Lindsey hints at new FM activities in 2026

[David]

For the first time in documentary history, I have some hopes for this Frank Marshall production. I saw his Beach Boys film and it was solid . . . you know, actually interesting. But I think Fleetwood Mac could have chosen an even better team to put something like this together. I also saw the Billy Joel doc AND SO IT GOES, which was magnificent on every level — as historical artifact, as streamlined and structured production, as insight into the artist, and as lengthy emotional journey. It was made by Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin for HBO, and it obviously had a crack production team behind it, which was given access to all sorts of vaults, and had writers around who built a narrative that was quite powerful — about Joel’s family life, his marriages, his parents, his tortured relationship with his dad, his studio achievements, his musical heritage, his tours, his rise and fall and rise again on the cultural scene.

If Fleetwood Mac gets even one-tenth of that care and passion from Frank Marshall, the doc will definitely be worth seeing.

If only it had been the Joel team doing this . . . .

As for any other stuff coming down the pipeline, a Lindsey solo album and a Stevie solo album and tour are about all. No Fleetwood Mac. However, I’m thinking that the psychobabble hints from Lindsey refer specifically to a single track on Stevie’s album (about ex-boyfriends) that will be produced by Lindsey or will feature a vocal from him.

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by David

For the first time in documentary history, I have some hopes for this Frank Marshall production. I saw his Beach Boys film and it was solid . . . you know, actually interesting. But I think Fleetwood Mac could have chosen an even better team to put something like this together. I also saw the Billy Joel doc AND SO IT GOES, which was magnificent on every level — as historical artifact, as streamlined and structured production, as insight into the artist, and as lengthy emotional journey. It was made by Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin for HBO, and it obviously had a crack production team behind it, which was given access to all sorts of vaults, and had writers around who built a narrative that was quite powerful — about Joel’s family life, his marriages, his parents, his tortured relationship with his dad, his studio achievements, his musical heritage, his tours, his rise and fall and rise again on the cultural scene.

If Fleetwood Mac gets even one-tenth of that care and passion from Frank Marshall, the doc will definitely be worth seeing.

If only it had been the Joel team doing this . . . .

As for any other stuff coming down the pipeline, a Lindsey solo album and a Stevie solo album and tour are about all. No Fleetwood Mac. However, I’m thinking that the psychobabble hints from Lindsey refer specifically to a single track on Stevie’s album (about ex-boyfriends) that will be produced by Lindsey or will feature a vocal from him.

I feel very cautious about what this documentary will focus on or be about... I have a suspicion that it may focus on the Rumours period of time.. which certainly COULD be a whole documentary and then some. But how do you distill down the 50 years of these people into a couple hours documentary. That said we don't know how long it will actually be, or if it will come out in parts like the Billy Joel one.... but....like others, I have to wonder how honest some of the members will be, and how much the film will have to sort of skim over in interest of fitting it all in. And then, if it is just focused on a particular window of time (say the Rumours era) ...like how many times can we revisit that unless someone is going to break rank and tell stuff we haven't heard a million times over already.... AND...did any of this begin before Chris's death? If it's been in the works truly just a couple of years then...no, she wouldn't have been involved. And that's a glaring omission in my opinion because she had a more objective view of a lot of stuff especially the S&L stuff. And given John's reticence to do ANY sort of interviews for years and years now.... how much did he participate??

[Penguin Emeritus]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

I feel very cautious about what this documentary will focus on or be about... I have a suspicion that it may focus on the Rumours period of time.. which certainly COULD be a whole documentary and then some. But how do you distill down the 50 years of these people into a couple hours documentary. That said we don't know how long it will actually be, or if it will come out in parts like the Billy Joel one.... but....like others, I have to wonder how honest some of the members will be, and how much the film will have to sort of skim over in interest of fitting it all in. And then, if it is just focused on a particular window of time (say the Rumours era) ...like how many times can we revisit that unless someone is going to break rank and tell stuff we haven't heard a million times over already.... AND...did any of this begin before Chris's death? If it's been in the works truly just a couple of years then...no, she wouldn't have been involved. And that's a glaring omission in my opinion because she had a more objective view of a lot of stuff especially the S&L stuff. And given John's reticence to do ANY sort of interviews for years and years now.... how much did he participate??

Much as I would love to see a really in-depth documentary of the entire history of the band, I have a feeling it will focus more on the lindsey/ stevie years. I agree, we've heard the same stories many times so I wonder how much more they can add to that.

I think they started it after chris died , but I thought I read somewhere that they were using unseen interview footage of her? There have to be interviews around that haven't really been "put out there" and I would like to see some of those. And I also wonder how much john would have wanted to participate, esp after chris was gone. I don't see it as something he would've gone into with too much enthusiasm... But maybe mick convinced him, Or maybe in a way he would see it as nice way to wrap things up? I hope there's something new in there , and it's not just a rehashing of stories we've all heard a thousand times.

--Lis

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by Penguin Emeritus

Much as I would love to see a really in-depth documentary of the entire history of the band, I have a feeling it will focus more on the lindsey/ stevie years. I agree, we've heard the same stories many times so I wonder how much more they can add to that.

I think they started it after chris died , but I thought I read somewhere that they were using unseen interview footage of her? There have to be interviews around that haven't really been "put out there" and I would like to see some of those. And I also wonder how much john would have wanted to participate, esp after chris was gone. I don't see it as something he would've gone into with too much enthusiasm... But maybe mick convinced him, Or maybe in a way he would see it as nice way to wrap things up? I hope there's something new in there , and it's not just a rehashing of stories we've all heard a thousand times.

--Lis

Agree. And the thing with using older interview footage with Chris is that whatever she talked about would have been from her take on things at THAT moment in time...which is fine as far as it goes, but we know with age and time perspectives can shift and it would have been nice to hear her thoughts on the past events NOW versus at the time or at least to hear both to see how things changed. I thought Billy Joel was fairly introspective about certain things in his life and they did ask other people around him (including ex wives) about things too. But he is THE one and only main character because he's a solo artist. The challenge with FM has always been you have FIVE perspectives, and whose do you make the main story? Typically it's been Stevie then Lindsey for the Stevie-Lindsey storyline, with Mick woven in as well. But John gets short shrift (not sure whether he really cares about that) and Chris gets short shrift and frankly even Mick to some extent. As with everything Stevie kind of hogs the spotlight (not always intentionally) and sucks all the air out of the room for anyone else. Then to me it's not really FLEETWOOD MAC documentary but more of a Stevie documentary with everyone else relegated to supporting characters... or the S&L drama and everything else minimized. I'd Love a really well done doc but.....I remain cautiously skeptical.

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

But John gets short shrift (not sure whether he really cares about that) and Chris gets short shrift and frankly even Mick to some extent.

That's true. I don't remember any doc that covered Mick's hard days after Mirage, or how difficult it was for John in the first Tango sessions, where according to Mick, after 2 years without playing, "his chops were way down".Or even their solo adventures like Mick in Ghana before The Visitor or Chris in England recording ITM and her opinions about SYW at that moment. Or a deeper coverage of Mirage and Tango.

[Penguin Emeritus]

Originally Posted by bombaysaffires

Agree. And the thing with using older interview footage with Chris is that whatever she talked about would have been from her take on things at THAT moment in time...which is fine as far as it goes, but we know with age and time perspectives can shift and it would have been nice to hear her thoughts on the past events NOW versus at the time or at least to hear both to see how things changed. .. The challenge with FM has always been you have FIVE perspectives, and whose do you make the main story? Typically it's been Stevie then Lindsey for the Stevie-Lindsey storyline, with Mick woven in as well. But John gets short shrift (not sure whether he really cares about that) and Chris gets short shrift and frankly even Mick to some extent. As with everything Stevie kind of hogs the spotlight (not always intentionally) and sucks all the air out of the room for anyone else. Then to me it's not really FLEETWOOD MAC documentary but more of a Stevie documentary with everyone else relegated to supporting characters... or the S&L drama and everything else minimized. I'd Love a really well done doc but.....I remain cautiously skeptical.

yes i agree that it's hard to have all 5 viewpoints fairly represented. also agree that any old footage of chris will reflect her mindset at that time of filming, but i guess we have to take what we can get in that regard. most of us know the band history well enough to be able to put her words into the context of the timeframe. i just don't want it to be 80% stevie and lindsey with the others just making minimal contributions.

For example, in the Songbird documentary, it kind of irritated me how much stevie footage they had in certain parts of it. did we need to see her twirl in a doc about chris? to me that was unnecessary. and i wish they had more from mick and john and less from that heart lady or whoever these women were that were making comments. i'd rather hear from the folks that knew her best and longest, not from other women singers analyzing her songwriting. i know i nitpick but i'm just venting lol. i'm sure i'll find stuff to pick on if this doc ever is released.

--Lis

[bombaysaffires]

Originally Posted by Penguin Emeritus

yes i agree that it's hard to have all 5 viewpoints fairly represented. also agree that any old footage of chris will reflect her mindset at that time of filming, but i guess we have to take what we can get in that regard. most of us know the band history well enough to be able to put her words into the context of the timeframe. i just don't want it to be 80% stevie and lindsey with the others just making minimal contributions.

For example, in the Songbird documentary, it kind of irritated me how much stevie footage they had in certain parts of it. did we need to see her twirl in a doc about chris? to me that was unnecessary. and i wish they had more from mick and john and less from that heart lady or whoever these women were that were making comments. i'd rather hear from the folks that knew her best and longest, not from other women singers analyzing her songwriting. i know i nitpick but i'm just venting lol. i'm sure i'll find stuff to pick on if this doc ever is released.

--Lis