The Ultimate??? Mac Lineups Ranking
 

This could have been posted in any forum, but what caught my attention was N.6, a Post-Rumours lineup that technically never existed. At first, I thought the author considered the 1990 and 1995 lineups so poor that he merged them into one. Then I realize he merged several lineups, since Fleetwood Mac actually had… how many, 13 lineups? So it seems he analyzed eras based on years rather than lineups, though he did start the article talking about lineups. Humm, I’m not sure how much sense it makes to place The Dance, Say You Will, and the tours with Christine come back in the same era.

Anyway, the one with the lowest score is actually the one we refer to here as the Present Band; a score with which I agree, even though Christine and Stevie were there. I admit my judgment is emotional. But since there wasn't even an album, I find it very hard to even call it a lineup, and I still was so angry that year that I hardly called it Fleetwood Mac.

https://www.classical-music.com/rock...ine-ups-ranked

Mr. Google says there are 18, and Wiki shows 18, HOWEVER, notice Bob Brunning isn't included on the official graph, nor the touring graph.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleetwood_Mac

This is how I generally see it, which I think is semi-official

#1 (With Brunning)
#2 Dog & Dustbin, Mr Wonderful
#3 Then Play On (although Jeremy barely played it) Blues Jam at Chess
#4 Kiln House
#5 touring (with Christine as a member)
#6 FG, BT
#7 Penguin
#8 MTM
#9 HAHTF
#10 Rumours Five (on 3 occasions plus briefly in January 1993)
#11 BTM
#12 Time
#13 SYW
#14 Finn/Campbell

There are some other iterations that can be thought of as FM lineups

#5a -Mick, John, Danny, Christine & Peter (touring only)

#11a Mick, John, Christine, Billy (fleetingly after Stevie left - recorded "Love Shines" and the Super Bowl Show (with guest Rick Vito)) I think Billy claimed that this was effectively FM at this point

#12a Mick, John, Billy, Bekka, Dave. One interview I've read from Christine states that she left the band after the album was made. The touring band really was another entity from the album band.

#9a and #9b Bobby Hunt and then Doug Graves on additional keyboards - Mick in his first book talks about the band having "personnel spasms" but it's hard to argue that they were full members.

So I can sort of see how they might get to 18...

I would consider those 14 as the official, since the first 11 were documented in the Fleetwood Mac Save Me single CD book. Or is it valid to count the repeated lineups, like the marriages of Elizabeth Taylor Hilton Wilding Todd Fisher Burton Burton Warner Fortensky?

I'm trying to remember how many Mick had listed in the Tusk tour book(that got ruined[glued together by water damage] in my 2021 flood), but it was a VERY accurate "tree" of everyone, including who each person went on to play with.

It's really only been one marriage- Mick and John.

I'm kind of happy to go with 14 although I'm inclined to add an asterisk for the benefit of pedants like me, especially in view of Peter's second stint, which is the most important of the other iterations.

The Finn/Campbell line-up of the band was the only one that never recorded anything in the studio as Fleetwood Mac, as far as we know. The 5th version (Jeremy, Danny, Christine, John & Mick) only ever cut one song, Purple Dancer together, although of course Christine had provided backing vocals and keyboards to the Kiln House quartet.

I'd say the last version didn't count as a lineup. Tell me how Mike or Neil were any more important than Brett, or Neal, or Stevie's backup singers. They were just hired players, for the purpose of completing a tour. Nothing more, other than people recognized their names. So the fact that they didn't produce any music, only emphasizes the point that they were just pawns. Stevie's pawn pieces.

Oh, I forgot.... she's not the boss.

It was a very sad way for the band to end if that is indeed the case. Christine was declining somewhat, too. If something happens next year with the three or four of them, there will still be a nasty tasty taste in the mouth. I suppose there were some interesting deep cuts, particularly early on in the tour but the audience were pretty bewildered by them. Getting some hearings of Hypnotized and Man of the World was not recompense for getting rid of Mr B.

If it was billed as Fleetwood Mac , they were Fleetwood Mac* despite the fact they couldn't even be bothered to record one track to on the 50 years collection. So yeah, through gritted teeth, it counts.

*speaking of which, I forgot #8b the "fake" Fleetwood Mac, for which it is alleged that Mick was supposed to play.

The Old Goat ruined the end of our band. Selfish old bitch. She'd probably be dead now, because without Lindsey, she'd have been nothing. And yet she made it all about her. Firing Lindsey was criminal.