Fleetwood Mac
Encyclopedia
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock
band formed in 1967 in London.
The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood
. Despite band founder Peter Green
naming the group by combining the surnames of two of his former bandmates (Fleetwood, McVie) from John Mayall
's Bluesbreakers, bassist John McVie
played neither on their first single nor at their first concerts. The keyboardist, Christine McVie
, has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. She also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House
.
The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues
boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green and achieved a UK number one with "Albatross
"; and from 1975 to 1987, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham
and Stevie Nicks
. Fleetwood Mac's second album after the incorporation of Nicks and Buckingham, 1977's Rumours
, produced four U.S. Top 10 singles (including Nicks' song "Dreams
", which was the band's first and only U.S. number one) and remained at No.1 on the American albums chart for 31 weeks, as well as reaching the top spot in various countries around the world. To date the album has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the ninth highest selling album of all time.
The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up including Bob Welch
, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham in 1997, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.
band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
. Green had replaced guitarist Eric Clapton
in the Bluesbreakers, and received critical acclaim for his work on their album A Hard Road
. After he had been in the Bluesbreakers for some time, Green asked if drummer Mick Fleetwood could replace Aynsley Dunbar
. Green had been in two bands with Fleetwood—"Peter B's Looners
" and the subsequent "Shotgun Express
" (which featured a young vocalist named Rod Stewart
). John Mayall agreed and Fleetwood became a member of the band.
The Bluesbreakers now consisted of Green, Fleetwood, John McVie and Mayall. Mayall gave Green free recording time as a gift, in which Fleetwood, McVie and Green recorded five songs. The fifth song was an instrumental which Green named after the rhythm section, "Fleetwood Mac".
Green contacted Fleetwood to form a new band. The pair desperately wanted McVie on bass and even named the band 'Fleetwood Mac' as a way to entice him. However McVie opted for steady work with Mayall rather than the unknown of a new band. In the meantime Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood teamed up with talented slide player Jeremy Spencer
and bassist Bob Brunning
, who was in the band on the understanding that he would leave if and when McVie agreed to join. The Green, Fleetwood, Spencer, Brunning version of the band made its debut on 13 August 1967 at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival. Within weeks of this show, John McVie agreed to become the bassist for the band.
Fleetwood Mac's first album, Fleetwood Mac
, was a no-frills blues album and was released on the Blue Horizon
label in February 1968. In fact there were no other players on the album (except for the song "Long Grey Mare", which was recorded when Bob Brunning was in the band). The album was successful in the UK, hitting no.4, though it did not have any singles on it. The band soon released two singles "Black Magic Woman
" (later a big hit for Santana
) and "Need Your Love So Bad
".
The band's second album, Mr. Wonderful
, was released in August 1968. Like the first it was an all-blues album, but this time they made a few changes. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and PA system, rather than plugged into the board. This method provided the ideal environment for producing this style of music, and gave it an authentically vintage sound. They also added horns
and featured a friend of the band on keyboards, Christine Perfect of Chicken Shack
.
Shortly after the release of their second album Fleetwood Mac added guitarist Danny Kirwan
, then just eighteen years old, to their line-up. Green had been frustrated that Jeremy Spencer had little desire to contribute to Green's songs. A mature and accomplished self-taught guitarist, Kirwan's signature vibrato and unique style added a new dimension to an already complete band. With Kirwan the band released their first number one single in Europe, "Albatross". Around this time they released their second American album, English Rose
, which contained half of Mr. Wonderful, new songs from Kirwan, and their third European album called The Pious Bird of Good Omen
, which was a collection of singles, B-sides, and a selection of some work the band did with Eddie Boyd
.
When the band went to the United States in January 1969 they recorded many songs at the soon-to-close Chess Records
Studio, with some blues legends of Chicago including Willie Dixon
, Buddy Guy
and Otis Spann
. These would prove, however, to be Fleetwood Mac's last all-blues recordings. Along with their change of style the band was also going through some label changes. Up until this point they had been on Blue Horizon. With Kirwan in the band, however, the musical possibilities were too great for them to stay on a blues-only label. The band signed with the Immediate Records
label and released "Man of the World", another British and European hit single. For the B-side Spencer fronted Fleetwood Mac as "Earl Vince and the Valiants" and recorded "Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite", typifying the more raucous rock 'n' roll side of the band. Immediate Records was in bad shape and the band shopped around for a new deal. Even though The Beatles
wanted the band on Apple Records
(Mick Fleetwood and George Harrison
were brothers-in-law), the band's manager Clifford Davis
decided to go with Warner Bros. Records
(Reprise), the label they have stayed with ever since. Their first album for Reprise, released in September 1969, was the well-regarded Then Play On
. The American release of this album contains the song "Oh Well
", featured consistently in live performances from the time of its release through 1997 and then again starting in 2009. Then Play On, which was the band's first rock album, featured only the songs of Kirwan and Green. Jeremy Spencer, meanwhile, recorded a solo album
(he was backed by the rest of the band) which consisted of many 1950s-style rock and roll songs.
In July 1969 Fleetwood Mac opened for Ten Years After
at the Schaefer Music Festival
at New York City's Wollman Rink
. They re-appeared at the festival in 1970.
Fleetwood Mac were an extremely popular band in Europe at the time. However, Peter Green, the frontman of the band, was not in good health. He had taken LSD
in Munich, which contributed to the onset of his schizophrenia
.
German author and filmmaker Rainer Langhans mentions in his autobiography that he and Uschi Obermaier
met Peter Green in Munich, where they invited him to their "High-Fish-Commune". They were not really interested in Peter Green. They just wanted to get in contact with Mick Taylor
: Langhans and Obermaier wished to organise a "Bavarian Woodstock". They wanted Jimi Hendrix
and The Rolling Stones
to be the leading acts of their Bavarian open air festival. They needed the 'Green God' just to get in contact with The Rolling Stones via Mick Taylor.
Green's last hit with Fleetwood Mac was "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown)
" (first recorded at the Boston Tea Party
in February 1970 and later recorded by Judas Priest
). Green's mental stability deteriorated, and he wanted to give all of the band's money to charity. Some other members of the band did not agree, and subsequently Green decided to leave the band. His last show with Fleetwood Mac was on 20 May 1970. During that show, the band went past their allotted time, and the power was shut off. Mick Fleetwood kept drumming.
. Kirwan's songs moved the band in the direction of 70s rock. Meanwhile, Spencer's contributions focused on re-creating the country-tinged "Sun Sound" of the late 1950s. Christine Perfect, who had retired from the music business after one unsuccessful solo album, contributed to Kiln House, singing backup vocals, and drawing the album cover. Since Fleetwood Mac were progressing and developing a new sound, Perfect was asked to join the band. They also released a single at that time; "Dragonfly" b/w "The Purple Dancer" in the U.K. and certain European countries. Despite good notices in the press, the single was not a success and the B-side has been reissued only once, on a Reprise
German-only "Best of" album, making it one of their most obscure songs.
Christine Perfect was married to bassist John McVie, and made her first appearance with the band as Christine McVie at Bristol University in May 1969 just as she was leaving Chicken Shack. She had had success with the Etta James
classic, "I'd Rather Go Blind", and was twice voted female artist of the year in England. Christine McVie played her first gig as an official member on 6 August 1970 in New Orleans. Columbia Records
, which now owned Blue Horizon (except in the US and Canada), released an album of previously unreleased material from the original Fleetwood Mac called The Original Fleetwood Mac. The album was relatively successful, and the band seemed to be gaining popularity again.
While on tour in February 1971, Jeremy Spencer said he was going out to "get a magazine", but never returned. After several days of frantic searching, the band discovered that Spencer had joined a religious group, the Children of God. Liable for the remaining shows on the tour, they convinced Peter Green to help finish the tour. He brought along his friend, Nigel Watson, who played the congas (twenty-five years later Green and Watson would collaborate again to form the Peter Green Splinter Group
). Green, however, would only be back with Fleetwood Mac temporarily, so the band decided to search for a new guitarist.
In the summer of 1971, the band held auditions for a guitarist in their large country home, "Benifold", which they bought prior to the Kiln House tour. A friend of the band named Judy Wong recommended her high school friend, Bob Welch, who was living in Paris at the time. The band had a few meetings with Welch and decided to hire him, without actually playing with him or listening to any of his recordings.
In September 1971, the band released Future Games
. This album was radically different from anything the band had done up to that point. There were many new fans in America who were becoming more and more interested in the band. In Europe, CBS released Fleetwood Mac's first Greatest Hits
package, which was predominantly composed of songs by Peter Green, though there was one song by Spencer and one by Kirwan.
In 1972, six months after the release of Future Games, the band released the well-received album Bare Trees
. Bare Trees featured Welch's "Sentimental Lady", which would be a much bigger hit for him five years later when he re-recorded it for his solo album French Kiss, backed with Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham. It also featured "Spare Me a Little of Your Love", a bright Christine McVie tune that would become a staple of the band's live act throughout the early-to-mid 1970s.
While the band were doing well in the studio, their tours were more problematic. Danny Kirwan developed an alcohol dependency and became alienated from Welch and the McVies. It wasn't until he smashed his Les Paul Custom guitar, refused to go on stage one night, and criticised the band afterwards that Fleetwood finally decided that he had no choice but to fire Kirwan.
The next two and a half years proved to be the most challenging for the band. In the three albums they would release in this period, they would constantly change line-ups. In September 1972, the band added guitarist Bob Weston
and vocalist Dave Walker
, formerly of Savoy Brown
. Bob Weston was well known for playing slide guitar and had known the band from his touring period with Long John Baldry
. Fleetwood Mac also hired Savoy Brown's road manager, John Courage. Mick, John, Christine, Welch, Weston, and Walker recorded Penguin
, which was released in January 1973. After the tour, the band fired Walker because his vocal style and attitude did not fit in with the rest of the band.
The remaining five carried on and recorded Mystery to Me
six months later. This album contained the song "Hypnotized" which got a lot of airplay on the radio and became one of the band's most recognisable songs to date. The band were justifiably proud of the new album and were poised to make it a hit. However, things were not well within the band. The McVies' marriage at this time was under a lot of stress, which was aggravated by their constant working with each other, and John McVie's considerable alcohol abuse. During the tour, Weston had an affair with Fleetwood's wife, Jenny Boyd
Fleetwood, the sister of Pattie Boyd Harrison
. Fleetwood soon fired Weston and the tour was cancelled. Due to lack of touring, the album sold less than its predecessor.
In what would be one of the most bizarre events in rock history, the band's manager, Clifford Davis, claimed that he owned the name Fleetwood Mac and put out a "fake Mac
". Nobody in the "fake Mac" was ever officially in the real band, although some of them later acted as Danny Kirwan's studio band. Fans were told that Bob Welch and John McVie had quit the group, and that Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie would be joining the band at a later date, after getting some rest. Fleetwood Mac's road manager, John Courage, worked one show before he realised that the line being used was a lie. Courage ended up hiding the real Fleetwood Mac's equipment, which helped shorten the tour by the fake band. But the lawsuit that followed put the real Fleetwood Mac out of commission for almost a year. The issue was who actually owned the name "Fleetwood Mac". While it would seem obvious that the band was named after Fleetwood and McVie, they had signed contracts that showed the band forfeited the rights to the name.
During this period, Welch stayed in Los Angeles and connected with entertainment attorneys. Welch quickly realised that the band was being neglected by Warner Bros., and that if they wanted to change that, they would have to change their base of operation to Los Angeles. The rest of the band agreed immediately. Rock promoter Bill Graham
wrote a letter to Warner Bros. to convince them that the "real" Fleetwood Mac were in fact Fleetwood, Welch and the McVies. While this did not end the legal battle, the band was able to record as Fleetwood Mac again. Instead of getting another manager, Fleetwood Mac decided to manage themselves.
The fake Mac consisted of Elmer Gantry
(vocals, guitar), Kirby Gregory (guitar), Paul Martinez
(bass), John Wilkinson (keyboards) and Craig Collinge (drums). Gantry and Gregory went on to become members of Stretch, Gantry would later join The Alan Parsons Project
and Martinez would eventually become a bassist for Robert Plant
's solo efforts.
After Warner Bros. made a record deal with the real Fleetwood Mac, the quartet released Heroes Are Hard to Find
in September 1974. For the first time in its history, the band had only one guitarist. On the road, they added a second keyboardist. The first was Bobby Hunt, who had been in the band Head West with Bob Welch back in 1970. The second was Doug Graves, who was an engineer on Heroes Are Hard to Find. Neither proved to be a long-term addition to the line-up.
This tour proved to be the last one for Bob Welch, who had tired of the touring and legal struggles, but the tour enabled the Heroes album to reach a higher position on the American charts than any of the band's previous records.
, Polydor PD 5058, September 1973), which he had mixed there for an American band, Buckingham Nicks. Fleetwood liked it, and was introduced to the guitarist from the band, Lindsey Buckingham, who coincidentally was at Sound City that day recording some demos. Fleetwood soon asked him to join. Buckingham agreed, on the condition that his musical partner and girlfriend, Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks, also become part of the band; Fleetwood agreed.
In 1975, the new line-up released the eponymous Fleetwood Mac
. The album proved to be a breakthrough for the band and became a huge hit, reaching No.1 in the US and selling over 5 million copies. Among the hit singles from this album were Christine McVie's "Over My Head
" and "Say You Love Me
", and Stevie Nicks' "Rhiannon
" and "Landslide
" (actually a hit twenty years later on The Dance
album).
But in 1976, with the success of the band also came the end of John and Christine McVie's marriage, as well as Buckingham and Nicks' long term romantic relationship. Even Fleetwood was in the midst of divorce proceedings from his wife, Jenny. The pressure put on Fleetwood Mac to release a successful follow-up album, combined with their new-found wealth, led to creative and personal tensions, fuelled by high consumption of drugs and alcohol.
The album the band members released in 1977 was Rumours, in which they laid bare the emotional turmoil experienced at that time. Critically acclaimed, it was the recipient of the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for 1977. Hit singles included Buckingham's "Go Your Own Way", Nicks's U.S. No.1 "Dreams" , and Christine McVie's "Don't Stop
" and "You Make Loving Fun
". Buckingham's "Second Hand News", Nicks' "Gold Dust Woman
" and "The Chain
" (the only song written by all five bandmates) also received significant radio airplay. By 2003, Rumours had sold over 19 million copies in the U.S. alone (certified as a diamond album by the RIAA), and a total of 40 million copies worldwide, maintaining its status as one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
Buckingham was able to convince Fleetwood to allow his work on their next album to be more experimental and to work on tracks at home, then bring them to the band in the studio. His expanded creative role for the next album was influenced by an appreciation for New Wave music
.
The result of this was the quirky 20-track double album, Tusk
, released in 1979. It spawned three hit singles; Lindsey Buckingham's "Tusk" (U.S. #8), which featured the USC Trojan Marching Band
; Christine McVie's "Think About Me" (U.S. #20); and Stevie Nicks' 6½ minute opus "Sara
" (U.S. #7). The last of those three was cut to 4½ minutes for both the hit single and the first CD-release of the album, but the unedited version has since been restored on the 1988 Greatest Hits compilation and the 2004 reissue of Tusk as well as Fleetwood Mac's 2002 release of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac
. Original guitarist Green also took part in the sessions of Tusk, but his playing for the Christine McVie track "Brown Eyes" is not credited on the album.
Tusk remains one of Fleetwood Mac's most ambitious albums to date, although selling only four million copies worldwide. This, in comparison to the huge sales of Rumours, inclined the label to deem the project a failure, laying the blame squarely on Buckingham. Fleetwood, however, blames the album's relative failure on the RKO
radio chain playing the album in its entirety prior to release, thus allowing mass home taping. In addition, Tusk was a double album, with a high list price of $15.98.
The band embarked on a huge 18-month tour to support and promote Tusk. They travelled extensively across the world, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In Germany they shared the bill with reggae superstar Bob Marley
. It was on this world tour that the band recorded music for the Fleetwood Mac Live
album, which was released at the end of 1980.
The next album, 1982's Mirage
, following 1981 solo turns by Nicks (Bella Donna
) and Buckingham (Law and Order
), was a return to the more conventional. Buckingham had been chided by critics, fellow bandmembers and music business managers for the lesser commercial success enjoyed by Tusk. Recorded at a château in France, Mirage was an attempt to recapture the huge success of Rumours. Its hits included Christine McVie's "Hold Me" and "Love In Store" (each song being co-written by Robbie Patton
and Jim Recor, respectively), Stevie Nicks's "Gypsy
", and Lindsey Buckingham's "Oh Diane
", which made the Top 10 in the UK. A minor hit was also scored by Buckingham's "Eyes Of The World".
In contrast to the Tusk Tour, the band only embarked on a short tour of 18 American cities, the Los Angeles show being recorded and released on video. It also headlined the first US Festival, for which the band was paid $500,000 ($ today). Mirage was certified double platinum in the U.S.
Following Mirage, the band went on hiatus, which allowed members to pursue solo careers. Stevie Nicks released two more solo albums (1983's The Wild Heart
and 1985's Rock a Little
), Lindsey Buckingham issued Go Insane in 1984, the same year that Christine McVie made an eponymous album
(yielding the Top 10 hit "Got A Hold On Me" and the Top 40 hit "Love Will Show Us How"). All three met with success and it was Nicks who became the most popular. However, also during this period, Mick Fleetwood had filed for bankruptcy, Nicks was admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic for addiction problems, and John McVie had suffered an addiction-related seizure—all attributed to the lifestyle of excess afforded to them by their worldwide success. It was rumoured that Fleetwood Mac had finally broken up; however, Buckingham commented that he was unhappy to allow Mirage to remain as the band's last effort.
The Rumours line-up of Fleetwood Mac recorded one more album for the time being, Tango in the Night
, in 1987. Initially, as with various other Fleetwood Mac albums, the material started off as a Buckingham solo album before becoming a group project. The album went on to become their best-selling release since Rumours, especially in the UK where it hit no. 1 three times over the following year. The album sold three million copies in the USA and contained four hits: Christine McVie's "Little Lies
" and "Everywhere
" (the former being co-written with McVie's new husband Eddy Quintela), Sandy Stewart
and Stevie Nicks's "Seven Wonders", and Lindsey Buckingham's "Big Love". "Family Man" and "Isn't It Midnight" were also released as singles, with lesser success.
Following Buckingham's departure, Fleetwood Mac added two new guitarists to the band, Billy Burnette
and Rick Vito
. Burnette was mainly added for his singing and songwriting skills and Vito for his lead guitar abilities.
Burnette is the son of Dorsey Burnette
and nephew of Johnny Burnette
, both of The Rock and Roll Trio
. He had already worked with Mick Fleetwood in Zoo, with Christine McVie as part of her solo band, did some session work with Stevie Nicks and even backed Lindsey Buckingham on Saturday Night Live
. Furthermore, Fleetwood and Christine McVie played on his Try Me album in 1985. Vito, a Peter Green admirer, played with many artists from Bonnie Raitt
to John Mayall, and even worked with John McVie on two Mayall albums.
The 1987–88 "Shake the Cage" tour was the first outing for this line-up, and was successful enough to warrant the release of a concert video (simply titled "Tango in the Night"), filmed at San Francisco's Cow Palace
arena in December 1987.
Capitalising on the success of Tango in the Night, the band continued with a Greatest Hits
album in 1988. It featured singles from the 1975–88 era, and included two new compositions: "No Questions Asked" written by Nicks, and "As Long as You Follow
" written by McVie and Quintela, which was released as a single in 1988 but only made No.43 in the US and No.66 in the UK. It did, however, reach No.1 on the US Adult Contemporary charts. The Greatest Hits album, which peaked at No.3 in the UK and No.14 in the US (though has since sold over 8 million copies there), was dedicated to Buckingham by the band, with whom they had now reconciled.
Following the Greatest Hits collection, Fleetwood Mac recorded Behind the Mask
. With this album, the band veered away from the stylised sound that Buckingham had evolved during his tenure in the band (also evident in his solo works), and ended up with a more adult contemporary style from producer Greg Ladanyi
. However, the album yielded only one Top 40 hit, McVie's "Save Me". Behind the Mask only achieved Gold
album status in the US, peaking at No.18 on the Billboard album chart, though it entered the UK Albums Chart at #1. It received mixed reviews, and was seen by some music critics as a low point for the band in the absence of Lindsey Buckingham (who had actually made a guest appearance by playing on the title track). However, Rolling Stone
magazine said that Vito and Burnette were "the best thing to ever happen to Fleetwood Mac" and the British Q
magazine also praised the album in their review. The subsequent "Behind the Mask" tour saw the band play sold out shows at London's Wembley Stadium, and on the final show in Los Angeles, the band were joined onstage by Buckingham. The two women of the band, McVie and Nicks, had decided that the tour would be their last (McVie's father died during the tour) though both stated that they would still record with the band. However, in 1991, both Nicks and Rick Vito announced they were leaving Fleetwood Mac altogether.
In 1992, Fleetwood himself arranged a 4-disc box set spanning highlights from the band's 25 year history, titled 25 Years – The Chain (an edited 2-disc set was also available). A notable inclusion in the box set was "Silver Springs", a Stevie Nicks composition that was recorded during the Rumours sessions but was omitted from the album and used as the B-side of "Go Your Own Way" instead. Nicks had requested use of the track for her 1991 best-of compilation TimeSpace, but Fleetwood had refused her request as he had planned to include it in this collection as something of a rarity. The disagreement between Nicks and Fleetwood garnered press coverage, and is believed to be the main catalyst for Nicks leaving the band in 1991. The box set, however, also included a brand new Stevie Nicks/Rick Vito composition, "Paper Doll", which was released in the US as a single. As both members had left the band by this point, the track was presumably a leftover from the Behind the Mask sessions. There were also two new Christine McVie compositions, "Heart of Stone" and "Love Shines", the latter of which was released as a single in the UK and certain other territories. Lindsey Buckingham also contributed a new song, "Make Me a Mask", which bore all the markings of an insular Buckingham studio creation, devoid of input from other band members. Mick Fleetwood also released a deluxe hardcover companion book to coincide with the release of the box set, titled My 25 Years in Fleetwood Mac. The volume featured many rare photographs and notes (written by Fleetwood himself) detailing the band's 25 year history.
Some months after this, the Buckingham/Nicks/McVie/McVie/Fleetwood line-up reunited at the request of U.S. President Bill Clinton
for his first Inaugural Ball in 1993. Clinton had made Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" his campaign theme song. His subsequent request to perform it at the Inauguration Ball was met with enthusiasm by the band, however this line-up had no intention to reunite again.
Inspired by the new interest in the band, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Christine McVie recorded another album as Fleetwood Mac, with Billy Burnette taking on lead guitar duties. However, just as they made the decision to continue, Billy Burnette announced in March 1993, that he was leaving the band to pursue a country album and an acting career. Bekka Bramlett
, who had worked a year earlier with Mick Fleetwood's Zoo, was recruited. Solo singer/songwriter/guitarist and Traffic's Dave Mason
, who had worked with Bekka's parents Delaney & Bonnie twenty five years earlier, was subsequently added. By March 1994, Billy Burnette, himself a good friend and co-songwriter with Delaney Bramlett
, returned with Fleetwood's blessing.
The band, minus Christine McVie, toured in 1994, opening for Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and in 1995 as part of a package with REO Speedwagon
and Pat Benatar
. The tour saw the band perform classic Fleetwood Mac songs from the initial 1967–1974 era. In 1995, at a concert in Tokyo, the band was greeted by former member Jeremy Spencer, who performed a few songs with them.
On 10 October 1995, Fleetwood Mac released the unsuccessful Time
album. Although hitting the UK Top 60 for one week the album had zero impact in the US. It failed even to graze the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, a stunning reversal for a band that had been a mainstay on that chart for most of the previous two decades. Shortly after the album's release, Christine McVie informed the band that the album was her last. Bramlett and Burnette subsequently formed a country music
duo, Bekka & Billy
.
In May 1996, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks made an appearance at a private party in Louisville
, Kentucky prior to the Kentucky Derby
(with Steve Winwood
filling in for Lindsey Buckingham). A week later, the Twister film soundtrack was released, which featured the Stevie Nicks-Lindsey Buckingham duet, "Twisted", with Mick Fleetwood on drums. This eventually led to a full Rumours line-up reunion when the band officially reformed in March 1997. The regrouped Mac performed a live concert recorded on a Warner Bros.
Burbank
, California soundstage on 22 May, and from this performance came the 1997 live album The Dance, bringing Fleetwood Mac back to the top of the US album charts for the first time in 15 years. The album returned Fleetwood Mac to their superstar commercial status that they had not enjoyed since their Tango in the Night album. The album was certified a 5 million seller by the RIAA
. A successful arena tour followed the MTV premiere of The Dance, which kept the reunited Mac on the road throughout much of 1997, the 20th anniversary of their Rumours album. However, this would be the final foray of the classic 1970s line-up with Christine McVie.
In 1998, Fleetwood Mac (Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
and performed at the Grammy Awards program that year. They were also the recipients of the "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award at the BRIT Awards
(British Phonographic Industry Awards) the same year.
In 1998, Christine McVie left the band and returned to the UK to retire from touring (though not from the music business entirely as she created a new album, In the Meantime
, in 2004). Her departure left Buckingham and Nicks to sing all the lead vocals for the band's 2003 album, Say You Will
, although Christine did contribute some backing vocals and keyboards. The album debuted at No.3 on the Billboard 200 chart (#6 in the UK) and yielded chart hits with "Peacekeeper" and the title track, and a successful world arena tour
which lasted through 2004.
In interviews given in November 2006 to support his solo album Under the Skin
, Buckingham stated that plans for the band to reunite once more for a 2008 tour were still on the cards. Recording plans have been put on hold for the foreseeable future. In a September 2007 interview Stevie Nicks gave to the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph
, she noted that she was unwilling to carry on with the band unless Christine McVie returned.
However in a more recent interview, Mick Fleetwood said "...be very happy and hopeful that we will be working again. I can tell you everyone's going to be extremely excited about what's happening with Fleetwood Mac."
reported Sheryl Crow
as saying that she would be working with Fleetwood Mac in 2009. Crow and Stevie Nicks collaborated a great deal in the past and she has stated that Nicks has been a great teacher and inspiration for her. In a subsequent interview with Buckingham, he said after discussions between the band and Crow, the potential collaboration with Crow "lost its momentum". However, in a June 2008 interview, Nicks denied that Crow would be joining Fleetwood Mac as a replacement for Christine McVie. According to Nicks, "the group will start working on material and recording probably in October, and finish an album." On 7 October 2008, Mick Fleetwood confirmed on the BBC's The One Show
that the band were working in the studio and also announced plans for a world tour in 2009.
In late 2008, Fleetwood Mac announced that the band would tour in 2009, beginning in March. As per the 2003–2004 tour, Christine McVie would not be featured in the line-up. The tour was branded as a 'greatest hits' show entitled Unleashed, although they played album tracks such as "Storms" and "I Know I'm Not Wrong". The first show was on 1 March 2009, and in February they announced a slew of new dates.
According to Billboard, Mick Fleetwood said during a teleconference with reporters on 12 February 2009, "This is the first time we've gone on the road without an album. This is truly a new experience for Fleetwood Mac to go out and play songs that we believe and hope people are going to be familiar with and love."
Stevie Nicks stated that, with regard to a new Fleetwood Mac album, "There isn't any plan at this point... for any album. We're going to get through this tour before deciding what to do with an album."
During the concerts mentioned, Buckingham stated, "the time is right to go back to the studio—but only after a tour. I think maybe there was even a sense that we would make a better album if we went out and hung out together first on the road ... Maybe even sowing some seeds musically that would get us more prepared to go in the studio rather than just going in cold. It takes the pressure [off] from having to go in and make something cold."
During their show on 20 June 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Stevie Nicks premiered part of a new song that she had written about Hurricane Katrina
.
In October 2009, the band began a tour of Europe which carried on into early November, followed by a tour of Australia and New Zealand in December.
Also in October The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac was re-released in an extended two-disc format (this format having been released in the US in 2002), premiering at number six on the UK Albums Chart.
On 1 November 2009, a new one-hour documentary, Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop, was broadcast in the UK on BBC One
, which featured recent interviews with all four current band members. During the documentary, Nicks gave a candid summary of the current state of her relationship with Buckingham, stating "Maybe when we're 75 and Fleetwood Mac is a distant memory, we might be friends...". It also included outtakes from the Tusk recording sessions, not seen for many years since their availability on VHS cassette in 1981.
On 6 November 2009 Fleetwood Mac played the last show of the European leg of their Unleashed tour at London's Wembley Arena
. Christine McVie was present in the audience, so Stevie Nicks paid a tribute from the stage to a standing ovation from the audience, stating that she thought about her former bandmate "every day", and went on to dedicate that night's performance of "Landslide" to McVie.
On 19 December 2009, Fleetwood Mac played the second to last act of their Unleashed tour to a sell-out crowd at what was originally intended to be a one-off event at the TSB Bowl of Brooklands
, New Plymouth, New Zealand. Tickets, after pre-sales, sold out within twelve minutes of public release, and another date (Sunday 20 December), which also sold out, was added.
On 19 October 2010, Fleetwood Mac played a private show at the Phoenician Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona
for TPG (Texas Pacific Group
).
On 3 May 2011, the Fox Network
broadcast an episode of Glee
(Season 2, Episode 19) entitled "Rumours" that featured six songs from the band's 1977 album. The show sparked renewed interest in the band and its most commercially successful album, and Rumours reentered the Billboard 200
chart at #11, the same week that Stevie Nicks' new solo album In Your Dreams
debuted at #6. (Nicks was quoted by Billboard saying that her new album was "my own little Rumours." ) The two recordings sold about 30,000 and 52,000 units, respectively. Music downloads accounted for ninety-one percent of the Rumours sales. The spike in sales for Rumours represented an uptick of 1,951%. It was the highest chart entry by a previously issued album since The Rolling Stones
s reissue of Exile On Main St.
reentered the chart at #2 on 5 June 2010.
On 13 May 2011 Stevie Nicks announced that Fleetwood Mac would go out on tour again in 2012 (not mentioning the scale) and talked of a possible new album.
Timeline
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band formed in 1967 in London.
The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood
Mick Fleetwood
Michael John Kells "Mick" Fleetwood is a British musician and actor best known for his role as the drummer and namesake of the blues/rock and roll band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of John McVie, was the inspiration for the name of the originally Peter Green-led Fleetwood Mac...
. Despite band founder Peter Green
Peter Green (musician)
Peter Green is a British blues-rock guitarist and the founder of the band Fleetwood Mac...
naming the group by combining the surnames of two of his former bandmates (Fleetwood, McVie) from John Mayall
John Mayall
John Mayall, OBE is an English blues singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist, whose musical career spans over fifty years...
's Bluesbreakers, bassist John McVie
John McVie
John Graham McVie is a British bass guitarist best known as a member of the rock group Fleetwood Mac. His surname, combined with that of Mick Fleetwood, was the inspiration for the band's name...
played neither on their first single nor at their first concerts. The keyboardist, Christine McVie
Christine McVie
Christine McVie is an English rock singer, keyboardist, and songwriter. Her primary fame came as a member of the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, though she has also released three solo albums...
, has, to date, appeared on all but two albums, either as a member or as a session musician. She also supplied the artwork for the album Kiln House
Kiln House
Kiln House is the fourth album by British rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1970. This is the first of the post-Peter Green Fleetwood Mac albums, and their last album to feature Jeremy Spencer...
.
The two most successful periods for the band were during the late 1960s British blues
British blues
British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s and which reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of...
boom, when they were led by guitarist Peter Green and achieved a UK number one with "Albatross
Albatross (composition)
"Albatross" is a guitar-based instrumental by Fleetwood Mac, released as a single in 1969, later featuring on the compilation albums The Pious Bird of Good Omen and English Rose...
"; and from 1975 to 1987, with more pop-orientation, featuring Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Buckingham
Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being the guitarist and male lead singer of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and a live album...
and Stevie Nicks
Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums...
. Fleetwood Mac's second album after the incorporation of Nicks and Buckingham, 1977's Rumours
Rumours
Rumours is the eleventh studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Largely recorded in California during 1976, it was produced by the band with Ken Caillat and Richard Dashut and was released on 4 February 1977 by Warner Bros. Records. The record peaked at the top of both the...
, produced four U.S. Top 10 singles (including Nicks' song "Dreams
Dreams (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Dreams" is a song written by singer Stevie Nicks, for the group Fleetwood Mac's 1977 album, Rumours. The song was the only U.S. number one hit for the group, and remains one of their best known songs.-Background and writing:...
", which was the band's first and only U.S. number one) and remained at No.1 on the American albums chart for 31 weeks, as well as reaching the top spot in various countries around the world. To date the album has sold over 40 million copies worldwide, making it the ninth highest selling album of all time.
The band enjoyed more modest success in the intervening period between 1971 and 1974, with the line-up including Bob Welch
Bob Welch (musician)
Robert Lawrence "Bob" Welch, Jr. is a former member of Fleetwood Mac, who had a briefly successful solo career in the late 1970s. His singles included "Hot Love, Cold World", "Ebony Eyes", "Precious Love", and "Sentimental Lady"....
, and also during the 1990s which saw more personnel changes before the return of Nicks and Buckingham in 1997, and more recently, the departure of Christine McVie.
Formation and early years (1967–1970)
Fleetwood Mac were formed in 1967 in London when Peter Green left the British bluesBritish blues
British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s and which reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of...
band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers
John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers are a pioneering English blues band, led by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist John Mayall, OBE. Mayall used the band name between 1963 and 1967, but then dropped it for some fifteen years. However, in 1982 a 'Return of the Bluesbreakers' was announced and...
. Green had replaced guitarist Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
in the Bluesbreakers, and received critical acclaim for his work on their album A Hard Road
A Hard Road
A Hard Road is a 1967 electric blues album recorded by John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers featuring Peter Green on lead guitar, John McVie on bass, Aynsley Dunbar on drums and John Almond. Tracks 5, 7 and 13 feature the horn section of Alan Skidmore and Ray Warleigh...
. After he had been in the Bluesbreakers for some time, Green asked if drummer Mick Fleetwood could replace Aynsley Dunbar
Aynsley Dunbar
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar is an English drummer. He has worked with some of the top names in rock, including Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, UFO, and Journey...
. Green had been in two bands with Fleetwood—"Peter B's Looners
Peter Bardens
Peter Bardens was a keyboardist and a founding member of the British progressive rock group Camel. He played organ, piano, synthesizers and mellotron and wrote songs with Andrew Latimer...
" and the subsequent "Shotgun Express
Shotgun Express
Shotgun Express was a short-lived British R&B band formed in London in May 1966. Although it achieved little success at the time, it is notable for having briefly included such subsequently famous musicians as Rod Stewart, Mick Fleetwood and Peter Green....
" (which featured a young vocalist named Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
). John Mayall agreed and Fleetwood became a member of the band.
The Bluesbreakers now consisted of Green, Fleetwood, John McVie and Mayall. Mayall gave Green free recording time as a gift, in which Fleetwood, McVie and Green recorded five songs. The fifth song was an instrumental which Green named after the rhythm section, "Fleetwood Mac".
Green contacted Fleetwood to form a new band. The pair desperately wanted McVie on bass and even named the band 'Fleetwood Mac' as a way to entice him. However McVie opted for steady work with Mayall rather than the unknown of a new band. In the meantime Peter Green and Mick Fleetwood teamed up with talented slide player Jeremy Spencer
Jeremy Spencer
Jeremy Cedric Spencer , is a British musician, best known as one of the first guitarists in Fleetwood Mac.Spencer was born in Hartlepool, County Durham. He grew up in South London and was educated at Strand School, where he became known for hilarious impressions of the headmaster and several of his...
and bassist Bob Brunning
Bob Brunning
Robert 'Bob' Brunning was a British musician best known for his role as the original bass guitar player with the blues rock band Fleetwood Mac....
, who was in the band on the understanding that he would leave if and when McVie agreed to join. The Green, Fleetwood, Spencer, Brunning version of the band made its debut on 13 August 1967 at the Windsor Jazz and Blues Festival. Within weeks of this show, John McVie agreed to become the bassist for the band.
Fleetwood Mac's first album, Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac (1968 album)
-2004 release:-Personnel:*Peter Green – vocals, guitar, harmonica*Jeremy Spencer – vocals, slide guitar, piano*John McVie – bass guitar*Mick Fleetwood – drums*Bob Brunning – bass guitar on "Long Grey Mare"-References:...
, was a no-frills blues album and was released on the Blue Horizon
Blue Horizon
Blue Horizon was a British blues record label founded by Mike Vernon in the mid 1960s.Its roots lay in Vernon's mail order label Purdah Records, which released just four 7" singles; including "Flapjacks" by Stone's Masonry ; and another by John Mayall and Eric Clapton "Bernard Jenkins", and...
label in February 1968. In fact there were no other players on the album (except for the song "Long Grey Mare", which was recorded when Bob Brunning was in the band). The album was successful in the UK, hitting no.4, though it did not have any singles on it. The band soon released two singles "Black Magic Woman
Black Magic Woman
"Black Magic Woman" is a song written by Peter Green that first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1968, subsequently appearing on the 1969 Fleetwood Mac compilation albums English Rose and The Pious Bird of Good Omen . In 1970, it became a classic hit by Santana, as sung...
" (later a big hit for Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
) and "Need Your Love So Bad
Need Your Love So Bad
"Need Your Love So Bad" sometimes known as "I Need Your Love So Bad", is a blues song first published in 1955 and written by Mertis John Jr....
".
The band's second album, Mr. Wonderful
Mr. Wonderful (album)
Mr. Wonderful is the second album by the blues-rock band, Fleetwood Mac, released in 1968. An expanded version of this album was included in the box set, The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions....
, was released in August 1968. Like the first it was an all-blues album, but this time they made a few changes. The album was recorded live in the studio with miked amplifiers and PA system, rather than plugged into the board. This method provided the ideal environment for producing this style of music, and gave it an authentically vintage sound. They also added horns
Horn section
In music, a horn section can refer to several groups of musicians. It can refer to the musicians in a symphony orchestra who play the horn . In a British-style brass band it refers to the tenor horn players. In popular music, it can also refer to a small group of wind instrumentalists who augment a...
and featured a friend of the band on keyboards, Christine Perfect of Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack
Chicken Shack are a British blues band, founded in the mid-1960s by Stan Webb , Andy Silvester , and Alan Morley , who were later joined by Christine Perfect in 1968.-Career:...
.
Shortly after the release of their second album Fleetwood Mac added guitarist Danny Kirwan
Danny Kirwan
Daniel David "Danny" Kirwan is a British musician best known for his role as guitarist, singer and songwriter with the blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972.-Early career:...
, then just eighteen years old, to their line-up. Green had been frustrated that Jeremy Spencer had little desire to contribute to Green's songs. A mature and accomplished self-taught guitarist, Kirwan's signature vibrato and unique style added a new dimension to an already complete band. With Kirwan the band released their first number one single in Europe, "Albatross". Around this time they released their second American album, English Rose
English Rose (album)
English Rose is a compilation album by Fleetwood Mac, released in January 1969. It was originally a US-only compilation, combining six tracks from the UK release Mr. Wonderful, three UK non-album single sides, two not-yet-released songs from the UK version of Then Play On and one other previously...
, which contained half of Mr. Wonderful, new songs from Kirwan, and their third European album called The Pious Bird of Good Omen
The Pious Bird of Good Omen
-2004 release:-Personnel:Fleetwood Mac*Peter Green – vocals, guitar, harmonica*Jeremy Spencer – vocals, slide guitar*Danny Kirwan – vocals, electric guitar on side 2, tracks 1 and 4*John McVie – bass guitar*Mick Fleetwood – drumsAdditional musicians...
, which was a collection of singles, B-sides, and a selection of some work the band did with Eddie Boyd
Eddie Boyd
Edward Riley Boyd known as Eddie Boyd was an American blues piano player, born on Stovall's Plantation near Clarksdale, Mississippi, United States.-Life and career:...
.
When the band went to the United States in January 1969 they recorded many songs at the soon-to-close Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
Studio, with some blues legends of Chicago including Willie Dixon
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...
, Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
and Otis Spann
Otis Spann
Otis Spann was an American blues musician, who many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist.-Career:Born in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, Spann became known for his distinct piano style....
. These would prove, however, to be Fleetwood Mac's last all-blues recordings. Along with their change of style the band was also going through some label changes. Up until this point they had been on Blue Horizon. With Kirwan in the band, however, the musical possibilities were too great for them to stay on a blues-only label. The band signed with the Immediate Records
Immediate Records
Immediate Records was a British record label, started in 1965 by The Rolling Stones' manager Andrew Loog Oldham and Tony Calder and concentrating on the London-based blues and R&B scene.-History:...
label and released "Man of the World", another British and European hit single. For the B-side Spencer fronted Fleetwood Mac as "Earl Vince and the Valiants" and recorded "Someone's Gonna Get Their Head Kicked In Tonite", typifying the more raucous rock 'n' roll side of the band. Immediate Records was in bad shape and the band shopped around for a new deal. Even though The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
wanted the band on Apple Records
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...
(Mick Fleetwood and George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
were brothers-in-law), the band's manager Clifford Davis
Clifford Davis (musician)
Clifford Davis is a British musician and music manager, chiefly known for his time as manager of successful blues rock band Fleetwood Mac, from 1967 to 1974.He also used the pseudonyms Clifford Adams and C.G...
decided to go with Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
(Reprise), the label they have stayed with ever since. Their first album for Reprise, released in September 1969, was the well-regarded Then Play On
Then Play On
Then Play On is the third studio album by blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac, first released in September 1969. It was the first of their original albums to feature Danny Kirwan and the last with Peter Green. Jeremy Spencer did not feature on the album apart from "a couple of piano things"...
. The American release of this album contains the song "Oh Well
Oh Well (song)
"Oh Well" is a song recorded by Fleetwood Mac in 1969, and composed by vocalist and lead guitarist Peter Green. It first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1969, subsequently appearing on the Greatest Hits album in 1971...
", featured consistently in live performances from the time of its release through 1997 and then again starting in 2009. Then Play On, which was the band's first rock album, featured only the songs of Kirwan and Green. Jeremy Spencer, meanwhile, recorded a solo album
Jeremy Spencer (album)
Jeremy Spencer is an album by British blues rock musician Jeremy Spencer, who was a member of Fleetwood Mac from 1967-71. Released in 1970, this was his first solo album and the first solo album by a current member of Fleetwood Mac....
(he was backed by the rest of the band) which consisted of many 1950s-style rock and roll songs.
In July 1969 Fleetwood Mac opened for Ten Years After
Ten Years After
Ten Years After is an English blues-rock band, most popular in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Between 1968 and 1973, Ten Years After scored eight Top 40 albums on the UK Albums Chart...
at the Schaefer Music Festival
Schaefer Music Festival
The Schaefer Music Festival was a music festival which had been held in the summers between 1968 and 1976 at the Wollman Skating Rink in New York City's Central Park. The series had been sponsored by F. & M...
at New York City's Wollman Rink
Wollman Rink
Wollman Skating Rink is a public ice rink in the southern part of Central Park, Manhattan, New York City. The rink was opened in 1949 with funds donated by Kate Wollman who donated $600,000 for the rink to commemorate her entire family from Leavenworth, Kansas)...
. They re-appeared at the festival in 1970.
Fleetwood Mac were an extremely popular band in Europe at the time. However, Peter Green, the frontman of the band, was not in good health. He had taken LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
in Munich, which contributed to the onset of his schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
.
German author and filmmaker Rainer Langhans mentions in his autobiography that he and Uschi Obermaier
Uschi Obermaier
Uschi Obermaier is a former fashion model, actress and is associated with the 1968 left-wing movement in Germany. In the latter she is considered an iconic sex symbol of the so-called "1968 generation"....
met Peter Green in Munich, where they invited him to their "High-Fish-Commune". They were not really interested in Peter Green. They just wanted to get in contact with Mick Taylor
Mick Taylor
Michael Kevin "Mick" Taylor is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and The Rolling Stones...
: Langhans and Obermaier wished to organise a "Bavarian Woodstock". They wanted Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
to be the leading acts of their Bavarian open air festival. They needed the 'Green God' just to get in contact with The Rolling Stones via Mick Taylor.
Green's last hit with Fleetwood Mac was "The Green Manalishi (With the Two-Prong Crown)
The Green Manalishi
"The Green Manalishi " is a song written by Peter Green and recorded by Fleetwood Mac. It was released as a single in the UK in May 1970 and reached #10 on the British charts. The song was written during Green's final months with the band, at a time when he was struggling with LSD and had...
" (first recorded at the Boston Tea Party
Boston Tea Party (concert venue)
The Boston Tea Party was a concert venue located on 53 Berkeley Street in Boston, Massachusetts...
in February 1970 and later recorded by Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...
). Green's mental stability deteriorated, and he wanted to give all of the band's money to charity. Some other members of the band did not agree, and subsequently Green decided to leave the band. His last show with Fleetwood Mac was on 20 May 1970. During that show, the band went past their allotted time, and the power was shut off. Mick Fleetwood kept drumming.
Transitional era (1970–1975)
Kirwan and Spencer were left with the task of having to fill up Peter's space in their shows and on their recordings. In September 1970, Fleetwood Mac released Kiln HouseKiln House
Kiln House is the fourth album by British rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1970. This is the first of the post-Peter Green Fleetwood Mac albums, and their last album to feature Jeremy Spencer...
. Kirwan's songs moved the band in the direction of 70s rock. Meanwhile, Spencer's contributions focused on re-creating the country-tinged "Sun Sound" of the late 1950s. Christine Perfect, who had retired from the music business after one unsuccessful solo album, contributed to Kiln House, singing backup vocals, and drawing the album cover. Since Fleetwood Mac were progressing and developing a new sound, Perfect was asked to join the band. They also released a single at that time; "Dragonfly" b/w "The Purple Dancer" in the U.K. and certain European countries. Despite good notices in the press, the single was not a success and the B-side has been reissued only once, on a Reprise
Reprise Records
Reprise Records is an American record label, founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operated through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:...
German-only "Best of" album, making it one of their most obscure songs.
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
classic, "I'd Rather Go Blind", and was twice voted female artist of the year in England. Christine McVie played her first gig as an official member on 6 August 1970 in New Orleans. Columbia Records
CBS Records
CBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
, which now owned Blue Horizon (except in the US and Canada), released an album of previously unreleased material from the original Fleetwood Mac called The Original Fleetwood Mac. The album was relatively successful, and the band seemed to be gaining popularity again.
While on tour in February 1971, Jeremy Spencer said he was going out to "get a magazine", but never returned. After several days of frantic searching, the band discovered that Spencer had joined a religious group, the Children of God. Liable for the remaining shows on the tour, they convinced Peter Green to help finish the tour. He brought along his friend, Nigel Watson, who played the congas (twenty-five years later Green and Watson would collaborate again to form the Peter Green Splinter Group
Peter Green Splinter Group
The Peter Green Splinter Group were a band led by the blues guitarist and singer, Peter Green.Green was the leader of Fleetwood Mac until he suffered a mental breakdown during the 1970s. He was rehabilitated with the aid of Nigel Watson, the late Cozy Powell and other friends, and then began...
). Green, however, would only be back with Fleetwood Mac temporarily, so the band decided to search for a new guitarist.
In the summer of 1971, the band held auditions for a guitarist in their large country home, "Benifold", which they bought prior to the Kiln House tour. A friend of the band named Judy Wong recommended her high school friend, Bob Welch, who was living in Paris at the time. The band had a few meetings with Welch and decided to hire him, without actually playing with him or listening to any of his recordings.
In September 1971, the band released Future Games
Future Games
Future Games is the fifth studio album by British rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1971. It was their first album with guitarist Bob Welch and the first to feature Christine McVie as a full member...
. This album was radically different from anything the band had done up to that point. There were many new fans in America who were becoming more and more interested in the band. In Europe, CBS released Fleetwood Mac's first Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (1971 Fleetwood Mac album)
Greatest Hits was the first hits compilation package from the rock band Fleetwood Mac, covering the period from the band's beginning in 1968 to 1971, mostly in its original incarnation led by guitarist Peter Green...
package, which was predominantly composed of songs by Peter Green, though there was one song by Spencer and one by Kirwan.
In 1972, six months after the release of Future Games, the band released the well-received album Bare Trees
Bare Trees
Bare Trees is the sixth studio album by British rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1972. This is their last album to feature Danny Kirwan, who was fired during the tour to support this album...
. Bare Trees featured Welch's "Sentimental Lady", which would be a much bigger hit for him five years later when he re-recorded it for his solo album French Kiss, backed with Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, and Lindsey Buckingham. It also featured "Spare Me a Little of Your Love", a bright Christine McVie tune that would become a staple of the band's live act throughout the early-to-mid 1970s.
While the band were doing well in the studio, their tours were more problematic. Danny Kirwan developed an alcohol dependency and became alienated from Welch and the McVies. It wasn't until he smashed his Les Paul Custom guitar, refused to go on stage one night, and criticised the band afterwards that Fleetwood finally decided that he had no choice but to fire Kirwan.
The next two and a half years proved to be the most challenging for the band. In the three albums they would release in this period, they would constantly change line-ups. In September 1972, the band added guitarist Bob Weston
Bob Weston (guitarist)
See Bob Weston for the American bassist and recording engineer.Robert Joseph 'Bob' Weston is a British musician best known for his brief role as guitarist and songwriter with the rock band Fleetwood Mac....
and vocalist Dave Walker
Dave Walker
David Walker is a singer and guitarist for a number of bands; notably Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac. He shortened his name to Dave Walker...
, formerly of Savoy Brown
Savoy Brown
Savoy Brown, originally known as the Savoy Brown Blues Band, are a British blues rock band, formed in 1965, in Battersea, South West London...
. Bob Weston was well known for playing slide guitar and had known the band from his touring period with Long John Baldry
Long John Baldry
John William "Long John" Baldry was an English and Canadian blues singer and a voice actor. He sang with many British musicians, with Rod Stewart and Elton John appearing in bands led by Baldry in the 1960s. He enjoyed pop success in the UK where Let the Heartaches Begin reached No...
. Fleetwood Mac also hired Savoy Brown's road manager, John Courage. Mick, John, Christine, Welch, Weston, and Walker recorded Penguin
Penguin (album)
Penguin is the seventh album by British rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1973. It was the first Fleetwood Mac album to feature Bob Weston and the only one to feature Dave Walker.The penguin is the band mascot favoured by John McVie.-Track listing:...
, which was released in January 1973. After the tour, the band fired Walker because his vocal style and attitude did not fit in with the rest of the band.
The remaining five carried on and recorded Mystery to Me
Mystery to Me
Mystery to Me is the eighth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1973. This was their last album to feature Bob Weston...
six months later. This album contained the song "Hypnotized" which got a lot of airplay on the radio and became one of the band's most recognisable songs to date. The band were justifiably proud of the new album and were poised to make it a hit. However, things were not well within the band. The McVies' marriage at this time was under a lot of stress, which was aggravated by their constant working with each other, and John McVie's considerable alcohol abuse. During the tour, Weston had an affair with Fleetwood's wife, Jenny Boyd
Jenny Boyd
Helen Mary Boyd is a former 1960s London fashion model. She is also the younger sister of Pattie Boyd, who married Beatle George Harrison....
Fleetwood, the sister of Pattie Boyd Harrison
Pattie Boyd
Patricia Anne "Pattie" Boyd is an English model and photographer, and the former wife of both George Harrison and Eric Clapton...
. Fleetwood soon fired Weston and the tour was cancelled. Due to lack of touring, the album sold less than its predecessor.
In what would be one of the most bizarre events in rock history, the band's manager, Clifford Davis, claimed that he owned the name Fleetwood Mac and put out a "fake Mac
Stretch (band)
Stretch were a 1970s British rock band that grew from the collaboration between Elmer Gantry and Kirby . Gantry was previously the frontman of Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera...
". Nobody in the "fake Mac" was ever officially in the real band, although some of them later acted as Danny Kirwan's studio band. Fans were told that Bob Welch and John McVie had quit the group, and that Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie would be joining the band at a later date, after getting some rest. Fleetwood Mac's road manager, John Courage, worked one show before he realised that the line being used was a lie. Courage ended up hiding the real Fleetwood Mac's equipment, which helped shorten the tour by the fake band. But the lawsuit that followed put the real Fleetwood Mac out of commission for almost a year. The issue was who actually owned the name "Fleetwood Mac". While it would seem obvious that the band was named after Fleetwood and McVie, they had signed contracts that showed the band forfeited the rights to the name.
During this period, Welch stayed in Los Angeles and connected with entertainment attorneys. Welch quickly realised that the band was being neglected by Warner Bros., and that if they wanted to change that, they would have to change their base of operation to Los Angeles. The rest of the band agreed immediately. Rock promoter Bill Graham
Bill Graham (promoter)
Bill Graham was an American impresario and rock concert promoter from the 1960s until his death.-Early life:...
wrote a letter to Warner Bros. to convince them that the "real" Fleetwood Mac were in fact Fleetwood, Welch and the McVies. While this did not end the legal battle, the band was able to record as Fleetwood Mac again. Instead of getting another manager, Fleetwood Mac decided to manage themselves.
The fake Mac consisted of Elmer Gantry
Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera
Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera, at various times also known as "Velvet Opera", was a British rock band active in the late 1960s. Members of the band would later become members of The Strawbs, Hudson Ford and Stretch.-History:...
(vocals, guitar), Kirby Gregory (guitar), Paul Martinez
Paul Martinez
Paul Martinez is a session bassist and songwriter, best known for his work for Robert Plant, Jackie Edwards, Dave Edmunds, George Harrison, Maggie Bell, Peter Gabriel, among others...
(bass), John Wilkinson (keyboards) and Craig Collinge (drums). Gantry and Gregory went on to become members of Stretch, Gantry would later join The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project
The Alan Parsons Project was a British progressive rock band, active between 1975 and 1990, consisting of singer Eric Woolfson and keyboardist Alan Parsons surrounded by a varying number of session musicians....
and Martinez would eventually become a bassist for Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
's solo efforts.
After Warner Bros. made a record deal with the real Fleetwood Mac, the quartet released Heroes Are Hard to Find
Heroes Are Hard to Find
Heroes Are Hard to Find is the ninth studio album by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1974. This is the last album with Bob Welch, who left at the end of 1974, and was replaced by Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. It was the first Fleetwood Mac studio album properly recorded...
in September 1974. For the first time in its history, the band had only one guitarist. On the road, they added a second keyboardist. The first was Bobby Hunt, who had been in the band Head West with Bob Welch back in 1970. The second was Doug Graves, who was an engineer on Heroes Are Hard to Find. Neither proved to be a long-term addition to the line-up.
This tour proved to be the last one for Bob Welch, who had tired of the touring and legal struggles, but the tour enabled the Heroes album to reach a higher position on the American charts than any of the band's previous records.
Mainstream success (1975–1987)
After Welch announced that he was leaving the band, Fleetwood began searching for a possible replacement. While Fleetwood was scouting Van Nuys, California, the house engineer for California's Sound City Studios, Keith Olsen, played him a track titled "Frozen Love" (from Buckingham NicksBuckingham Nicks
Buckingham Nicks is a 10-track LP by Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. It was recorded in 1973 and was instrumental in both Nicks and Buckingham later joining Fleetwood Mac. A reissue of the album was done in 1976...
, Polydor PD 5058, September 1973), which he had mixed there for an American band, Buckingham Nicks. Fleetwood liked it, and was introduced to the guitarist from the band, Lindsey Buckingham, who coincidentally was at Sound City that day recording some demos. Fleetwood soon asked him to join. Buckingham agreed, on the condition that his musical partner and girlfriend, Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks, also become part of the band; Fleetwood agreed.
In 1975, the new line-up released the eponymous Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac (1975 album)
2004 Re-issueOn 24 March 2004, Warner Bros. Records re-released the remastered album, with the following bonus tracks:"Jam #2" – 5:41"Say You Love Me" [single version] – 4:03...
. The album proved to be a breakthrough for the band and became a huge hit, reaching No.1 in the US and selling over 5 million copies. Among the hit singles from this album were Christine McVie's "Over My Head
Over My Head (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Over My Head" is a rock song performed by Anglo-American music group Fleetwood Mac. The song was written by group keyboardist/vocalist Christine McVie. In September 1975, "Over My Head" was released as the lead single from the LP album entitled Fleetwood Mac...
" and "Say You Love Me
Say You Love Me
"Say You Love Me" is a song written by singer Christine McVie, for the group Fleetwood Mac's 1975 album, Fleetwood Mac. The song reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100, and remains one of their best known songs...
", and Stevie Nicks' "Rhiannon
Rhiannon (song)
"Rhiannon" is a single released by Fleetwood Mac in 1976. The song was written by Stevie Nicks."Rhiannon" was voted #488 in The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone magazine. Its US chart peak was in June 1976, when it hit #11...
" and "Landslide
Landslide (song)
The country group Dixie Chicks then covered "Landslide" on their 2002 Home album. This rendition, featuring the group's trademark two- and three-part harmonies reached the Top 10 of both the pop and country charts as well as several other charts. It became the Dixie Chicks' only number 1 single ...
" (actually a hit twenty years later on The Dance
The Dance (album)
The Dance is a live performance by Fleetwood Mac, released on Cassette, CD and VHS in 1997, and later on DVD. It hailed the return of the band's most successful line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie and Stevie Nicks, who had not released an album together since...
album).
But in 1976, with the success of the band also came the end of John and Christine McVie's marriage, as well as Buckingham and Nicks' long term romantic relationship. Even Fleetwood was in the midst of divorce proceedings from his wife, Jenny. The pressure put on Fleetwood Mac to release a successful follow-up album, combined with their new-found wealth, led to creative and personal tensions, fuelled by high consumption of drugs and alcohol.
The album the band members released in 1977 was Rumours, in which they laid bare the emotional turmoil experienced at that time. Critically acclaimed, it was the recipient of the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for 1977. Hit singles included Buckingham's "Go Your Own Way", Nicks's U.S. No.1 "Dreams" , and Christine McVie's "Don't Stop
Don't Stop (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Don't Stop" is a song by the rock group Fleetwood Mac, written by vocalist and keyboard player Christine McVie. Sung by Christine McVie and guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, it was a single taken from the band's 1977 hit album, Rumours. It is one of the band's most enduring hits, peaking at number...
" and "You Make Loving Fun
You Make Loving Fun
"You Make Loving Fun" is a song written by Christine McVie of the British-American band Fleetwood Mac. "You Make Loving Fun" was separately published as the fourth and final 45 rpm single from the band's album Rumours in 1977. McVie also sang the lead vocal for this song, and she did so for many...
". Buckingham's "Second Hand News", Nicks' "Gold Dust Woman
Gold Dust Woman
"Gold Dust Woman" is a song from the best-selling Fleetwood Mac album Rumours. It was written and sung by Stevie Nicks and released as a B-side to the "You Make Loving Fun" single...
" and "The Chain
The Chain
"The Chain" is a song from Fleetwood Mac's best-selling album Rumours. "The Chain" is unique in being the only song credited to all five members of the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac lineup: Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie, Stevie Nicks; this is partly because John McVie...
" (the only song written by all five bandmates) also received significant radio airplay. By 2003, Rumours had sold over 19 million copies in the U.S. alone (certified as a diamond album by the RIAA), and a total of 40 million copies worldwide, maintaining its status as one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
Buckingham was able to convince Fleetwood to allow his work on their next album to be more experimental and to work on tracks at home, then bring them to the band in the studio. His expanded creative role for the next album was influenced by an appreciation for New Wave music
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
.
The result of this was the quirky 20-track double album, Tusk
Tusk (album)
Tusk is the 12th album by the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac. Released in 1979, it is considered experimental, primarily due to Lindsey Buckingham's sparser songwriting arrangements and the influence of punk rock and New Wave on his production techniques...
, released in 1979. It spawned three hit singles; Lindsey Buckingham's "Tusk" (U.S. #8), which featured the USC Trojan Marching Band
Spirit of Troy
The Spirit of Troy, also known as the University of Southern California Trojan Marching Band , self-described as "The Greatest Marching Band in the History of the Universe," represents USC at various collegiate sports, broadcast, popular music recording, and national public appearance functions.The...
; Christine McVie's "Think About Me" (U.S. #20); and Stevie Nicks' 6½ minute opus "Sara
Sara (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Sara" is a song written by Stevie Nicks and released in an edited 4:37 version by Fleetwood Mac as a single from the 1979 Tusk double LP. The song reached #7 on the U.S. charts, #37 in the UK, #11 in Australia and #2 in Canada...
" (U.S. #7). The last of those three was cut to 4½ minutes for both the hit single and the first CD-release of the album, but the unedited version has since been restored on the 1988 Greatest Hits compilation and the 2004 reissue of Tusk as well as Fleetwood Mac's 2002 release of The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac
The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac
The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac is an enhanced compilation album released by rock band Fleetwood Mac in 2002 to promote their then-upcoming album Say You Will . It was released as a double album in the USA, and as a single disc in the United Kingdom. It debuted on the Billboard 200 album chart at...
. Original guitarist Green also took part in the sessions of Tusk, but his playing for the Christine McVie track "Brown Eyes" is not credited on the album.
Tusk remains one of Fleetwood Mac's most ambitious albums to date, although selling only four million copies worldwide. This, in comparison to the huge sales of Rumours, inclined the label to deem the project a failure, laying the blame squarely on Buckingham. Fleetwood, however, blames the album's relative failure on the RKO
RKO General
RKO General was the main holding company through 1991 for the noncore businesses of the General Tire and Rubber Company and, after General Tire's reorganization in the 1980s, GenCorp. The business was based around the consolidation of its parent company's broadcasting interests, dating to 1943, and...
radio chain playing the album in its entirety prior to release, thus allowing mass home taping. In addition, Tusk was a double album, with a high list price of $15.98.
The band embarked on a huge 18-month tour to support and promote Tusk. They travelled extensively across the world, including the USA, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. In Germany they shared the bill with reggae superstar Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
. It was on this world tour that the band recorded music for the Fleetwood Mac Live
Live (Fleetwood Mac album)
Live is a double live album released by Fleetwood Mac in 1980. It was the first live album from the then-current line-up of the band, and the next would be The Dance from 1997...
album, which was released at the end of 1980.
The next album, 1982's Mirage
Mirage (Fleetwood Mac album)
Mirage is the 13th studio album by Fleetwood Mac, released in June 1982.Following a hiatus of over a year after the completion of the worldwide Tusk tour, the band temporarily relocated to Château d'Hérouville in France to record this 12-track collection...
, following 1981 solo turns by Nicks (Bella Donna
Bella Donna (album)
-The Band:* Stevie Nicks – vocals* Lori Perry – backup vocals* Sharon Celani – backup vocals*Tom Petty – vocals, guitar *Michael Campbell – guitar *Don Felder – guitar *Benmont Tench – organ, piano...
) and Buckingham (Law and Order
Law and Order (album)
Law and Order is the first solo album by Fleetwood Mac guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham, released in 1981. "Trouble", featuring drumming by Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood, reached #9 on the U.S...
), was a return to the more conventional. Buckingham had been chided by critics, fellow bandmembers and music business managers for the lesser commercial success enjoyed by Tusk. Recorded at a château in France, Mirage was an attempt to recapture the huge success of Rumours. Its hits included Christine McVie's "Hold Me" and "Love In Store" (each song being co-written by Robbie Patton
Robbie Patton
Robbie Patton is an English singer-songwriter. His first major exposure came in 1979 when he was selected as the opening act for a Fleetwood Mac tour. Mac member Christine McVie would go on to produce both of Patton's solo albums and played keyboards on them; Lindsey Buckingham played guitar on...
and Jim Recor, respectively), Stevie Nicks's "Gypsy
Gypsy (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Gypsy" is a song by the rock group Fleetwood Mac. Stevie Nicks wrote the song originally circa 1979, and the earliest demo recordings were recorded in early 1980 with Tom Moncrieff for possible inclusion on her solo debut Bella Donna. However, when Nicks' friend Robin Anderson died of leukemia,...
", and Lindsey Buckingham's "Oh Diane
Oh Diane
"Oh Diane" is a song by British-American rock group Fleetwood Mac. It was written and performed by guitarist Lindsey Buckingham for the 1982 album Mirage, the fourth album by the band with Lindsey Buckingham as producer....
", which made the Top 10 in the UK. A minor hit was also scored by Buckingham's "Eyes Of The World".
In contrast to the Tusk Tour, the band only embarked on a short tour of 18 American cities, the Los Angeles show being recorded and released on video. It also headlined the first US Festival, for which the band was paid $500,000 ($ today). Mirage was certified double platinum in the U.S.
Following Mirage, the band went on hiatus, which allowed members to pursue solo careers. Stevie Nicks released two more solo albums (1983's The Wild Heart
The Wild Heart (album)
The Wild Heart is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks. Released on June 10, 1983, a year after Fleetwood Mac's successful #1 album, Mirage, it reached #5 on the U.S. Billboard 200 charts and achieved platinum status on September 12th, 1983...
and 1985's Rock a Little
Rock a Little
Rock a Little is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks.Released in late 1985 while Fleetwood Mac were still on a lengthy hiatus following their album Mirage in 1982, Rock a Little hit the top 20 in its second week and ultimately peaked at #12...
), Lindsey Buckingham issued Go Insane in 1984, the same year that Christine McVie made an eponymous album
Christine McVie (album)
Christine McVie is the second solo album by the British Fleetwood Mac vocalist/keyboardist Christine McVie. It was released in 1984.It was McVie's first solo recording since her 1970 self-titled release . The album peaked at #26 on the US album charts and #58 in the UK...
(yielding the Top 10 hit "Got A Hold On Me" and the Top 40 hit "Love Will Show Us How"). All three met with success and it was Nicks who became the most popular. However, also during this period, Mick Fleetwood had filed for bankruptcy, Nicks was admitted to the Betty Ford Clinic for addiction problems, and John McVie had suffered an addiction-related seizure—all attributed to the lifestyle of excess afforded to them by their worldwide success. It was rumoured that Fleetwood Mac had finally broken up; however, Buckingham commented that he was unhappy to allow Mirage to remain as the band's last effort.
The Rumours line-up of Fleetwood Mac recorded one more album for the time being, Tango in the Night
Tango in the Night
Tango in the Night is the 14th studio album by the British-American band Fleetwood Mac. Released in April 1987, it is the fifth and final studio album from the line-up of Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, John McVie and Mick Fleetwood....
, in 1987. Initially, as with various other Fleetwood Mac albums, the material started off as a Buckingham solo album before becoming a group project. The album went on to become their best-selling release since Rumours, especially in the UK where it hit no. 1 three times over the following year. The album sold three million copies in the USA and contained four hits: Christine McVie's "Little Lies
Little Lies
"Little Lies" is a song by the English/American band Fleetwood Mac. It was the third single to be taken from their 1987 album Tango in the Night. As of 2011, it is their final top 10 hit in the U.S....
" and "Everywhere
Everywhere (Fleetwood Mac song)
"Everywhere" is a single released by the British-American band Fleetwood Mac from their album Tango in the Night. It was released in the UK on February 24, 1988 and reached # 4. In the United States, it was released a little earlier on November 28, 1987 and reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot...
" (the former being co-written with McVie's new husband Eddy Quintela), Sandy Stewart
Sandy Stewart (musician)
Sandy Stewart is a songwriter, singer and keyboardist from Houston, Texas, USA. She is mostly known for her album Cat Dancer, and her association with Fleetwood Mac vocalist and solo act Stevie Nicks. Sandy's first single, "Saddest Victory" was released in 1983. Its video played on MTV for...
and Stevie Nicks's "Seven Wonders", and Lindsey Buckingham's "Big Love". "Family Man" and "Isn't It Midnight" were also released as singles, with lesser success.
Broken chain (1987–1997)
Billy Burnette
William Beau "Billy" Burnette III is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who was part of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1995. Burnette also had a brief career in acting.-Family background:...
and Rick Vito
Rick Vito
Rick Vito is a guitarist and singer. He was part of the band Fleetwood Mac between 1987 and 1991.Vito and Billy Burnette took over as guitarists after Lindsey Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac....
. Burnette was mainly added for his singing and songwriting skills and Vito for his lead guitar abilities.
Burnette is the son of Dorsey Burnette
Dorsey Burnette
Dorsey Burnette was an early Rockabilly singer. With his younger brother, Johnny Burnette, and a friend named Paul Burlison, he was a founder member of The Rock and Roll Trio.-Background and early career:Dorsey Burnett was born on December 28, 1932 to Willie May and Dorsey Burnett Sr...
and nephew of Johnny Burnette
Johnny Burnette
John Joseph "Johnny" Burnette was an American rockabilly musician. Along with his older brother Dorsey Burnette, and also a friend named Paul Burlison, Burnette was a founding member of The Rock and Roll Trio. He was the father of 1980s rockabilly singer Rocky Burnette.-Early life:Johnny Burnette...
, both of The Rock and Roll Trio
The Rock and Roll Trio
The Rock and Roll Trio was the name of a rockabilly group which was formed in Memphis, Tennessee during the 1950s. They were also known as "Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio" and the "Johnny Burnette Trio". The members of the Trio were Dorsey Burnette, his younger brother Johnny, and a...
. He had already worked with Mick Fleetwood in Zoo, with Christine McVie as part of her solo band, did some session work with Stevie Nicks and even backed Lindsey Buckingham on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
. Furthermore, Fleetwood and Christine McVie played on his Try Me album in 1985. Vito, a Peter Green admirer, played with many artists from Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
to John Mayall, and even worked with John McVie on two Mayall albums.
The 1987–88 "Shake the Cage" tour was the first outing for this line-up, and was successful enough to warrant the release of a concert video (simply titled "Tango in the Night"), filmed at San Francisco's Cow Palace
Cow Palace
Cow Palace is an indoor arena, in Daly City, California, situated on the city's border with neighboring San Francisco, notable as a sporting arena.-History:...
arena in December 1987.
Capitalising on the success of Tango in the Night, the band continued with a Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits (1988 Fleetwood Mac album)
Greatest Hits is a 1988 compilation album by British-American band Fleetwood Mac. It covers the period of the band's greatest commercial success, from the mid 1970s to the late 1980s....
album in 1988. It featured singles from the 1975–88 era, and included two new compositions: "No Questions Asked" written by Nicks, and "As Long as You Follow
As Long as You Follow
"As Long as You Follow" is the title of a song by the rock band Fleetwood Mac. Written by band member Christine McVie and her then-husband Eddy Quintela, the song was one of two new tracks on the band's 1988 greatest hits album and the sleeve for "As Long as You Follow" is identical to "Greatest...
" written by McVie and Quintela, which was released as a single in 1988 but only made No.43 in the US and No.66 in the UK. It did, however, reach No.1 on the US Adult Contemporary charts. The Greatest Hits album, which peaked at No.3 in the UK and No.14 in the US (though has since sold over 8 million copies there), was dedicated to Buckingham by the band, with whom they had now reconciled.
Following the Greatest Hits collection, Fleetwood Mac recorded Behind the Mask
Behind the Mask (album)
Behind the Mask is the 15th studio album by British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1990. It was the first album released by the band after the departure of guitarist Lindsey Buckingham. He was replaced by Billy Burnette and Rick Vito, both guitar players, singers and songwriters....
. With this album, the band veered away from the stylised sound that Buckingham had evolved during his tenure in the band (also evident in his solo works), and ended up with a more adult contemporary style from producer Greg Ladanyi
Greg Ladanyi
Greg Ladanyi was an American record producer and recording engineer, known for his work with many musicians, including Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Type O Negative, The Church, Anna Vissi, Toto, Fleetwood Mac, Hollywood Undead, Don Henley and Jeff Healey.-Biography:Ladanyi co-produced the Behind...
. However, the album yielded only one Top 40 hit, McVie's "Save Me". Behind the Mask only achieved Gold
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
album status in the US, peaking at No.18 on the Billboard album chart, though it entered the UK Albums Chart at #1. It received mixed reviews, and was seen by some music critics as a low point for the band in the absence of Lindsey Buckingham (who had actually made a guest appearance by playing on the title track). However, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine said that Vito and Burnette were "the best thing to ever happen to Fleetwood Mac" and the British Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine also praised the album in their review. The subsequent "Behind the Mask" tour saw the band play sold out shows at London's Wembley Stadium, and on the final show in Los Angeles, the band were joined onstage by Buckingham. The two women of the band, McVie and Nicks, had decided that the tour would be their last (McVie's father died during the tour) though both stated that they would still record with the band. However, in 1991, both Nicks and Rick Vito announced they were leaving Fleetwood Mac altogether.
In 1992, Fleetwood himself arranged a 4-disc box set spanning highlights from the band's 25 year history, titled 25 Years – The Chain (an edited 2-disc set was also available). A notable inclusion in the box set was "Silver Springs", a Stevie Nicks composition that was recorded during the Rumours sessions but was omitted from the album and used as the B-side of "Go Your Own Way" instead. Nicks had requested use of the track for her 1991 best-of compilation TimeSpace, but Fleetwood had refused her request as he had planned to include it in this collection as something of a rarity. The disagreement between Nicks and Fleetwood garnered press coverage, and is believed to be the main catalyst for Nicks leaving the band in 1991. The box set, however, also included a brand new Stevie Nicks/Rick Vito composition, "Paper Doll", which was released in the US as a single. As both members had left the band by this point, the track was presumably a leftover from the Behind the Mask sessions. There were also two new Christine McVie compositions, "Heart of Stone" and "Love Shines", the latter of which was released as a single in the UK and certain other territories. Lindsey Buckingham also contributed a new song, "Make Me a Mask", which bore all the markings of an insular Buckingham studio creation, devoid of input from other band members. Mick Fleetwood also released a deluxe hardcover companion book to coincide with the release of the box set, titled My 25 Years in Fleetwood Mac. The volume featured many rare photographs and notes (written by Fleetwood himself) detailing the band's 25 year history.
Some months after this, the Buckingham/Nicks/McVie/McVie/Fleetwood line-up reunited at the request of U.S. President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
for his first Inaugural Ball in 1993. Clinton had made Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" his campaign theme song. His subsequent request to perform it at the Inauguration Ball was met with enthusiasm by the band, however this line-up had no intention to reunite again.
Inspired by the new interest in the band, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Christine McVie recorded another album as Fleetwood Mac, with Billy Burnette taking on lead guitar duties. However, just as they made the decision to continue, Billy Burnette announced in March 1993, that he was leaving the band to pursue a country album and an acting career. Bekka Bramlett
Bekka Bramlett
Rebekka Ruth Lazone "Bekka" Bramlett is a singer from the United States. She is the daughter of popular music duo Delaney and Bonnie....
, who had worked a year earlier with Mick Fleetwood's Zoo, was recruited. Solo singer/songwriter/guitarist and Traffic's Dave Mason
Dave Mason
David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic...
, who had worked with Bekka's parents Delaney & Bonnie twenty five years earlier, was subsequently added. By March 1994, Billy Burnette, himself a good friend and co-songwriter with Delaney Bramlett
Delaney Bramlett
Delaney Bramlett was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and producer. Bramlett's five decade career reached peaks in creativity, performance, and notoriety in partnership with his then wife Bonnie Bramlett, in a revolving troupe of professional musicians and Rock superstars dubbed Delaney...
, returned with Fleetwood's blessing.
The band, minus Christine McVie, toured in 1994, opening for Crosby, Stills, & Nash, and in 1995 as part of a package with REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon
REO Speedwagon is an American rock band. Formed in 1967, the band grew in popularity during the 1970s and peaked in the early 1980s. Hi Infidelity is the group's most commercially successful album, selling over ten million copies and charting four Top 40 hits in the US...
and Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar
Pat Benatar is an American singer and four-time Grammy winner. She had considerable commercial success particularly in the United States...
. The tour saw the band perform classic Fleetwood Mac songs from the initial 1967–1974 era. In 1995, at a concert in Tokyo, the band was greeted by former member Jeremy Spencer, who performed a few songs with them.
On 10 October 1995, Fleetwood Mac released the unsuccessful Time
Time (Fleetwood Mac album)
Time is the 16th studio album by British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1995. This album featured a unique line-up for the band featuring the addition of former Traffic guitarist Dave Mason and country vocalist Bekka Bramlett, daughter of Delaney and Bonnie, to the line-up...
album. Although hitting the UK Top 60 for one week the album had zero impact in the US. It failed even to graze the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, a stunning reversal for a band that had been a mainstay on that chart for most of the previous two decades. Shortly after the album's release, Christine McVie informed the band that the album was her last. Bramlett and Burnette subsequently formed a country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
duo, Bekka & Billy
Bekka & Billy
Bekka & Billy was an American country music duo consisting of singer-songwriters Bekka Bramlett and Billy Burnette, who first worked together as members of Fleetwood Mac. Their eponymous debut album was released by Almo Sounds in April 1997...
.
Re-connected chain (1997–2007)
Just weeks after disbanding Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood announced that he was working with Lindsey Buckingham again. John McVie was soon added to the sessions, and later Christine McVie. Stevie Nicks also enlisted Lindsey Buckingham to produce a song for a soundtrack.In May 1996, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks made an appearance at a private party in Louisville
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, Kentucky prior to the Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter mile at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry...
(with Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
filling in for Lindsey Buckingham). A week later, the Twister film soundtrack was released, which featured the Stevie Nicks-Lindsey Buckingham duet, "Twisted", with Mick Fleetwood on drums. This eventually led to a full Rumours line-up reunion when the band officially reformed in March 1997. The regrouped Mac performed a live concert recorded on a Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
Burbank
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
, California soundstage on 22 May, and from this performance came the 1997 live album The Dance, bringing Fleetwood Mac back to the top of the US album charts for the first time in 15 years. The album returned Fleetwood Mac to their superstar commercial status that they had not enjoyed since their Tango in the Night album. The album was certified a 5 million seller by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
. A successful arena tour followed the MTV premiere of The Dance, which kept the reunited Mac on the road throughout much of 1997, the 20th anniversary of their Rumours album. However, this would be the final foray of the classic 1970s line-up with Christine McVie.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
and performed at the Grammy Awards program that year. They were also the recipients of the "Outstanding Contribution to Music" award at the BRIT Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
(British Phonographic Industry Awards) the same year.
In 1998, Christine McVie left the band and returned to the UK to retire from touring (though not from the music business entirely as she created a new album, In the Meantime
In the Meantime (album)
-Personnel:*Christine McVie - vocals, piano, keyboards, synthesizer*Dan Perfect - guitar, programming, backing vocals*George Hawkins - bass guitar, backing vocals*Steve Ferrone - drums*Lenny Castro - percussion*Luis Conte - percussion...
, in 2004). Her departure left Buckingham and Nicks to sing all the lead vocals for the band's 2003 album, Say You Will
Say You Will
Say You Will is the 17th album by British/American band Fleetwood Mac, released in 2003. It was the first Fleetwood Mac album in 34 years not to include tracks written by vocalist/keyboardist Christine McVie, who had left the group in 1998. McVie is featured on two songs, which had been originally...
, although Christine did contribute some backing vocals and keyboards. The album debuted at No.3 on the Billboard 200 chart (#6 in the UK) and yielded chart hits with "Peacekeeper" and the title track, and a successful world arena tour
Say You Will Tour
The Say You Will Tour was a concert tour by the rock band Fleetwood Mac in support of their 2003 album Say You Will. It ran from May 7, 2003 to September 14, 2004 and consisted of 136 shows in the United States, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Australia.The tour DVD set Live In...
which lasted through 2004.
In interviews given in November 2006 to support his solo album Under the Skin
Under the Skin (album)
Under the Skin is the fourth solo album by American musician and Fleetwood Mac vocalist/guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, released on October 3, 2006. The album, long delayed by Fleetwood Mac's reunion tour in the 1990s and 2003 album Say You Will, was his first solo release in 14 years...
, Buckingham stated that plans for the band to reunite once more for a 2008 tour were still on the cards. Recording plans have been put on hold for the foreseeable future. In a September 2007 interview Stevie Nicks gave to the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
, she noted that she was unwilling to carry on with the band unless Christine McVie returned.
However in a more recent interview, Mick Fleetwood said "...be very happy and hopeful that we will be working again. I can tell you everyone's going to be extremely excited about what's happening with Fleetwood Mac."
Unleashed tour and future projects (2008–present)
On 14 March 2008, the Associated PressAssociated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
reported Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Crow
Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
as saying that she would be working with Fleetwood Mac in 2009. Crow and Stevie Nicks collaborated a great deal in the past and she has stated that Nicks has been a great teacher and inspiration for her. In a subsequent interview with Buckingham, he said after discussions between the band and Crow, the potential collaboration with Crow "lost its momentum". However, in a June 2008 interview, Nicks denied that Crow would be joining Fleetwood Mac as a replacement for Christine McVie. According to Nicks, "the group will start working on material and recording probably in October, and finish an album." On 7 October 2008, Mick Fleetwood confirmed on the BBC's The One Show
The One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
that the band were working in the studio and also announced plans for a world tour in 2009.
In late 2008, Fleetwood Mac announced that the band would tour in 2009, beginning in March. As per the 2003–2004 tour, Christine McVie would not be featured in the line-up. The tour was branded as a 'greatest hits' show entitled Unleashed, although they played album tracks such as "Storms" and "I Know I'm Not Wrong". The first show was on 1 March 2009, and in February they announced a slew of new dates.
According to Billboard, Mick Fleetwood said during a teleconference with reporters on 12 February 2009, "This is the first time we've gone on the road without an album. This is truly a new experience for Fleetwood Mac to go out and play songs that we believe and hope people are going to be familiar with and love."
Stevie Nicks stated that, with regard to a new Fleetwood Mac album, "There isn't any plan at this point... for any album. We're going to get through this tour before deciding what to do with an album."
During the concerts mentioned, Buckingham stated, "the time is right to go back to the studio—but only after a tour. I think maybe there was even a sense that we would make a better album if we went out and hung out together first on the road ... Maybe even sowing some seeds musically that would get us more prepared to go in the studio rather than just going in cold. It takes the pressure [off] from having to go in and make something cold."
During their show on 20 June 2009 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Stevie Nicks premiered part of a new song that she had written about Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
.
In October 2009, the band began a tour of Europe which carried on into early November, followed by a tour of Australia and New Zealand in December.
Also in October The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac was re-released in an extended two-disc format (this format having been released in the US in 2002), premiering at number six on the UK Albums Chart.
On 1 November 2009, a new one-hour documentary, Fleetwood Mac: Don't Stop, was broadcast in the UK on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, which featured recent interviews with all four current band members. During the documentary, Nicks gave a candid summary of the current state of her relationship with Buckingham, stating "Maybe when we're 75 and Fleetwood Mac is a distant memory, we might be friends...". It also included outtakes from the Tusk recording sessions, not seen for many years since their availability on VHS cassette in 1981.
On 6 November 2009 Fleetwood Mac played the last show of the European leg of their Unleashed tour at London's Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena is an indoor arena, at Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium.-History:...
. Christine McVie was present in the audience, so Stevie Nicks paid a tribute from the stage to a standing ovation from the audience, stating that she thought about her former bandmate "every day", and went on to dedicate that night's performance of "Landslide" to McVie.
On 19 December 2009, Fleetwood Mac played the second to last act of their Unleashed tour to a sell-out crowd at what was originally intended to be a one-off event at the TSB Bowl of Brooklands
Brooklands, Taranaki
Brooklands is a suburb of New Plymouth, in the Taranaki region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the southern edge of the city and east of Vogeltown. The area is named after Brooklands farm, established in 1842.-Features:...
, New Plymouth, New Zealand. Tickets, after pre-sales, sold out within twelve minutes of public release, and another date (Sunday 20 December), which also sold out, was added.
On 19 October 2010, Fleetwood Mac played a private show at the Phoenician Hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2010 the population of the city was 217,385...
for TPG (Texas Pacific Group
Texas Pacific Group
TPG Capital is one of the largest private equity investment firms globally, focused on leveraged buyout, growth capital and leveraged recapitalization investments in distressed companies and turnaround situations. TPG also manages investment funds specializing in growth capital, venture capital,...
).
On 3 May 2011, the Fox Network
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
broadcast an episode of Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
(Season 2, Episode 19) entitled "Rumours" that featured six songs from the band's 1977 album. The show sparked renewed interest in the band and its most commercially successful album, and Rumours reentered the Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart at #11, the same week that Stevie Nicks' new solo album In Your Dreams
In Your Dreams (album)
In Your Dreams is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac vocalist Stevie Nicks, released on May 3, 2011 by Reprise Records...
debuted at #6. (Nicks was quoted by Billboard saying that her new album was "my own little Rumours." ) The two recordings sold about 30,000 and 52,000 units, respectively. Music downloads accounted for ninety-one percent of the Rumours sales. The spike in sales for Rumours represented an uptick of 1,951%. It was the highest chart entry by a previously issued album since The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
s reissue of Exile On Main St.
Exile on Main St.
Exile on Main St. is the tenth British and 12th American studio album by English rock band The Rolling Stones. Released as a double LP in May 1972, it draws on many genres including rock and roll, blues, soul, R&B, gospel and country. The release of Exile on Main St. met with mixed reviews, but is...
reentered the chart at #2 on 5 June 2010.
On 13 May 2011 Stevie Nicks announced that Fleetwood Mac would go out on tour again in 2012 (not mentioning the scale) and talked of a possible new album.
Remasters
- The 1967–69 Blue Horizon albums (Fleetwood MacFleetwood Mac (1968 album)-2004 release:-Personnel:*Peter Green – vocals, guitar, harmonica*Jeremy Spencer – vocals, slide guitar, piano*John McVie – bass guitar*Mick Fleetwood – drums*Bob Brunning – bass guitar on "Long Grey Mare"-References:...
, Mr. WonderfulMr. Wonderful (album)Mr. Wonderful is the second album by the blues-rock band, Fleetwood Mac, released in 1968. An expanded version of this album was included in the box set, The Complete Blue Horizon Sessions....
, The Pious Bird of Good OmenThe Pious Bird of Good Omen-2004 release:-Personnel:Fleetwood Mac*Peter Green – vocals, guitar, harmonica*Jeremy Spencer – vocals, slide guitar*Danny Kirwan – vocals, electric guitar on side 2, tracks 1 and 4*John McVie – bass guitar*Mick Fleetwood – drumsAdditional musicians...
and Fleetwood Mac in Chicago) and 1971 outtakes album The Original Fleetwood MacThe Original Fleetwood MacThe Original Fleetwood Mac is a compilation album by blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac, first released in 1971. It consists of various outtakes recorded by the first incarnation of the band in 1967-68...
have been fully remastered & reissued on CD, as have the 1975–79 Warner Brothers albums Fleetwood MacFleetwood Mac (1975 album)2004 Re-issueOn 24 March 2004, Warner Bros. Records re-released the remastered album, with the following bonus tracks:"Jam #2" – 5:41"Say You Love Me" [single version] – 4:03...
, Rumours, and Tusk.
Tours
- Kiln House tour – 1970
- Future Games tour – 1971
- Bare Trees tour – 1972
- Penguin tour – early 1973
- Mystery To Me tour – Mid 1973
- Heroes Are Hard To Find tour – 1974
- Fleetwood Mac tour – April–December 1975, April–December 1976
- Rumours tour – 1977–1978
- Tusk TourTusk TourThe Tusk Tour was a world concert tour by the rock group Fleetwood Mac. The tour began on October 26, 1979 in Pocatello, Idaho and ended on September 1, 1980 in Hollywood, California.-First North American Leg:*October 26, 1979: Pocatello, ID - MiniDome...
– 1979–1980 - Mirage tour – 1982
- Shake The Cage tour – 1987–1988
- Behind The Mask tour – 1990
- Time tour – 1994–1995
- The Dance – 1997
- Say You Will TourSay You Will TourThe Say You Will Tour was a concert tour by the rock band Fleetwood Mac in support of their 2003 album Say You Will. It ran from May 7, 2003 to September 14, 2004 and consisted of 136 shows in the United States, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Australia.The tour DVD set Live In...
– 2003–2004 - Unleashed tour – 2009
Personnel
| (1967) | (When John McVie refused to join the newly formed band, they hired Brunning with the understanding that he was out if McVie changed his mind.)
|
|---|---|
| (1967–68) |
(After a few weeks, McVie joined the band in time to record their debut album.)
|
| (1968–70) |
Danny Kirwan Daniel David "Danny" Kirwan is a British musician best known for his role as guitarist, singer and songwriter with the blues-rock band Fleetwood Mac between 1968 and 1972.-Early career:... – guitar, vocals |
| (1970) |
|
| (1970–71) |
Christine McVie Christine McVie is an English rock singer, keyboardist, and songwriter. Her primary fame came as a member of the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, though she has also released three solo albums... – keyboard Electronic keyboard An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:... , vocals (Peter Green filled in on guitars for the remainder of the tour after Spencer abruptly quit the band.) |
| (1971–72) |
|
| (1972–73) |
Dave Walker David Walker is a singer and guitarist for a number of bands; notably Savoy Brown and Fleetwood Mac. He shortened his name to Dave Walker... – vocals Bob Weston (guitarist) See Bob Weston for the American bassist and recording engineer.Robert Joseph 'Bob' Weston is a British musician best known for his brief role as guitarist and songwriter with the rock band Fleetwood Mac.... – guitar |
| (1973–74) |
|
| (1974) |
|
| (1975–87) |
Lindsey Buckingham Lindsey Adams Buckingham is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being the guitarist and male lead singer of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released six solo albums and a live album... – guitar, vocals Stevie Nicks Stephanie Lynn "Stevie" Nicks is an American singer-songwriter, best known for her work with Fleetwood Mac and an extensive solo career, which collectively have produced over forty Top 50 hits and sold over 140 million albums... – vocals |
| (1987–90) |
Rick Vito Rick Vito is a guitarist and singer. He was part of the band Fleetwood Mac between 1987 and 1991.Vito and Billy Burnette took over as guitarists after Lindsey Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac.... – guitar, vocals Billy Burnette William Beau "Billy" Burnette III is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter who was part of the band Fleetwood Mac from 1987 to 1995. Burnette also had a brief career in acting.-Family background:... – guitar, vocals |
| (1991–92) |
|
| (1993–95) |
Bekka Bramlett Rebekka Ruth Lazone "Bekka" Bramlett is a singer from the United States. She is the daughter of popular music duo Delaney and Bonnie.... – vocals Dave Mason David Thomas "Dave" Mason is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist from Worcester, who first found fame with the rock band Traffic... – guitar, vocals |
| (1997–98) |
|
| (1998–present) |
|
Timeline
Further reading
- Silver, Murray "When Elvis Meets the Dalai Lama," (Bonaventure Books, Savannah, 2005) in which the author recounts his days as a concert promoter in Atlanta, GA., and having brought Fleetwood Mac to town for the very first time in December 1969.
- Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Allmusic
- The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll (Simon & Schuster, 2001)