Should Stevie have left the Mac with Lindsey in the 80s?
 

I was watching a TOSOTM-era Stevie interview the other day, another where she was welling up with tears about all she had given up for her career and the Mac, and how Mick expected her to be back in the studio the following week despite the fact she had just been on tour in Europe, and it occured to me, why didn't she just give up the Mac when Lindsey did?

I realise it was loyalty on her part but after Tango the stuff she was doing with the Mac wasn't her best (although I know some of it have become fan favourites) and she would have benefited at that point just concentrating on her solo career.

If you think about it, if she had rested after making Tango and the RAL tour, rather than gone back out on the road, she probably wouldn't have caved in and taken klonopin and would have been much healthier in mind, body and spirit. Plus I think her songwriting would have benefited from not having the pressures of her Mac workload and probably her romantic life too.

The Mac on the other hand would probably got on fine without her, those were Christine's years really. I guess some people may disagree on this point - Stevie is a big draw in the States but I think they could have survived.

The more I think about it, I think Stevie should have left the band when Lindsey did. Those huge Mac world tours, the klonopin and all that rushing back and forward between her two careers stifled her creativity IMO. She should have just left it all behind like Lindsey did, and got on with her own life and her solo career.

What do you all think?

Stevie should never do anything with LIndsey. :laugh: But seriously, she probably should have, though I don't think it would have necessarily made her work better, cause of the Klonopin. But it would have been easier on her psyche, I'm sure.

I dunno, I think there would have been less reason for her to take the klonopin if she hadn't been on the road or about to go on tour (I don't know when exactly it started). I'm sure the pressure of that, certainly helped her make her decision. She probably thought, I don't want to let the band down.

Can't really say. :shrug: I admire the person and the artist she is now, who came out from the path we know. What person would have become going her own way in 1987? Besides, I respect her for the loyalty she showed in that occasion. It would have been far easier to say: "Okay, I guess it's over, Bye guys!". Great lady. :nod:

Romy

Erm, from what I've read, her doctor just automatically prescribed it for her right away to help with the drug withdrawal, not because she said she was depressed, or overworked, or anything.

Personally, I don't think she should have ever left Fleetwood Mac in the first place. As much as I loved the whole "Time" band and as much as I think Stevie's fairly lethargic performances were hurting the band (at least in 1990), I think that period really hurt the band and Stevie. I think a tour with the BTM band, minus Christine, would have served their joint interests much better than what actually happened.

Stevie gave her reasons for leaving Fleetwood Mac as she didn't want to be the only "Rumours" vocalist still in the band and that she didn't want to be in the band without Lindsey. Which is fine, but she then preceded to make a pretty crappy album on her own that hurt her credibility and forced the band to coninue without her, releasing an album that hurt its credibility. So, really, her decision really only hurt everybody. I think the BTM band should have made an album in 1994 and Mick, John, Stevie, Billy, & Rick should have toured throughout 1994 and 1995 in support of said album.

How could have she forced the band to continue without her? Threats? Prayers? Spells? Serenades?

Romy

Well, typically when somebody quits a band, the band is forced to continue without said person. :rolleyes:

I suppose they could have broken up, but with all the free publicity they enjoyed in 1993, how could Mick and John NOT have gone out with Fleetwood Mac? They would have been more crazy to not doing anything than putting together a new version of Fleetwood Mac. Anyway, breaking up Fleetwood Mac is just not Mick's style. Sure, he said he did it in 1996, but come on, he was already working with Lindsey again at that point. So, he wasn't REALLY breaking the band up, he was getting the band back together.

Ahh ya. That's what she says. She uses the word "doctor" whenever she talks about having it prescribed. She also says it was prescribed for drug withdrawal. I've never heard of klonipin being prescribed for that reason. When she starts getting real about that subject, like she has about Betty Ford where she used to say she went for alcohol not drugs, then we'll know the real story. I'm sure her klonipin was prescribed by a "doctor" probably an MD of a certain specialty which she doesn't like to talk about. Drug withdrawal is not the standard use for that drug. People familiar with it's use know what klonipin is prescribed for.

She should have left the band as soon as she started her solo career.

I think she (AND Lindsey) should've taken off after the end of the Tusk tour. All they did was keep Fleetwood Mac from putting out probably TWICE as much material in the 80's as they did (collectively). Fleetwood Mac would've gotten new people (or gotten an ex-member to rejoin at that point...namely Bob Welch, who was still having a fairly decent solo career) to ignite new life into the band. Lindsey's solo career probably would've taken off rather than just been red-headed step-child to the band, Stevie's solo career would've reached even HIGHER heights (no pun intended). It would've been better for all around.

Exactly my point. :nod:

I vote for this one. :thumbsup:

:wavey:

I don't know that Lindsey's solo career ever really would have taken off. Not for lack of talent or vision but rather for lack of business savvy and what ever compulsion it is that keeps him from capitalizing on opportunities as they present themselves and ever finishing anything.

So she didn't force them to go on without her, they decided to do so, no ? ;)

Romy

I seriously doubt Bob would have been asked, and I doubt that he would have agreed if asked. Just by watching the "Roxy" video, it seems clear that Bob got on Christine's nerves a bit, and that maybe she was a bit too subdued for him. One of the reasons why the "Rumours" band was able to sustain their success is that they were able to develop a chemistry that was lacking in earlier versions. I doubt bringing Bob back would have changed that.

Now, had Stevie and Lindsey left the band in 1981, I could see them adding some combination of the likes of Eric Clapton, Dave Mason, Robbie Patton, Todd Sharp, and maybe even George Hawkins (rhythm guitar) to the fold. I really couldn't see them adding another female vocalist in 1981. Christine was still touring then, and really, they could axe most of Stevie's songs in the set. Maybe Chris would sing "Dreams," but that's about it. In fact, I actually wonder if Bekka would have been asked to join if Christine were still touring in 1994.

I don't recall her having ever said it was prescribed for "drug withdrawal."
What she has said on many occasions was that her friends (and, most likely, managers) were all afraid she'd relapse because of her "nervous personality," so the doctor prescribed Klonopin to calm her nerves.