November 6, 1987, S. Florida Sun Sentinel

[michelej1]

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, November 6, 1987

Section: FEATURES SHOWTIME


FLEETWOOD MAC `ABLE TO EXPAND`
JUAN CARLOS COTO, Special to the News/Sun-Sentinel

`The beauty of this band is that we do whatever we want; I don`t think we`ve ever been scared to try things,`` says singer, songwriter and pianist Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac. ``We never restrict ourselves. That`s the joy of it.``

From their first straight-ahead blues to the current sophisticated strains of Tango in the Night, Fleetwood Mac`s 20-year career (McVie has been with the band for 17 years) has not only proven its diversity, but its resiliency.

In a phone interview from Montreal, where the band was playing during its 2 1/2-month tour of the United States, McVie talked about the ``new`` Fleetwood Mac.

``Through the years, Fleetwood Mac has been able to always expand,`` says the 44-year-old musician. ``In that sense I think that the band can only grow, since we now have two more writers and we`re going to take on another dimension all together.``

Those new members are lead guitarist Rick Vito and lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Billy Burnette. The remaining members of the band include John McVie on bass (Christine`s former husband), Stevie Nicks, vocals, and Mick Fleetwood on drums.

During their show at the Hollywood Sportatorium tonight, Burnette will perform in place of Lindsey Buckingham, the 12-year Mac member who announced last month that he would not tour with the band because of solo obligations.

Vito also will sing tonight, performing some vintage Fleetwood Mac songs by Peter Green, a founding member who left the group in 1971.

``We`re having a ball,`` Christine McVie says of the tour. ``We`ve been received so well. People are very forgiving about the fact that Lindsey isn`t with us anymore. After the second song, they`ve completely forgotten about him, it seems.``

Buckingham had been recognized as a driving force in the band. He produced Tango in the Night and wrote or co-wrote seven of 12 cuts on the LP.

But according to McVie, the split wasn`t bitter. ``It`s another chapter,`` she says. ``Lindsey is just not too crazy about touring -- there are certain aspects of this business which he`d just as soon not be involved with.``

This is Fleetwood Mac`s first tour in five years. For much of the `80s, the band has been on the shelf, allowing for solo careers by Buckingham, Nicks, Fleetwood and Christine McVie.

Her self-titled 1984 solo album was a success, producing the Top 10 single, Got a Hold on Me, but she still says she was happy to return to the group.

``I`ve not been too crazy about solo careers. I enjoy having my band, you know?`` says the accomplished songwriter, who likes to cook and paint when she`s not writing hit tunes.

--

McVie joined her first band, Sounds of Blue, during the British blues boom of the early `60s. She formed the group with her classmate at Birmingham Art College, Chris Wood, who went on to play saxophone and flute for Traffic.

Although the then-18-year-old McVie was the Sounds of Blue bassist, piano became her dominant instrument when she joined another blues group, Chicken Shack, in 1969.

``I went out and bought every Freddie King record I could find,`` McVie says of her early research for learning blues piano.

In addition to listening to King and Sonny Thompson, this daughter of a classical music professor played her favorite ``boogie lines`` from Fats Domino song books to help get a handle on the keyboard.

``My father wasn`t too crazy about the idea, but I went on pursuing it.``

And did she ever. Not only is she practicing mandolin in the hopes of adding it to her list of instruments, but McVie`s songwriting has played an important role in Fleetwood Mac`s success.

She has her hand in five songs from Tango in the Night, most notably the band`s current single, Little Lies. She also penned Everywhere, a tune she says may be the next release.

``I don`t set myself any restrictions, I just kind of sit at the piano and wait until I hear a chord change that I like,`` McVie says of her writing.

She often completes a song by piecing together melodies she records in a small studio at home. McVie co-wrote Little Lies with Eddy Quintela, the man she married a year ago. They live in Los Angeles. ``We`re pals first, which I think is important,`` McVie says of their relationship in and out of the music scene.

``When I write songs,`` McVie says, ``I`m very aware of the kind of blues lines that I`m playing, even though they`re a lot more submerged (than in the early days). I think I write a lot more commercially than I used to.``

McVie says there`s a certain formula in which she finds herself writing. ``I like to hear `hooky` lines and I tend to repeat them when I know they`re a hook,`` she explains.

The best example of that hook may be Little Lies, a song with a refrain that immediately chisels itself on the mind.

Still, McVie insists that she has not been forced to conform. ``I think I just always write what I feel like writing,`` she says.

If she had to pick an all-time favorite composition, it would be Songbird, from the pre-Buckingham-Nicks era of the band. But she confesses, ``I like them all. The ones that I don`t like don`t see the light of day.``

At least three songs from the new album -- Little Lies, Seven Wonders and Isn`t It Midnight -- will see the light during tonight`s show, McVie says.

They`re only a drop in Fleetwood Mac`s musical bucket though, one that is filled to the rim with two decades of doing everything from singing the blues to dancing a little Tango in the Night.

[macfan 57]

Good interview! Thanks for posting. Interesting that her favorite song is "Songbird", although it isn't from the pre-Buckingham/Nicks years as the writer said. Also interesting that she mentioned Eddy. She hardly ever mentioned him in personal terms in interviews.

[jbrownsjr]

Funny to hear her say LB is not crazy about touring....

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by macfan 57

She hardly ever mentioned him in personal terms in interviews.

Yeah, that's why it was funny to hear Stevie say that Eddy said he would leave Chris if she kept touring. I'm sure Christine was thinking, "Wow, thanks for sharing!"

Michele

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by michelej1

Yeah, that's why it was funny to hear Stevie say that Eddy said he would leave Chris if she kept touring. I'm sure Christine was thinking, "Wow, thanks for sharing!"

Michele

When did Stevie say that?

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

When did Stevie say that?

I don't know when she said it. I don't know if it was in 1998 or later, but she basically said that if Chris went Quintela indicated he wouldn't be there when she returned. I always found it amusing because even if true (and Stevie is given to exaggeration), it's not something Christine herself would have discussed.

Michele

[Gailh]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I don't know when she said it. I don't know if it was in 1998 or later, but she basically said that if Chris went Quintela indicated he wouldn't be there when she returned. I always found it amusing because even if true (and Stevie is given to exaggeration), it's not something Christine herself would have discussed.

Michele

I might be wrong but I thought it was earlier than that.

She (Christine) had said she would not tour again after the Behind the Mask concerts.

I suppose by the time they toured with The Dance the marriage was either coming to or already at an end.

Gail

[macfan 57]

I believe Stevie said that back in 1990. There was a magazine article. Someone posted it awhile back. I can't imagine that Chris was very happy that Stevie had betrayed her confidence.

[vivfox]

That was a good interview. Thank you for posting that Michele.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by macfan 57

I believe Stevie said that back in 1990. There was a magazine article. Someone posted it awhile back. I can't imagine that Chris was very happy that Stevie had betrayed her confidence.

I never knew that Eddy said that....

[aleuzzi]

Cool article.

By the way, there was some People Magazine article on Christine from the mid-80s when she just got hitched to Eddy. The article is complete with all sorts of interesting pictures (Christine on her opium bed, she and Eddy together on a bridge...) and at one point Christine says she's happy with Eddy. A decade later they were pretty much done.

[David]

So in terms of Christine's 1990 decision not to tour after that year, which played a bigger role in her decision?

A. The husband
B. The dad's death

[Gailh]

Originally Posted by David

So in terms of Christine's 1990 decision not to tour after that year, which played a bigger role in her decision?

A. The husband
B. The dad's death

I would say the husband.

I think father's death influenced her decision to (eventually) move back to England

Gail

[michelej1]

I wonder how Eddy felt about going to live in England, because when she first started kicking around the idea, she was still with him.

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

I never knew that Eddy said that....

Well, Stevie said Eddy said it. A third hand quote. And if it was 1990 when she said it, she was still on Klonopin so . . . Eddy probably said that or he said the complete reverse: "Honey, please go on the road so I can have more affairs."


Michele

[Gailh]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I wonder how Eddy felt about going to live in England, because when she first started kicking around the idea, she was still with him.
Michele

I read that the idea was for them both to move to England so presumably he was OK with it at one point or maybe Christine told him he was OK with it.

Gail