If could go back...would you..?

[Bryan]

If you could go back in time and change Mac history,which of the following would you do..(if you'd do it at all)? Bare in mind that each option stops Stevie & Lindsey ever joining Fleetwood Mac.

[macfan 57]

I voted to keep the Mystery To Me line-up going. I think MTM was Fleetwood Mac's best album ever & that line-up was just perfect. If only Bob Weston & Jenny Fleetwood hadn't.......

[HomerMcvie]

I voted to keep Bob We..........lch. Because the Bob We........ston option still didn't allow for Bob Welch to not leave the band. I'd vote to keep both Bob We's. MTM is my favorite album of all time.
Sorry, I was enjoying the similarities in their names. Easily amused, no? :sorry:

[jwd]

Sorry, couldn't do it. As much as I love the other incarnations of Fleetwood Mac, my favorite is still the Rumours lineup. So give me Stevie and Lindsey along with Christine and Mick and John.

[Hawkeye]

Well Bob Welch could've stayed and they STILL would've gotten Stevie and Lindsey on board.

[xdreamsunwindx]

I can't do it, either. If I had chosen one of those options, it would mean that I would have most likely never gotten into Fleetwood Mac, because Stevie Nicks got me into them. I do love the MTM lineup, but nothing'll ever beat the fab five lineup for me.

-Kate

[Johnny Stew]

Interesting question, Bryan, but I couldn't do it either. I couldn't prevent ANY of the future Mac lineups from existing.

In fact, the ONLY thing I would go back and change about Fleetwood Mac's history, is the amount of music they've released... which should have been MUCH more. :nod:

[P90pup]

Interesting question, Bryan, but I couldn't do it either. I couldn't prevent ANY of the future Mac lineups from existing.

In fact, the ONLY thing I would go back and change about Fleetwood Mac's history, is the amount of music they've released... which should have been MUCH more. :nod:
It would be the 3 W's. Weston, Walker and (sadly,)Welch. If Peter had not
suffered the Demons...FWM would be spoken in the same circles as LZ..with
a better rhythm section! Jeremy and Danny and Peter would have made
Kiln House (with Christine) a watershed Lp ala Houses of The Holy..or Abbey
Road (I get carried away). Buckingham/Nicks would be platinum artists in their own right! Bob Welch...a great guitarist, but to me he never fit the mold. He was too California...too soon. Lindsay and Stevie moved there
at the right time. Mick Fleetwood KNOWS things we mere mortals don't.
What a history!

[wetcamelfood]

Naturally I love all of the members as well but out of this bunch of choices, I'd say they should've stuck with Dave Walker because this was the one that would've been accomplished the easiest.

Peter, Jereny & Welch had all made up their minds (even aside from Peter getting spiked) with what they wanted to do so i ruled those out.

If Mick changed his mind about firing Danny then one of the others or Clifford Davis woud've just done it themselves because they all couldn't bare to work with him any longer by then (sadly).

Even if Weston & Jenny stopped their affair then and there, I bet it would've stil grated on Mick's nerves and that would've come to a head of some description at some point anyways and if the "Penguin" line up got it's problems squared away then this may have nullified the affair happening later on (due to the possible success FM could've obtained which of course would've made Mick calm down about not having money or whatever it was that was taking his mind off of Jenny etc.).

Though Walker had his troubles at the time with drinking etc. I think he would've been more receptive in "toning it down" (if this was in fact the main issue) than it seems to have been decided he would've by the others without even asking him (by all accounts) and Dave said at his Q&A here that he felt he was never really given a chance so that anyways, is why I chose what i did.

These are all good choices and this isn't to say I "didn't want the BN lineup to happen" either but I just wish the politics would've been kept under control but I won't go there. :)

John

[HomerMcvie]

Mick Fleetwood KNOWS things we mere mortals don't.
:lol: :lol: Like how to make wise investments. :lol: :lol:
Never has any individual managed to make so much money off the talents of others! :lol: :lol: I wouldn't trust that man in my house alone.

[wondergirl9847]

As much as I love and adore Danny, I need my Lindsey. :nod: I think history played out very well, although, my wish for Peter and Danny to be well, still stands. :(

[Bryan]

I think Buckingham Nicks were on to something back in '74.I still think they'd have made it without Fleetwood Mac.And who knows which direction the Mac could've taken!? :confused: Still,history has played out pretty well,although there has been great losses along the way. :(

[Gypsy3]

:lol: :lol: Like how to make wise investments. :lol: :lol:
Never has any individual managed to make so much money off the talents of others! :lol: :lol: I wouldn't trust that man in my house alone.

:lol: :thumbsup:

Sorry but I have to say I wouldn't change a thing! :sorry:

[chiliD]

I agree with "P90pup"...

Had Peter stayed, Fleetwood Mac would be Zeppelin, Who, Pink Floyd type legendary.

It's my unpopular opinion that Rumours was the WORSE thing to happen to Fleetwood Mac. Look, 27 years later, they're STILL touring to promote it above even their latest material. A damned shame.

[jbrownsjr]

Chili I agree. They are still promoting Rumours in a sense.

[HomerMcvie]

Chili I agree. They are still promoting Rumours in a sense.
It really is kind of pathetic, no? And all of that staged romance makes me wanna PUKE. The "duking it out", followed by the romantic dance, literally makes me want to vomit! What idiot falls for this schtick(sp)?
No extra cheese, please.
There are SO many killer songs they could play, but won't:
Oh Well
Green Manalishi
DLMD Again
Hypnotized
WMYTYT One
And, more NEW stuff of SYW.
Keep milking this 30 year old romance. Shove it down our throats. Geezus....

[P90pup]

I agree with "P90pup"...

Had Peter stayed, Fleetwood Mac would be Zeppelin, Who, Pink Floyd type legendary.

It's my unpopular opinion that Rumours was the WORSE thing to happen to Fleetwood Mac. Look, 27 years later, they're STILL touring to promote it above even their latest material. A damned shame.

Thanks chilli, I was fortunate to be able to see the original line up, hence
my bias. Peter is still my favorite guitarist (Legendary Pete), yet Kiln House
is my fave FWM lp. I'm full of contradictions :) Danny's licks are just as prominent on Then Play On if not more so. Had they stayed together God
only knows (had they stayed straight, heathen and sober) what they
could have been. :cool: In Rumours defence...I had the BN album before
they joined the band, and I loved it! Rumours was the best Buckingham
Nicks album, with a great English rhythm section. Before and after Rumours,
(and after Pete, Jeremy and Danny), Christine had the best songs. The thing
about Rumours...in sales terms, everyone in China and India owns a copy!
That's the kind of figures we're talking about! I was in the business in those
day's and that sucker was LOADED (thank you Lou Reed) with hits! I think
Lindsay listened more to Danny's contributions and assimilated into MACdom
that way. Again, what a band.

[SteveMacD]

I think all the changes have been good. I just saw Clapton last night, and while he still kicks Lindsey's ass with guitar solos, Lindsey plays with considerably more energy and is much more fun to watch. Yeah, I think the whole Stevie-Lindsey-relationship/the-entire-band-is-healing thing is goofy, but they play much harder now than they did during their heyday.

And, to me, that's the whole point. One can only imagine how huge they would have been if Peter had stayed. Part of me would have loved seeing the band part ways with Jeremy, bring Christine in the band, and go on as Mick-John-Peter-Danny-Christine. On the other hand, I don't really think Mick and John were all that interesting prior to Bob Welch's involvement.

I think that Mick and John really took ownership of the group after Peter and Jeremy quit. That's when it became a real band. Durning Peter's time, even though Jeremy and Danny wrote material and were amazing, it was basically the Peter Green show (see 1971 "Greatest Hits" album). But when Bob came into the band, the writers seemed to be on par with one another, and Mick and John were much a much more solid rhythm section. By the time of Mystery To Me they were on their way to the Zep level. It was a matter of time.

Then add Stevie and Lindsey. To me, their arrival wasn't a radical change for Fleetwood Mac, it was more a reinforcement of what the band already was. Lindsey vocally sounded like a mix of Jeremy and Danny, without the accents, and as a lead guitarist was somewhere between Peter and Danny. One could easily hear Danny playing lead on Landslide or Peter playing lead on I'm So Afraid. Stevie had some of the same folky tendancies of Danny, with the mystical tendancies of Green and Welch (although her use of mystical lyrics was entirely different). Then the familiar elements (Mick and the McVies) were still there. And, I don't think it's a coincidence that both bands were named after principal members.

That John McVie's part on Smile At You is one of his best bass lines ever, that Mick Fleetwood is still playing as hard as he did 30 years ago, that Stevie Nicks has learned how to work within her vocal limitations and have it come off gracefully, and that Lindsey Buckingham is putting out even more energy than he did when they were the biggest band in the land says a lot. It could be like Clapton, where his best days are obviously behind him as a guitarist.

So, while each change has meant losing an important voice to the mix, I think the growth that has come from these changes in terms of psychology and talent have made the band all that much stronger.

[Villavic]

I agree with "P90pup"...

Had Peter stayed, Fleetwood Mac would be Zeppelin, Who, Pink Floyd type legendary.

It's my unpopular opinion that Rumours was the WORSE thing to happen to Fleetwood Mac. Look, 27 years later, they're STILL touring to promote it above even their latest material. A damned shame.

Well that really hurts, though I always knew chili opinion. But the worse? A shame? ouch, still hurts.

Ok, maybe Rumours wasn't the best lineup, but.. the worse thing??? And what is wrong with touring? If it's a shame then let's condemn Pink Floyd, the Stones, Jethro Tull, Alan Parsons, REM, etc..

Mick always said the band meaning is touring, not recording albums. MAybe not 100% sincere (yeah, he needs money) but I do love to see shows, if I'd live in the STates, I'd try to go to concerts as much as I can (as I do for local bands).