Mick's 8 favourite Fleetwood Mac songs

[elle]

pretty sure this is old.

https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/mick-fleetwood-favourite-fleetwood-mac-songs/

Credit: Alamy
Joe Taysom· October 25, 2020
Mick Fleetwood picks 8 favourite Fleetwood Mac songs

Mick Fleetwood is one of the most celebrated drummers of all time, a musician who is the glue that has kept Fleetwood Mac ticking for over 50 years. There isn’t much that Fleetwood hasn’t done and there is a reason why he is seen as being such an integral figure in the world of music.

Everyone undoubtedly has a different opinion on what the best Fleetwood Mac track is but there are very few people who are more qualified to speak on the topic than Mick Fleetwood himself. The drummer is one of only two omnipresent alongside John McVie in the plethora of different line-up’s the band have had over the last half a century. With a host of new fans now flocking to check out the band who soundtracked the most famous TikTok video of all time, also featuring a carton of cranberry juice, which songs would the leader of the band pick as his favourites?

Mick Fleetwood may well be one of the most under-celebrated figures of pop music. With his band, he, alongside some other talented musicians, changed the face of pop music. They gave it a sunshining hue and a golden-flecked core that meant the make-up of music as we know it would change forever. He mad easy listening something everybody wanted to get down to.

With a repertoire like Fleetwood Mac’s, it is an almost impossible task to pick out just one track and the drummer was unable to narrow it down to less than eight when asked by Music Radar. We are going to take a look through these eight delights from various stages from the iconic band’s career that saw them go from session musicians starting out on their own in 1967 to Grammy-award winning global juggernauts.
Mick Fleetwood’s 8 favourite Fleetwood Mac songs:

‘Love That Burns’ (1968)

Fleetwood’s first choice comes from the Peter Green era of the band from their sophomore effort Mr Wonderful in 1968 which is a world away from the type of music that would appear on their seminal Rumours album but it’s an incredible piece of music nonetheless.

“Peter Green. Fleetwood Mac. This is probably, almost, my favourite song. It kills me. Peter kills me. He was my friend, remains a friend, and he started Fleetwood Mac with me in 1967,” he said of the song. Not necessarily the biggest hit of the band’s career, the selection is born from Fleetwood’s own connection to the song.

“This is me in my full-on training ground,” he continued. “This is the essence of playing Oh Daddy, the essence of what I was able to get out of playing a form of music that allowed me, as a young chap, to express myself so thoroughly, not only vicariously through Peter – because I loved his playing so much – but when I was privileged to be playing behind somebody so talented. When I hear this, it’s all about a young chap, me, knowing why Peter was so overjoyed to be playing the music that he loved so much.”

‘Go Your Own Way’ (1977)

The second choice from the drummer comes almost a decade later, from the Rumours era of the band. Following Peter Green’s departure and the start of their global dominance, there’s one song that will always follow the group. ‘Go Your Own Way’ is probably Fleetwood Mac’s most well-known number and one that simply couldn’t be left off Fleetwood’s list.

“Lindsey walked in with a demo, in his wonderfully ordered fashion from the days when he’d just joined Fleetwood Mac until he realised that John and I played in a certain way,” remembered Fleetwood when recalling his favourite songs, “which was compliant to the structures and aspirations of a songwriter.”

“I love playing this song. It’s one of my favourites because I get to kick the hell out of my drums, and it’s got that wonderfully primal part. It’s a great ‘let loose’ stage song, in which I can revert to my old animal ways and not be quite so polite. Lindsey is a full-on rock ‘n’ roller on this song, and that I love.”

‘Rattlesnake Shake’ (1969)

Fleetwood then returns back to the Peter Green period for his next choice, the excellent ‘Rattlesnake Shake’ is easily the standout moment of 1969’s Then Play On and is fully deserving of its place on this esteemed handpicked list.

“On this song, you hear structure, yes, but you also hear me being incredibly free to break into the shuffle at the end, which was not supposed to happen, but it did and we went, ‘Oh my God, we really like that.’ I really loved that because it was my way of participating in creating the character of the song,” he says.

Adding: “It incorporated the freedom to go off on a tangent, to jam – the classic ‘Do you jam, dude?’ We learned that as players. You hear that alive and well in the double-time structure that I put in at the end, which on stage could last half an hour. It was our way of being in The Grateful Dead.”

‘Walk a Thin Line’ (1979)

‘Walk a Thin Line’ is one of Lindsey Buckingham’s finest moments from 1979 effort Tusk, a project which saw the band boldly deviate away from the sound of Rumours which had gifted them such rich successes and was a testament to the group that they shied away from the easy road.

“This is a Lindsey Buckingham album, written for the Tusk album,” recalled Mick Fleetwood in his insightful conversation. “I redid it this for The Visitor, the album I recorded in Africa, and the reason I did so was because I really loved the song and wished that I’d written it. I approached it with a whole ensemble of African musicians, so as a percussion player, during these recordings, I was, as we say in England, ‘like a pig in ****.’ I had the greatest time playing with these musicians on this rendition of this particular song.”

He added: “George Harrison was my ex-brother-in-law, so when I came back to England, he put some beautiful slide guitar on the track for me. I adore him and his music, and he is sorely missed.”

‘Dreams’ (1977)

The list wouldn’t be complete without the inclusion of ‘Dreams’, the track remains Fleetwood Mac’s only song to top the Billboard chart in the States and embodies everything great about their seminal LP Rumours. This track played a pivotal role in the band becoming the household name they are today and should rightly be considered one of their best.

“Dreams is a given,” Fleetwood says. “I think it’s the most famous song that Stevie ever wrote. The intro, I think is one of those stupidly simple things that came from the drummer who played with Al Green and The Staple Singers, so it’s from my love of what I call ‘greasy music.’ It has a real feel, and it’s lazy, behind the beat – stupidly simple but well-thought-out.

“The tempo of the song, I’ve been finding out, is something that really appeals to drummers, so I take that as a compliment. It’s something I took from great players who I love so much: Keep it greasy and stay in the slot. Gotta be in the slot!”

‘Oh Daddy’ (1977)

Christine McVie wrote ‘Oh Daddy’ for Fleetwood, even if he didn’t know it initially. At the time, Fleetwood was the only father of the band, with two daughters, therefore, the Rumours track holds a real poignancy for the drummer. “I’m a sucker for this one because it really is a structured song, which is so appealing to me as a player,” Fleetwood explained. “Basically, it’s me playing a slow blues with Christine.”

He continued: “Sentimentally I say this because I didn’t know it at the time, but I found out not too long afterwards, that the song was actually written about me. At that point, I was the only daddy in the ranks of Fleetwood Mac. Christine is a sister of mine and truly a great musician – and a blues player.”

‘Oh Well’ (1969)

The drumming maestro returns yet again to the halcyon days of the Peter Green era when the band’s dynamic was a lot more straightforward and they didn’t have to deal with the pressures that came with being one of the biggest bands in the world. “It’s two minutes of madness that I love. It’s a stop-and-start song, and to this day I get the heebie-jeebies thinking that I’m going to mess it up – which is good because that’s the child in me.”

Fleetwood added: “The structures that I was able to put together make it something that is very unique. It’s become a real staple of the diet, way more so than I ever realised with our contemporaries and the best of the best – they’re absolutely fascinated with this song.”

‘Tusk’ (1979)

The final track is the titular number from Tusk, which encapsulated the decadence of Fleetwood Mac during this time — ‘Tusk’ is pure unadulterated chaos which feels like the polar opposite of Rumours which is perfect because of its imperfections.

Speaking about the track, he said: “This is Mick Fleetwood gone AWOL. I really enjoyed working with Lindsey, who put the structure down. The song had basically been discarded during the Tusk sessions, and no one knew what to do with it. We’d made this jam song. The crazy jungle beat is very much a Mick staple diet.

“The song came back to life, on the face of it, from an asinine idea I got when I was on holiday in France. There was a brass band walking around the village, and I came back and said, ‘We need to put the USC Marching Band on this,’ and everybody thought I was crazy. Of course, we did it, and it’s become one of the classic Fleetwood Mac songs in concert.

[HomerMcvie]

Has Christine ever said that Oh Daddy was about him? Because I never heard that in my life until The Making of Rumours, TWENTY years after it was made, when Mick made the claim. I think he went to the $tevie school of truth telling.

[Macfan4life]

Has Christine ever said that Oh Daddy was about him? Because I never heard that in my life until The Making of Rumours, TWENTY years after it was made, when Mick made the claim. I think he went to the $tevie school of truth telling.
My memory is like yours in that it was first revealed during the 20th anniversary Rumours documentary. However, I believe Chris also inferred it was about Mick. I remember something like her saying Big Daddy was about Mick how he was the only dad of the band. Then she went on to say he was "little daddy" for a bunch of years but he was always the rock of the band to keep it together. I just remember her little swipe at Mick's trouble years and calling him "little daddy."
Having said all that....the inspiration of the song is obvious some sort of love interest of Chris. It may just have been a false story when talking about the song. Who knows.

[HomerMcvie]

I'm still throwing the bull sh*t flag on this play.

They wouldn't have waited 20 years to reveal it. Lying Mick came up with the story, so company woman Christine dutifully backed him up.

[soul_drifter333]

Am I the only one that noticed that there are 3 Lindsey songs on the list...the very person he booted from the band?

[David]

Does anyone remember what the original words were? That could help us decipher who’s your daddy.

Like a lot of Fleetwood Mac songs, I don’t think Oh Daddy is about one thing or one person. I think it’s a mood piece and a lyrical collage. Perhaps it’s a vague sort of nod to someone in the band, like Mick, but it’s probably a string of words and phrases that just sounded great to Christine or the rest of the band, as it took shape in Sausalito, and maybe it started with an underlying reference to someone initially.

Oh, daddy, you soothe me with your smile
You’re letting me know
You’re the best thing in my life

Rather than draw arrows between each word and a supposedly corresponding reference in real life, I hear a song as a stylized way to create a mood. That’s certainly true in Lindsey’s case, where he admitted to often writing lyrics to fit existing bars of orchestrated music. I think even Stevie does that a lot, in more songs than we realize: If we took each mention of the word “tragedy” in her body of work literally, her life would have to be worse than that of Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop. Sometimes a line of ersatz poetry is just a line of ersatz poetry, and it creates a fictional world or just sounds groovy.

[David]

Am I the only one that noticed that there are 3 Lindsey songs on the list...the very person he booted from the band?
I noticed, too, and expected that someone would cite it as proof that Mick wants Lindsey back in the fold.

[BombaySapphire3]

I noticed, too, and expected that someone would cite it as proof that Mick wants Lindsey back in the fold.

And of course it doesn't matter at all what Mick wants. He will follow what the old cash cow wants..so it is a no go.

[jbrownsjr]

I noticed, too, and expected that someone would cite it as proof that Mick wants Lindsey back in the fold.

He didn't list NOT THAT FUNNY, proving he hates Lindsey. :laugh:

[bombaysaffires]

Does anyone remember what the original words were? That could help us decipher who’s your daddy.

Like a lot of Fleetwood Mac songs, I don’t think Oh Daddy is about one thing or one person. I think it’s a mood piece and a lyrical collage. Perhaps it’s a vague sort of nod to someone in the band, like Mick, but it’s probably a string of words and phrases that just sounded great to Christine or the rest of the band, as it took shape in Sausalito, and maybe it started with an underlying reference to someone initially.

Oh, daddy, you soothe me with your smile
You’re letting me know
You’re the best thing in my life

Rather than draw arrows between each word and a supposedly corresponding reference in real life, I hear a song as a stylized way to create a mood. That’s certainly true in Lindsey’s case, where he admitted to often writing lyrics to fit existing bars of orchestrated music. I think even Stevie does that a lot, in more songs than we realize: If we took each mention of the word “tragedy” in her body of work literally, her life would have to be worse than that of Little Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop. Sometimes a line of ersatz poetry is just a line of ersatz poetry, and it creates a fictional world or just sounds groovy.

I always suspected it was a lot to do with Curry. She was dating him at that time (though we have no way of knowing the timeline of the song to the relationship) but the bolded words above seem to fit a romance, and he was it during that period around that album (reference YMLF which she openly says was about him).

But who knows:shrug:

[aleuzzi]

It’s a fairly self-centered list. Most of the songs on it are there because they have something to do with Mick (or Mick thinks they do!).

Tusk was, according to Mick, a co-write with Lindsey.

Rattlesnake references a guy named Mick.

Walk a Thin Line was used on Mick’s first solo album.

Oh Daddy is supposedly about Mick. (He’s so delusional about this that he’s pretty much gotten Christine to say it was.)

Oh Well and Love That Burns May be his true personal favs. I suspect Dreams and GYOW are there because, in addition to being great songs, they’re the most famous pairing of Mac tunes.

He once claimed the “great dark wing” in Sara was him...Surprised that’s not there.

[bombaysaffires]

It’s a fairly self-centered list. Most of the songs on it are there because they have something to do with Mick (or Mick thinks they do!).

Tusk was, according to Mick, a co-write with Lindsey.

Rattlesnake references a guy named Mick.

Walk a Thin Line was used on Mick’s first solo album.

Oh Daddy is supposedly about Mick. (He’s so delusional about this that he’s pretty much gotten Christine to say it was.)

Oh Well and Love That Burns May be his true personal favs. I suspect Dreams and GYOW are there because, in addition to being great songs, they’re the most famous pairing of Mac tunes.

He once claimed the “great dark wing” in Sara was him...Surprised that’s not there.

Stevie has said this in interviews herself, back in the day so...:shrug:

[michelej1]

I noticed, too, and expected that someone would cite it as proof that Mick wants Lindsey back in the fold.

I would cite it as proof, sir, but I think this is an old selection of Mick’s. However, I think it’s several years old and he compiled it long before he thought about firing Lindsey.

[michelej1]

I always suspected it was a lot to do with Curry. She was dating him at that time (though we have no way of knowing the timeline of the song to the relationship) but the bolded words above seem to fit a romance, and he was it during that period around that album (reference YMLF which she openly says was about him).

But who knows:shrug:

Mick soothes everyone with his smile, much like Mary Tyler Moore turns the world on with hers.

[michelej1]

This is what Christine said in 1990. I believe it. I think this was the true origin of the song and don’t think Mick was imagining things.


“Oh Daddy, I had written about Jenny and Mick. Jenny and Mick were going through their bad times as everybody else was and this was written so to speak from the shoes of Jenny who at that time was really really sad about the lack of prospect of their marriage surviving. So, this was all about those two.”

Besides, she likes to talk about him as a daddy. Which is not to say Sugar Daddy is about him, thank the heavens. But in 1987 when asked who held the band together she said the energy shifted. When it lapsed in one person then the other person will pick up the reins. But she said Mick was the real glue.

“Mick, I would say, is the guru if you’d like, the daddy.”

[HomerMcvie]

He didn't list NOT THAT FUNNY, proving he hates Lindsey. :laugh:

Not That Funny blows goats.

No, not that one.

[HomerMcvie]

Mick soothes everyone with his smile, much like Mary Tyler Moore turns the world on with hers.

Please don't compare Mary Tyler Moore to Mick.

That's like comparing an angel to a year old bucket of pig sh*t.

I'm sorry to insult pig sh*t so rudely. :lol:

[jbrownsjr]

Not That Funny blows goats.

No, not that one.

awww ha ha ha
awwww ha ha ha ha
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwrooooooooooooooooooooo
awwwwwwwwwwwwwrooooooooooooooooooooooo
ahwwwwww ha ha ha ha ha....

NO IT'S NOT THAT FUNNY!!

[David]

I would cite it as proof, sir, but I think this is an old selection of Mick’s. However, I think it’s several years old and he compiled it long before he thought about firing Lindsey.You reminded me of the Japanese TV show from 1990 where every Fleetwood Macster mentions his or her favorite song. Christine mentions something from Steely Dan’s Babylon Sisters, and Stevie mentions Jimi Hendrix “Little Wing.” Anyone remember what Mick talked about?

My own favorite song list is huge!

• I Love You Goodbye (Thomas Dolby)
• It Only Takes a Minute (Tavares)
• Mothership Connection and One Nation Under a Groove (Parliament)
• Big Time and Come Talk to Me and maybe Biko (Peter Gabriel)
• Go or Go Ahead (Rufus Wainwright)
• That Lady (Isley Brothers)
• Heaven (Glen Scott)
• I Missed Again (Phil Colllins)
• Changes and This Is Not America (David Bowie and Pat Matheny)
• Dragonfly (Fleetwood Mac)
• Across 110th Street (Bobby Womack)
• Kaleidoscope (Fenech–Soler)
• 1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
• It’s a Shame (Spinners)
• Be My Baby (Ronettes) the greatest pop studio recording of all time
• Shut Us Down and Red Rover and Soul Drifter and Say We’ll Meet Again and Did You Miss Me? (Lindsey Buckingham)
• Fantasy (Earth Wind and Fire)
• Lessons in Love (Level 42)
• Everybody Everybody (Black Box)
• Save It for Later (English Beat)
• Let Me Down Easy (Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose)
• My Ever Changing Moods (Style Council)
• The Loved Ones (Elvis Costello & the Attractions)
• Life During Wartime (Talking Heads)
• In God’s Country (U2)
• What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye)
• Atlantic City and Meeting Across the River (Bruce Springsteen)
• Home by the Sea and Turn It On Again (Genesis)
• If You Really Love Me (Stevie Wonder)
• Leave It Open (Kate Bush)
• For the Love of Money (O’Jays)
• South Central Rain (R.E.M.)
• The Tears of a Clown (Smokey Robinson)
• Strength, Courage and Wisdom (India.Arie)
• Lotta Love (Neil Young and Nicolette Larson)
• Dancing to Your Music (Archie Bell and the Drells)
• I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (Prince)
• ABC and The Love You Save (Jackson 5)
• I’d Rather Be with You (Bootsy Colllins)
• Sideshow (Blue Magic)
• The House that Jack Built (Aretha Franklin)
• Stone in Love (Journey) my very guilty pleasure

[michelej1]

My own favorite song list is huge!

• I Love You Goodbye (Thomas Dolby)
• It Only Takes a Minute (Tavares)
• Mothership Connection and One Nation Under a Groove (Parliament)
• Big Time and Come Talk to Me and maybe Biko (Peter Gabriel)
• Go or Go Ahead (Rufus Wainwright)
• That Lady (Isley Brothers)
• Heaven (Glen Scott)
• I Missed Again (Phil Colllins)
• Changes and This Is Not America (David Bowie and Pat Matheny)
• Dragonfly (Fleetwood Mac)
• Across 110th Street (Bobby Womack)
• Kaleidoscope (Fenech–Soler)
• 1979 (Smashing Pumpkins)
• It’s a Shame (Spinners)
• Be My Baby (Ronettes) the greatest pop studio recording of all time
• Shut Us Down and Red Rover and Soul Drifter and Say We’ll Meet Again and Did You Miss Me? (Lindsey Buckingham)
• Fantasy (Earth Wind and Fire)
• Lessons in Love (Level 42)
• Everybody Everybody (Black Box)
• Save It for Later (English Beat)
• Let Me Down Easy (Cornelius Brothers and Sister Rose)
• My Ever Changing Moods (Style Council)
• The Loved Ones (Elvis Costello & the Attractions)
• Life During Wartime (Talking Heads)
• In God’s Country (U2)
• What’s Going On (Marvin Gaye)
• Atlantic City and Meeting Across the River (Bruce Springsteen)
• Home by the Sea and Turn It On Again (Genesis)
• If You Really Love Me (Stevie Wonder)
• Leave It Open (Kate Bush)
• For the Love of Money (O’Jays)
• South Central Rain (R.E.M.)
• The Tears of a Clown (Smokey Robinson)
• Strength, Courage and Wisdom (India.Arie)
• Lotta Love (Neil Young and Nicolette Larson)
• Dancing to Your Music (Archie Bell and the Drells)
• I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man (Prince)
• ABC and The Love You Save (Jackson 5)
• I’d Rather Be with You (Bootsy Colllins)
• Sideshow (Blue Magic)
• The House that Jack Built (Aretha Franklin)
• Stone in Love (Journey) my very guilty pleasure

I don’t have a favorite song list, but Did You Miss Me made your cut? Hmmmm.

Too many Prince and Jackson (I will throw in the entire family together) songs to mention.

The Beat Goes On, It’s the Little Things and Needles and Pins for Sonny.

SYLM, Hold Me, OMH and Calumny for Christine

Too many Lindsey and Stevie Songs to mention.

[michelej1]

Nothing from Diana Ross, David? Even a Supremes song would be appreciated.

[secondhandchain]

I noticed, too, and expected that someone would cite it as proof that Mick wants Lindsey back in the fold.

When you guys were saying they would get back together I was like NO WAY. But there have been subtle signs lately that I think this may not be so far fetched. What a joke. I will not go.

[secondhandchain]

Not That Funny blows goats.

No, not that one.

HA David when the album came out I LOVED NTF. I just thought it sounded so cool. I was sure it would be a single. I get the hate though, but I love the studio version. The live is annoying.

[HomerMcvie]

HA David when the album came out I LOVED NTF. I just thought it sounded so cool. I was sure it would be a single. I get the hate though, but I love the studio version. The live is annoying.

I've told this story a million times, but in high school, I'd FORCE all my friends to watch Mirage. They ALL hated ntf live! They would watch as long as I fast forwarded though ntf. That was our deal.

All that screaming... all that screaming. Oh oh AHHH AAHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I will say now, that "screaming Lindsey" would never go back to FM again, after being fired by that bitter old goat.

[HomerMcvie]

When you guys were saying they would get back together I was like NO WAY. But there have been subtle signs lately that I think this may not be so far fetched. What a joke. I will not go.

I want to say I won't go, but I'm not sure. I don't want him to go back. Ever. He, of all people, should have more self respect for himself. It will be really pathetic if he goes back. IF I go see them, it will be without most of the respect that I've always had for him.

[michelej1]

I like NTF when it is short and sweet. I like the energy.

On Mirage, well it’s not really a song any longer. I can see why it’s annoying. However, I do find the “don’t wait me wait” and the smoke rings sexy, so I don’t complain too vociferously.

I did crack up in the rehearsal video when Stevie came on stage and said “it’s not that funny is it?”

[HomerMcvie]

I like NTF when it is short and sweet. I like the energy.

On Mirage, well it’s not really a song any longer. I can see why it’s annoying. However, I do find the “don’t wait me wait” and the smoke rings sexy, so I don’t complain too vociferously.


I do like it when Lindsey is smoking the joint, and John is trying to get in there and suck up some smoke.

And Christine playing the upright piano on stage left, which they followed(ntf) with Sara(if memory serves-1982 is a long f*cking time ago, now), on which she played the same upright.

[Macfan4life]

I've told this story a million times, but in high school, I'd FORCE all my friends to watch Mirage. They ALL hated ntf live! They would watch as long as I fast forwarded though ntf. That was our deal.

All that screaming... all that screaming. Oh oh AHHH AAHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I will say now, that "screaming Lindsey" would never go back to FM again, after being fired by that bitter old goat.
Its so funny because I had the EXACT same experience. I was hypnotized by Mirage and made my friends watch the VHS tape. They walked out halfway through. They were into metal and I was such a dork watching Fleetwood Mac :eek:

I had feelings of shock and disbelief how they bolted the way they did. I guess my forced indoctrination was not working.

[Macfan4life]

I do like it when Lindsey is smoking the joint, and John is trying to get in there and suck up some smoke.

And Christine playing the upright piano on stage left, which they followed(ntf) with Sara(if memory serves-1982 is a long f*cking time ago, now), on which she played the same upright.
Part of Fleetwood Mac died when the upright piano left the stage :(

It was NEVER the same again

[jbrownsjr]

Part of Fleetwood Mac died when the upright piano left the stage :(

It was NEVER the same again

That's the truest, most brilliant, smartest, most factual thing anyone has ever said ever!!!

[HomerMcvie]

Part of Fleetwood Mac died when the upright piano left the stage :(

It was NEVER the same again

Because it's the last time they were an actual BAND. By Tango, we had backup singers, off stage keyboard players, and percussionists.

Let's face it, the old goat had already started taking over back then, 33 years ago.

[HomerMcvie]

Its so funny because I had the EXACT same experience. I was hypnotized by Mirage and made my friends watch the VHS tape. They walked out halfway through. They were into metal and I was such a dork watching Fleetwood Mac :eek:

I had feelings of shock and disbelief how they bolted the way they did. I guess my forced indoctrination was not working.
Yep. We had the same experience. Except my tape was Betamax!:lol:

[jbrownsjr]

Yep. We had the same experience. Except my tape was Betamax!:lol:

I chose VHS!! Yay!!! I lasted years later. :lol:

[SteveMacD]

Because it's the last time they were an actual BAND. By Tango, we had backup singers, off stage keyboard players, and percussionists.

Let's face it, the old goat had already started taking over back then, 33 years ago.

Are you seriously suggesting Lindsey wouldn’t have had a bunch of backing musicians if he had stayed?

Did you see the OOTC tour?

Four other guitarists, a bassist, a keyboardist, and three percussionists, and probably still used prerecords.

[Macfan4life]

Because it's the last time they were an actual BAND. By Tango, we had backup singers, off stage keyboard players, and percussionists.

Let's face it, the old goat had already started taking over back then, 33 years ago.
Sara sounded so good on the upright piano. It was never played the same way again. When Nicks did it solo in 1981, those opening keyboards were like nails down a chalkboard IMHO. NTF live was worth it just to see Christine pound on the upright piano. She reminded me of our grade school music teacher who would wheel in the upright piano and pound away loudly and try to get us kids to sing.

[HomerMcvie]

I chose VHS!! Yay!!! I lasted years later. :lol:

Visionary that I am, I talked Mom into buying Betamax!:p

I have two copies of the Brazilian rip off Mirage DVD, though. The one with the Behind The Mask band on the cover. :lol:

[HomerMcvie]

Are you seriously suggesting Lindsey wouldn’t have had a bunch of backing musicians if he had stayed?

Did you see the OOTC tour?

Four other guitarists, a bassist, a keyboardist, and three percussionists, and probably still used prerecords.

That's pure speculation on your part.

I did not see OOTC.

[SteveMacD]

That's pure speculation on your part.
Not really. According to Mick in 1987, Lindsey wanted to add a second full-time guitarist for the tour, and said that it would have been Billy Burnette. I asked Billy about this in a Q&A and he verified it.

[David]

Not really. According to Mick in 1987, Lindsey wanted to add a second full-time guitarist for the tour, and said that it would have been Billy Burnette. I asked Billy about this in a Q&A and he verified it.

There’s an enormous musical difference between Lindsey’s band setup in 1993 and the direction Fleetwood Mac went in the 1980s and 1990s up to today. It boils down to a lot more than just an onstage head count. The Buckingham band was a precisely orchestrated approach with an experimental spirit, which you can clearly hear live in the interplay of acoustic and electric guitars, percussion, and vocal lines in all those sonically immaculate conceptions on Out of the Cradle: “All My Sorrows,” “Soul Drifter,” “You Do or You Don’t,” “Surrender the Rain,” and others. That show was designed to create a cinema soundtrack, almost, with a massive canvas of emotional moods.

What Fleetwood Mac did was much more formulaic and less thought out: to double, triple, and quadruple the instrumental and vocal onslaught merely to project everything outward in the cavernous halls of a sports arena or outdoor amphitheater. It was an IMAX event, not an experiment in orchestration. Maybe some of the songs benefitted, like “Go Your Own Way” (because the three member singers had got so sloppy over the years). But not everything did. Several songs lost their subtlety and their groove, no thanks to all that hardware backstage in the form of keyboard modules in Dan Garfield’s arsenal. In 1987, the band pared things down again for a few blues songs, as you know, and those blues songs were lovely, even though the arena setting was all wrong. Buckingham’s first live experiment in 1993 was an elegant, inspired melding of setting and production; the size of those “intimate” venues fit the scope of the show. As for LB’s stated desire to bring along another guitarist or two on tour with Fleetwood Mac in 1987, we’ll never really know exactly what he meant, will we? I think he had something a little more interesting in mind besides just filling sound holes and going 11 on the amps. I think he even said he wanted a second guitarist onstage so that he could try different things he had never had the opportunity to try before.

[SteveMacD]

There’s an enormous musical difference between Lindsey’s band setup in 1993 and the direction Fleetwood Mac went in the 1980s and 1990s up to today. It boils down to a lot more than just an onstage head count. The Buckingham band was a precisely orchestrated approach with an experimental spirit, which you can clearly hear live in the interplay of acoustic and electric guitars, percussion, and vocal lines in all those sonically immaculate conceptions on Out of the Cradle: “All My Sorrows,” “Soul Drifter,” “You Do or You Don’t,” “Surrender the Rain,” and others. That show was designed to create a cinema soundtrack, almost, with a massive canvas of emotional moods.

What Fleetwood Mac did was much more formulaic and less thought out: to double, triple, and quadruple the instrumental and vocal onslaught merely to project everything outward in the cavernous halls of a sports arena or outdoor amphitheater. It was an IMAX event, not an experiment in orchestration. Maybe some of the songs benefitted, like “Go Your Own Way” (because the three member singers had got so sloppy over the years). But not everything did. Several songs lost their subtlety and their groove, no thanks to all that hardware backstage in the form of keyboard modules in Dan Garfield’s arsenal. In 1987, the band pared things down again for a few blues songs, as you know, and those blues songs were lovely, even though the arena setting was all wrong. Buckingham’s first live experiment in 1993 was an elegant, inspired melding of setting and production; the size of those “intimate” venues fit the scope of the show. As for LB’s stated desire to bring along another guitarist or two on tour with Fleetwood Mac in 1987, we’ll never really know exactly what he meant, will we? I think he had something a little more interesting in mind besides just filling sound holes and going 11 on the amps. I think he even said he wanted a second guitarist onstage so that he could try different things he had never had the opportunity to try before.
Point being that Lindsey didn’t have an aversion to adding auxiliary musicians, even in 1987. It wasn’t just coming from Stevie.

With all of the different sonic layers on TITN, it’s hard to imagine songs like Little Lies or Isn’t It Midnight working without an extra keyboardist and a percussionist.

[elle]

Point being that Lindsey didn’t have an aversion to adding auxiliary musicians, even in 1987. It wasn’t just coming from Stevie.

David point is exactly the opposite, though.

so it depends whose point, and whether they are talking numbers or substance.

[Macfan4life]

IMHO people make way too much fuss about possible Lindsey statements about touring with a bigger band in 1987. For the love of God, I would not take any statements of Lindsey at the time as serious. I know its in Mick's book but there were never any rehearsals and it also could have been a ploy to stall talking about the tour. Lindsey never wanted to tour in 1987. He may have given it a second thought but people act like they were rehearsing with extra guitar players, etc. I was glued to my radio in May 1987 with a big radio promotion of TITN. Every band member was interviewed. Lindsey was directly asked about touring. He said it was not discussed and the silence on the issue could lead it to go either way. I was like WTF. I heard it with my own ears months before the blowout at Christine's house. So its really not worth taking serious because he may have casually mentioned it would be nice to add a few other musicians. LOL Having said that, I doubt he meant taking on 3 Stevie Nicks back up singers and Asante ;)

[michelej1]

Well I know that Lindsey may have wanted to add another guitarist to the tour, you have to remember your source. When Christine and Mick both took time to mention that it was Lindsey’s idea to bring in another guitarist, they said it to excuse what they were doing and to make the move with Rick and Billy look less desperate.

But Lindsey used extra sound. We knew that Ray was there, after all. It’s not a crime.

But his OOTC guitar army was there for other reasons.

[jbrownsjr]

Well I know that Lindsey may have wanted to add another guitarist to the tour, you have to remember your source. When Christine and Mick both took time to mention that it was Lindsey’s idea to bring in another guitarist, they said it to excuse what they were doing and to make the move with Rick and Billy look less desperate.

But Lindsey used extra sound. We knew that Ray was there, after all. It’s not a crime.

But his OOTC guitar army was there for other reasons.

When I saw OOTC in a small bar, that ensemble was such an amazing thing to see. The nuances of the album were all covered and it was pure bliss. I wish I could go back in time.

[soul_drifter333]

When I saw OOTC in a small bar, that ensemble was such an amazing thing to see. The nuances of the album were all covered and it was pure bliss. I wish I could go back in time.

Me too. Amazing! Saw it in Atlanta.

[jbrownsjr]

Me too. Amazing! Saw it in Atlanta.

I saw it in Cleveland in a small bar/club. I was in heaven. Just say we'll meet again.

[Nicks Fan]

When I met Mick backstage in 2009 he claimed Lindsey said for the tour he wanted extra musicians on stage like back up singers, percussion, extra guitar players etc all so that the songs would sound as close to the records as possible. Who knows if he was telling the truth.

[David]

When I met Mick backstage in 2009 he claimed Lindsey said for the tour he wanted extra musicians on stage like back up singers, percussion, extra guitar players etc all so that the songs would sound as close to the records as possible. Who knows if he was telling the truth.
I believe that Mick was conveying what Lindsey felt. In interviews stretching back to his first solo album in 1981 — even to the Fleetwood Mac tour preceding that — you can hear Lindsey vent a certain frustration with what he used to call paraphrasing: transforming the character of a studio track into something that would work onstage, with messy live sound, fewer people than ideal, or even the need to program a set for momentum and vulgar energy rather than nuance or subtlety. (That’s why I spend so much time repeating myself that Lindsey’s particular character as a musician really doesn’t lend itself to arena rock — the concert history of Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to now is the history of taking the subdued, alluring stuff OUT, not putting more of it in. I even think Stevie would do better in small venues, where she could work with a broader emotional palette and not have to placate the beer-guzzling, stoned party-heads.)

You have a painstakingly crafted arrangement from a studio recording and if that song is a hit or it has some value that can be exploited in a live set (like, say, “Eyes of the World” or “World Turning”), it has to be paraphrased. The more complex its construction in the studio, the more paraphrasing it needs. Based on what Lindsey has always said, that necessity to rephrase songs differently for the live set seems to have been more confining than liberating. I’m sure he has always loved opening up and letting loose with searing solos and “yelling and screaming” (as he called it in his 1981 Innerview with Jim Ladd). But he’s also been bummed out with the live situation in Fleetwood Mac: four people, give or take an extra part here or there, to paraphrase all the voicings — and having to eliminate many of them because you’ve run out of hands or singers and nobody in the band knows how to use the prerecorded stuff so that it sounds real and not artificial. That frustration is what drove him to do what he did in 1993 for his tour. The Cradle set was intricately rehearsed and mapped out like a blueprint — they probably used guitar and vocal charts like horn charts for a jazz band (or like the charts Rickie Lee Jones and Tom Scott crafted for her amazing Pirates album).

Lindsey toured with Fleetwood for many years without getting the opportunity or the approval to do what he wanted with ambitious arrangements. Not that the others were to blame for blocking him. But imagine trying to get the 1982 band together for two or three months of serious rehearsal to plan something so sophisticated. It was probably all Mick could do to get his band into rehearsal for three weeks of facking around.

[SteveMacD]

David point is exactly the opposite, though..

It was actually a red herring. Nothing in what he said disputes the assertion that if Lindsey had stayed, they would have still used auxiliary players, that it wasn’t something that was dictated by Stevie, which was the only point I was making. In both cases, there was a degree of recreating sonic layers from the albums. Based on the rather extreme lengths Lindsey went through to do that in 1993, it completely stands to reason that he would have gone along with, if not altogether insisted, on augmenting the band, especially for the TITN material. I don’t think any of them were interested in “paraphrasing” too much with that album.

IMHO people make way too much fuss about possible Lindsey statements about touring with a bigger band in 1987. For the love of God, I would not take any statements of Lindsey at the time as serious. I know its in Mick's book but there were never any rehearsals and it also could have been a ploy to stall talking about the tour. Lindsey never wanted to tour in 1987. He may have given it a second thought but people act like they were rehearsing with extra guitar players, etc. I was glued to my radio in May 1987 with a big radio promotion of TITN. Every band member was interviewed. Lindsey was directly asked about touring. He said it was not discussed and the silence on the issue could lead it to go either way. I was like WTF. I heard it with my own ears months before the blowout at Christine's house. So its really not worth taking serious because he may have casually mentioned it would be nice to add a few other musicians.
Billy and Rick were announced six weeks before the tour started. Tours of that magnitude take longer than six weeks to put together. Obviously there had been some measure of tour planning while Lindsey was still in the band.

Lindsey was always vague about the band’s future in the TITN interviews. The more they were interviewed, the more obvious it was he didn’t want to be there anymore.

LOL Having said that, I doubt he meant taking on 3 Stevie Nicks back up singers and Asante ;)
He absolutely would have wanted a percussionist. Remember, it was his idea to have Steve augment the band on the 09 and 13 tours. Listen to all of the percussion on TITN, especially his songs.

And, if they were already augmenting the band, why wouldn’t she bring her backing singers?

[Macfan4life]

It was actually a red herring. Nothing in what he said disputes the assertion that if Lindsey had stayed, they would have still used auxiliary players, that it wasn’t something that was dictated by Stevie, which was the only point I was making. In both cases, there was a degree of recreating sonic layers from the albums. Based on the rather extreme lengths Lindsey went through to do that in 1993, it completely stands to reason that he would have gone along with, if not altogether insisted, on augmenting the band, especially for the TITN material. I don’t think any of them were interested in “paraphrasing” too much with that album.


Billy and Rick were announced six weeks before the tour started. Tours of that magnitude take longer than six weeks to put together. Obviously there had been some measure of tour planning while Lindsey was still in the band.

Lindsey was always vague about the band’s future in the TITN interviews. The more they were interviewed, the more obvious it was he didn’t want to be there anymore.


He absolutely would have wanted a percussionist. Remember, it was his idea to have Steve augment the band on the 09 and 13 tours. Listen to all of the percussion on TITN, especially his songs.

And, if they were already augmenting the band, why wouldn’t she bring her backing singers?
Yes of course tours take a long time to put together. The last Fleetwood Mac tour was planned and contracts signed almost 2 years before Lindsey was fired.

1. Lindsey never signed any contract to tour in 1987 because he would have been in breach of contract for leaving before rehearsals

2. The entire reason for the meeting at Christine's house was because Lindsey was non-committal about touring and it was a last ditch effort to convince him.

3. Yes the promoters start moving the parts of such a tour. The album was successful and it was going to be a big deal i.e. the first Mac tour in half a decade.

4. Lindsey gave his final NO right before rehearsals would have started so that is why Rick and Billy just fell into place 6 weeks before the tour

5. Christine stated in 1987 she knew Lindsey was leaving after the album. She also stated he was part inspiration of the song Little Lies. He was not open about leaving but always dropped hints which were the "little lies."

People talk in general terms all the time. In 1985 Don Henley did an interview with Musician magazine stating that some members of the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac may join a new band together. That was an off the cuff pipe dream comment. When Lindsey did talk about touring, he gave his thoughts about adding musicians. Same sort of thing. That statement was never put into any reality since he really was not on board. I was being funny when I said he did not mean Stevie's solo back up singers.

[FuzzyPlum]

Not really. According to Mick in 1987, Lindsey wanted to add a second full-time guitarist for the tour, and said that it would have been Billy Burnette. I asked Billy about this in a Q&A and he verified it.

Lindsey may have wanted to add a second guitarist and other musicians, but there was never any plan in place for that person to be Billy.
Billy got a call from Mick the day after the fight asking him to join. That was the first time Billy had any involvement in being in the band or on the tour. In fact, his solo career was taking off at that time and he had a new record deal. He had to fight to get out of that deal to join the band and tour. Rick then joined after Billy was already on board.

[SteveMacD]

Lindsey may have wanted to add a second guitarist and other musicians, but there was never any plan in place for that person to be Billy.
Just going by what Mick and Billy have said.

Billy got a call from Mick the day after the fight asking him to join. That was the first time Billy had any involvement in being in the band or on the tour.
Yes. I never said that Billy had signed on for the tour when Lindsey was still in the band. He was the first guy they were going to ask, their first choice.

Rick then joined after Billy was already on board.
The way I heard it is that Billy got the call that Mick wanted him and Rick to join Fleetwood Mac while the two were in the studio with Roy Orbison, and Billy told Rick that night.

[FuzzyPlum]

Just going by what Mick and Billy have said.


Yes. I never said that Billy had signed on for the tour when Lindsey was still in the band. He was the first guy they were going to ask, their first choice.


The way I heard it is that Billy got the call that Mick wanted him and Rick to join Fleetwood Mac while the two were in the studio with Roy Orbison, and Billy told Rick that night.


Just going on what Billy wrote in his autobiography.
You are right though- I read it again. Mick called Billy and asked him to join. While on the phone he asked Billy to get in touch with Rick and offer a place to him as well. Rick happened to be in a studio with Billy and Roy Orbison at that exact time.

[jbrownsjr]

I do like when they stripped it down to the girls. Or, Go Insane solo. SYLM up front was great. Landslide made me barf. I did like the Mirage Tour version where Christine plays the keys on it.

I never liked Stand Back as a FM piece. I wished she had chosen something else. I'd love to see How Still My Love done by FM. Her solo band was a bit wonky for me. I never cared for it. I think as time went on, they wanted to cover more sound.

They all need coverage in present time. All 3 voices have aged. But, kudos to them for working with worn out tools.

[SteveMacD]

I do like when they stripped it down to the girls. Or, Go Insane solo. SYLM up front was great. Landslide made me barf. I did like the Mirage Tour version where Christine plays the keys on it.

I never liked Stand Back as a FM piece. I wished she had chosen something else. I'd love to see How Still My Love done by FM. Her solo band was a bit wonky for me. I never cared for it. I think as time went on, they wanted to cover more sound.

They all need coverage in present time. All 3 voices have aged. But, kudos to them for working with worn out tools.

The 1975-76 tour was my favorite. I loved the paraphrasing. “Over My Head,” “World Turning,” and “Rhiannon” were masterpieces in their live form.

I understand why Lindsey didn’t like the paraphrasing. He had worked so hard on creating studio gems only to pare them down for a live show. He doesn’t strike me as the type who can divorce himself from the finished product. The thing is, there’s also an art to stripping down a song to its essentials and taking it to a different place. A concert is a completely different way to experience the music. It SHOULD be different. Very different.

[jbrownsjr]

The 1975-76 tour was my favorite. I loved the paraphrasing. “Over My Head,” “World Turning,” and “Rhiannon” were masterpieces in their live form.

I understand why Lindsey didn’t like the paraphrasing. He had worked so hard on creating studio gems only to pare them down for a live show. He doesn’t strike me as the type who can divorce himself from the finished product. The thing is, there’s also an art to stripping down a song to its essentials and taking it to a different place. A concert is a completely different way to experience the music. It SHOULD be different. Very different.

1975-1976 concerts are so wonderful. Even Get Like You Used to Be is pure performance.

I think those shows made Lindsey a better musician. I watched him over the years trying to cover so many parts and fills.

Now, his solo shows have a ton of backing tracks. I understand why he does that. He wants Don't Look Down to have those great effects. And as they all age, it's just a necessary evil. Here's to missing the old days.

I think Stevie gets blamed a lot because she broke up the 3 part harmonies by adding her posse.

[elle]

1975-1976 concerts are so wonderful. Even Get Like You Used to Be is pure performance.

I think those shows made Lindsey a better musician. I watched him over the years trying to cover so many parts and fills.


Lindsey has been for years now saying how surprised people were when they would hear FM live, since live the sound is so different and so much more rock. that FM albums are more pop while FM live band was rock'n'roll. he was always proud of the heavier concert sound.

[jbrownsjr]

Lindsey has been for years now saying how surprised people were when they would hear FM live, since live the sound is so different and so much more rock. that FM albums are more pop while FM live band was rock'n'roll. he was always proud of the heavier concert sound.

If you look at the Mirage Album compared to the tour; you'll see it's completely different from the album.

By the time the Dance came around, I was a bit underwhelmed. I was ecstatic they were back. But, it was light.

[aleuzzi]

I believe that Mick was conveying what Lindsey felt. In interviews stretching back to his first solo album in 1981 — even to the Fleetwood Mac tour preceding that — you can hear Lindsey vent a certain frustration with what he used to call paraphrasing: transforming the character of a studio track into something that would work onstage, with messy live sound, fewer people than ideal, or even the need to program a set for momentum and vulgar energy rather than nuance or subtlety. (That’s why I spend so much time repeating myself that Lindsey’s particular character as a musician really doesn’t lend itself to arena rock — the concert history of Fleetwood Mac from 1975 to now is the history of taking the subdued, alluring stuff OUT, not putting more of it in. I even think Stevie would do better in small venues, where she could work with a broader emotional palette and not have to placate the beer-guzzling, stoned party-heads.)

You have a painstakingly crafted arrangement from a studio recording and if that song is a hit or it has some value that can be exploited in a live set (like, say, “Eyes of the World” or “World Turning”), it has to be paraphrased. The more complex its construction in the studio, the more paraphrasing it needs. Based on what Lindsey has always said, that necessity to rephrase songs differently for the live set seems to have been more confining than liberating. I’m sure he has always loved opening up and letting loose with searing solos and “yelling and screaming” (as he called it in his 1981 Innerview with Jim Ladd). But he’s also been bummed out with the live situation in Fleetwood Mac: four people, give or take an extra part here or there, to paraphrase all the voicings — and having to eliminate many of them because you’ve run out of hands or singers and nobody in the band knows how to use the prerecorded stuff so that it sounds real and not artificial. That frustration is what drove him to do what he did in 1993 for his tour. The Cradle set was intricately rehearsed and mapped out like a blueprint — they probably used guitar and vocal charts like horn charts for a jazz band (or like the charts Rickie Lee Jones and Tom Scott crafted for her amazing Pirates album).

Lindsey toured with Fleetwood for many years without getting the opportunity or the approval to do what he wanted with ambitious arrangements. Not that the others were to blame for blocking him. But imagine trying to get the 1982 band together for two or three months of serious rehearsal to plan something so sophisticated. It was probably all Mick could do to get his band into rehearsal for three weeks of facking around.

You’re right, of course, that Lindsey would prefer the songs live to sound as close to the studio originals as possible. This ambition has been a weakness, I think. What distinguished FM’s live shows from 75-82 was both raw energy and a decidedly looser, harder attack to the music, which transformed delicate, well-crafted pop tunes into high-energy rock-n-roll. The band’s rhythm section (including Christine) had been doing this very well since the early 70s. There are some terrific concerts from the Danny and Bob years that demonstrate the dichotomy and the purpose it served. The practice continued well into the early 80s. Consider John’s incredible bass work on the live version of “Sisters” from the studio Tour documentary. He wasn’t playing those bubbling lines on the studio recording, where LB’s arrangement called for minimalism and restraint. Stevie’s strong vocals have often infused live performances with the right energy to shore up subtle touches that couldn’t be reproduced live. I think of her vocals on “Hold Me” and “Eyes”—two songs in which, for the studio versions, she was, significantly, absent. Her presence on the live readings give those songs some serious lift. And then there’s LB himself, whose frenetic guitar work and boundless nervous energy transforms pleasant and/or contained studio songs into breakout moments on stage. It is true that some of their songs simply don’t work as well live: some of Christine’s softer, subtler material, for instance—but that is largely because Christine’s voice works better in a chamber than in an arena. Still, her own propulsive keyboard work on songs like “Angel” really added to the group sound in ways that wasn’t as readily evident on the records.

I guess what I’m saying is I’ve always loved FM’s split personality: their live music was, even from it’s earliest days, meant to be an abstraction of the disciplined records. One used to go to Mac concerts to be bewitched (and not just by Stevie’s twirls). The transformation from sonic studio professionals to raucous yet inventive rock-n-rollers was worth seeing. For whatever reason, by 1982, LB was over it, wanted a more polished sound. Perhaps this was his recognition that FM’s fan base was getting older, more yuppified? Or maybe he himself was tired of tearing apart his precious darlings on stage...Either way, the desire to sound like the albums goes against the band’s natural strengths.

[michelej1]

I remember when I first heard “Doing What I Can” live. It possessed a raw fervor at which the studio version had never hinted. Live can make generic genuine.

[jbrownsjr]

I remember when I first heard “Doing What I Can” live. It possessed a raw fervor at which the studio version had never hinted. Live can make generic genuine.

Now I'll have to go listen again. I love that song. It's one those Big Love Part 2 or 3 songs.