:laugh:
kay, I'll send my friend over. you two can scorp out with your tequila... :wavey: Ted will be over to slap you with dictionaries, shortly.

Well, Stevie is known to feign ignorance about her drug use, "I swear, we didn't know that cocaine was bad for you"...yadda, yadda, yadda. Oh really? But wasn't GDW written about someone Stevie met who "looked like she did too much cocaine" and also what a detrimental effect this drug can have on a person? I love Stevie like there's no tomorrow but some of her excuses about drugs are so ridiculous! She couldn't have been that naive.

Whoa, like, common sense. Very refreshing. :D

I agree with everything and I think Stevie's stories of drug use and addiction give more weight to the belief that she does live in a fairy world, far removed from most of reality.

I don't get it. You mean as a result of drug dependency or just in general?

I guess so because when it comes to her excuses about her drug addiction, there's no way I'm buyin' what she's sellin' --no pun intended of course :laugh:

Not quite. Lindsey did say that drugs were part of the rock and roll climate and that everyone was doing them, but he never said anything about how he didn't think they were bad for you--at least not to my knowledge. I've never heard John discuss anything about drugs, just his alcoholism.

Sorry to nitpick but this kind of represents Lindsey unfairly. I can't believe I just made that comment! :laugh:

Well I could argue this point. I am not sure how old you are, but I am a child of the 70's. Cocaine first popped up in my circle when I was around the age of 18, in 1975. I had no use for the stuff simply because there was no way, that stuff was going up my nose. Nasty...plus I was a goody goody and scared of everything that was .....gasp....illegal...oh yeah and I was dating a cop. BUT....my mother who was born in 1917 and started smoking at the age of 16, started me smoking when I was 18 to stem off the weight gain she thought she saw coming. My mother was a very intelligent woman, we did not have the information about cigarettes then that we do today. The thought of me doing the same thing to my children is unthinkable to me and due to the massive amount of education they have all received on the perils of smoking I am happy to report that so far none of them do and I hope it stays that way. I myself quit 5 years ago....10 years AFTER my mother died of emphysema.

I believe Stevie and go along with her naivete (sorry if that is spelled wrong) to some extent. In the beginning she says that being in FM was like being in the army...it had to have been unbelievably stressfull and tiring and I can see how they would have reached out for anything that would have gotten them thru that from one show to the next, one fitting to the next, one rehearsal to the next. The show must go on and all of that....Now at some point about 3, 4, 5 years into it, when their friends are dropping dead and things are spinning out of control, should they/she not have gone...hmmmm...maybe this stuff isn't so good for me? Well yes. But I really admire Stevie that when she did finally decide to do something about it she did.

The klonopin....yikes.... all I can say it watch the Tango in the Night concert DVD and tell me what you see. The woman in the Seven Wonders video and the woman in that thing are two entirely different women. I think when Lindsey left the band Stevie had a nervous breakdown. She has mentioned in the past that she considers *this* to be the time that they really broke up. I also thought that I had read that the progression was not simply ....put her on klonopin ....bam! I thought she went from Xanax to Prozac to Klonopin. Don't know where I read that so don't flame me, I just thought that's what I remember reading. Piecing together some articles from that time, I can see some conversations that went back and forth between the two of them after he left. I recall him saying one time that she called him soon after he left the band and asked him if he wanted her to leave too. Did he want to do another BN, what did he want? I don't think she got the answer she was looking for and I personally feel that she just took a nosedive. She hadn't been prepared for him to leave the band and when he not only left the band... but walked out of her life altogether.....I think it devastated her. Have you ever noticed how often Stevie looks to her left on stage? It is painful to watch her do it on the Tango video she looks almost afraid....because she knows he is not there. And I love Rick and Billy to this day, because you can tell....they know....when she looks at them.....she's not seeing them but tracking some ghost...through the fog.

Now once she herself got away from that....I agree....8 years of klonopin? Sometimes I think being surrounded by a bunch of yes people can hurt you but then from what I've heard during that time if you tried to tell her differently you were fired, so.......... who knows really. I just agree with the sentiment, of good for her. Whatever her reasons may have been, she came thru it and survived.....and I am very thankful for that. One of my very favorite lines of her's is from BOTD....."I got the message.....stay among the living." :thumbsup:

I've never heard about her calling him after he quit to suggest that she quit and maybe they'd do another BN album. It would be interesting in light of the awful confrontation between the two of them the night he actually left the band. Whether or not you believe what Mick wrote, I've heard Stevie say that during the incident she thought that Lindsey was going to kill her, and that Lindsey probably thought he was going to kill her, and she told him that if he did, if the band didn't kill him first, her family would. So it wasn't pretty, slap or no slap. In any event, I think it was a day or so later that Mick and Stevie went to dinner with Billy and Rick to make an offer, and the big announcement was made shortly thereafter, and it was Stevie who said that the band was an entity that was bigger than either she or Lindsey or anyone else. I'm not saying the above mentioned conversation never happened, I just don't see when it would have, or how it could have, happened. Still, in a boot that I have from one of the last shows from the "Mask" tour, when Lindsey appeared with the band on a few songs, including "Landslide," Stevie said that she hopes that one day Lindsey can find it in his heart to someday work with her again, so it very well could have happened.
LOL. Billy said that during their first show, Stevie gave him an almost evil look on "Go Your Own Way," which freaked him out a little. Stevie apologized after the gig, saying it was an old habbit. I think they all had a good laugh over it.

Yep, I was sitting directly in front of the soundboard at the GW Forum when the dramatically tearful Stevie said that after "Landslide". Lindsey just shrugged it off. But, still he came back for the last song of the set ("GYOW") and the encore ("Tear It Up")

It was a BIG shocker that he was there. (since word hadn't travelled down from SF about his appearing with them there the night before)

I too have heard her say this. In fact I have the audio clips on my PC. I don't understand why so many people think Mick made this story up? He may get his dates and stories a little mixed up now and then, but he did put something like 8 million worth of cocaine up his nose so I can forgive him for a few inaccuracies. I just don't believe Mick would make up something that dramatic, and then Stevie in turn say it herself.

In my esp. around here, people just refuse to believe either LB or SN can ever do anything wrong. They sort of get into camps and never budge :laugh: So be it :laugh:

I totally think that ugly incident happened. I just don't happen to believe that LB was entirely to blame. I think Miss Stevie is quite capable of pushing buttons when she wants to and who knows how that whole incident played out leading up to the physical confrontation. Stevie also has said she ran and attacked him first. So...it is upsetting when people who were not there try to say exactly what happened and who is to blame. My own opinion is they probably are both to blame...they both contributed and it got ugly. Stevie went an apologized to LB for what Mick wrote in his book too. Obviously if she is telling him "god I am sorry he wrote that" she really feels bad that the incident was put out there like that. Maybe because he is the only one painted as the bad guy in the book? :shrug:

The klonopin thing is a sad situation and I am just thankful she got off it. I do think she perhaps feels uncomfortable talking about exactly how and why she was prescribed the drug. It is her business. Maybe her family really was worried and that is the ONLY reason why. I tend to think with her nervous problems etc..there might have been more to it but that is just my opinion.

I've just finally read this whole thread - interesting points and discussion.

I do believe Stevie was naive about coke when she started taking it. She was young, and she probably had people all around her telling her it would help her get through the day, that it was just a little boost, that using just this much wasn't dangerous - it's not like you're Janis or something - and she trusted them and she did it. And, by God, it did help her get through the day. The trouble is, once you're in an addiction, you don't have the presence of mind to say, "I am addicted, I need help." You are just concentrating on your next hit.

As to the klonipin, I agree with this:

It may well be that at this point, the people around her had to really work to convince her to go to a psychiatrist, and the way they convinced her may have been by using the "we are worried you're going to go back on coke" ruse. I can tell you, when you see a friend or family member in desperate need of help, sometimes you will say anything to get them to accept the help. So that's what they told Stevie, and while I don't purport to know much about psychiatry, it does certainly sound, from Stevie's own descriptions, that she was in a deep depression for many years. Not going out, weight gain, loss of interest (loss of enchantment), loss of creativity, etc. all symptoms of depression. I think she was put on the klonipin, and very likely, she had people around her who just brought her the drug - she may not have been going to see her psychiatrist every week. She was a "star" afterall - I'm not saying that is right, but it could well have been the situation. I find it absolutely infuriating that some doctor did keep her on klonipin for 8 years. I hope that doctor has been sued for malpractice.

I applaud and admire her for getting through that time and coming out so brilliantly on the other side. And I don't think she should say anymore about that time than she feels comfortable saying. Recovery is a long process - part of that recovery often includes talking about the experience. She has, over the years, revealed a little bit more, and a little bit more. There may well be gaps she doesn't remember much about - or there may just be times or experiences she doesn't care to share with her fans. And that's fine by me. I don't think she's being dishonest; I think she's protecting her own soul.

Stevie also said that she attacked him first physically, so who knows what really happened.

I don't excuse Lindsey's behavior if he did hit her because no man should ever lay their hand on a woman, but I do think that whole book was simply vicious towards him. If she apologized for anything, I'm sure she apologized for the way he was portrayed throughout it. Fleetwood trashed him from here to there, donwplaying his contributions to the band, making him sound like an incessantly petulant brat, etc, while kissing the collective asses of everyone else. I don't doubt that Lindsey was a petulant little brat, but you'd think that he would be a little more kind (or at least say some kind things with the bad) about the guy that essentially formed the sound of the band. Instead, we got Fleetwood's sour grapes put down on paper. And who really knows what to believe in that ****ty book, he's even admitted to putting information about his own father in there that wasn't even true; not to mention the fact that he had been living in a drug-induced stupor for nearly fifteen years.

I totally agree, If you knew nothing about Lindsey you'd come away after reading that book hating him IMO and none the wiser to his genius or huge contribution to the band. Sure he was a brat but they worked with him for 12 years, he couldn't have been that bad.
Mick's book is an enjoyable read but I take everything he says with a grain of salt.

And he turned a solo album into a Mac project. He surely couldn't have been as bad as Mick made him out to be.

I went through a few salt shakers, myself. :laugh:

While I don't doubt some altercation happened, I think Mick's account is embellished, and as you point out, places the blame on Lindsey. I think Mick knew whoever bought his book would flip right to the back pages to find out why Lindsey left the band. His description is comical. When I read it, I pictured Stevie chasing Lindsey around Christine's yard. Thank God they didn't turn Mick's book into a movie.

I don't know whether Stevie should have left the group in 1981, but I do know she should have released a live album in 1983. She really blew it big time.

Actually, THREE TIMES now.

1) He was pondering leaving the band before the Tusk sessions; and, according to some interviews, pretty much considers his portions of the album as "my first solo album"
2) Gave up work on his 3rd solo album for Tango In The Night
3) Melded Gift Of Screws into Say You Will

If they'd really mixed up their set lists (both solo AND as a group) from tour to tour, I'd say they should release a live album after EVERY tour. But, in retrospect, that would be really redundant (except the tours when they had new personnel). Just look at the duplication between Live (1980) and The Dance and they were 17 years apart!!

But, yeah, 1983 would've been a great time for Stevie to release a solo live album...a DOUBLE live album.

She just would have gone into the studio to redub vocals, anyway, so I'm glad we didn't get one. It would have been a pale imitation of a real live album, much like The Dance.

God I wish she had too. What a wasted opportunity.

This isn't the entire quote I was thinking of but at least this will redeem me to some extent. I knew that I had read somewhere that Stevie did in fact call Lindsey after "that day" and asked him, what he wanted her to do. Did he want her to leave too? Did he want to do another BN? I will keep looking for this one, but here is a small quote from another site that a friend of mine found for me....(Thanks Ang :wavey: )

I understand it for Tusk and TITN, but when he used it for SYW I had to roll my eyes. He had 6 years in between 1997 and 2003 to release the songs he had created c. 1995, yet he didn't do so. Then, he starts griping about having to give them up for FM. Come on. Lindsey tries my patience sometimes.

And, it's not like Mick, John, and Christine weren't already on the album anyway. Sure, it might not have been released as Fleetwood Mac, but the implication shure as hell was there.