The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band

[vivfox]

Fleetwood Wine and Music Extravaganza
Tuesday, 20 May 2008


Mick Fleetwood, the iconic co-founder of Fleetwood Mac, is celebrating his blues heritage by hitting the road with his new band, The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band. The band is appearing in 17 major cities across the US beginning this spring. The series of concerts features a tribute to the original Fleetwood Mac, the all-male blues band that started it all in 1967.

Each night of the tour also features a VIP reception where attendees will sample Mick’s fine wine, Mick Fleetwood Private Cellar. Tickets for the tour are available soon.

Bringing together four stellar Blues and Rock musicians, Mick Fleetwood presents a band that is as current as it is nostalgic.

At the front of the group, is Rick Vito, veteran Bluesman and former Fleetwood Mac vocalist and lead guitarist. Rick adds his personal touch while staying true to the styling of early Fleetwood Mac front man Peter Green. “A lot of guys can play the licks but Rick has the tone and that’s so important in real blues,” says Mick Fleetwood.

With Fleetwood anchoring the band on percussion, the “other half” of the rhythm section is Lenny Castellanos on bass guitar. As Mick points out, “I’ve played with John McVie for 40 years, any bassist who plays with me has big shoes to fill.” – Lenny does a great job filling those shoes while complimenting Mick’s unique and revered drum style.

Mark Johnstone ties everything together on the keys and backup vocals, infusing a vibrant energy to the group.

The band is led, of course, by the legendary Mick Fleetwood, providing a backbone with his unmistakable power-house percussion and persona.

Mick Fleetwood Private Cellar wine is a centerpiece of each event for a select group of high-end VIP’s. Each show has between 700 and 1200 general admission tickets plus less than 300 tickets which offer a special pre-show wine tasting and meet-and-greet with Mick, himself. VIP attendees have the opportunity to taste samples of Mick’s award winning wines and leave with an autographed bottle. VIP’s also enjoy an up-close-and-personal encounter with Mick, who shares stories from his life as a musician on the road, tells of the creation of his wines, and discusses his passion for art, music, and the good life.

Mick Fleetwood’s Uncorked Tour kicks off June 11th in Los Angeles and moves nationwide throughout 2008. The first four dates are listed below with more to be announced soon.

6/11 – Los Angeles – The Avalon, Hollywood
6/12 – San Diego – Spreckels
6/14 – Aspen, Colorado – Snowmass Village
6/15 – San Francisco – The Herbst Theater

For Tickets Visit www.UncorkedTour.com

Visit www.MickFleetwood.com for more information on Mick Fleetwood.

Visit www.MickFleetwoodPrivateCellar.com for more information on Mick’s wines.

Contact: Jonathan Todd
Phone: 805-807-1342
E-mail: [email protected] e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band is co-managed by:
Jonathan Todd, Sabre Entertainment
http://www.SabreEntertainment.net
and
Carl Stubner, Sanctuary Management Group

Contact Jonathan Todd for full resolution photos and music samples or general information.

Produced by TalentPlus, Chris Hansen.

“Mick Fleetwood’s Uncorked Tour” and “Uncorked Tour” are trademarks of Mick Fleetwood Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.melodika.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3350&Itemid=50

[vivfox]

Google Blogs Alert for: fleetwood mac

The Uncorked Tour Heads To Europe
By Nickslive(Nickslive)
Rock legend and Fleetwood Mac co-founder Mick Fleetwood's new group, The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, will make its international debut this summer, headlining one of the largest blues festivals in Europe. The International Notodden Blues ...
Fleetwood Mac News and Reviews - http://nickslive.blogspot.com/
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Euro Blues Fest Scores Mick Fleetwood's New Band

Friday, Jun 6, 2008

Rock legend and Fleetwood Mac co-founder Mick Fleetwood's new group, The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band, will make its international debut this summer, headlining one of the largest blues festivals in Europe.
The International Notodden Blues Festival, which organizers expect 40,000 fans to attend, will take place July 31 to August 2 in Norway.
The lineup for the 21st outing of the fest also includes Ray Davies, Koko Taylor, John Hiatt, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Little Feat, James Cotton, Charlie Musselwhite & Kim Wilson with The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bobby Rush, Pinetop Perkins & the Legends of Chicago Blues Music Club NotoddenJaniva Magness, Bob Margolin & Jerry Portnoy, Omar Kent Dykes, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats, Louisiana Red Blues Band, Henry Butler and many, many other artists.
Tickets and complete info on the event are available at Bluesfest.no.
Fleetwood's new band, which features Rick Vito, Lenny Castellanos and Mark Johnstone, celebrates his blues heritage, as well as the original lineup of Fleetwood Mac.
The group, which also has a handful of U.S. dates on the books for this month, is expected to play pre-Buckingham/Nicks Mac hits like "Black Magic Woman," "Oh Well," "Rattlesnake Shake" and "Albatross."

http://www.pollstar.com/news/viewnews.pl?NewsID=10401

[vivfox]

Google News Alert for: stevie nicks

IF I WERE YOU
San Diego CityBEAT - CA,USA
... partly because VIPs get to sample Mick Fleetwood Private Cellar wines but mostly because you need to drink a lot to forget that Stevie Nicks isn’t here. ...
See all stories on this topic

[vivfox]

Aug 29 2008 by Dawn Collinson, Liverpool Echo

And now the iconic co-founder of Fleetwood Mac is heading to Liverpool to celebrate his blues heritage with his new band, The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band.

Performing classic original songs like Oh Well, Rattlesnake Shake, Albatross, Black Magic Woman and many more, Rick Vito, Lenny Castellanos and Mark Johnstone will join Mick Fleetwood for what promises to be a musical experience that combines 40 years of excellence in blues and rock.

I caught up with Mick to find out the music that’s getting him through the week.

“I’ve got something of an eclectic taste,” he laughs. “I grew up playing blues, but I love all different types of music.

“Hey Bo Diddly by Bo Diddly has that funny tom tom thing with the maracas. I’ve always been a tom tom maniac and that track really affected my drumming.

“One song that’s always special is Return To Sender by Elvis Presley. I learnt to drum by listening to it and playing along. It was the only record my sister had, and I had nothing, so the choices were limited.

“I also love His Latest Flame (Marie’s The Name) by Elvis. I think that was the next record she got and I loved the breaks in it. I used to mess them up every time. It was hours of torture for me drumming along to that. I still love it though.

“What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye is one of my favourites, and Turn on Your Love Light by Bobby Bland. Great records.

“And anything by George Harrison, particularly from Cloud Nine. I loved George. Like millions of others I was very sorry to see him go, and especially so young. He was the real stuff.

“One last one – Let There Be Drums by Sandy Nelson. I love it.”

The Mick Fleetwood Blues featuring Rick Vito play Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Tuesday October 28. For tickets and information, see www.liverpoolphil.com.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/echo-columnists/2008/08/29/at-6ft-6in-mick-fleetwood-has-always-been-head-and-shoulders-above-mere-mortals-100252-21629464/

[vivfox]

Fleetwood’s back
Sep 19 2008 by Jade Wright, Liverpool Echo

THE Mick Fleetwood Blues featuring Rick Vito play Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on Tuesday October 28. For tickets and information, see www.liverpoolphil.com

MICK Fleetwood may spend his days in Hawaiian sunshine, but in his dreams he’s strolling down Mathew Street in the swinging sixties.

“When I was a boy, Liverpool was the place to be if you were in a band,” says the 6’6” drummer and co-founder of Fleetwood Mac.

“The first time I came to Liverpool it would have been 1968 and we drove around town in a big old Daimler limousine, pretending we were somebody.

“We had this manager who told us if we came to Liverpool, we could make it like The Beatles.

“So he drove us up in this massive car. Except we had nowhere to play, so we just went round and round the streets.

“We went to The Cavern and said we were friends of The Beatles and we wanted to play a gig. They gave us 20 minutes.

“It was a disaster.

“In the tiny dressing room – it was like a cupboard – there were about 20 people in there. The local bands could see we weren’t from Liverpool and they didn’t like us much.

“Just before we went on, we picked up our guitars and our little piano. They’d de-tuned everything. We did our best, but it was terrible.

“The audience were very kind to us. It was back in the days when the girls would scream at anything. It was our first experience of being screamed at and we felt like The Beatles. Apart from the fact that we sounded terrible.

“We were sabotaged at The Cavern and went home with our tails between our legs.”

Mick is back in Liverpool to celebrate his blues heritage with his new band, The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band.

Performing classic original songs like Oh Well, Rattlesnake Shake, Albatross, Black Magic Woman and many more, Rick Vito, Lenny Castellanos and Mark Johnstone will join Mick Fleetwood for what promises to be a musical experience that combines 40 years of excellence in blues and rock.

“I’m coming all the way from paradise to be with you,” laughs Mick, 61. “It’s a long way to swim.”

What can we look forward to from the show?

“You won’t be hearing Rhiannon or Dreams. This is about my early days. It’s blues with a splattering of rock’n’roll.

“Back in 1968 when Fleetwood Mac started that was the music that we played.”

Mick says he’s looking forward to a return to Liverpool.

“I know Liverpool fairly well,” he explains. “My father was brought up and spent his early life there.

“His father was an Irish merchant seaman, a bit of a wayward fella. He brought the family over from Dublin when my father was very young and they lived there for years. He was always very fond of Liverpool. I think he passed that on to me.

“I’ve always loved the city, and Scousers in general. My favourite, of course, was George.”

Mick was, for a time, George Harrison’s brother-in-law. He married (and divorced and remarried and redivorced) Pattie Boyd’s little sister Jenny, who had been the inspiration for Donovan’s song Jennifer Juniper.

“George was the best man you could meet,” says Mick. “As a musician, an artist, a man, you couldn’t wish for more.”

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/views/liverpool-columnists/echo-columnists/2008/09/19/fleetwood-s-back-100252-21851825/

[vivfox]

The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band
A benefit concert for The MACC—plus dancing!

The Maui Arts & Cultural Center announces a special “MACC Benefit Concert” with the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band in the Castle Theater, this Friday, Sept. 26, at 7:30 p.m. This is a great opportunity for the Maui audience to catch the famous drummer and co-founder of Fleetwood Mac with his talented blues-band members before the band heads off on a 20-city European tour in October!

The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band is comprised of Mick Fleetwood on drums, former Fleetwood Mac bandmate Rick Vito on guitar and vocals, Lenny Castellanos on bass and vocals, and Mark Johnstone on keyboards and vocals. The band was formed in 2007 as an ultimate homage to “the originators” of Fleetwood Mac. Mick wanted to build a band worthy of recreating the sound and emotions he recalled from the first days and first songs of Fleetwood Mac. Always an innovator, Mick wasn’t seeking to copy his original band, but rather pay it tribute by creating something both historically respectful yet new and reinvigorated. The result of this quest reaching back to the beginning and forward to today is the album Blue Again, representing the full circle of Mick’s love and contribution to the blues and the band that launched his career, while making him an iconic figure in music and pop culture.

In August 2008, The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band headlined the Nottodden Blues Festival in Norway. With 40,000 attendees, the band was the instant favorite and received glowing press. This Friday’s benefit concert at The MACC is your chance to catch the band before they leave for their European tour!

Tickets for this special concert are just $25, with all proceeds to benefit the Maui Arts & Cultural Center arts and education programs. All seats are reserved in the orchestra level, and there will be a dance floor in front of the stage! Tickets are available at The MACC Box Office and online, or call 242-SHOW (7469) to charge by phone, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For patron convenience 24 hours a day, purchase tickets online at www.mauiarts.org.

http://www.mauiweekly.com/aenews/story7797.aspx

[michelej1]

Oho, isn't it nice the way their acronym turned out to be MACC?

Michele

[Almost Simon]

Are there details of songs played to date? Setlists??

[TrueFaith77]

Also hopefully news will come out about the release of the Mick Fleetwood's Blues Band album Blue Again!!! I can't wait for another FM-related release in 2008!!! :]

[vivfox]

Are there details of songs played to date? Setlists??
Performing classic original songs like Oh Well, Rattlesnake Shake, Albatross, Black Magic Woman and many more, Rick Vito, Lenny Castellanos and Mark Johnstone will join Mick Fleetwood for what promises to be a musical experience that combines 40 years of excellence in blues and rock.

[Almost Simon]

Performing classic original songs like Oh Well, Rattlesnake Shake, Albatross, Black Magic Woman and many more, Rick Vito, Lenny Castellanos and Mark Johnstone will join Mick Fleetwood for what promises to be a musical experience that combines 40 years of excellence in blues and rock.

Thanks.

What i'd really like to see is a full setlist. Would be nice to see if they'll be doing some of the lesser blues period tunes. Shake Your Moneymaker, Fool No More, Sandy Mary, Love That Burns. Thats the ones I want to see just as much as the 'hits' from the late 60's Mac.

[Liza]

The new Mick Fleetwood double CD is being released in the UK on MOnday Blue Again and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.

Mick Fleetwood was on UK TV last night here is the link

http://www.bbc. co.uk/theoneshow /

Looking forward to seeing him on 3 November in St Albans, even if I am really a Stevie and Lindsey fan!!!:wavey:

[TrueFaith77]

Any word on Blue Again being avaialable tomorrow. I'm excited.

[marc402]

just stumbled on to this set while browsing the new cd section when i went in to my local record store to see if the Indiana Jones collection i had ordered was still on schedule for friday (it''s delayed again) Luckily i saw this and since i haven't been to the board a whole lot these last few weeks i had not noticed it coming , i had read about the mick band in hawaii but that was it so this was a nice surprise. Now only at "Stop Messin' Around" but must say Rick does it justice. and i like Fleetwood Boogie too (if only for it's funny title) Nice to hear Mick And Rick together again :-)

[snoot]

The new Mick Fleetwood Blues Band - Blue Again CD featuring Rick Vito

Anyone give this one a test drive yet? Thoughts if so?

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb51/starz75/Images/MFBB-BA.jpg

[chriskisn]

The new Mick Fleetwood Blues Band - Blue Again CD featuring Rick Vito

Anyone give this one a test drive yet? Thoughts if so?

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb51/starz75/Images/MFBB-BA.jpg

I'm a big Rick Vito fan so pretty much he could sing the telephone directory and I'd still like it.

However it is a great album, and on the first disc I find it impossible to pick a favourite song as they are all fantastic.

The Peter Green purists will probably hate it though because while I love Rick he isn't Peter.

[snoot]

I'm a big Rick Vito fan so pretty much he could sing the telephone directory and I'd still like it.

However it is a great album, and on the first disc I find it impossible to pick a favourite song as they are all fantastic.

The Peter Green purists will probably hate it though because while I love Rick he isn't Peter.

Good to hear chriskisn, that's a start. I ran across an article from the Maui News (below) and it kinda intrigued me, so I found this thread and thought I'd add it to it. Might be interesting to hear a 21st century interpretation of some of PG's classic stuff - while adding some new + old Vito in the mix - and with two Mac alumni involved, one named Fleetwood, how can you go wrong?

Peter Green purists ... hmmm... as in Vinnie der bluesmeister? Are there OTHERS? :eek: Yes, it would be nice to hear doodyhead's views, along with anyone else who wants to throw in their two cents on this.

[snoot]

Maui News
Maui Scene > Maui Beat

Two really big shows at the MACC this weekend

By JON WOODHOUSE, Contributing Writer
POSTED: September 25, 2008

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb51/starz75/Pics/fm-fleetwood-vito.png

Since announcing his new blues band's European tour, Mick Fleetwood has been inundated with interview requests. Fielding questions from his Maui home about the highly anticipated shows that pay homage to the blues rock roots of Fleetwood Mac, the band's legendary drummer wonders why it's taken him so long to mine his early history.

"I'm surprised I didn't think about doing it before," he says. "I've had loads of interviews about it and I don't have an answer. I go, why didn't I. I can only put it down to old age. I'm 61, this is where I began, my boot camp."

Featuring Fleetwood, guitarist/vocalist Rick Vito, bassist Lenny Castellanos and keyboardist Mark Johnstone, the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band will make its Hawaii debut on Friday at a benefit concert for the Maui Arts & Cultural Center.

In their initial incarnation, Fleetwood Mac began like a number of leading English bands with roots in the blues. Formed in 1967 by Fleetwood, bassist John McVie, and legendary guitarist Peter Green (all three had previously played together in John Mayall's Bluesbreakers), plus second guitarist Jeremy Spencer, they quickly became the U.K.'s premier blues band.

For Rick Vito (who also feels blessed to now call Maui his home) the upcoming tour is a dream come true. The acclaimed guitarist recalls being thrilled seeing the Peter Green edition of Fleetwood Mac as an aspiring 18-year-old musician.

"I had seen Jimi Hendrix and Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton, and here comes this band that was 180 degrees different," Vito explains. "Their attitude was let's just go out and play music, and they were playing blues much more faithful to what I believed original blues sounded like, and they were putting their own stamp on it. I was especially impressed with Peter Green because his songs were really cool and his approach to guitar was so tasteful, and with Mick and John behind, it was incredible.

It pointed me in a direction; I liked the idea of restraint instead of being crazy."

Over the years this gifted musician has recorded and toured with the likes of John Mayall, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Bob Seger (that's him soloing on "Like a Rock"), John Fogerty, Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks.

English blues pioneer John Mayall hailed has him as "a master of his instrument," Bonnie Raitt pronounced, "His style is as cool and sharp as a '59 Cadillac tailfin," and bluesman Keb Mo' summed him up as a "soulful singer and brilliant guitarist."

Playing with Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1991, it was Vito who encouraged the band to dip into its vintage catalogue.

"When Lindsey (Buckingham) left the Mac and Rick and Billy (Burnette) took over, we went on a very successful world tour, and Rick brought back 'Stop Messin' Around,' which we'll do on Friday, and 'I Loved Another Woman,' " says Fleetwood.

Vito's affection for this classic material combined with his vocal and guitar dexterity in large part made the new band possible. "In truth, it's why this is so comfortable for me," says Fleetwood. "He knows where I come from and loved that music so much, that's why we can do this. We have a mutual respect for early Fleetwood Mac so it made this a special thing."

Besides early Mac classics like "Black Magic Woman," "Oh Well" and "Albatross," the band revives such blues nuggets as "Shake Your Moneymaker," "Dust My Broom" and "Need Your Love So Bad."

How about "The Green Manalishi"?

"It hasn't appeared, but it's something I would love to do," Fleetwood notes. "It was the last thing Peter ever recorded with Fleetwood Mac, which is quite ironic if you listen to the words and know the history Peter took with his illness and problems. I love that song, it's such a powerful riff, I'm sure we'll work up to it."

Recorded in St. Louis, "Blue Again," a live Mick Fleetwood Blues Band album will be released next month in Europe first. "It's a really great calling card, rather than coming out with a studio album and re-creating the wheel," he continues. "Enough people will love the music and buy the record, but I'm not expecting to be on the Billboard Top 100."

"We recorded the live show last January," adds Vito. "We happened to have the tape rolling and captured a great night. It's so much fun to play this music. We're celebrating this music, and adding some new stuff that fits stylistically, working in a handful of my songs."

Besides the live show, the new CD will feature a bonus disc of four studio tracks.

"These are four instrumental tracks with just Mick and I playing," Vito explains. "I do a new version of 'Albatross' and one of mine called 'Napili Nocturne.'"

The blues band will tour Europe in October at a time of heightened interest in Mac's formative days. A check of Amazon reveals a staggering number of CD compilations.

"I don't know how many we get paid for," says Fleetwood chuckling. " A couple of times John and I have said, let's get a lawyer and find out. The lovely thing about this is that as late as it is to be revisiting, I do think it's appropriate. It's the 40th anniversary of Fleetwood Mac, but that's not why we're doing it. It's lighting the fuse again to a lot of songs that have an emotional connect to a fair chunk of the audience."

And one last question: Fleetwood Mac in 2009?

"We'll probably be out in April," he answers. "I'm sure we'll go to Australia and between me and John, we'll try our best to get the crew and band to the islands. It's long overdue and the Eagles made it here and me and Rick will open up for them."

Source: http://beta100.mauinews.com/page/content.detail/id/508969.html?nav=5014

[OldTimer]

I'm a big Rick Vito fan so pretty much he could sing the telephone directory and I'd still like it.

I'm with you there, chriskisn! He could rip all the way through to the Z's without his energy level ever fading. Sign me up to buy it. :p

from above interview with Mick Fleetwood:
And one last question: Fleetwood Mac in 2009?

"We'll probably be out in April," he answers. "I'm sure we'll go to Australia and between me and John, we'll try our best to get the crew and band to the islands. It's long overdue and the Eagles made it here and me and Rick will open up for them."
What's Mick talking about here? He and Rick opening for Fleetwood Mac? That doesn't make sense -- it would mean cloning himself to appear in two successive acts, and that's a damn scary thought.

[michelej1]

What's Mick talking about here? He and Rick opening for Fleetwood Mac? That doesn't make sense -- it would mean cloning himself to appear in two successive acts, and that's a damn scary thought.

Mick in Multiplicity:laugh:. I thought he meant that his Island Rumours band was going to open for the Eagles. But he and Rick could open for the Mac and then Mick could play in the Mac too. It's physically possible, as the opening act would be before the main act.

Michele

[chriskisn]

"We'll probably be out in April," he answers. "I'm sure we'll go to Australia and between me and John, we'll try our best to get the crew and band to the islands. It's long overdue and the Eagles made it here and me and Rick will open up for them."


Which would be great because I'd love to see Rick Vito live...

[OldTimer]

.... live and Unleashed! :blob2:

sorry, couldn't resist.... :laugh:

[snoot]

Mick in Multiplicity:laugh:. I thought he meant that his Island Rumours band was going to open for the Eagles. But he and Rick could open for the Mac and then Mick could play in the Mac too. It's physically possible, as the opening act would be before the main act.

My read is similar to Michele's, in that he was referring to the Island Rumours band, and not the Mick Fleetwood Blues Band (but damn that guy gets around, and at what age now?). Whether he was also referring to opening for the Mac as a double up, or that line is parenthetical and referencing the Eagles only, is hard to tell from how it's written.

As for Rick Vito, any concert involving him would be worth the price of admission, just for his excellent and always compelling riffing alone. Backed by Mick on the sticks doubles the pleasure, and thereby the fun. Gum anyone? :D