Could Stevie have ever "made it" without Fleetwood Mac?
 

I've been thinking about this a lot lately and I want to know what you guys think. I'll cast my vote and give my reasons, too, but I want to hear what you all have to say.

I voted 'yes' definitely, I think it was predestined, if you will, that she become who she is. I believe LB was a huge artistic shot in the arm, and Fleetwood Mac was the power band that best helped her achieve stardom. But, I believe it would have happened, anyway, her early songwriting just had too many real moments of excellence and commercial possibilities to make people money that she would have found her way, by aligning with a powerful agent, manager or musician(s) to make her path. Also, she had 'smarts' in molding herself into an extremely beautiful and visually 'can't miss' rock and roll chick with 'star quality' to burn. I think Stevie made herself gorgeous, willed it to be, knowing how to maximize her original good- though, perhaps, unexceptional looks-- she knew how to stylize herself into a knockout- it's a talent of its own. And a knockout rock and roll girl/woman who could write songs the way she did- I think she would have made it with or without LB and Fleetwood Mac.

I don't think so. Her talent is too raw, and nobody from the R&R business of the relatively conservative early/mid 1970s would have invested in her. She was just another warbling hippie chick in the Nixon era (the party of the 1960s was long over). I don't really think Buckingham Nicks would have made it big either, even if they had made another couple albums. There just wasn't anything that set them apart from the countless other singer-songwriters of that era.

What made post 1975 Fleetwood Mac interesting, and in tern famous, was the whole combination. The combination of those 3 unlikely voices... and the otherworldly harmonies they made. The combination of British and American sensibilities. The combination of blues roots, and southern California pop. An amalgam of professionally trained musicians, with those who still can't read music. A rock band with not just one woman singer-songwriter in a male dominated profession... but two leading ladies. The drama and allure of a band of couples. The list goes on and on...

We can't forget too that it was Christine's singles which put air under the 1975 Fleetwood Mac album's wings, and allowed the band to take off. Stevie was largely dismissed and ignored until 1976. Nobody really paid attention to her, until they realized just how solid the band behind her was. This brings to mind the recordings of Fritz, where Stevie is singing a gorgeous ballad in a bar... and people are loudly talking over her, shooting pool, doing anything but paying attention. She was just another hippie singing chick.

I also have to believe that if Stevie and Lindsey hadn't been offered the position in the Mac, sooner than later Stevie's practical side would have kicked in and pulled the plug on star chasing. She was the one after all waiting tables and cleaning houses so that Lindsey could lay around on the floor all day smoking dope and writing songs. That wouldn't have lasted forever, I guarantee you. Stevie needed the Mac as her vehicle to fame, plain and simple.

I think that she might have had a moderate success, maybe with Buckingham Nicks 2, but nowhere near what she had with Fleetwood Mac. They provided her with the means to do a solo record, and also with the drama to write about. The success of Fleetwood Mac also made her a household name, and without them, I don't think she would have been able to do it. I honestly think that she and Lindsey would have made a few more records, Lindsey would have taken more session work, and that's the extent of it. I personally think that Buckingham Nicks is a brilliant record, but they didn't have the backing and support of the record company, and without that, they didn't get airplay, or success. With Fleetwood Mac, they had support, airplay, and success. But, really, who knows?

Uh oh...I think I see some intense discussion in the future on this :p

I'm going to say YES. Having made it is a matter of scale...everyone has their own idea of what having made it means. Do I think that Stevie could have made a name for herself with her music and had a fulfilling career without necessarily become THE STEVIE NICKS? Definitely! She had that amazing voice and the ability to write her own songs. All she really would have needed would have been a band with people who had the knowledge of how to arrange her music. Even if she couldn't find anyone on her own, a record company could have done that for her. Could she have made it on her own and still achieved the status that she has? Absolutely! She was never in the position to try and make it on her own, though, because she had Lindsey. I've wondered often about what would have happened to Buckingham Nicks had Fleetwood Mac not come into the picture. Listening to their music now, I think they had the potential to have a great career. Would it have been as big as FM? Maybe not, but it's possible. And really, it wouldn't have had to be as big as FM for them to have felt as though they had made it. The music would have just continued to get better which could potentially have led to getting another record deal, an increase in their fan base, bigger tours, and quite a bit of money...maybe not FM money but enough that I can imagine that it would have felt like having made it. The fact that their first record didn't do well means nothing at all. Most everyone has setbacks until they get their big break.

All in all, though, be it on her own, with Lindsey, or with FM, talent can only get you so far. So much of "making it" has to do with being in the right place at the right time. There are lots of people out there who really have what it takes to make it but they never do because the opportunity never arises. Stevie absolutely could have made it on her own. She had the talent and the drive. All she would have needed was to be in the right place at the right time.

You can ask the same thing about FM. Would they have "made it" to the extent that they did without Stevie and Lindsey...maybe, maybe not. The point is, when they "discovered" Stevie and Lindsey, they were in the right place at the right time too.

All interesting points... I'm glad I posted this poll.

I voted yes.....I would have discovered her! Lol!...She would have had a place on my shelf even if they only had an album or 2! Eventually I would have got a hold of BN... I think it just depends on how long she would have stuck around and kept trying...hopefully she wouldn't have quit..got pregnant and just found something else to do.

Another thing to consider in favor of 'yes' as an answer to this poll, is that the 70s was a great time for labels taking chances on female artists. There is a stable of female songwriters who had album after album released who never really made it. A few that come to mind are Wendy Waldman, Lori Lieberman, and James Taylor's sister Kate Taylor, who had a few albums before she took herself out of the business. I wish my cousin Susan were still alive, for many reasons, and she'd for sure be able to list another half dozen- Bonnie Kolic (?)-- there was also Chi Coltrane who only managed one hit, 'Thunder and Lightening'-- vaguely Stevie-Rhiannon-ish to my ears, though I think she was less prolific in her output of albums than Waldman and others.
You also had Janis Ian who recorded regularly from '74 on with only one big album- and many of these women were really talented, but didn't have the visual thing going on that SN did. So, I think a label would have released albums by her yearly, likely as a solo artist with studio musicians. Melissa Manchester also had about 4 mediocre-selling albums released yearly before her '75 breakthrough, Bonnie Raitt wasn't selling incredibly well, but had acclaim and a label's support. There were also women who didn't normally write songs (Raiit included) who got albums released every year like clockwork- One who comes to mind is Rita Coolidge, who had 5 solo albums and 2 duet albums released before she had a big commercial breakthrough in '77- I like most of the women I've mentioned, but SN I think just had 'stardust' in droves that none of them had. So, though the BN album didn't make it and Polydor dropped them, I think another label likely would have seen potential for SN as a solo act in their stable of women singer-songwriters who recorded regularly, hoping to break through. Perhaps it was easier to sell a single woman in those days rather than a duo, though I believe LB may have continued to produce her for a while before he, uh, went his own way.

Could she have made it? Most likely. She may have ended up in Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers otherwise. But without Fleetwood Mac it may have been... less interesting?

I'd like to think she'd have made it. Somehow I just can't picture Stevie still working at Mel's diner with Vera, Flo, and Aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice...yeah.

It's impossible to know, obviously, but I think it's doubtful. In any event, I doubt she would have achieved the astronomical success of Rumours - and the same goes for Buckingham Nicks.

I think it was the chemistry of the Rumours five that enabled all the success. And I am not discounting any of the Fleetwood Mac line-ups, just stating that the stars aligned when those 5 were together.

Yes, she would...I think!

i think she would have been successful but nothing like today
and maybe not even really as a singer
i think if she didn't hit the big time as a singer
she'd definitely be a very famous author/poet with novels etc