known album that started it all, this early LP may (finally) be re-released on CD for the first time this year.


I’ve thought about whether it would be advisable or possible to move out, but this is the thing about Los Angeles: People come here and they stay. It’s not just because there is an illusionary carrot, although that is part of it. You could probably find actors or musicians who are not much younger than myself who still haven’t caught their break. So that’s part of what drives Los Angeles. If you do happen to get lucky, as Stevie and I did, then there are reasons to stay. Unless you want to be Neil Young and live up in the mountains, there’s not a lot of motivation to move. Whatever there may be about the city that you could take to task, it’s a pretty great place.

RELATED
The California Canon: The Best of Lindsey Buckingham


I don’t think I would’ve wanted to raise my kids elsewhere, but it is a mixed bag. Growing up in Atherton, you could just get on your bike, go to school, and come home. You had a level of autonomy that doesn’t exist for kids today. Some of that has to do with L.A. and some of it has to do with the times. I grew up in one place. Stevie, on the other hand—her dad was a businessman who uprooted his family regularly, so she learned how to make a splash everywhere they went. It took its toll on her in other ways, and that’s not something I want for my kids. We’re dug in here, and we’re happy.

[Lindsfan]

I like this Nice to hear him (well, read him) in his own words...just talking.

[michelej1]

Yes, he paints a very nice picture. That illusionary carrot that Hollywood dangles at you.

Michele

[elle]

Originally Posted by elle

We had one album, Buckingham Nicks, and it didn’t sell, so we lost our deal. We had to make ends meet, so we did a lot of shows to get extra money. I remember playing a club with Stevie called the Starwood on Santa Monica. We also played the Troubadour. At Sound City studios the owner was very gracious to let us use Studio B when there was nobody booked to work on a second album. It was there that we ran into Mick Fleetwood, who was really just looking for a studio.

i thought it was interesting to read another tidbit about what they were doing to make ends meet after BN bombed.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by elle

i thought it was interesting to read another tidbit about what they were doing to make ends meet after BN bombed.

Yes, clearly they had sources of income we don't know about. Stevie said they were offered gigs, but they didn't take them, because Lindsey didn't want to play steakhouses.

Michele

[elle]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Yes, clearly they had sources of income we don't know about. Stevie said they were offered gigs, but they didn't take them, because Lindsey didn't want to play steakhouses.

Michele

yeah one way ticket to palucaville or whatever he said in the interview from the dance, when he said their manager wanted them to take steakhouse gigs. but obviously they got offered some a bit better ones too.

[WildHearted]

I just find it amusing that this article comes out right when Stevie says in San Jose that she and Lindsey will both end up living there again someday because they love it so much.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by elle

It was there that we ran into Mick Fleetwood, who was really just looking for a studio. He didn’t know [guitarist-vocalist] Bob Welch was going to quit Fleetwood Mac. I walked into Studio A, and the band was listening to our song “Frozen Love” at top volume and Mick was completely grooving to the guitar solo.

This is a new version of the old story. The way it was originally told was that Keith Olsen played Mick the song Frozen Love to demonstrate the studio sound. Lindsey was never in the room. He didn't even know anything about it until Keith made that fateful phone call to him on New years Eve.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by vivfox

This is a new version of the old story. The way it was originally told was that Keith Olsen played Mick the song Frozen Love to demonstrate the studio sound. Lindsey was never in the room. He didn't even know anything about it until Keith made that fateful phone call to him on New years Eve.

Oh, Lindsey has been talking about that a lot lately, saying how he remembered thinking Mick was tall and everything. I think Stevie says she doesn't remember seeing Mick at all, though.

Michele

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by elle

I remember playing a club with Stevie called the Starwood on Santa Monica. We also played the Troubadour.

If those clubs operated in the mid '70s anything like they did in the '80s (and even today, from what I hear), there was no money playing there. In fact, it was a "pay to play" situation. You paid the club (or more accurately, the promoter) X # of dollars up front for "tickets" that you sold yourself (for whatever price you wanted to charge). If you sold them all, you would either break even or make a pittance. Most of the time, the artists would just give the tickets away (to industry insiders) to try to entice prominent people to show up. Most of the tickets would go unused.

[sodascouts]

Originally Posted by vivfox

This is a new version of the old story. The way it was originally told was that Keith Olsen played Mick the song Frozen Love to demonstrate the studio sound. Lindsey was never in the room. He didn't even know anything about it until Keith made that fateful phone call to him on New years Eve.

In the Studio City documentary, the story is that Keith played it for Mick without Lindsey in the room at first, but then Lindsey happened to come down a few minutes later and poked his head in when he heard their music being blasted. Maybe doing that doc jogged Lindsey's memory and that's why he's modified his story.

[elle]

Originally Posted by sodascouts

In the Studio City documentary, the story is that Keith played it for Mick without Lindsey in the room at first, but then Lindsey happened to come down a few minutes later and poked his head in when he heard their music being blasted. Maybe doing that doc jogged Lindsey's memory and that's why he's modified his story.

yeah i enjoyed that clip of the documentary, how they had a guy with curly haired wig impersonating lindsey walking into studio A. it was kinda funny they felt the need to reenact the scene.

Lindsey has been saying this exact same story in every interview i heard, for years now. about him poking his head in studio A and this giant skinny man grooving to his guitar solo.

Mick told very similar story in his book. that Lindsey poked his head in and that Mick thought that not only he can play the guitar, but he also looked good, which is important for your front man.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by elle

Mick told very similar story in his book. that Lindsey poked his head in and that Mick thought that not only he can play the guitar, but he also looked good, which is important for your front man.

I read that book a long time ago but don't remember that quote. So for the part I highlighted, that could be the first moment of lust Mick had toward Lindsey. As Chris and Stevie have said, "there have been many loves in Fleetwood Mac."

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by vivfox

I read that book a long time ago but don't remember that quote. So for the part I highlighted, that could be the first moment of lust Mick had toward Lindsey. As Chris and Stevie have said, "there have been many loves in Fleetwood Mac."

I've heard Mick say that Lindsey looked good, but not when he first saw him listening to Frozen Love. I recall him making that remark after they met LB and Stevie. Mick said you don't want someone with an ugly mug up there fronting your band, which I found amusing.

Michele

[michelej1]

For this article, Lindsey should have pointed out that he was in the I Love L. A. video too. Proof of his local passion.

Michele