Who Shuns FM Albums With No Lindsey/Stevie In Them?

[David]

Originally Posted by catinthedark

I think you have a point. I think the perception I have of the Time band is that Mick was trying to create a Stevie-Lindsey "cover band" - maybe my perception is wrong. I fully admit it could be. I don't own the Time album, and I didn't go see them in concert. Once Stevie was gone, after already losing Lindsey, my main reasons for loving Fleetwood Mac were gone. I certainly didn't want to hear anyone singing or playing their songs.

I love it when bands cover Fleetwood stuff, so that's probably why I didn't hate the concerts I saw from that 1994 incarnation. I also hate big crowds in sports arenas, so that was another reason to enjoy the "Fleetwood Mac experience" that year -- it truly was a club, a dinner club. Although I must say Dave Mason was an utter dud up there, two years in a row at Konocti Harbor Spa & Resort. He came alive only on his "We Just Disagree." I have been in bands with people who HATED playing FM material. I know exactly what their faces look like when they have to play "The Chain," & that's exactly what Mason looked like. I speak from the experience of seeing it in other people's faces.

Stevie saved that tour for me, but it was nothing like seeing the band with Lindsey.

Which show(s) did you see? I thought Stevie sorta sucked in California. But it was the very first year of that whole middle-aged Aunt Stevie thing she started, so it was a little fresher that year.

[David]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

Personally I think Burnette is a great guitar player and that's about it. I really dislike his vocals and his songwriting.

To me, he has an amusing dingaling quality that lightened portions of that overblown production on those two world tours.

[mylittledemon]

Originally Posted by David

To me, he has an amusing dingaling quality that lightened portions of that overblown production on those two world tours.

I would agree with that statement...Further proof that he didnt belong in the band.

[catinthedark]

Originally Posted by David

Which show(s) did you see? I thought Stevie sorta sucked in California. But it was the very first year of that whole middle-aged Aunt Stevie thing she started, so it was a little fresher that year.

I saw them in Montreal. It was October 1987, so don't know if that was before or after your show(s)? It was my first Fleetwood Mac concert ever, my first time seeing Stevie, too. And, as I've said in other posts, I was completely mesmerized by Stevie. I hadn't gone expecting anything more than a good concert by a band I liked. But I went from that concert to full-on dedicated fan. Bought everything from the White album on, and all Stevie's solo stuff, and spent the next year searching out (and finding!) Buckingham Nicks. The I spent many years just being so pissed off that I was too young to have experienced Fleetwood Mac in the 70s, or to have seen Stevie on the Bella Donna or Wild Heart tours. (The Rock a Little tour I don't believe came to Montreal - but I could be wrong. I don't remember ever having heard about it, but I wasn't the huge fan yet in 1985).

[LongBlackScarf]

Originally Posted by Karlie

I took all of Bekka's songs out of my iTunes. She annoys me. .

Something about her irks me too. Maybe because she looks perky and blonde and they thought she'd be some sort of "replacement" for Stevie. I sure as hell would LOVE to hear her do GDW. If anyone has heard this, what was it like??

[Miss Vicky]

Originally Posted by David

amusing dingaling quality

Forgive me for being so dense, but what the hell is that supposed to mean?

[rbs3676]

BARE TREES and MYSTERY TO ME are two of my favorite FM releases, period.
This is a guitar oriented band and the sound on both of these albums is magnificent. Although I never purchased TIME - I didn't see the point.

rbs

[David]

Originally Posted by Miss Vicky

Forgive me for being so dense, but what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Think of Kay Kendall in "Genevieve."

THAT'S Billy Burnette!!

[Miss Vicky]

Originally Posted by David

Think of Kay Kendall in "Genevieve."

THAT'S Billy Burnette!!

Yeah, that really clears it up.

Who is Kay Kendall and what is "Genevieve"?

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by catinthedark

However, I don't really believe that the Time line up was truly Fleetwood Mac, but again, that's just me. I think it's because I perceive that they were trying to be the 75-87 incarnation, whereas when Stevie and Lindsey joined, the band was not simply trying to imitate earlier incarnations. They created a new sound.

There are so many issues I have with this statement. When Stevie and Lindsey joined, the band wasn't selling tons of albums. They were doing okay, but it's not like they joined a superstar group. "Fleetwood Mac" and "Rumours" changed the game (not just for Fleetwood Mac, but for the pop-music industry). Before those albums, selling over five million albums was very rare. Today, it's barely enough to stay on a major label. The point is that it wasn't so big that they had to conform to a previous incarnation's image. The "Time" band really didn't have the same luxury.

But, it's not like Stevie and Lindsey didn't cover prior incarnations' material or use the "Bare Trees" backdrop in concert: Station Man, Spare Me A Little, Why, Hypnotized, The Green Manalishi, Oh Well, and Sunny Side Of Heaven, as well as Chicken Shack's "Get Like You Used To Be" were all standards in their concerts. Covering older material happens when somebody new joins a band. What's more, when Bob Welch was in the group, they went on TV and did three Peter Green songs, one Bob Welch song, and one Christine McVie song. And this was in 1974, and he'd been in the band over three years and five albums at that point! People don't refer to Mr. Welch as a cheap imitation of Peter Green, and they shouldn't for Billy, Rick, Bekka, and Dave.

That having been said, I don't think the "Time" tried to actually BE the '75-'87 band. They rearranged songs, added classic Dave Mason and Traffic tunes to the set, and created a different vibe from the "Rumours" band. A typical set list was something like: The Chain, YMLF (or SYLM), Oh Well, We Just Disagree, Blow By Blow, GDW, Only You Know And I Know (or Dear Mr. Fantasy), World Turning, GYOW, Don't Stop, Dreaming The Dream (or Imagine). So, really, only one Stevie song and one Lindsey song, which is the same as the toke Peter Green song. And, GDW sounded NOTHING like Stevie's version. I don't really count the Christine material, as she was a member of the band, just not touring. And, it's not like they were touring in support of an album. "Time" was released after they quit touring, so why would they do a bunch of new songs that people not only haven't heard, but wouldn't be able to hear?

Originally Posted by catinthedark

But just because you don't care for one line up, doesn't mean you're shunning them or narrow minded.

But you've already said that you've never listened to that incarnation. You've said you never saw them, and that you didn't buy the album. So, really, how do you know you don't like the band? Personally, when they started doing GDW, I was bummed, in that it's not one of my favorites. Yet, I really enjoyed that arrangement.

[WildInTheWind]

Originally Posted by Jyqm

Well then we've accomplished something! Seriously, I don't know why everyone in the world doesn't own the Boston Tea Party set.

I Lost the auction Forgot all about it ending. I'll get it one of these days soon.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by Miss Vicky

In any case, the sound of the band can be largely blamed on Mick Fleetwood. I seem to recall Burnette saying that he and Bramlett were sort of reined in and not allowed to be their true musical selves because they were too country. (Which doesn't make a damned bit of sense to me... why hire country musicians if you don't want a country sound?)

In Mick's defense, I don't think he saw that coming. Listen to the Zoo's "Shakin' The Cage" album. Bekka sounded pretty far removed from country. He knew he had to control Billy that way, but I don't think it occurred to him that Bekka grew up around many of the same people and influences as Billy, that she had all of Billy's albums, and had known Billy since she was all of three! In other words, I don't think Mick realized that Bekka and Billy were cut from the same cloth. Which is somewhat puzzling to me. Mick met Bekka around the time BTM was being recorded. Billy, a good friend of Delaney Bramlett, was sitting in at one of Delaney's gig, and Mick was there for moral support. Anyway, Delaney brought Bekka up on stage to sing, and she blew Mick away, to the point where Dennis Dunstan (Mick's manager at the time) became Bekka's manager the next day. So, he SHOULD have seen it coming. And, he should have let them run with it.

Originally Posted by Miss Vicky

Sorry, I get a little defensive over Billy Burnette. I'm not big on his solo material from the 70s but I adore everything from the 80s forward (well... except for the movies. He really should just stick with music. Acting is not his forte). I think he's a gifted songwriter and I really like his voice.

I think his 1979 album "Between Friends" is an unknown masterpiece. I wish he would have done something like THAT with Fleetwood Mac.

Originally Posted by Miss Vicky

But just for the record, I wouldn't have wanted FM to go country (I actually don't like most country music), I just don't think that the sound of the band during that time can be blamed on the newcomers.

I wouldn't have minded if they had done something alt.country, a la Lucinda Williams or early Wilco. Or, maybe something sonically like "Sticky Fingers" or "Highway 61 Revisited." There are many shades of country, and these people should have been smart enough and experienced enough to run with it. Personally, I think the "Bekka & Billy" album was considerably better than "Time."

Originally Posted by Jyqm

Do you consider something like "Werewolves Of London" a Fleetwood Mac song? Do you hear that connection there?

For me, that's a bit of an odd one. I just think Zevon was in such a different league as a songwriter than anybody who was ever in Fleetwood Mac that it would be hard to put one of his songs in that category. That being said, I think it could have legitimately been performed in concert and maybe even put on the box-set.

[Miss Vicky]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

I think his 1979 album "Between Friends" is an unknown masterpiece. I wish he would have done something like THAT with Fleetwood Mac.

Hmm... I wasn't impressed with it, but I haven't listened to it in quite a long time. Maybe I'll give it a second chance, it's possible that my tastes have changed since the last time.

Personally, I think the "Bekka & Billy" album was considerably better than "Time."

No argument there. "Bekka and Billy" is a superb album period. I love both their voices and it really showcases the songwriting abilities of both of them. But I still very much enjoy "Time."

[Johnny Stew]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

Personally, I think the "Bekka & Billy" album was considerably better than "Time."

See, I was sorely disappointed with Bekka & Billy's album. I loved their chemistry and the sound of their voices together on 'Time,' but that didn't seem to translate over to their album the way I had thought/hoped it would.

I tried to give it another listen recently, after all of these years, and I still wasn't crazy about it.

[Moony]

The only reason I am into FM is because of Stevie and Lindsey. I really don't care for Christine and could give a crap about the other incarnations.