Breaking Up is Hard to Do

[michelej1]

I was reading articles for the Australian Interview thread and I saw that these did not appear to be online, so I'm uploading.

San Diego Union Tribune, February 19, 1987:

HEADLINE: New freedom expands rock stars' artistic horizons;
Mick Fleetwood feels he belongs in the Zoo

BYLINE: George Varga, Varga specializes in jazz and contemporary music.

BODY:


At the core of every great band lies a great drummer, and for the past 20 years Mick Fleetwood has provided both the heart and soul of Fleetwood Mac. A tall, lanky Englishman who speaks with the same quiet determination that marks his crisp, steady drumming, Fleetwood is a rock 'n' roll survivor. Since co-founding Fleetwood Mac in 1967 with bassist John McVie, Fleetwood has served as its de facto leader, holding the group together through personnel changes, shifts in musical direction, assorted divorces and romantic entanglements, and a multitude of business disasters that culminated with his own bankruptcy three years ago. Through it all, he has retained a remarkable degree of equanimity, rolling with the punches, but always regaining his feet and setting himself and his band back on course. Now, less than two months from the April release date of Fleetwood Mac's first album since 1982's "Mirage," Fleetwood has relinquished control of the band. He couldn't be happier. "I was officially fired," the 39-year-old drummer said.

"We all have our own managers, and I'd had enough of doing it.

It basically has made my life easier, but I still find that -- if any mediating is necessary -- I end up in the middle." But for much of the last five years, Fleetwood has had virtually nothing to mediate.

Bandmates Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham and Christine McVie were concentrating on their solo careers.

Interest in regrouping seemed to be dwindling, as if Fleetwood Mac's members had finally chosen to go their own ways. "People assumed that we had ceased to be, but we never broke up," Fleetwood said.

"It's a matter of logistics -- we're not touring, we don't have tea with each other, everyone's got their own managers.

It's neither good nor bad; it's just the way it is." During this extended hiatus, the pragmatic drummer formed his own extracurricular band, Mick Fleetwood's Zoo, featuring rockabilly singing sensation Billy Burnette, former Little Feat bassist Ken Gradney, lead guitarist Steve Ross and percussionist Bobby Hall. They perform tonight at 9 at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach, where they will be joined by Steve Cropper, the former Booker T. and the MGs/Blues Brothers guitar ace. "We don't work a lot, but it's turned into something quite nice," Fleetwood said.

"The Zoo came about when I made my second solo album for RCA Records in 1981. I thought I'd form a band with people I felt good about, and that's why it's lasted. "It pays for our hotel rooms, and that's about all, but we just play because we enjoy doing it.

We do a couple of Billy's songs, some old Fleetwood Mac material like `Oh Well' and `Rattlesnake Shake,' old Buddy Holly stuff, a lot of rock 'n' roll." Fleetwood clearly relishes working with his Zoo. Yet, while he diplomatically maintains that he didn't mind Fleetwood Mac's long layoff, he apparently grew impatient waiting for the other members to reunite. "It was getting to the point that, after four years, we had to decide whether we'd let it drift on indefinitely or make music," he said.

"From time to time, I'd say, `Are we going to make an album or what?'...Then John, Christine and myself felt it was about time we made an album, and Lindsey, as usual, has just started work on one of his albums.

But he stopped to work on our album." Boasting an even dozen songs by Buckingham, McVie and Nicks, the new Fleetwood Mac record was produced by Buckingham and longtime Mac-collaborator Richard Dashut.

Fourteen months in the making, the album has been titled, although Fleetwood refuses to divulge its name. Even over the telephone from his Malibu home, the bearded drummer's excitement about the album is palpable.

Deviating from the overt commercialism of 1982's "Mirage," Fleetwood said the new record has more of the playfully experimental feel of "Tusk," the double-album Fleetwood Mac released in 1979 to rave reviews and disappointing sales. "I'm very, very happy with it, and everyone in the band's excited," Fleetwood said.

"Lindsey sculpted the album using the inventiveness that was very apparent on his solo work and on `Tusk,' which might have been too far out in left field for our listeners in those days. "He and Richard Dashut have used that same approach, but it's a lot more accessible now.

After `Tusk,' `Mirage' was a little normal by comparison. Now our new record is the final twist between those albums, and it feels very fresh." Will the band tour in support of its new release, which was originally scheduled to come out last year? "That's something we'll tackle step by step," Fleetwood said cautiously. "Lindsey's got to finish his next solo album, and we need to see what the implications of this record will be.

I hope we'll tour, I really do, because Fleetwood Mac has always been very much of a live band.

Certainly, John McVie and myself have bass and drums in hand." A divorced father of two teen-age girls, Fleetwood is modest about his drumming, which provides a solid, yet flexible rhythmic foundation for the band.

He jokes that he will play a drum solo "only if there's a power failure." As always, he remains optimistic about the future. "In my mind, Fleetwood Mac will never cease to be.

It will go on forever," he said.

"There are a lot of bands that find themselves in a rut, but Fleetwood Mac has always felt free.

It's a very loose framework, not a highly oiled machine.

That's another reason why we're still able to make good music and feel good about it.

We're not just treading water." Varga specializes in jazz and contemporary music.