Thoughts on Mick's New Book

[louielouie2000]

So is there ANY reason to buy this book? I've had his first book for many years, and it was enjoyable enough. But if this new one isn't forging any new territory, I just don't see the point in lining Mick's pockets any further. Especially if my money will simply be lost to his next bout with bankruptcy. My local independent bookstore has the book in stock, I just cannot summon any legitimate reason to give this band any more of my money at the moment. Not until they start giving us something that hasn't been regurgitated over and over, decade after decade.

I don't know, this whole damned thing just seems suspect to me. Remember when Mick was asked about his new book at a meet & greet last year, and he didn't seem to know what the fan who asked him was talking about? Did Mick's management just pay this Anthony Bozza to regurgitate his last book so Mick could have a fresh infusion of cash to help pad bottom line after his divorce settlement/alimony? I have my doubts as to how involved Mick was with the whole thing. He's done almost no press for it, after all.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

So is there ANY reason to buy this book? I've had his first book for many years, and it was enjoyable enough. But if this new one isn't forging any new territory, I just don't see the point in lining Mick's pockets any further. Especially if my money will simply be lost to his next bout with bankruptcy. My local independent bookstore has the book in stock, I just cannot summon any legitimate reason to give this band any more of my money at the moment. Not until they start giving us something that hasn't been regurgitated over and over, decade after decade.

I perused over the book at Powell's "City of Books" Bookstore, the most amazing bookstore in the world -- a massive four stories! I could not justify paying $30 for it. I read a few of the passages from the ensuing years since his last book. I found nothing of any worthy depth and insight. I'll wait a year or two until I can find it in the bargain bin.

[redtulip]

I just finished it. I didn't really get anything new out of it and he glossed over the most recent period starting after his last book left off. The only really new information I got from it was learning a little more about Lynn, his ex-wife, since I knew nothing about her before. Basically it's a pointless Mick money grab.

[PenguinHead]

Originally Posted by redtulip

I just finished it. I didn't really get anything new out of it and he glossed over the most recent period starting after his last book left off. The only really new information I got from it was learning a little more about Lynn, his ex-wife, since I knew nothing about her before. Basically it's a pointless Mick money grab.

This drives home the point that a definitive,objective published biography is not going to come from any of the band members. There has been a lot of fans clamoring for Stevie to write her autobiography, but I don't know why. First off, her memory, as we know, isn't very sharp. And she's far from being a literary scribe. She would have to depend heavily on a co-writer/editor to sift through her "journals" to make any sense of things. There would be no objectivity; most so-called autobiographies have a bit of fictionalized history. Mick's books only gloss the surface, Stevie's book would be overflowing with gloss and ego.

I've been reading Neil Young's book, Waging Heavy Peace, which was published in 2012. He's a very literate, philosophical guy. He's very matter-of-fact, with no agenda, and writes very simply and authentically. There's absolutely no pretense or pompousness in his prose.

His book is unique because he doesn't follow a timeline. Each chapter is just a stream of thought about a certain subject. In every chapter he ruminates about a topic, circumstance or event which reveals his character, insight, and creative/thought process, and his relationships. There is a real and sincere soul and depth to it.

[jbrownsjr]

Royal Air Force
Peter did drugs
Jeremy did drugs
Christine joined
Danny did drugs
Danny got fired
Welch took over
Welch left
Buckingham/Nicks joined
Sales started to grow
Rumours had a lot of break ups but sales.
Christine hooked up with the lighting director.
I hooked up with Stevie.
Linsdey was mad.
Stevie hooked up with various Eagles.
Tusk was a commercical failure.
I went bankrupt.
Mirage somehow is Rumours II
I was married a few more times.
Lindsey left.
Stevie left.
We got together for the Dance.
Christine left.
We had a SYW tour.
Christine came back.


The End. Thirty Dollars, please!

[Johnny Stew]

From the new book:

"All of this, of course, is in preparation for Stevie, who will join us in the studio later this year after she finishes her last solo album for Warner Brothers. She won't be distant from the process; rather, we will be ready for her. The truth is that Stevie is a vocalist, while the rest of us are musicians, so we will set the stage for her entrance, and together we will work out what I believe will be a fitting return for this line-up of the band."

[nicole21290]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

So is there ANY reason to buy this book?

I got it this morning. Just finished while the Fleetwood Mac show was on. I doubt you'll find anything particularly illuminating in it - it covers all the time periods but often in a quite perfunctory way. I've screencapped and written out parts of it relevant to my own interests as well as regarding Christine's return so you can check those out if you want. I'm happy to copy out anything else you want to read about - whether it's just the Time period or the Zoo stuff or whatever.

A few random quotes about Christine, John, Christine/Lindsey [x]

Christine's return and the end of the book [x]

The Dance through The EP [x]

Lindsey leaves the band [x]

Mick and Stevie saga Pt 1 / Richard & Liz [x]

Mick and Stevie saga Pt 2 / Mick & Jenny [x]

Mick and Stevie saga Pt 3 / Mick & Sara [x]

Beginnings for SnL in FM [x] [x]

Meeting Buckingham Nicks [x]

Hearing Buckingham Nicks [x]

And then some random quotes about Stevie and Lindsey. Again, apologies for the focus but this is my primary interest, oops...

"That good-looking couple with all that talent..." [x]

"Stevie had broken up with Lindsey and he’d taken it very, very hard." [x]

"It wasn’t easy on Stevie either..." [x]

"So I went to Lindsey’s house and I told him about it..." [x]

"A few weeks after announcing that Fleetwood Mac had officially disbanded..." [x]

"His self-sufficiency proved to be a bigger problem for Stevie..." [x]

"Lindsey began writing differently than he had in the past..." [x]

"Lindsey’s vision for Fleetwood Mac without Christine became fully realised..." [x]

"New versions of songs like ‘Second Hand News’ and ‘Without You..." [x]

"He [Lindsey] wrote a number of songs for the EP that didn’t make the final cut..." [x]

"Overall, the last few years have been a wonderful return to form..." [x]

And have a bonus picture of Mick with his girlfriend...

[bombaysaffires]

thanks for the excerpts, nicole!

I found this interesting: Second Hand News, a song that has come in and out of our sets through the years. It was written with Chris, but the subject matter is very much Lindsey and Stevie.

I've never heard this claim before. has anyone else?

[nicole21290]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Stevie hooked up with various Eagles.

The End. Thirty Dollars, please!

Not actually mentioned, shockingly! None of her affairs were by name, actually, bar the one with Mick. The Eagles did get mentioned but in the context of touring with Fleetwood Mac in 1976 more than anything else...

I did note he learnt his lesson and didn't bother repeating anything about the big TITN fight between SnL this time around.

[michelej1]

Mick makes himself sound like a horrible person to be dating or married to. Other than the money, I don't know what those women saw in him. He says he split from Sara when he could not take care of her anymore and filed bankruptcy. She left him to go back to work and take care of herself.

But then she got sober (didn't last) and stopped drinking and he didn't stop drinking and wasn't respectful of her needing to abstain. So that was a wedge between them. Also during the relationship, he told her that he might patch things up with Jenny some day. So, I'm sure that's not a great thing to hear from your partner.

So anyway, he meets Lynn (who was 26 and he was 43) while still married to Sara and sneaks Lynn around so the crew wouldn't know he was seeing her. She wouldn't travel with him on tour openly. She'd get to a city ahead of him, so no one would think they were together. For whatever reason, he didn't divorce Sara. He waited for her to file. So, he told Lynn that he and Sara were splitting, but it wasn't happening and Lynn began to doubt him.

Also, Lynn didn't drink and Mick couldn't stop drinking and his habit was getting worse. He was a sloppy drunk, but Lynn put up with it. In fact, one of the things he loved about her was she could hang out with people who were high and drunk and not be under the influence herself and still be fun. Yay?

He says it was around about the time of his sister's cancer that he realized he was destroying himself. He had gained weight and didn't look good and was scared of his mortality. So, he did stop drinking then, for a decade.

Michele

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Mick makes himself sound like a horrible person to be dating or married to. Other than the money, I don't know what those women saw in him. He says he split from Sara when he could not take care of her anymore and filed bankruptcy. She left him to go back to work and take care of herself.

But then she got sober (didn't last) and stopped drinking and he didn't stop drinking and wasn't respectful of her needing to abstain. So that was a wedge between them. Also during the relationship, he told her that he might patch things up with Jenny some day. So, I'm sure that's not a great thing to hear from your partner.

So anyway, he meets Lynn (who was 26 and he was 43) while still married to Sara and sneaks Lynn around so the crew wouldn't know he was seeing her. She wouldn't travel with him on tour openly. She'd get to a city ahead of him, so no one would think they were together. For whatever reason, he didn't divorce Sara. He waited for her to file. So, he told Lynn that he and Sara were splitting, but it wasn't happening and Lynn began to doubt him.

Also, Lynn didn't drink and Mick couldn't stop drinking and his habit was getting worse. He was a sloppy drunk, but Lynn put up with it. In fact, one of the things he loved about her was she could hang out with people who were high and drunk and not be under the influence herself and still be fun. Yay?

He says it was around about the time of his sister's cancer that he realized he was destroying himself. He had gained weight and didn't look good and was scared of his mortality. So, he did stop drinking then, for a decade.

Michele

Amazing what people will put up with (especially women) to be with someone famous, or to live a life and/or lifestyle that they wouldn't otherwise get to have (traveling in social circles with famous people and the like). It seems like they'll put up with some serious sh*t from the person him/herself if the rest of the 'package' is enticing.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by nicole21290

Not actually mentioned, shockingly! None of her affairs were by name, actually, bar the one with Mick. The Eagles did get mentioned but in the context of touring with Fleetwood Mac in 1976 more than anything else...

I did note he learnt his lesson and didn't bother repeating anything about the big TITN fight between SnL this time around.

Thanks for the index. Loved the Christine/Lindsey stuff. Fair reporting on your part.

[wetcamelfood]

Still waiting for my copy.

So is the beginning to 1990 copied from the 1990 book?

John

[FuzzyPlum]

After a week away on holiday I got home last night to find Mick's book waiting for me. Firstly I was a bit miffed as my 'signed' copy had a signed label stuck in which isn't quite the same thing...never mind.

I haven't read a lot yet but skipped straight to Tango In The Night onwards as that is what I'd anticipated being new. Unfortunately the last 25 years or so are covered in about 50 pages. The biggest difference between this and his last book seems to be that he hasn't focused much on the music. Behind The Mask is barely mentioned. I thought Time might be interesting to read about but that gets only a page or two.
Interestingly there is virtually no mention of the R&R Hall of Fame Induction (except the story of Peter playing with Santana). Some interesting bits towards the end concerning Mick's business dealings with dodgy Russian gangsters- including the fact he bought a plane with the intention of starting a Russian airline!

Will go back and start at the beginning later today.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by FuzzyPlum

Interestingly there is virtually no mention of the R&R Hall of Fame Induction (except the story of Peter playing with Santana). Some interesting bits towards the end concerning Mick's business dealings with dodgy Russian gangsters- including the fact he bought a plane with the intention of starting a Russian airline!

He has problems. If someone wants to just put his name on wine or audio equipment, that's fine. But he should stop putting his money into things. Outside of having good music instincts, his business judgment is the absolute pits.

Michele