Clive Davis: Fleetwood Mac almost signed with Arista Records

[SpyNote]

I've been reading Clive Davis' new book The Soundtrack of My Life and came across a Fleetwood Mac mention. According to Davis, Fleetwood Mac almost became an Arista Records act in 1975.

"Well, the right artists did come along but, unfortunately in some cases, not at the right time. Fleetwood Mac were very unhappy at Warner Bros. Their album sales were stuck in the range of around 200,000, a less than respectable figure for a band of their stature. In 1975, I saw them at the Beacon Theatre, and was very impressed by the new lineup, which had only recently released an album, titled Fleetwood Mac as if to assert that while the band had the same name, it had a completely new identity. Joining the original rhythm section of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie and the exceptional singer, keyboard player, and songwriter Christine McVie were Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. There was such a depth in the band, such chemistry and chrisma. Though the good offices of their attorney, Mickey Shapiro, I personally met with them, and did learn that they felt they weren’t being given the attention they warranted at the label. They thought the infusion of new energy with the attention of Lindsey and Stevie was going unnoticed at Warners. The album was released in the summer with little fanfare, a single, “Over My Head,” was just coming out, and at the time, it didn’t seem to the band that the label was 100 percent behind them. We made a deal, and all went out to lunch at a great New York restaurant of the era, Maxwell’s Plum, to celebrate. I still have the contract, ready for signatures, in my files."

"A similar scenario played out with Jefferson Starship. I’d always been a fan of Jefferson Airplane, and thought there was a lot of life left in the spin-off band. They were feeling unloved at RCA Records, and we came to terms with them as well. Fleetwood Mac and Jefferson Starship: pretty impressive signing coups. Each of those bands still owed two albums to its label, and the albums that were released while we were in talks with them exploded. Fleetwood Mac took the refurbished group from a 1974 album that didn’t even go gold to one that went five times platinum. The Starship’s Red Octopus, propelled by the hit “Miracles,” sold more than 2 million copies (up from gold on their 1974 album). Good news for the bands, but not for us. Needless to say, once those album sales racked up, Warners and RCA didn’t want to lose them. They made offers that, in pure dollar terms, were equal to ours, but made those deals retrospective to the current smash albums. Based on what those albums sold, the bands were in a position to clear $2 million or more just from that aspect of their deals, and we couldn’t possibly compete with that. We weren’t the ones making the income (and dramatic profits) on those records. What bad timing for us, and how it stung when I saw the sales of the next Fleetwood Mac album, Rumours. If their albums hadn’t broken wide open when they did, there’s no question Arista would have had both of those bands. And I should add that we were also in talks with Electric Light Orchestra, and came close to signing them. All three of these major bands were on the verge of coming to Arista within a six-month period."

[Neal]

Is Davis retired now, or is he still actively heading up Arista?

It'd be interesting to know if he's still interested in FM, and vice versa...

[wetcamelfood]

Yes, Mick did say in his book they visited Arista but didn't say how close to signing with them they were. Wow, could you imagine if they jumped ship after the '75 album and put Rumours out on Arista how WB would've felt?

John

[SpyNote]

Originally Posted by Neal

Is Davis retired now, or is he still actively heading up Arista?

It'd be interesting to know if he's still interested in FM, and vice versa...

He's still working. The book says he's currently Chief Creative Officer of Sony Music Entertainment. I doubt he'd be interested in FM now as a financial investment. Everything is just milking off Rumours now. But he still loves the band.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by wetcamelfood

Yes, Mick did say in his book they visited Arista but didn't say how close to signing with them they were. Wow, could you imagine if they jumped ship after the '75 album and put Rumours out on Arista how WB would've felt?

John

That's the thing, HAD they jumped to Arista, they STILL would've owed WB 2 albums. And, that would've just been like taking a cricket bat to a bee hive as far as pending litigation. WHEW! You think the Clifford Davies lawsuit took a toll on the band? THAT series of lawsuits would've just crushed 'em.

[Fannymac]

Originally Posted by Neal

Is Davis retired now, or is he still actively heading up Arista?

It'd be interesting to know if he's still interested in FM, and vice versa...

He's more of a figure head than anything, and Arista was absorbed into Sony around three years ago!

[Blueletter18]

SpyNote, how do you like the book? Is it worth buying?

[SpyNote]

Originally Posted by Blueletter18

SpyNote, how do you like the book? Is it worth buying?

I do, so far. But I love music biographies. It's really interesting to hear the back stories on all of the artists that he's worked with, such as Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, and Simon and Garfunkel in the '60s. Of course, I've been skipping around to the juicier parts of the book. He's obviously best-known for discovering Whitney Houston and, in the book, conveys so much unconditional love and admiration for her. He even includes the letters that he wrote to her, pleading for her to get help. They're heartbreaking to read, almost like a father pleading for his reckless child to get back on track.

If you're a big music fan, I'd say buy it or wait until it comes out in paperback. If you're just curious about the parts about Fleetwood Mac (he does talk about them three or four times in the book), check it out from the library.

[wetcamelfood]

Originally Posted by chiliD

That's the thing, HAD they jumped to Arista, they STILL would've owed WB 2 albums. And, that would've just been like taking a cricket bat to a bee hive as far as pending litigation. WHEW! You think the Clifford Davies lawsuit took a toll on the band? THAT series of lawsuits would've just crushed 'em.

Ah, good point, never thought of that.

John

[WatchChain]

Had the Mac moved to Arista, and knowing the tight creative control that Clive Davis has over his Arista artists, I doubt we would have had "Tusk". Even after 20 million + sales of "Rumours", Clive Davis would have taken a test listen to "Tusk" and refused to release it. It would have been locked in a vault and Mr. Davis would have insisted that the band go back in the studio and cut "Rumours II".

[olive]

Originally Posted by WatchChain

Had the Mac moved to Arista, and knowing the tight creative control that Clive Davis has over his Arista artists, I doubt we would have had "Tusk". Even after 20 million + sales of "Rumours", Clive Davis would have taken a test listen to "Tusk" and refused to release it. It would have been locked in a vault and Mr. Davis would have insisted that the band go back in the studio and cut "Rumours II".

exactly things would have been different he may have not like rumours ,an he definitely would not want the blonde girl singer to make a solo record and break up the band

[Macfanforever]

Wow this is news to me. Its time to brush up on FM 101.

[vivfox]

Originally Posted by WatchChain

Had the Mac moved to Arista, and knowing the tight creative control that Clive Davis has over his Arista artists, I doubt we would have had "Tusk". Even after 20 million + sales of "Rumours", Clive Davis would have taken a test listen to "Tusk" and refused to release it. It would have been locked in a vault and Mr. Davis would have insisted that the band go back in the studio and cut "Rumours II".

If that were the case he probably would have told Lindsey to scrap most of his tunes and record more mellow sounding stuff and been happy with the contributions from the ladies.

[wetcamelfood]

Originally Posted by chiliD

That's the thing, HAD they jumped to Arista, they STILL would've owed WB 2 albums. And, that would've just been like taking a cricket bat to a bee hive as far as pending litigation. WHEW! You think the Clifford Davies lawsuit took a toll on the band? THAT series of lawsuits would've just crushed 'em.

Well I wonder if they would've got around that by releasing a live album (since we know the recordings existed) and an anthology as their 2 remaining WB albums?

This reminds me, does anyone know why Warners shifted FM from Reprise (who they had been with from when they signed in '69 starting with Then Play On) to their main label after the '75 album & before Rumours though Time then back to Reprise for the Dance onwards? Just curious, maybe the Reprise division couldn't handle the distribution needs the main label could for what is deemed to be their big selling artists (as they must then have seen FM as one of those with the white album's success)? What about someone like Gordon Lightfoot who stayed on Reprise through his most popular years? (though granted his success wasn't near FM's etc.)

John