Mick Fleetwood: "Stevie Nicks working on country version of Rumours album."

[HejiraNYC]

As posted first on nickslive.blogspot.com via the Maui News

http://www.mauinews.com/page/content...4&showlayout=0

Mick Fleetwood: the big picture



By JON WOODHOUSE, Contributing Writer POSTED: April 22, 2010

Beginning in the early days of Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood would often snap pictures of his band mates. Over the years this hobby morphed into a more serious artistic endeavor. Two years ago his photographic work was included in American Photo magazine's "Photography Rocks" traveling exhibition, along with images by musician like Bryan Adams, Lenny Kravitz, Lou Reed and Graham Nash. And just this week, his photos were exhibited at Wailea's Celebrities Gallery.

"Way back in England I got into it by always having a camera with me to take pictures on the road," Mick explains at the opening. "Unbeknownst to me (Fleetwood Mac's bassist) John McVie was the silent photographer, who, unlike me who was a snap merchant, would take 30 pictures with his Leica and never tell anyone. We shared a house in Hampshire and he put in a dark room. He took the picture of Bare Trees in the mist (the Fleetwood Mac album cover), and actually won an award. In a way he was a mentor. John taught me to think about what I was taking. We're trying to persuade him to have an exhibition with me."

Fleetwood's Celebrities Gallery exhibit focuses on archetypal English pastoral scenes - images of poppy fields, a country lane, swans and his mom's house - that have a strong emotional connection for the legendary musician.

"About three years ago, before I moved my mother here, I was in England in Salisbury for a while," he continues.

"She was having a hip operation and I was getting ready to move her to Hawaii. While she was in hospital I would drive around and find a place to sit and wait for the so- called artistic moment. I have fun doing that. I really enjoy it, it's very calming. All these pictures were not snapshots. The poppy field totally caught me. I went back and took pictures on two different days. Salisbury Plain was where I came home to for years. A lot of this is around my mother leaving England and taking shots that had an empathy with her leaving, parts of her garden, river shots and villages."

Pleased that his photo work is finding an audience, he notes: "We're going on a tour of some galleries with an extend version of this. Some of it is celebrity driven and once you get over that, why not? The worst that's going to happen is people are going to say, it sucks, which is probably a good thing to get whacked down."

One can't imagine Mick Fleetwood has ever been told his artistic endeavors suck. He's more used to reaping laudatory reviews. Touring last year with Fleetwood Mac, a U.K. Guardian newspaper review praised: "Fans of Fleetwood Mac's blues-rock band incarnation are sent into rapture when the band piles into 'Oh Well,' so electrifying it could power a small town."

Following the Mac shows, Mick recently completed a tour of Australia and New Zealand, opening some concerts for Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald with his Maui-based Mick Fleetwood Blues Band.

"It was fantastic," he reports. "Boz used to tour with us in the old days. I met Michael here and spent some time before we went on the road. He's absolutely the sweetest, totally not a rock 'n' roll star. It was a fun tour - they remember the old Fleetwood Mac stuff, because of the English thing. When you play 'Albatross' in the States, no one knows what it is; there we played it as an encore."

With a live CD and DVD (shot in England) out, various Blues Band gigs are in the works, including some European festivals and, "maybe opening up for Meatloaf," he says. And later in the year, they are booked to play some dates with Texas rockers ZZ Top.

"That's totally great," he enthuses. "Billy (Gibbons) is a huge Fleetwood Mac/Peter Green fan. He's itching to get out and play. He's aware of Rick (Vito) and loves his playing."

Then there's the possibility of hooking up with Joe Walsh in between his Eagles' dates.

"I'm thinking about people to do it with, and it struck me that Joe Walsh has played religiously, and I thought it would be a great combo because he's a real rock 'n' roller," he says. "What a great bill, two guys, one from Fleetwood Mac and one from the Eagles, getting together."

In December the concert website Pollstar reported plans were brewing for the Eagles and Fleetwood Mac to join forces this year for a historic, massive stadium tour.

"We were supposed to be doing it now," Mick explains. "We were open to doing it, but there were some timing and lighting issues. Stevie (Nicks) didn't want to go on for the whole thing in daylight. Sadly it fell apart. I think it should happen."

From all reports the Mac's 2009 "Unleashed Tour" was a resounding success, which has whetted appetites for a new album.

"John's game, I am and Lindsey (Buckingham) is. Stevie was not so keen to make the commitment," he says. "I really feel we will do another album. I plan to spend some time with Lindsey in L.A. and explore some producers."

Nicks, he reports, is currently teamed with Grammy- winning producer Don Was, compiling a country version of Mac's epic "Rumours" album. "There will be another version of 'Rumous,' with some fairly well-known country artists," he adds.

And he's talked with Buckingham about doing something. "I asked if he ever wanted to get together and play, and do a corporate gig or something. He said, 'I will,' which is sort of unusual. I pitched him, what about you, me and John, without Stevie, we could do some great old rock 'n' roll stuff. I said we could call it the Men of Mac. So the Men of Mac are available to play your bar mitzvah."

Among other musical projects, Mick might get together with one of the Mac's early members - guitarist Jeremy Spencer - for some show dates.

"Jeremy has a new album out, and he's said he would really like to do something," Mick reveals. "There's some tasty stuff on it. Jeremy likes floaty instrumentals and the album has several. His voice has totally come back and he's playing great. If I knew I was going to do a productive tour in Europe, the Jeremy Spencer Band could open up."

Heading out with the Blues Band reminds Mick of his early days with Fleetwood Mac, long before their transformation into global rock stars packing arenas and stadiums.

"We're not at all plugged into a production, we don't even have a lighting guy," he explains, chuckling. "It's all about playing, and it's freer."

In a recent interview he reported that at the age of 62, he was playing louder and harder than ever.

"It means I'm more desperate the older I get," he says breaking up laughing. "I've put some weight on and that's got something to do with it, and I keep pretty fit. I'm really enjoying playing and it's still there. My Fleetwood Mac drum tech is going. 'What the **** are you doing?' I have aluminum sticks and I've never done stuff to them, but on the last Mac tour, every other song (he indicates he had to keep replacing them). Something happened, I'm taking Hulk pills or something," he jokes. "The whole downtime from Fleetwood Mac I got away from playing because of my lifestyle. Then before I moved here, I was on the track to playing again because I was not completely out of my gourd all the time. The whole ethic of getting back and playing has really been a good thing."

The allure of Maui has helped Mick attract some heavyweight musical friends to join him at his island home. Neighbors of his Kula estate may have heard the distinctive vocals of Paul Rodgers, the legendary singer of Free (of "All Right Now" fame) and Bad Company, and most recently touring as Queen's front man.

"I had a great time playing with Paul Rodgers and Rick and John at the farm," he explains. "I was in London in the same hotel. I love his singing, he's one of the greatest English singers; there's Rod, Joe Cocker and him. So I phoned him up and invited him to Maui, and he came for two weeks. Something quite interesting might come out of it. We're looking at trying to put some kind of bluesy/rock 'n roll, Traveling Wilburys thing together. It could be on a small level or quite a grand level with Fleetwood Mac's rhythm section and some fairly well-known people all getting together."

Running Friday through Sunday the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel will host the second annual Henry Kaleialoha Allen Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival. A celebration of music created on the Hawaiian steel guitar, the festival features a bunch of free workshops and concerts. It's presented as part of the 2010 Maui Invitational Music Festival, which culminates with a concert extravaganza on the Fourth of July.

"This festival is produced, managed, and staffed by Hawaiian people to promote the Hawaiian steel guitar," notes fest producer Sherron Allen. "We are thrilled to be able to showcase Henry's years of dedication to the Hawaiian steel guitar and to bring all these wonderful players together. This is a specialevent - there is so much continuous talent and entertainment all for free."

Entertainers performing include Alan Akaka and The Islanders, Danny Akaka, Jr., Duke Keolani Ching with Greg Sardinha and Gordon Freitas, Brickwood Galuteria, Aloha Kekoolani, Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi, Bill Noble and special guest Dr. Neil Scott.

The gala event of the festival will be held under the stars in the hotel's Tiki Courtyard at 7:30 p.m.on Saturday with Henry Kaleialoha Allen playing steel guitar, ukulele, and jazz guitar.

Recognized in 2009 by the Hawaii State Senate as "Hawaiian Musician Extraordinaire" and a "Living Treasure," Allen is the last living Hawaiian steel guitarist who played on the legendary "Hawaii Calls" radio show. During the early Hawaiian Territorial days, he performed with local greats such as Alfred Apaka and Ren Paulo. His recent albums include the tropical swing/ jazz/Hawaiian CD, "A Lei of Stars," "Live in Tokyo," "Long Song of Hawaii" and "East of The Sun, West of The Moon," recorded live at The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, with saxophonist Gabe Baltazar.

* A complete schedule of festival events is available online at www.aecg.org, or by calling 669-6189.

[wheart]

yup, this is why I reserved my excitement about a new Nicks solo CD. What a shame...

[HejiraNYC]

I guess we can narrow down with acute precision the culprit (or savior?) behind putting the kabosh on the Eagles. And it was because of daylight?? WTF?!!! That's our girl!

I like the fact that she is working with Don Was. But not crazy about yet another rehash of Rumours, that is, unless she is singing on all of the tracks. I suppose it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Taylor Swift will be on it.

And for the record, I would definitely go and see the Men of Mac!

[LukeA]

And Don Was? Slightly more inspired than Dave Stewart, but, geez, welcome to 1990, Stevie.

[KarmaContestant]

I'm slightly horrified by this.

[ButterCookie]

Ahh, this is cool. Athough, I did just put on a June Carter voice and start singing 'Ayunnd the sawngbyrdsss awr siyngaynnn liek thaayy knaw the scoo-ho-howar'


Hey, GDW would work too!

[Meowi]

Could have something to do with that Say You Love Me thing?

[equeen102289]

This is something different than what Stevie is working on with Dave Stewart though. I would put my bet that what Mick is referring to is what Michelle Branch posted about a little while ago.

[TrueFaith77]

1. Daylight!!!! close call . . . The Eagles tour was a bad idea. Although it may have increased the Mac's audience to The Eagles country audience . . .
2. . . . thus bringing us to the potential savvy behind the Rumours country album which is also A TERRIBLE IDEA . . . no wonder they let Stevie be in charge of it since . . .
3. . . . Stevie is the cause of the new album's delay. Now, working with John, Mick, and Lindsey may indeed be a living hell for her or for anyone (who knows?), but that's no excuse to eternity and to sacrifice this chemistry which may be displayed by . . .
4. . . .the Men of Mac, which might be the next best thing to the fullfledged Fleetwood Mac renaissance of which I had dreamt before Stevie stamped it out and left it performing bar mitzvahs!

[tilthefirefades]

Wow.......wtf.

I am so sick of hearing GYOW and Don't Stop, and now in country.

Any publicity is good publicity, but if Taylor Swift even gets close to this project

[ButterCookie]

Originally Posted by tilthefirefades

but if Taylor Swift even gets close to this project

I WILL cut a bitch

[DefDumbandBlond]

Originally Posted by ButterCookie

I WILL cut a bitch

Me too, oh god. After Taylor wrecked that performance with Stevie, just...........aaaaaghhhh!

[tilthefirefades]

Originally Posted by ButterCookie

I WILL cut a bitch

Hahaha

Exactly....Beatrix Kiddo style.




"Stevie Nicks deserves her revenge....and we deserve to die"-Taylor Swift accepting her award at the ACM awards.

[APerfectLie]

I can't even begin to contemplate how I feel about this. A country version of Rumours just isn't my cup of tea. I feel we know it won't be as good as the original, so it should be done really differently so you can hear the songs in a completely different genre. That being said, Mac isn't country, but country isn't that big of a step out there. Most songs can be covered as country songs and it just seems so cliche and cheesy. I'd be more open to a Punk goes Rumours album, I think it would sound considerably different and be enjoyed by a lot of younger people, whereas country is not as popular amongst the younger generation. However, it may be decent if they get really good artists on there. Also, I don't believe this means Stevie isn't doing a solo album. Her photoshoot and work with Dave Stewart and Mike Campbell (and whoever else she has been working with that we don't know about) clearly isn't for this Rumours album. I think Stevie may get some production credits for this and may do some backing vocals, but no lead vocals nor will her picture be plastered all over the album.

Best case scenario?
This album comes out in June (which would explain the rumours of what Liz Rozenberg said), and then Stevie releases a solo album later this year with a end of summer/fall tour to promote it. Then the tribute album and the solo album garnish some extra public interest in Fleetwood Mac and Stevie will have gone off and done her thing for a year so she will be much more open to the Mac and in 2011 they reunite in the studio (hell, maybe Chris will join... I did say best case scenario ) and record a new album with a 2012 release.

Worst case scenario?
This turns out to be some off the wall, Taylor Swift/Miley Cyrus tainted tribute album to rehash and profit off of Rumours yet again. Then we get no new solo album, just a few casino shows rehashing the same old songs because Stevie doesn't have "**** else to do" and then Fleetwood Mac officially becomes the Men of Mac since both Chris and Stevie are off being stubborn and nobody lives happily ever after.

[ButterCookie]

Originally Posted by APerfectLie

Fleetwood Mac officially becomes the Men of Mac since both Chris and Stevie are off being stubborn and nobody lives happily ever after.

Please can John sing some songs on this hypothetical album?