Thoughts on Mick's New Book
 

Has anyone here bought/received his book yet? I received it a week or so ago and am about 3/4 done. Very easy read but I've been pacing myself.

I did read his first book years ago, but it was from the library and I don't recall much of it, so maybe someone else can compare and contrast the two.

Just finished the Tusk tour and Stevie/Sara triangle parts so they're fresh. Not too much dish as far as his relationship with Stevie, except that it was very passionate and underground.

Some notes so far:

• Misspellings - Waddy's name is mispelled once ("Watchell), Ken is referred to as Ken "Calliat" both throughout the book and in the index. Intentional, I wonder? Given Ken's blistering interviews in the past...
  
• Mick and Stevie's relationship was very on/off, during which Stevie had other relationships and Mick claims he didn't...
  
• He went to Lindsey's house after the Rumours tour to tell him about the relationship. Not much info on the convo except that Lindsey appreciated his telling him.
  
• He broke-up with Stevie via letter.
  
• "Great dark wing" line from Sara - What Stevie and Sara thought his black Ferrari sounded like when it came up the drive to Stevie's house.

Amazon cancelled my order so I'm hoping my local B&N will have it today or tomorrow.

I did
 

I pre-ordered it yesterday & it's on my phone & tablet this a.m., but I've just started reading it. How did you get it so early? They just released it today.:shrug:

Lee :)

Thanks for your thoughts
As I recall from the first book Mick claims he was smoking a joint with Lindsey alone and Lindsey surprised him by confronting Mick about him seeing Stevie.
So he changed the story?

I read recently that Mick says he was out of his mind when he wrote the first book. So does that mean much of it is not true?

I hope he writes much about the post Lindsey era. The band started to decline sales and Stevie was really isolated with Klonopin in those days. But the band played on. There is an interview with Stevie on youtube from 1991 where she claims her management told her to quit Fleetwood Mac because they were a sinking ship and it could hurt her career. But Stevie refused to hurt the band and continued to tour and play with the band. I just find this era interesting because there was so much going on toward what would seem to be the end of Fleetwood Mac.

In the UK, it's been in my local Tesco for the past 2 weeks, but i'd already pre-ordered the signed edition. At a glance, I found that Christine originally asked to do the full European tour last year at first, but they were obviously doubtful.

i pre-ordered it a while ago. hoping that he addressed the band periods after the first book ends. last 15 years in particular would be very interesting to me.

love the info about Christine originally wanting a European tour first, after she came back this year. curious to see whether European tour will happen next year, when and how much of it. if they go with their ridiculous US prices, my guess would be the only country they can do is UK, and they'll just skip the rest of Europe for now. people who live in continental Europe can chime in and correct me, but comparing the prices from last year, i don't see people there fill arenas where most of the seats are between $200 and $250.

I Don't Care
 

Maybe I'm in the minority here but I frankly am over rehashing the wild days of Fleetwood Mac. It was a long time ago. I'm far more interested in what the band is doing today, in 2014. Enough with the glory days.

Don't have it yet!!
 

I pre-ordered and paid for mine ages ago. Kinda forgotten about it. I will be watching the mailbox eagerly. Can't wait.:]

In the first book, Lindsey said that to Mick when Lindsey and Stevie first joined the group. Mick and Stevie weren't sleeping together then (at least they haven't admitted doing so) but Lindsey said something like "it's you and Stevie isn't it?" Lindsey felt a vibe, before Mick and Stevie had even acted on anything.

So, Mick is not changing his story about telling Lindsey once it really did happen.

Michele

True, especially when he's already written one book that covers that. Michele

You make a great point there. As a 40 year Fleetwood Mac fan, I've read EVERY PIECE OF THE EARLY DAYS countless times, from a VAST VARIETY of viewpoints ranging from Mick Fleetwood to Stevie Nicks to Bob Welch, to Carol Ann Harris. I know the band's history from 1970--1991 FORWARD and BACKWARD.

Like you, I'm much more interesting in what has been going on since. I'd love to hear more about the Welch lawsuit from Mick's viewpoint, and also his tireless efforts to keep the band going through the dry years of the Burnett/Bramlett/Mason lineup. I've also read Mick's first book, and I consider it to be accurate despite what he says now. He's only saying he was "out of his mind" to sell MORE copies of "Play On". I was hoping this book would serve as more of a sequel to the earlier book.

I pre-ordered from Chapters here in Canada. Was hoping for a delivery before the end of this week so it was a nice surprise to get it early.

He does mention Lindsey's "It's you and Stevie, isn't it" thing. He says Lindsey doesn't remember that at all now. He also frequently refers to Stevie as his soul mate.

There's a lot of Jenny in the book - the break-ups, make-ups, insights, reflections, Jenny's thoughts now.

A lot of the "now" parts are sort of interspersed with the "then" parts. (Like a story of him wearing a green shirt to a USC/Notre Dame game in 1998 in the Tusk chapter.)

Well, that's a little much, although I know they like a lot of the same things.

Liked that picture at John's wedding, because I don't remember seeing it before. Michele

I always found Stevie's outfit at Mick's wedding a bit….curious. Wearing white to a wedding is always a bit tricky, and then wearing a rather foofy big white dress and huge white hat..well…I think there's something passive/aggressive going on there. Just sayin':shrug:

It's interesting that Mick says that before Tango, he'd filed bankruptcy but all it took was the royalties from record sales of their catalog to keep him comfortable and get him financially back on his feet, because the band wasn't doing anything for those 5 years to make new money.

So, although if you keep spending you keep needing money, it seems like those royalties are really, really lucrative if all you need to do is maintain. I'd like to know how much they all get a year from catalogue royalties.

Michele

I agree there is some sort of "message" in the dress Stevie wore to the wedding. And another sort of message in wearing a "black" sort of dress to her own wedding to Kim Anderson. Or she was just plain crazy.

Well, Mick and Stevie both say that Stevie was mad at Sara, so I don't guess the message in Stevie's dress was meant to be subtle. In fact, Mick says his other bandmates were mad at him at him too. Sara's friends took Jim Recor's side and it sounds like it was a complete mess.


Michele

Then or NOW?? The real money $$ NOW is in touring and writing music (although tours can be very expensive, there's the Band's Guarantee that each person gets even before expenses.) The promoters and venue gets the rest from Beer sales, part of the merchandise, tickets sales, sales tax etc.

Then? Well the money has always been in owning the songs and publishing and to a certain extent the TOUR. The long term "annuity" and money for the band is in music publishing, rights and song "ownership."

Catalog royalties ONLY occur if the music is used or sold and depend upon who/whom owns the rights?? Often its the record company that owns it once the artist/author signs away their rights for $$.

The three songwriters would get significantly more than Mick, so for Mick to be comfortable purely on catalog royalties, well, it's no wonder that Stevie is "financially stable" (i.e., no recession could put a dent in her fortune).

I'd love more info in general on 1987-1996, but I'm not expecting to get it from this book (which I plan on picking up this weekend!).

not so sure that writing your music earns you much these days. I watched an interview with David Byrne from Talking Heads and he said most bands putting out music now will never actually make money off their music (i.e. support themselves personally). He said the whole issue of trying to get people to pay for music is killing everything. He said the *only* money is touring.:eek:
(maybe unless you give permission for some company to use it in a commercial or something).

Got an email from Amazon saying my order has shipped and I should have by Monday......:]

I agree. They've played that card for way too long; Stevie, in particular, continues that narrative. I know of no other band that obsessively panders their forty-something years past. In many of Stevie's songs, she implores us to "remember." No problem! She never lets us forget.

So is there ANY reason to buy this book? I've had his first book for many years, and it was enjoyable enough. But if this new one isn't forging any new territory, I just don't see the point in lining Mick's pockets any further. Especially if my money will simply be lost to his next bout with bankruptcy. My local independent bookstore has the book in stock, I just cannot summon any legitimate reason to give this band any more of my money at the moment. Not until they start giving us something that hasn't been regurgitated over and over, decade after decade. :sorry:

I don't know, this whole damned thing just seems suspect to me. Remember when Mick was asked about his new book at a meet & greet last year, and he didn't seem to know what the fan who asked him was talking about? Did Mick's management just pay this Anthony Bozza to regurgitate his last book so Mick could have a fresh infusion of cash to help pad bottom line after his divorce settlement/alimony? I have my doubts as to how involved Mick was with the whole thing. He's done almost no press for it, after all. :shrug:

Wearing an overblown white gown at someone else's wedding is just insane and thoughtless. Perhaps ego took over and she didn't want to be upstaged by the bride.

I perused over the book at Powell's "City of Books" Bookstore, the most amazing bookstore in the world -- a massive four stories! I could not justify paying $30 for it. I read a few of the passages from the ensuing years since his last book. I found nothing of any worthy depth and insight. I'll wait a year or two until I can find it in the bargain bin.

I just finished it. I didn't really get anything new out of it and he glossed over the most recent period starting after his last book left off. The only really new information I got from it was learning a little more about Lynn, his ex-wife, since I knew nothing about her before. Basically it's a pointless Mick money grab.

Royal Air Force
Peter did drugs
Jeremy did drugs
Christine joined
Danny did drugs
Danny got fired
Welch took over
Welch left
Buckingham/Nicks joined
Sales started to grow
Rumours had a lot of break ups but sales.
Christine hooked up with the lighting director.
I hooked up with Stevie.
Linsdey was mad.
Stevie hooked up with various Eagles.
Tusk was a commercical failure.
I went bankrupt.
Mirage somehow is Rumours II
I was married a few more times.
Lindsey left.
Stevie left.
We got together for the Dance.
Christine left.
We had a SYW tour.
Christine came back.


The End. Thirty Dollars, please!

From the new book:

"All of this, of course, is in preparation for Stevie, who will join us in the studio later this year after she finishes her last solo album for Warner Brothers. She won't be distant from the process; rather, we will be ready for her. The truth is that Stevie is a vocalist, while the rest of us are musicians, so we will set the stage for her entrance, and together we will work out what I believe will be a fitting return for this line-up of the band."

I got it this morning. Just finished while the Fleetwood Mac show was on. I doubt you'll find anything particularly illuminating in it - it covers all the time periods but often in a quite perfunctory way. I've screencapped and written out parts of it relevant to my own interests as well as regarding Christine's return so you can check those out if you want. I'm happy to copy out anything else you want to read about - whether it's just the Time period or the Zoo stuff or whatever.

A few random quotes about Christine, John, Christine/Lindsey [x]

Christine's return and the end of the book [x]

The Dance through The EP [x]

Lindsey leaves the band [x]

Mick and Stevie saga Pt 1 / Richard & Liz [x]

Mick and Stevie saga Pt 2 / Mick & Jenny [x]

Mick and Stevie saga Pt 3 / Mick & Sara [x]

Beginnings for SnL in FM [x] [x]

Meeting Buckingham Nicks [x]

Hearing Buckingham Nicks [x]

And then some random quotes about Stevie and Lindsey. Again, apologies for the focus but this is my primary interest, oops...

"That good-looking couple with all that talent..." [x]

"Stevie had broken up with Lindsey and he’d taken it very, very hard." [x]

"It wasn’t easy on Stevie either..." [x]

"So I went to Lindsey’s house and I told him about it..." [x]

"A few weeks after announcing that Fleetwood Mac had officially disbanded..." [x]

"His self-sufficiency proved to be a bigger problem for Stevie..." [x]

"Lindsey began writing differently than he had in the past..." [x]

"Lindsey’s vision for Fleetwood Mac without Christine became fully realised..." [x]

"New versions of songs like ‘Second Hand News’ and ‘Without You..." [x]

"He [Lindsey] wrote a number of songs for the EP that didn’t make the final cut..." [x]

"Overall, the last few years have been a wonderful return to form..." [x]

And have a bonus picture of Mick with his girlfriend...
http://media.tumblr.com/24f326e51156...u9y1rjpgwn.jpg

thanks for the excerpts, nicole!

I found this interesting: Second Hand News, a song that has come in and out of our sets through the years. It was written with Chris, but the subject matter is very much Lindsey and Stevie.

I've never heard this claim before. has anyone else?:shrug:

Mick was talking about THEN. The band was idle from 1982-1987 and he had no other income coming in but he said after he declared bankruptcy, he was able to stay comfortable from the royalties and most people didn't even know he had hit rock bottom, because his lifestyle didn't look that bad.

Michele

Not actually mentioned, shockingly! None of her affairs were by name, actually, bar the one with Mick. The Eagles did get mentioned but in the context of touring with Fleetwood Mac in 1976 more than anything else...

I did note he learnt his lesson and didn't bother repeating anything about the big TITN fight between SnL this time around. :D

"By 1984 I had to file for bankruptcy for the second time and though I knew things weren’t on the up, it still came as a surprise. I’d hired a young, eager business manager who had a ‘live for now’ strategy which of course was fine for me, but didn’t seem to plan enough for the future. Then somehow it all fell apart. I was forced to sell the Blue Whale as well as all of my cars and my recording equipment. I lost Sara in the process: she moved out, broke it off with me and went back to work in the ‘real world’, because I couldn’t support her. Meanwhile I moved into a house with Richard Dashut and laboured to put my life back in order. Thankfully no matter how dire things seemed, I was never in danger of being completely on the street. I was grateful to always have the royalty income stream from Fleetwood Mac to keep me afloat. That is essentially how I settled all of my financial problems. At first that left me little else to get by on, but eventually it caught up and the monies I received from record sales of the catalogue enabled me to be comfortable. Cosmetically most people never even realised that I’d gone broke, not once but twice, because the thing I’d devoted my life to developing had served to save me."

Mick makes himself sound like a horrible person to be dating or married to. Other than the money, I don't know what those women saw in him. He says he split from Sara when he could not take care of her anymore and filed bankruptcy. She left him to go back to work and take care of herself.

But then she got sober (didn't last) and stopped drinking and he didn't stop drinking and wasn't respectful of her needing to abstain. So that was a wedge between them. Also during the relationship, he told her that he might patch things up with Jenny some day. So, I'm sure that's not a great thing to hear from your partner.

So anyway, he meets Lynn (who was 26 and he was 43) while still married to Sara and sneaks Lynn around so the crew wouldn't know he was seeing her. She wouldn't travel with him on tour openly. She'd get to a city ahead of him, so no one would think they were together. For whatever reason, he didn't divorce Sara. He waited for her to file. So, he told Lynn that he and Sara were splitting, but it wasn't happening and Lynn began to doubt him.

Also, Lynn didn't drink and Mick couldn't stop drinking and his habit was getting worse. He was a sloppy drunk, but Lynn put up with it. In fact, one of the things he loved about her was she could hang out with people who were high and drunk and not be under the influence herself and still be fun. Yay?

He says it was around about the time of his sister's cancer that he realized he was destroying himself. He had gained weight and didn't look good and was scared of his mortality. So, he did stop drinking then, for a decade.

Michele

Amazing what people will put up with (especially women) to be with someone famous, or to live a life and/or lifestyle that they wouldn't otherwise get to have (traveling in social circles with famous people and the like). It seems like they'll put up with some serious sh*t from the person him/herself if the rest of the 'package' is enticing. :shrug:

I thought that too. But it was 1988, she was probably strung out on benzos also.

seems like.

But there's a definite "upstage the bride" vibe to the whole outfit.

Then of course getting up onstage and singing and being the center of attention throughout a lot of the reception….

This drives home the point that a definitive,objective published biography is not going to come from any of the band members. There has been a lot of fans clamoring for Stevie to write her autobiography, but I don't know why. First off, her memory, as we know, isn't very sharp. And she's far from being a literary scribe. She would have to depend heavily on a co-writer/editor to sift through her "journals" to make any sense of things. There would be no objectivity; most so-called autobiographies have a bit of fictionalized history. Mick's books only gloss the surface, Stevie's book would be overflowing with gloss and ego.

I've been reading Neil Young's book, Waging Heavy Peace, which was published in 2012. He's a very literate, philosophical guy. He's very matter-of-fact, with no agenda, and writes very simply and authentically. There's absolutely no pretense or pompousness in his prose.

His book is unique because he doesn't follow a timeline. Each chapter is just a stream of thought about a certain subject. In every chapter he ruminates about a topic, circumstance or event which reveals his character, insight, and creative/thought process, and his relationships. There is a real and sincere soul and depth to it.

Thanks for the index. Loved the Christine/Lindsey stuff. Fair reporting on your part. :xoxo: