Fleetwood Mac "Biography" on A&E
 

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/157...ouse_amy.jhtml

The Emmy Award-winning television program "Biography" will air a program on Guns N' Roses on November 29. The show will be part of a string of music documentaries that is also set to include Jennifer Lopez and Fleetwood Mac

http://www.b1027.com/content/view/2698/74/

Fleetwood Mac's five-decade career will be chronicled tonight on the Biography channel. The show will focus on the band's music and personnel changes over the years, and will feature rare and newly conducted interviews with co-founder Mick Fleetwood and former members Bob Welch, Rick Vito and Bekka Bramlett, among others.

The special tracks the group's career from its early days as a blues-driven rock ensemble led by troubled leader Peter Green, through their 1970s heyday with the addition of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, the multiplatinum success of their 1977 album Rumors, and beyond.

Early Fleetwood Mac manager Clifford Adams appears in the special and explains how big the late '60s version of Fleetwood Mac actually was: "In one day, we sold 64,000 units. 64,000 units. In 1969, my band Fleetwood Mac sold more records world wide than the Beatles and the Rolling Stones put together."





Fleetwood Mac: Biography airs tonight on the Biography channel at 9 pm. Check your local listings for stations and repeat broadcasts.

At least there's some new stuff in it, so it's worth checking out.

It is indeed the Biography channel. I'm sorry for screwing up that information. I'm excited to see it.

I wonder if this is the same Fleetwood Mac Biography listed on Amazon.com...

====================================================
Videography (2007)

Starring: Fleetwood Mac Rating

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
very disappointing!!, October 10, 2007
By rock (pa) - See all my reviews

I waited for this about a month when I ordered this from AMAZON and I am so disappointed. If you wanted to know about Fleetwood Mac -the early years-it's okay ,but with Buckingham-Nicks not worth it. Not even a full video of them and I am really disgusted with this dvd. The book that comes with it has alot of great words about the past songs if only the dvd would have had some or most of the songs discussed in the book, it would have been worth waiting for.

The bio's pretty good so far, but it's very difficult to listen to Clifford talk and present himself as the voice of reason. It does make me upset.

The way Bob Welch described John and Chris fighting during Mystery To Me, with him chasing her with a butcher knife, it seems like they should do a documentary on the recording of that album, instead of always talking about Rumours all the time.

Welch is funny though talking about Peter going around with the same piece of cheese in his hair for 4 days straight. Welch pointed out that he has performed Oh Well more than PG. Of course, a lot of people can say that.

I think I'll have to save the rest of the documentary for later. I'm really not in the mood for the BN era stuff. It actually depresses me to go through all of that again. I don't want to know.

Michele

I'm horribly bored at this point. Other than the new interviews with Rick, Billy, Bob, it's pretty worthless. Ancient, out-of-focus videotaped interviews from the 80's or early 90's with some of The Five, but nothing new, nothing I didn't know. We all could have churned out a much better documentary.

By watching this I found out my mom acutally likes a pre-BN era song:
Oh Well. Im being forced to play it for her.

haha.

-I was kindof upset as the Closed Captioning spelt Lindsey wrong for most of the time they mentioned his name.

-That manager guy [forgot his name], called 'peacekeeper'-'peacemaker', which Im surprised they didnt yell at him for it, and make him reshoot the scene.

-That tusk era pic of LB was the most unflattering picture of Lindsey I have ever seen.

-It was hilarious how Billy still uses eyeliner over 50

-Bekka looks alot older than she really is [persepctive, she looks older than my mom, who is 50]

-They said that Albatross was a Kirwin composition, while it was written by Green.

-that FM at 21 documentary [the LB, SN, MF, CM interviews] was lame, they should have just left that stuff out, and im surprised when Mick did his 'push up glasses thing with middle finger' in that they didnt blur his finger [just being truthful]

-The could have shown footage of the band playing more [not just Peter Green era]

-no mention of the Greatest Hits album. [LAME]

-they almost made it seem as the Time lineup played at Clintons inagueral ball, and not the Rumours lineup.

-The could have went more into the Say You Will album

-Rumours of a 2008 tour??? why was there no mention of that. thats big, whether it happens or not.

-They kept saying that "John McVie was a founding member", which is bull, as Mick is the only original member left.

-Did they mention that Peter Green gave up his success for god? [I was switching between this and The Office, so I might have missed it.] Or that Santana covered 'Black Magic Woman'?


Just some stuff I noticed, Im nitpicky
I think that was the biggest waste of an hour I have ever put myself though.
And no mention of the 1998 Grammys??? shame, shame shame..
:distress:

But they did get it right in the beginning when they said that although they wanted John, John was hesitant about joining the band because he wanted the security of a regular paycheck.

No, they didn't say that PG had religious reasons for leaving the band. They just talked about his schizophrenia. Michele

Isn't "Biography" an A&E Program? Do they not show it anymore?

i thought it was ok, but i was calling that manager guy a dufus when he said peacemaker, i can't believe they didn't correct that~

this was pretty bad....

notice how the only actual fleetwood mac song played was "oh well?" the rest of the music was altered instrumental covers of green manalishi, don't stop, gold dust woman, and tusk. apparently they didn't have the rights or want to cough up the money for the real songs. i've heard this done before. it's actually pretty cheesy. for example, on "don't stop" you'd hear what apparently is the the first 2 opening chords and then it goes into some other song that sort of resembles "don't stop" but it isn't. same thing about that footage of the band performing. at first i was hopeful and was thinking, "when was this filmed?" i did see a very small fraction of a moon tree backdrop in one shot so kudos for that. notice how they never showed the complete faces or it was out of focus when they did? it was clearly one of those "reenactment" things just used as filler because again they either didn't have actual footage of the band or didn't want to pay to use real footage. so, they staged a mock fleetwood mac and used that. but they kept showing the same loop OVER and OVER! when i first saw it i thought it was that French and Saunders "dream woman" thing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrINP6SAFPo)

there was really bad camera work on that one guy who was the music historian (for lack of his real title). most of the time his face was half off the screen. it was actually hurting my eyes to watch it. aside from the audio/visual issues...some of the facts were really off. i know someone mentioned them in a previous post. the continuity was bad too. for example, they'd be on the mirage period and the next thing they said was that during this period mick was bankrupt (he probably was close to it but never officially filed till a few years later) and that stevie went to rehab. they just jumped around too much. they never even mentioned the white album and they claimed that Rick Vito left the band first and then Stevie and Chris. I think it was the other way around.

How can you produce a 2007 biography on this band that uses 20 year old interview footage from the actual Rumours band? For the most popular and important incarnations of the band, they were hardly even in it. I bet a lot of people upon seeing Bekka were like, "who the hell is this chick?"

pretty bad. shame on you A&E...

Quite simply, it was aweful. Obviously, this was not authorized by the key members.

Wow, Bekka and Billy looked like dead bodies attached to strings. I watched half of it and will not watch the other half

Actually, that wasn't Clifford Davis, that was some critic whose name I don't recall...I recall he has some long Italian surname.

I think Clifford Davis hasn't let go of some of the hostility between himself & Bob Welch...he just dissed the whole Welch-era. Davis is a jerk, always was, always will be.

Yeah, the vagueness of the chronology irked the crap out of me throughout this whole thing.

As soon as I heard that they didn't spring for rights for actual songs, I got suspicious as to the accuracy of the details. The mention of Kirwan being the composer of "Albatross" just nailed the coffin for this documentary. The only thing about it I thought WAS good was that they got Bob Welch, Rick, Billy & Bekka to do interviews.

One irksome point on Billy: Um, Billy? You couldn't have had a blank CD ready to record Tusk when it was broadcast on the radio the night before it was released...CDs & CD recorders hadn't been invented yet.

If Disney would update their Coming Home Fleetwood Mac documentary with some of the Welch, Vito, Burnette & Bramlett interview footage, it would be the ultimate FMac doc.

That depends. Christine and Stevie were still going to be members of Fleetwood Mac, just not tour anymore. Rick was the first to actually quit the band. Then Stevie. Christine never actually quit (though I suspect she quit after "Time", which is ultimately why Mick pulled the plug on that band).

No, Stevie quit outright at the end of the BTM tour...but, you're correct that Christine only "retired from touring". Rick was still in the band up to February 1993. But, between 1990-1993, they really weren't an active entity, other than a few corporate gigs with Rick, Billy, John & Mick only...and the 1993 Super Bowl Pre-game show (with the BTM lineup minus Stevie)...it was after that gig that Rick officially left FMac.

Oh, another thing I just remembered...they made it seem like Welch bailed out of Fleetwood Mac BEFORE the Heroes Are Hard To Find tour...uh, no...he did the whole tour, then quit a week or so after it ended. And, I seem to recall that Heroes... came out in AUGUST of '74, not OCTOBER. They did the Don Kirshner's Rock Concert taping in Sept. '74...the tour started in October, but the album had been out for quite a while before that.

Here's a 1987 interview in which Billy mentions taping the record. I guess he just forgot what technology was around when he did it.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE , November 5, 1987

Section: TEMPO \

FLEETWOOD MAC OPENS A ROCK TOUR

Steve Morse, Boston Globe.

Fleetwood Mac endured a shakeup over the summer. Veteran singer and songwriter Lindsay Buckingham dropped out because he no longer wished to tour. He had urged the band to make another album before hitting the road but was rebuffed.

``Certainly, talking for myself, I don`t want to wait around another five years to make an album. I really don`t,`` said drummer Mick Fleetwood. ``I want to go on the road. It`s what I love to do best-and I want to do it.``

The new Mac, which will play the Rosemont Horizon Nov. 19, is touring with not one but two replacements for Buckingham: Billy Burnette , the son of rock legend and Elvis Presley peer Dorsey Burnette; and Rick Vito, a steady sessions player who toured last year with Bob Seger. The new group will be ``meatier,`` said Fleetwood, adding that they`ll even dig out some blues from the `60s beginnings of the band.

``Originally, Lindsay was going to do this tour, then he changed his
mind,`` Fleetwood said. ``But I`m glad he changed his mind, because he was
obviously not happy and didn`t want to be doing it. We all understood, but at the same time we also understood what we wanted to do, which was to carry on and be part of a band and re-establish that affirmation.``

There is an irony here. Buckingham, who had been with the Mac for 12
years and was closely involved with the 11-million-selling ``Rumours`` album
in 1977, played an even more dominant role as producer, arranger and chief
songwriter for the group`s latest album, ``Tango in the Night,`` which came
out earlier this year. One would assume from his active role that he would
have wished to back the album with a tour, as a tour always sells records.

``I know, professionally you would think so,`` Fleetwood said. ``But
that`s what really made us realize he didn`t want to be in this band. It would have happened sooner or later; it just so happened it was sooner. But I`m glad it came out when it did. It was much better than having to go through purgatory on the road. And I mean that really properly and with absolute respect to Lindsay.``

``What can I say? There`s always a sad side to seeing someone go who has
put a tremendous amount of energy and talent into something, which is what
Lindsay did with Fleetwood Mac. But the world still continues. It was getting to be a situation where the band wasn`t able to do as a collective what it
wanted to do and when it wanted to do it.``

Enter the two new faces, Burnette and Vito.

``It`s a tough gig to pass by,`` Burnette said. ``I didn`t think about my decision too much-about two seconds.``

Burnette was a logical choice because he had been working with Mick
Fleetwood`s side project, the Zoo, which plays frequently in the Los Angeles
area and released an album for RCA Records five years ago. Burnette also has
worked with Mac pianist Christine McVie on her solo projects and cowrote a
song for Mac singer Stevie Nicks` last solo album, though the song was left
out at the last minute.

``Stevie has also worked with the Zoo for the last year, coming out and
doing a lot of gigs with us. So it was really something where they were my
friends. It was real easy that way,`` Burnette said. ``But still, when they
asked me to join, I almost went through the roof.``

Burnette also had been a devoted Fleetwood Mac fan. When the group
released their ``Tusk`` album in 1979, the follow-up to ``Rumours,`` Burnette taped it from a radio. ``I had never done anything like that before, but I did it just because I was such a big fan.``

Burnette now has the task of singing Buckingham`s songs. ``There have
been a couple I felt just wouldn`t be right for the set. But we`re doing `Go
Your Own Way,` `Blue Letter` and `Don`t Stop,` so I`m singing Lindsay`s part
in all those; and all the backgrounds he did, which was just about on every
song. ``

``You just go in and try to do your best. As far as singing the songs,
I`m sticking pretty close to the melodies. That`s pretty easy, because I knew most of them. I had also worked with Lindsay on several occasions myself. I
did `Saturday Night Live` with him. In fact, that`s how I also first joined up with Mick.``

As for Rick Vito, he and Burnette have been friends a long time. ``He
played with Jackson Browne and Seger. Rick`s a hot guitar player,`` Burnette
said. ``So we`re pretty excited about the band. We think it`s going to be
better than ever.

``You know, right before this happened, about a month before, I had
written a song for Roy Orbison. Roy wanted the guitarist on the demo, and it
turned out to be Rick. So Rick and I cut that. And then the next time I talked to him, we were on our way to play with the Mac.``

Their guitar styles differ radically from Buckingham`s, but Burnette
isn`t worried.

``Lindsay mostly uses a finger-picking style and doesn`t use a pick,
which Rick Vito and myself do. But Rick will be playing all the leads which
Lindsay does on the records, so we`re covering that pretty well. Some of
those, with two guitar players, we can cover pretty easily.``

Although Burnette has his own solo career, he won`t do any of his songs
on the Mac tour. ``We decided this will be a Fleetwood Mac greatest-hits
tour,`` he said. ``And some they`ve never done before, although I know we`re
doing all my favorites. The only outside songs are a couple off Stevie`s solo albums.``

As for songwriting duties after the tour ends? ``I hope to chip in my
share,`` he added. ``Again, we`re just seeing how this whole tour goes. I`m
pretty excited just to find that out.``

Excited, likewise, to see what it will be like to play regularly at the
arena level. ``With the Zoo, we opened up for the Beach Boys. So we`ve done
some big gigs opening up for people. And I opened up for the Pretenders on
their West Coast tour. But by far this will be the biggest tour I`ve ever
done. ``

``I`m real lucky,`` he said. ``It`s like Christmastime.``

So who took the lead in hiring the two new additions?

``It was democratic, but in terms of initiating, I`d have to say I was at the reins,`` Mick Fleetwood said. ``When this all came down the tubes with
Lindsay, I said, `Well, rather than rolling over and dying, let`s at least try what I think will work really well.` Everything was set to rehearse anyhow.
And you know, Lindsay at one point had ideas of having three other guitar
players-having a little orchestra of guitars.``

Guitar players are nothing new to Fleetwood Mac, which has had some of
the best, including in the `60s the guitar-blues lineup of Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan, and later, in the `70s, Bob Welch.

For the record, here is Fleetwood`s update on these folks:

Peter Green: ``I spoke to him about a year ago. The last time I played
with him was on my album `The Visitor` over five years ago. I don`t think he`s playing at the moment, but he`s had a band and had several records out. He`s a really talented guy. He`s sort of an odd fellow. I don`t really know Peter
anymore. We`ve drifted away. He became a gravedigger at one point. He had some psychological twists in his life that I don`t think it`s appropriate for me to talk about. But when he was on, he was the best. To this day, no one can touch him when he was on.``

Bob Welch: ``He lives in Phoenix. He writes and does some movie stuff and scoring. He`s doing fine. He`s got a real nice house and is married and real
happy. I think he needed to get out of L.A. It all got too crazy for him. But I think he`s recentering himself.``

Danny Kirwan: ``I completely lost contact with Danny. He had a couple of
albums that I don`t think were him. He was a really great guitar player. He
had a great sense of melody. Words were not his forte, but melody and harmony were. Danny was really instrumental in bringing harmony into Fleetwood Mac.`` Jeremy Spencer: ``Jeremy has disappeared. I used to keep fairly in touch
and get letters from him. He ended up in Sri Lanka, of all places. They had
some riots there and he nearly got killed, but he managed to get out and he`s now in some island in the Indian Ocean.``

What?

``It`s the endless story about Fleetwood Mac guitar players,`` Fleetwood
said, laughing.

I agree with chiliD, pwyll, Chrislit18, and anyone else who was very disappointed in the show. Aside from the other errors already mentioned, they also said that John had suffered seizures from excessive alcohol and drug use.

Unfortunately, that was one of the things they DID get right. John DID have alcohol related seizures in the '80s.

Yes, interesting, but unfortantely only mac fans would watch it, I think it wouldn't be a commercial product, so they will never produce it

I don't think it was genuine religious reasons. I think the drug burned his mind at that time and everything was a mess in his head

I was literally screaming at the TV - "WRONG!"

Y'all have already pointed out the numerous inaccuracies.

The blurred and headless live shots were of the tribute band, Fleetwood Bac, I believe. Nothing against them cuz I think they're great, but come on?! Did the people that put this together think that even the casual fan wouldn't notice that it wasn't really FM??

I also found the countless occasions of the same still shots to be annoying.

Not according to the LA Times at the time. It said "That's when she and Christine McVie apparently will be making their last appearance as full-time members of Fleetwood Mac. Though the two are slated to contribute to the next Mac album, the Inglewood Forum concert will mark the end of an era for a group that ruled the pop charts in the late '70s, with the two women as the public focal points." But, Stevie also said that "I'm booked into the studio Feb. 1 to do two new songs for a greatest-hits package." So, really, we're talking a matter of months on that point.

According to Rick Vito himself (on the Q&A) "I left in October 1991, not 1993." The corporate gigs were the Zoo, and the Super Bowl was a one-off that Billy organized.

Really, back to the original point, yeah, Stevie left first. But, both were in 1991. (Anyway, haven't we always suspected she got Rick in the custody agreement?)

And Sara too. Although Mick may have had visitation.

Michele

Wow, What is up with Billy Burnette? :shocked: He makes Lindsey look butch

You've got a great sense of humor. Thanks for making me laugh outloud.