Knoxville, TN March 8, 2015

[michelej1]

Fleetwood Mac: There's a lot about the classic pop act you might not know

http://www.knoxnews.com/knoxville/mu...-know_82933410

By: Wayne Bledsoe Posted: 4:28 PM, Mar 5, 2015 Knoxville News sentinel

Of course you know Fleetwood Mac. The band is one of the most successful groups of all time. The band’s 1975 self-titled album launched the group into superstardom. Its 1977 follow-up, “Rumours,” eventually sold more than 40 million copies and remains one of pop music’s benchmarks. And, of course, there is the almost soap opera-worthy tales of the band members’ romances and break-ups within the group and excesses with drugs and alcohol.

But how much do you really know about Fleetwood Mac? If you know the band actually started in 1967, you’re just getting started.

Fleetwood Mac, Cream and The Rolling Stones all share a common ancestor.

Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce (both later of Cream) were the guitarist and bassist, respectively, for John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers for several months from 1965 to ’66. Their vacated spots were filled by guitarist Peter Green and bassist John McVie. Green and McVie would leave in 1967 with Bluesbreakers drummer Mick Fleetwood to form Fleetwood Mac. Mick Taylor replaced Green in the Bluesbreakers. Taylor would leave the Bluesbreakers in 1969 to replace Brian Jones in the Rolling Stones and contribute to the Stones’ most acclaimed albums.

The Santana hit “Black Magic Woman” is actually a Fleetwood Mac song.

Peter Green was seen as one of the greatest guitarists of his generation and Carlos Santana certainly took notice. “Black Magic Woman,” written by Green, was released in 1968 with modest success in England. It became a Top 10 hit and a signature song when Santana released his group’s version in 1970. Green also wrote the much-covered Fleetwood Mac songs “The Green Manalishi With the Two-Pronged Crown” (covered by Judas Priest, Corrosion of Conformity, The Melvins) and “Oh Well” (Tom Petty, Eels, Kenny Wayne Shepherd).

McVie and Fleetwood blame a party for ending the original Fleetwood Mac.

When Fleetwood Mac attended a party in Munich, a group of beautiful well-to-do scenesters invited Peter Green, specifically, and then the rest of the group to a gathering at a mansion in Munich. According to the two, Green partook in a heavy dose of LSD at a jam session and was never the same. Green was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.

The Perfect combination

Before marrying John McVie in 1968, Christine McVie was known as Christine Perfect. (It wasn’t a stage name.) She played keyboards and sang with an act called Chicken Shack, recorded one solo album, and contributed backing vocals to the Fleetwood Mac album “Kiln House” and did the cover illustration, before becoming an official member of the band in 1970.

Remember that 1977 hit “Sentimental Lady”?

Bob Welch had a big hit with the song “Sentimental Lady” in 1977 and Christine McVie contributes some sweet backing vocals. The song originally appeared on Fleetwood Mac’s “Bare Trees” album while Welch was a part of the band.

Fleetwood Mac was not Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks’ first act.

Buckingham and Nicks had met in high school and performed in a band called Fritz before going off on their own as Buckingham Nicks. The duo signed with Polydor Records and released one album in 1973 (and the two seem to be trying to out-pretty each other on their topless album cover). The act caught on in the South, where they toured, but nowhere else. The album went out of print and was reissued briefly on vinyl, but has never been officially released on CD. A vinyl copy can cost you $70 or more.

Fleetwood Mac really wanted Buckingham to join the band — Nicks, not so much.

In a 1995 interview, Mick Fleetwood told me that he’d heard the Buckingham Nicks album when producer Keith Olsen used it to demonstrate how good his recording studio could sound. When Bob Welch left the band in 1974, Fleetwood immediately sought out Buckingham.

“We learned after the fact, after the initial inquiry, that they were not only a creative duo, they were basically in as many words married,” said Fleetwood. “… I’m permanently cursed by Stevie. She said, ‘Well, you didn’t even WANT me.’ I said, ‘Stevie, we were looking for a guitar player.’”

“Tusk,” the band’s follow-up to “Rumours,” was considered a failure.

Although it sold more than 4 million copies, “Tusk” paled in sales beside “Rumours.” It contained the hit “Sara” and was generally lauded by critics, but Buckingham’s experimental free-hand with the project (and burgeoning recording costs) caused some serious consternation within the group. In an interview, Fleetwood told me that “Tusk” was his favorite Fleetwood Mac album. In a later interview with Buckingham, Buckingham retorted that Fleetwood had certainly never expressed that sentiment to him. (In an interesting side note, Peter Green returned to contribute guitar on the album’s song “Brown Eyes.”)

“Gold”

Aside from helping Fleetwood Mac become a multi-platinum-selling act, Buckingham (as producer, guitarist and backing vocalist) and Nicks (as backing vocalist) helped John Stewart (formerly of beloved-by-Buckingham act The Kingston Trio) have his one major hit song, “Gold,” and hit album, “Bombs Away Dream Babies,” in 1979.

Remember those years when Buckingham, Nicks and Christine McVie left the band?

Don’t worry. Hardly anyone does. Buckingham left the act in 1987. Nicks left in 1991 and that same year Christine McVie said she would no longer tour with the group. During that time Bekka Bramblett, Billy Burnette, Rick Vito and even Dave Mason (of Traffic and his own solo career) were among the players who joined Fleetwood Mac for a spell.

President Bill Clinton reunited Fleetwood Mac’s classic lineup.

Presidential candidate Bill Clinton had used the Fleetwood Mac hit “Don’t Stop” as his campaign song and when he was elected president he requested that Fleetwood Mac perform it at his inaugural ball in 1993. It was the first time the full lineup had been together since 1987 and was the last time the five would perform together until 1996. This year’s tour is the first time that Fleetwood, Nicks, Buckingham and the McVies have performed a full tour together since 1998.

Here’s how Mick Fleetwood summed up the history of Fleetwood Mac.

“I sometimes wonder how we all made it through that. But there’s been some very strange times, but this has not been a full-on nightmare. We found proper reasons for doing what we’re doing. There was a lot of wonderful, real love, real connection that made this band the crazy thing that it’s been.”