If this is the end. . .

[sjpdg]

I think we may have discussed something similar in the past, but here's a thought or two I've had in the last few days.

If this is really the end of FM as a band, how about we as a group of fans propose the following (or something similar) to Mick and John and see what they think:

Propose a reunion of each era of the band. No "mega-tour" or anything like that. Each era reunites either in the studio or at a medium-size venue somewhere convenient to the previous members to make it easier for them. Give each group an option of either re-recording some of their favourite FM songs, or bringing new material to the table. That era of members (if playing live) does either a specific set or a revolving set of music for a period of a week at that venue which is then recorded and put together in a CD set for us, the fans, to enjoy as a send-off of our beloved Fleetwood Mac.

In the case of Peter, a charity offer should be made where the proceeds for his tracks (or a certain percentage of the entire package) be donated to the charity of his choice. In the case of Jeremy Spencer, tell him he won't have to play any of his old FM hits, and he can bring all new material if he likes. Obviously, Danny Kirwan would not be available, so I would propose bringing in Rick Vito and Billy Burnette to cover some of Danny's material.

Don't know if Bob Welch would be interested in something like this, of if Weston would be game or any of the members in between the Greeny era and B/N but again, Vito and Burnette might fit that bill.

Obviously, Lindsey and Stevie would be on the same offer as all other previous members of the band: new or old material to record or perform, their choice, charity donations or "show me the money" as far as their proceeds are concerned. Rick, Billy, Bekka and Christine all the same.

Perhaps the collection could be called "Farewell Albatross: The Chain is Finally Broken".

Just a few rambling thoughts.

[Silver Springs]

Well Weston and Brunning are dead, so they might be a little late for rehearsals.

[Ashley]

If this is the end, and I sure hope it's not, I do think something special should be done. What that something special is, I don't know. But Fleetwood Mac is an amazing band, and they deserve some kind of spectacular send off.

[bluefox4000]

If they did a reunion of all era's Three would be a lot of filled bathrooms pre-Buckingham Nicks:(.....I myself would LOVE to see Welch back, as that was my favorite era.

Mick

[TrueFaith77]

Until Weston passed, my idea was always that each previous singer/songwriter should have a song on an album. Different players could play or produce (I'd recommend Lindsey producing the whole record). Imagine: Jeremy and Lindsey trading licks on a Stevie track! Anyway, or some such thing. I was going to recommend it to Mick at the B&N signing, but this annoying fake-fan couple from Germany wouldn't stop talking to him about how they had no interest in seeing MFBB perform even though they were at a venue down the street in Berlin (fascists!). Anyway, even with Weston's passing, it's still possible (they could do with an unreleased track of his what the beatles did with those Lennon tracks). Just a thought... Nice way to say goodbye to a great legacy.

[TrueFaith77]

p.s. - and yes I am now convinced this is the end. and i blame stephanie.

[holidayroad]

p.s. - and yes I am now convinced this is the end. and i blame stephanie.

I guess they could 'nix' Stephanie and have Lindsey, Mick, John, Christine, and Bob Welch go on as Fleetwood Mac!! (Of course, that won't happen!)

[CADreaming]

p.s. - and yes I am now convinced this is the end. and i blame stephanie.

Really? What are you gonna say when they come out with something and tour again "because the world deserves it"??? ;)

Stephanie saved the world!:laugh:

I wish everyone wouldn't make assumptions about business decisions that we don't have the details about. Mick's press is not necessarily the gospel truth. There are at least 4 sides to this story - and more than that when you get Front Line et. al. involved...

[seanthompson]

I'll keep on saying this: They should all go to the UK, to Christine's castle or whatnot, and record a final double album with the Rumours era band. A very limited, filmed tour of maybe 6-8 cities in Europe. Every accommodation should be made to convince Christine to do this one last time so we may all say goodbye. Stevie and Lindsey are in the best shape they've ever been. Surely Christine has 6 o7 songs she's written since 1997 to put on a final album. The Eagles did it, so can the Mac. :angel:

[Gailh]

I'll keep on saying this: They should all go to the UK, to Christine's castle or whatnot, and record a final double album with the Rumours era band. A very limited, filmed tour of maybe 6-8 cities in Europe. Every accommodation should be made to convince Christine to do this one last time so we may all say goodbye. Stevie and Lindsey are in the best shape they've ever been. Surely Christine has 6 o7 songs she's written since 1997 to put on a final album. The Eagles did it, so can the Mac. :angel:

I think Christine might be up for recording an album in the UK but as for touring I can't imagine for one minute she'd even consider it. If she agreed to 6 or 8 european dates that would be the thin end of the wedge and she knows it so she wouldn't risk it. She hasn't toured for well over 10 years and she didn't enjoy it then. Don't forget she'll be 69 this year and I'm sure she'd rather enjoy her retirement

Gail

[bluefox4000]

Christ, Chris is done:nod: I think she's earned it. She's never been one for touring so it's pretty much an easy answer. She seems like she's completely closed the mac chapter of her life. I say good on her. I don't know what else we expect of these people. Face it, Classic Rumours farewell happened....We know it as the Dance:D

Mick

[Silver Springs]

Face it, Classic Rumours farewell happened....We know it as the Dance:D

Mick

And what a farewell it was, too. :nod:

[Ulpian]

Christ, Chris is done:nod: I think she's earned it. She's never been one for touring so it's pretty much an easy answer. She seems like she's completely closed the mac chapter of her life. I say good on her. I don't know what else we expect of these people. Face it, Classic Rumours farewell happened....We know it as the Dance:D

Mick

Totally agree with you and Gail. There is just no way Christine will do any live playing or touring.

She may very well record if she was asked to, with FM. However - and I really haven't kept up with the tittle tattle which has been going on recently - I just get the impression that the point at which that offer might have been made has passed.

[Villavic]

I wouldn't blame on anybody if this is the end. I always think, if you don't WANT to do it, if you think you wouldn't ENJOY it, then don't do it!! Even if thousand of fans ask for it. Because do it under pressure and not enjoying it would result in a disaster.

Sad, but true. So I respect Christine decision, as Stevie's decision (if there is). And Agnetha's decision ;), and John or Paul decision during the 70s...

Though I always hope there could be a last gig... This is Fleetwood Mac so anything can happen.

[MikeInNV]

p.s. - and yes I am now convinced this is the end. and i blame stephanie.

I'm not really understanding how Stevie wanting to do some solo stuff this year means the absolute end of the band. Is she the drama queen, or are we? :laugh: And even if she did walk away, why the blame? Christine walked away too. Fleetwood Mac could go on in another form as it always has.

[bluefox4000]

Lol the band needs a kick in the ass anyway.....New line-up might be interesting. Why do we need Nicks and Buckingham forever? I realize it would not be the best move....but.....what the hell? it's been done lots. shake it up!!!!!!!:thumbsup:

Mick

[vivfox]

Lol the band needs a kick in the ass anyway.....New line-up might be interesting. Why do we need Nicks and Buckingham forever? I realize it would not be the best move....but.....what the hell? it's been done lots. shake it up!!!!!!!:thumbsup:


Without S&L Mick won't make his ten million dollars. Money, that's what he wants. Just give him your money.

A new lineup won't be profitable. Therefore they will wait until Stevie is ready to fly back to the nest. She always does.

[Villavic]

Without S&L Mick won't make his ten million dollars. Money, that's what he wants. Just give him your money.

A new lineup won't be profitable. Therefore they will wait until Stevie is ready to fly back to the nest. She always does.

It's not the first time I read about Mick being a bad guy because he wants money. Well I'm not sure if money is his only purpose. But if it is, or at least the main reason.. so what? Besides, is Mick the only one who wants money? Do you think the record company, tour organizers, would be excited about a new/unknown Fleetwood Mac lineup?

And.. if Mick get away with it.. Is he the only beneficiary? No.. besides Mick, John, etc, it's Villavic, and all FM fans who can enjoy new Fleetwood Mac material, or at least a new chance to see them on stage. So I don't care if Mick just wants money. But if the group does not reunite again, well I respect that and won't blame on anybody.

[michelej1]

Stephanie saved the world!:laugh:

Stephanie was a cheerleader. Save the cheerleader, save the world.

Michele

[BombaySapphire3]

AS long as there is the inevitable "farewell tour"cash cow teat to be milked it is not the end.

[bluefox4000]

Without S&L Mick won't make his ten million dollars. Money, that's what he wants. Just give him your money.

A new lineup won't be profitable. Therefore they will wait until Stevie is ready to fly back to the nest. She always does.

Yea....I said that semi seriously. I know it won't happen. Still part of me really wants it. but never gonna happen;)

Mick

[HejiraNYC]

AS long as there is the inevitable "farewell tour"cash cow teat to be milked it is not the end.

I think that teat was already milked when Stevie and Christine announced they would no longer tour with Fleetwood Mac during the Behind the Mask tour. I suspect that when Fleetwood Mac finally calls it a day permanently, they will just disappear, not unlike the way Christine just up and left after The Dance tour. There are too many moving parts with the Fleetwood Mac machine these days to organize a proper sendoff.

[Christopher]

I have a hard time accepting that FM at the very least will not do one more cash grab tour in 2013 or 2014! A year ago I would have bet $$ on one more record, but it seems like they passed that bridge sometime last year, around the time Stevie pulled the rug out and decided to continue solo touring to promote In Your Dreams. I wonder if they (Stevie & Lindsey) came to a stand-off about Dave Stewart overseeing production on any recordings.

Who knows with this band! Anything is possible, I would have never guessed in 09' that Stevie would've recorded another solo cd. All I know is time is running out, so they better get their collective asses on the same page, or I'm fine with Stevie & Lindsey just recording more solo material.

[kara]

If this is the end, and I sure hope it's not, I do think something special should be done. What that something special is, I don't know. But Fleetwood Mac is an amazing band, and they deserve some kind of spectacular send off.


I would hate to see the end of Fleetwood Mac. But if this really is the end, I think an album of demos should be released.

[Silver Springs]

I would hate to see the end of Fleetwood Mac. But if this really is the end, I think an album of demos should be released.

It would be nice to have Demos issued officially, rather than us as fans "borrowing them" before sharing, haha.

[sweetdudejim]

I think they will, at the very least, do another reasonably large tour with Lindsey, Stevie, Mick and John. Whether they do another album? Well, it's possible that they won't. But then again, who actually thought there would be a new Beach Boys album in 2012? And a tour featuring all of the living original members together? So I wouldn't say the Mac is finished quite yet. Lindsey and Stevie are both quite productive still, and I'm sure they'll both get the itch at the same time again and find a way to make it work.

[David]

I don't think Lindsey's going to want to do another 2009 tour (where you tell everybody some cockamamie nonsense about wanting to "revisit" your body of work when in reality you couldn't pull a new album together in time).

So unless the band can get back into the studio, I would imagine that future tours are off.

I mean, seriously—what would he say for the Second Unleashed tour? "We have an exemplary body of past work that doesn't overlap with our primary body of past work we happened to share with you in 2009, and we feel it's worthwhile to share this secondary body of past work with our fans."

[michelej1]

I mean, seriously—what would he say for the Second Unleashed tour? "We have an exemplary body of past work that doesn't overlap with our primary body of past work we happened to share with you in 2009, and we feel it's worthwhile to share this secondary body of past work with our fans."

Actually, if they did perform a secondary body of past work that didn't overlap with the primary body (Rumours) us fans would be ecstatic. We wouldn't consider that tour a money grab at all, if they were doing songs from their backlog that we haven't heard in every concert since the seventies. There'd be no shame in that game. Of course, it would never happen. They'd be revisiting Dreams and GYOW and Don't Stop and the question becomes, how can you visit when they never leave?

Michele

[Tango]

There's so much they could be doing. Here's one I would love to see pulled out of obscurity:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sniMg4mIUrU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[vivfox]

They'd be revisiting Dreams and GYOW and Don't Stop and the question becomes, how can you visit when they never leave?

You can check out any time you'd like. But you can never leave.

[Tango]

I've been reading another music/biography book that recently came out, one written by Carole King, a singer/songwriter with solid credentials in any category. She just wrote a book called, "A Natural Woman," and its been on the best seller list.

I spied an article a couple of days ago that addresses what happens to old war horses and, perhaps, singer/songwriters: "if this is the end." I'll stick a few highlights of the article here:

NEW YORK — The voice behind dozens of standards like “It’s Too Late,” ‘’You’ve Got a Friend” and “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” says her music-making days are likely over.

Carole King, now a best-selling author, doubts she will ever write another song and suggested that her 2010 “Troubadours Reunion” concert tour with James Taylor would be her last: “It was a good way to go out.”

King composed dozens of 1960s hits with then-husband Gerry Goffin before emerging as a recording artist in her own right. Her 25 million-selling “Tapestry” launched the singer-songwriter era in 1971 and became the first real blockbuster album. She spoke recently as two new projects offer fresh reminders of her legacy — the memoir “A Natural Woman” and a new disc that gathers “demo” recordings of some of her best-known songs that were made to sell the compositions to other artists.



She hasn’t released an album of new compositions since 2001, and on her website’s exhaustive list of songs she has written, the most recent are two from 2004.


“At this point I can look back at my life and career as a songwriter and say I’ve done everything I really wanted to do,” King said.


She’s not naive. She knows popular culture has long since moved elsewhere. As a teenage music prodigy she knew what young people were thinking about and wanted to hear in music, and she’s not there anymore.


“I suppose if I had a reason to, if someone said I want you to write a song for this movie, I could sit down and do that,” she said. “But to just write songs and to throw them out into the marketplace, I don’t think this is my time to do that.”


The decision to shut it down or keep creating is one that many members of an older musical generation face. Billy Joel announced in the early 1990s that he was through writing pop songs, and has stuck to that. But Bob Dylan has kept writing and releasing new music. Both surviving members of the Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, keep turning out new projects. The Beach Boys have an unlikely reunion with a new album as well.


King did a fair amount of touring during the past decade, but it took its toll. “I’m 70,” she said. “It would be lovely to retire.”

With her writing frequently interrupted by concert tours and activism (including work for environmental causes and Democratic politicians), the book took King 12 years to write. She was determined to do it herself without a ghost- or co-writer.

The strongest part of the book is also the most shocking. She talks of being physically and verbally abused by her third husband in the 1970s, the man who led her to the Idaho backcountry that she adores and still lives in. Even King found it hard to believe that despite fame, success and plenty of friends, she wouldn’t end the relationship the first time she was hit — and even several times thereafter. She finally did leave, and he died of a drug overdose shortly after that, according to her book.


“It was very difficult, too complicated to talk about in a small sound bite,” she said. “My editor said to just write about it, you don’t have to include it. But I decided to include it because I want other women in abusive relationships to know that it’s not their fault and that it can happen to anyone.”
With her first book is fresh on the market, she’s already thinking about the possibility of another one.


“Now that I’m 70, I have bits of wisdom I can offer to a younger generation,” she said. “It’s not ‘This is the way it has to be,’ but ‘This is my experience, I hope this helps you.’”

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