Q&A with Lindsey Buckingham - Montreal Gazette

[shackin'up]

I don't think Lindsey is talking about their playing. It's about their writing, I'm sure. At least I could go with that because I agree that they wrote more generic poprock. Esp. compared to LB.

Come on people. Not respectful? He talks his opinion and everybody stumbles over it. If he repeats the same **** Over and over it's no good either.

[Gene]

Great article - Live DVD on the way!! Surprised he only taped the one show though.. Woulda been nice if Westbury had been taped along with the guitar murder...

Gene

[estranged4life]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

I don't think Lindsey is talking about their playing. It's about their writing, I'm sure. At least I could go with that because I agree that they wrote more generic poprock.

was a tad generic, but I still liked the BTM album nonetheless.

[mondaymornin1]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

Come on people. Not respectful? He talks his opinion and everybody stumbles over it. If he repeats the same **** Over and over it's no good either.

Agreed!


Great article! Very interesting read! Thanks so much for posting, MacMan!

[PenguinHead]

A really great interview! Kudos to Bernie the interviewer. I wish he would interview Stevie. He's obviously a knowledgeable fan of Fleetwood Mac. His questions were excellent, as were Lindsey's responses.

Most interviewers have a very shallow depth of knowledge of the band's history, so they ask the same banal questions that have been answered a million times over 2 decades...continuing to pander to the drama of the Rumours era, and not focusing on the music itself, or other aspects of their lives.

Lindsey was so candid and honest. From what I gather, it's Stevie that's mostly holding up the Buckingham Nicks cd. However, Lindsey doesn't seem too motivated either. That kind of pisses me off. They obviously know that vast amounts of people appreciate the album and have been waiting a long time for its release. You'd think at some point they would say "Gee, we owe this to our fans...let's just do it." But....no!!! (I predict its release long after they are dead!)

Also, regarding his comment about the downward spiral of the group during the Rick/Billy period, I'd say he's fairly acurate in his assessment. The band did go downhill (Although I enjoy Behind The Mask for what it is). Stevie certainly wasn't her best. Rick and Billy are somewhat generic in their lyrics...none of the quirky nuanses that Lindsey provided. Undoubtably, Rick's a master guitarist, but I don't think Lindsey was specifically commenting on that, but the overall sense of the band.

[Livia]

Another article from the same writer:

Tuesday » April 3 » 2007

Buckingham's always ready to change his tune
Guitarist transformed Fleetwood Mac's sound

BERNARD PERUSSE
The Gazette

Tuesday, April 03, 2007


If it's possible to be the architect of a band's sound and still seem like you don't always fit in the group, Lindsey Buckingham would be the living proof.

Buckingham, with partner Stevie Nicks, joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975 and virtually transformed the erstwhile blues band's approach. Within a couple of years, Rumours was dominating the airwaves with tight-hook, easy-on-the-ears pop.

All that remained was to keep cloning that album every year or two and let the cash roll in. Typically, though, Buckingham pushed the group to follow their mega-success with the comparatively uncommercial double album Tusk, which has sold roughly one-fifth of the 30-million-worldwide figure attributed to Rumours.

"What all the new music that came out in the late '70s did for me was to give me reinforcement to go out and do what I thought was important to do," Buckingham remembered during a telephone interview last week.

"(That) was to keep trying new things, to remain true to your imagination and not to fall into the further trap of adhering to what, say, a record company would like you to be - to define yourself as others would like to have you defined"

And if those who embraced the minimalist power surge of punk and new wave still looked at platinum sellers like Fleetwood Mac as the enemy at that time, the point was lost on the guitarist.

"That kind of talk didn't have any resonance with me because, to some degree, I was, within Fleetwood Mac, the subverting factor anyway. I couldn't tell whose side I was on," he said, laughing.

Buckingham's solo career - only four albums in 25 years - has walked the same unpredictable path, keeping fans of his wired, intense, Brian Wilson-influenced pop constantly hungry for more. On his current tour, which stops here tomorrow night, Buckingham is playing some solo favourites - heavy on material from his sublime recent disc, Under the Skin - with a few Mac classics thrown in to satisfy everyone.

Buckingham said he doesn't worry about audience expectations. He saw the dark side of fandom when he toured with Don Everly in the mid-1970s and watched people ignore Everly's new material and shout out requests for Everly Brothers hits all night.

"Maybe he had not built up enough of a context for himself," Buckingham said. "What I have somehow been able to do is remain part of a mainstream band, which is well-known and can go out and tour arenas. But I'm also this more cultish, kind of boutique artist who can go out and play smaller places and will draw the people who appreciate that."

Yes, Fleetwood Mac is still together, but the volatile chemistry within the group has made joint projects a risky business. One need only see the documentary Destiny Rules, about the preparations leading up to the recording of the 2004 album Say You Will, to understand - and sometimes cringe at - the dynamics that drive one of rock's most dysfunctional families.

The tension began with Rumours. Both Nicks and Buckingham and John and Christine McVie split up during the sessions.

"(We just lived) in denial, with feelings (we) had all compartmentalized and walled up," he said. "None of us ever got closure and none of us ever had any time not to see each other. It was very difficult. And I think the residue from that was that there were a lot of questions, a lot of defences hanging out there long after the situation had disappeared."

At one point, in 1987, Buckingham left the group after what has been reported as an ugly confrontation.

"Everybody's level of craziness was at the max at that point," he said, adding Nicks was rarely present at the sessions.

"It was very, very difficult - not only in terms of availability, but in terms of people's clarity, the way that they were conducting themselves," he said. "And what happens is, if things are crazy in a studio, it's usually times five on the road. I hit the wall. It was a survival move, pure and simple. I never regretted it for a minute."

The group carried on without him, drawing lukewarm reaction. Time having healed some wounds, Buckingham began working with his former bandmates again in 1997.

A year later, he and his girlfriend Kristen had their first child, William, now 8. They have since married and added Leelee, 6, and Stella, 2, to the family. You can hear William summoning his father on the home studio intercom at the end of Flying Down Juniper, Under the Skin's closing track.

"I'd just finished the take, and all of a sudden, 'Dinner, daddy!' So I had to leave it in. It's a perfect ending," Buckingham said.

At 57, Buckingham is facing the demands of young children, and declaring himself up for the challenge. "I'm a pretty energetic 57," he said. "I wasn't married before. I don't have an older set of children. I don't have a set of comparison points.

"On the other side of the spectrum, my God, my mom and dad got married right out of college. So my mom was, like, 21, maybe 22 when she had my older brother. If it's a choice between being a child yourself and having a child, or being someone who's at least been allowed to go through a process and get to a point where they feel they've got a perspective on themselves, I would think, in some ways, you're better suited to being a parent at a later point."

Under the Skin belies the oft-repeated myth that domestic bliss is the enemy of great art. Buckingham said his life now has even provided him with some answers that had eluded him.

"It has put everything in a completely different perspective," he said. "I think it's allowed me to look at the world far more tenderly, and it certainly has created a whole second act to my personal life. I mean, this is the best time of my life."

Lindsey Buckingham performs tomorrow night at 8 at Metropolis. Tickets cost $45. Phone 514-908-9090 or go to www.ticketpro.ca.

[email protected]

[Mari]

Originally Posted by shackin'up

I don't think Lindsey is talking about their playing. It's about their writing, I'm sure. At least I could go with that because I agree that they wrote more generic poprock. Esp. compared to LB.

Come on people. Not respectful? He talks his opinion and everybody stumbles over it. If he repeats the same **** Over and over it's no good either.

Oh come on, Gerald. He doesn't even bother calling them by their names, reduces them to "a couple of guys". To me it sound a bit like "nenernenernener, they sucked, I'm great!". He is great, and the band did have more succes once Lindsey returned, (and I'm not a big fan of the RV/BB line-up, to be honest) but he didn't have to put them down like that.

[strandinthewind]

^^^

and LB acknowledges it was petty

I love LB, but he does come off like a snotty nosed brat sometimes

[Kelly]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

^^^

and LB acknowledges it was petty

I love LB, but he does come off like a snotty nosed brat sometimes

I dunno, calling someone "generic" hardly seems like an insult. Being "generic' certainly does not seem insulting to me anyway. I can see why he regurgitates the same **** over and over though.

[strandinthewind]

^^^

But, my point is he acknowledges it is "a little petty" to say they were generic and it all went dowbhill after him. So, even he knows, but does not care, that it wasn't a nice thing to say

[BTFLCHLD]

At least he is honest with his thoughts.

[skcin]

They got a couple of guys to play guitar, who were somewhat generic. And it was sort of a downhill spiral from there. Not only did I feel vindicated on that level – which you could say is a little petty, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t even paying attention to what they were doing. I was only concerned with making sure that I wasn’t one of those people who would hit the wall.

He admits it's petty that he felt vindicated back in 1990 when Mac didn't have a lot of success with RV & BB - that comment is not referring to his current-day generic appraisal. And he mentions them as guitar players, not songwriters, so I'm reading that as a comment on their guitar playing.

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by skcin

He admits it's petty that he felt vindicated back in 1990 when Mac didn't have a lot of success with RV & BB - that comment is not referring to his current-day generic appraisal. And he mentions them as guitar players, not songwriters, so I'm reading that as a comment on their guitar playing.

I somehow think he detests Rick, Billy, and Bob on all levels and mentions them only to praise himself. But, who knows

Again, I love LB, but his comments, to me, come across as rude. IMO, the polite thing to say would have been, they did not enjoy the success we did when I was in FM and not slam their playing. But, this is FM and FM is all about the drama

[gypsysoul]

I agree with Penguin head that Bernard Perusse conducted a great interview here. He's clearly a fan and knows his stuff.
Thanks for posting Macman.

Strand - I also agree with you, I think LB dislikes that whole post 1987 period and even acknowledging it being petty on his part, can't resist a dig when he gets the chance!

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by skcin

He admits it's petty that he felt vindicated back in 1990 when Mac didn't have a lot of success with RV & BB - that comment is not referring to his current-day generic appraisal. And he mentions them as guitar players, not songwriters, so I'm reading that as a comment on their guitar playing.

I understand, it logic that you read it that way, but since their writing was more generic than their playing, you can read it like me too. By the way, for lindsey playing guitar and writing music are on the same page anyway.

And Strand, I don't think he detests Bob. BB and RV? You're probably right.