FLEETWOOD MAC
MIRAGE
PRESS KIT
These days, most big time rock bands are as predictable as the rising and
setting of the sun and a lot less exciting. Their members are anonymous; if one
leaves, a replacement appears immediately, right off the assembly line. Their
music seems to be determined according to demographic studies, radio formats,
market research and other enemies of all that is inventive and original. And
what comes out, more often than not, is merely boring.
If ever a group did things by instinct and
feel, rather than by calculation, then the group is Fleetwood Mac. It should
come as little surprise that this band has again broken the mold with Mirage
their twelfth album for Warner Bros. and the fifth to feature the line up of
Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Christine McVie, John McVie and Stevie
Nicks. One thing seems certain: Mirage will quickly silence those who harbour
suspicions that Fleetwood Mac has lost any of its power as a thoroughly
cohesive, commercially formidable musical entity.
Drummer Mick Fleetwood described the mood of
Fleetwood Mac as work on Mirage began in May, 1981: "I think we were quietly
aware that we wanted to come off as a band, in terms of the way the tracks felt,
and we have absolutely done that. On Tusk, only because there was so much music,
it looked and felt a lot more segregated than it actually was; we might have
suffered a bit from the aspect of people identifying with us as a unit, as 'the
band.' This album takes care of that, I think. Plus, it's kept us feeling fresh
about what we're doing. We're managed to keep it feeling good."
Comparisons to both Rumours, Fleetwood Mac's
16 million selling blockbuster, and Tusk, the ambitious double album (itself a
quadruple platinum seller) that succeeded it, are inevitable, It might be said
that ,Mirage combines the best of both worlds; it is every bit as fresh and
accessible as Rumours, whilst its production sound (mainly courtesy of principal
producers Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut and Ken Caillat) is as lively and
distinctive, and sometimes as predictable, as Tusk's. As Fleetwood puts it,
"It's just an example of how a band, if it's going to continue, should learn to
use their abilities to project themselves in healthy ways. I mean, all bands go
through different stages. You learn to use your professional abilities, your
creative abilities, everything, and put 'era in a big pot. It would be stupid
not to do that.
"Basically, as a band we don't feel we have
to do any one thing at all. I think Tusk, in a not particularly conscious way,
definitely made it clear that we would never, ever have to comply with some
given expectations. For that reason it will probably always be the most healthy
album, in terms of the onward going motion of this band, that will ever be. It
made us very confident, feeling that we can do what we want to do, and not be
frightened of doing it. As for this album, it's not a matter of, 'Well, we
better rush back and do something that's going to be more accessible,' I think
it just shows that we're getting better at our trade."
Keyboardist/singer Christine McVie,
describing a modus operandi that for nearly 15 years has kept a group of
musicians together under the Fleetwood Mac banner, puts it this way: "The thing
about this band is that there's never any specific direction that we put
ourselves in. This album may end up being called Rumours II, but we couldn't
have planned it that way. We just get the songs together that we want to do, and
that reflect the way we're all feeling musically at the time. This just happens
to be very fresh, innovative stuff. It's something for which we have no
accounting." Adds co-producer Dashut, "We just do what we do it's that simple.
God help us if we think we know what we're doing, because then we're in trouble!
We're playing music, not chess. Leave the calculations to the chess players."
Many of the basic tracks for Mirage were
recorded last year at Le Chateau in HerouviIle, France, the studio that yielded
Elton John's Honky Chateau and many other works. The five weeks spent in France
"put everyone on the line a little bit," says Buckingham. "I think it brought us
together," notes Fleetwood, before France, we hadn't really seen too much of
each other for about eight months, in terms of official 'band involvement,' you
know. So it served a purpose by bringing us together where there were no
distractions."
After returning to the U.S., the band
continued the recording process at two Los Angeles studios, Larrabee Sound and
the Record Plant. Except for one two month interval, work on the album,
continued straight through to mid-May, 1982.
Those 10 months of hard work on two
continents resulted in 12 songs, with each of Fleetwood Mac's three resident
composer/vocalists represented with some of his or her strongest contributions
yet. Christine McVie's four songs include the first single, "Hold Me"
(co-written by Robbie Patton), as well as "Love In Store" (written with Jim
Recor) and two ballads, "Only Over You" and "Wish You Were Here" (the latter
with lyrics by Colin Allen). Stevie Nicks songs are "That's Alright," "Gypsy"
(the subject of the first promotional video for the album, directed by Russell
Mulcahy, who was also responsible for Kim Carnes' "Bette Davis Eyes") and
"Straight Back," while Lindsey Buckingham contributes five: "Can't Go Back,"
"Eyes Of The World," and three co-written by Richard Dashut, "Book Of Love,"
"Empire State" and "Oh Diane."
As always, the instrumentation features
Buckingham's guitars and Christine McVie's keyboards backed by the rock solid
rhythm section of Fleetwood and bassist John McVie. Some slightly more exotic
instruments were used as well, including vibes and harp, both played by
Buckingham. Meanwhile, the vocals of Lindsey, Stevie and Christine have never
sounded so lush, lovely and completely together as they do on Mirage.
Five consecutive albums, Fleetwood Mac,
Rumours, Tusk, Fleetwood Mac Live and now Mirage by the same personnel is about
three more than any of the previous Fleetwood Mac incarnations could come up
with and probably more than anyone expected from this lineup. But Fleetwood Mac
is nothing if not a group of individuals, with a few surprises up their
collective sleeve. Says Buckingham, "You know, a lot of people thought this album would not
be forthcoming; when the solo albums came out last year, everybody was saying
that that was the end of Fleetwood Mac. But I think a lot of people will be
pleasantly surprised by this album. It represents a real band effort and it
shows that we're still got it.
06/82
FLEETWOOD MAC - A BRIEF HISTORY
08/67: Fleetwood Mac makes its debut
at the National Blues and Jazz Festival in Windsor, Great Britain. Members
include three John Mayall alumni--guitarist/vocalist
Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bass player John McVie and slide
guitarist/vocalist Jeremy Spencer
11/67: "I Believe My Time Ain't
Long"/"Rambling Pony," their first single, is released in England on the Blue
Horizon label.
02/68: Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac,
the first album, is released in England; four months later, it is released by
Epic Records in the United States.
03/68: Peter Green's "Black Magic
Woman," later a major hit for Santana, is issued as a Fleetwood Mac single in
the United Kingdom; in the U.S., it is issued by Epic in June.
08/68: Mr. Wonderful, the second
English album, is released. Some of the same tracks are included in the second
American album, English Rose, released in January, 1969.
11/68: "Albatross," which will become
Fleetwood Mac's first number One English single, is released on Blue Horizon.
Late '68: Fleetwood Mac gains a third
guitarist/vocalist in 18 year old Danny Kirwin. Kirwin's "Jigsaw Puzzle Blues"
is the flip side of "Albatross."
10/69: Then Play On, Fleetwood Mac's
first album for Reprise/Warner Bros., is released in the U.S. Included in later
editions is "Oh Well," the third of their first three major English hits (the
second was "Man Of The World").
Early '69: Fleetwood Mac jams and
records in Chicago with several legends of the blues, including Walter "Shakey"
Horton, Willie Dixon and Otis Spann.
05/70: Peter Green, the group's most
prominent member, announces his departure. His last recorded contribution is
"The Green Manalishi," a single released in the U.S. in June.
09/70: Fleetwood Mac, without Green,
releases its fourth LP, Kiln House. Helping out on vocals is Christine McVie,
John's wife since 1968 and a former member of the group Chicken Shack, as well
as an erstwhile solo artist. Though uncredited, she is now an official Fleetwood
Mac member.
02/71: Jeremy Spencer abruptly quits Fleetwood Mac during an American
tour; while in Los Angeles, he is accosted by a member of the Children of God
religious sect, and is converted. The tour is completed with the assistance of
Peter Green.
11/71: Future Games, the fifth album, is released in America.
Contributing the title track is Spencer's replacement, American
guitarist/vocalist Bob Welch.
03/72: Bare Trees is released, with Kirwan, Welch and Christine McVie
again handling all the songwriting and singing. Included is "Sentimental Lady,"
later re-recorded by Welch to launch his solo career.
10/72: Danny Kirwan becomes the latest Mac member to leave the group;
with his departure, none of the three guitarists who fronted the band during its
heyday in England remains.
03/73: Penguin is released, featuring two members, guitarist Bob Weston
(late of Long John Baldry's band) and singer Dave Walker (late of Savoy Brown).
Walker lasts but this one album with Fleetwood Mac.
10/73: Mystery To Me is released by the quintet of Welch, Weston, Fleetwood
and John and Christine McVie. Weston, however, is gone by year's end, and
Fleetwood Mac is reduced to a quartet.
09/74: Heroes Are Hard To Find is released. Yet another personnel change
is on the way; Bob Welch, describing himself as "burned out," leaves the band in
December.
1975: Another new line up is unveiled, with Americans Lindsey Buckingham
(guitar, vocals) and Stephanie "Stevie" Nicks joining Fleetwood and the McVies.
The pair has already recorded an album together, called Buckingham Nicks, and
released by Polydor in September, 1973.
07/75: Fleetwood Mac, the first album by the new line-up, is released. It
goes to number One, yielding the hits "Over My Head," "Rhiannon" and "Say You
Love Me" and becoming Fleetwood Mac's first platinum album.
02/77: Rumours, the Buckingham Nicks line-up's" second album, takes
Fleetwood Mac's fortunes to dizzying heights, holding down the top spot on all
the national album charts for well over 20 weeks. Four singles are issued: "Go
Your Own Way," "Dreams" (their first Number One single in America), "Don't Stop"
and "You Make Loving Fun." Rumours wins a Grammy Award for Album of the Year and
sells 16 million copies, and the band tours the world for I0 months in support
of it.
10/79: Tusk, the. long-awaited Rumours
follow-up, is released. A double albums', it is perhaps their most ambitious
work. It also marks the first time the same personnel have appeared on three
consecutive albums. Singles include Buckingham's "Tusk" (recorded live at Dodger
Stadium in Los Angeles with the assistance of the University of Southern
California Marching Band), Nicks' "Sara" and Chris McVie's "Think About Me."
09/80: Fleetwood Mac again
tours the world, playing some 115 shows before finishing up at the Hollywood
Bowl on Labour Day. A long rest follows.
12/80: Fleetwood Mac Live, the group's
first official i.e., non-bootleg live album, is released. Among its 17 songs,
recorded in 11 cities, are four never before recorded by Fleetwood Mac: Brian
Wilson's "Farmer's Daughter, .... Don't Let Me Down Again" (an old Buckingham
Nicks number), Nicks' "Fireflies" and Christine McVie's "One More Night."
1981: Three Fleetwood Mac solo albums
are released: Fleetwood's The Visitor, recorded in Ghana (June); Nicks' Bella
Donna (July), and Buckingham's Law And Order (October). By year's end, Christine
McVie has revealed plans for her own solo project, her first since 1969.
06/82: Mirage, the fifth album from
Fleetwood Mac's Buckingham Nicks era, is released, with "Hold Me" b/w "Eyes Of
The World" the first single. Work on the album had begun in France in May, 1981.
