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Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, UK Articles

Stevie Nicks – The Q Interview

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By Sylvie Simmons
Q Magazine (UK)
May 1, 2008

Stevie Nicks is the epitome of Californian rock excess. While in Fleetwood Mac she sold millions and snorted half of Colombia. Solo, she sold millions and got addicted to painkillers. Unsurprisingly, she has advice for Amy Winehouse.

She still looks like a heroine from romantic fiction—long blonde hair, pale skin, big, dark, peculiarly innocent eyes staring out from under a fringe. She’s wearing a flowing chiffon top, black, fake snakeskin pants and ballet pumps. Except for the lack of heels, the look is classic Stevie Nicks, small enough for a gust of wind to blow over.

Fortunately we’re not at her Southern California home perched on a breezy spot above the Pacific Ocean, what she calls her “little one-bedroom, rock ‘n’ roll crazy palace”—but her other house, 10 minutes’ drive inland. A house so big you hardly notice the grand piano under the curved staircase in the chandeliered entrance hall. Too big, she says; she’s going to sell it.

Stacked by the front door is a large set of travel bags. Nicks is leaving in the morning for a show in Chicago, before heading on to Nashville, where they’re making a Stevie Nicks TV special. Which doesn’t stop her talking to Q until well past midnight. “I do talk a lot,” she says, and as always, she is telling the truth. In conversation, Nicks is frank, funny, guileless and had perfect recall of a 40-year career—amazing when you considered she was addicted to cocaine or tranquillisers for half that time.

Notoriety aside, Nicks is celebrated for her role in helping Fleetwood Mac become one of the world’s most enduring bands. Before Nicks and then-boyfriend, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, joined in 1974, Fleetwood Mac were a fading British blues rock act, treading water. Within three years they would produce one of the best-selling albums of all time, Rumours, while Nicks’s tracks such as Gold Dust Woman, Rhiannon and Sara became a key strand of the band’s woozy, Calfornian mystique. Solo success would follow in he ‘80s, with Nicks subsequently hailed as an influence by successive generations of musicians, including Courtney Love and Sheryl Crow.

Continue reading Stevie Nicks – The Q Interview →
Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham

Rock Village Interview with Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham

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By Gary Graff (January 29 1998)

Nobody proclaimed hell would have to freeze over before the members of the Rumours-era Fleetwood Mac got back together. It’s been a decade since this particular fivesome — singer Stevie Nicks, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, keyboardist Christine McVie, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie — recorded together, and a decade-and-a-half since they last toured. But, thanks to a bit of maturity, some squelched drug habits and a few lukewarm solo careers, the Mac is back. And so is the audience that has scooped up some 26 million copies of Rumours since its 1977 release. Fleetwood Mac’s recent live album, The Dance, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard chart and the ensuing tour sold-out arenas across North America. But the success continued into 1998. Mac was recently inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, and The Dance is up for a Grammy. In this chat with RockVillage, Buckingham and Christine McVie show they don’t stop thinking about tomorrow.

RockVillage: Are you surprised at how successful this project has been?

Lindsey Buckingham: The album coming in at No. 1, that was really strange, I don’t know what that means. It’s just nice to know there’s so much of a pull for us to be up there together.

Christine McVie: I’m not now, no. But I was. Now I’m just happily sort of grooving along with it. It’s been terrific fun. I was shocked we did get together in the first place. I didn’t believe it would happen. 

Continue reading Rock Village Interview with Christine McVie and Lindsey Buckingham →
Article Archive Pages, Fleetwood Mac, Release Info, Stevie Nicks

A Time to Dance, Fleetwood Mac is Back | BAM Magazine

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Never Break The Chain

Jeff McDonald talks to Fleetwood Mac singer and pop-culture icon Stevie Nicks about old rumours, the new dance and her life as a “living adjective”

WHEN I FIRST RECEIVED THE ASSIGNMENT TO interview Stevie Nicks — who’s my all-time rock n’ roll idol, not to mention a pop-culture icon of legendary status — I was nervous. But upon my arrival at her West LA home, I found Ms. Nicks not to be the mystical, witchy, other-wordly pop diva I’d expected, but rather a casual, articulate and very down-to-earth person. As she opened the door barefoot wearing a thrift-store-type vintage dress, she invited me into her home and offered me fresh cherries and ice-water. Immediately, I got the feeling that if I had needed a place to stay, Stevie would’ve let crash on her couch. She’s a very cool woman. As you know, Stevie Nicks is Fleetwood Mac’s charismatic lead vocalist, who brought ballet (along with Freddie Mercury, that is) and brilliant pop poetry to the masses. On the 20th anniversary of their mega-platinum-selling album, Rumours, Fleetwood Mac have reformed for the most-anticipated tour of the year. Along with this nationwide string of appearances, the band which includes guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, keyboardist Christine McVie, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood- have just released a new CD, The Dance, which is a live recording of their already legendary MTV special.

I’m not a rock journalist so I’m a little nervous.
Don’t be nervous.

When I get nervous I get chapped lips.
Want some Chap-Stick?

I think I’ll be OK.
Are you sure? We’ve got a whole house of women here, we’ve got everything.

I had a little problem with Chap-Stick-I got addicted to it so I’ve had to give it up, but thanks anyway. Let’s start with the MTV performance that you taped earlier this spring. Unfortunately, I couldn’t go, but a friend of mine who went told me her hair actually stood up on her arms. And I know that Courtney Love cried three times during the concert. It was so unfair that I had to miss it.
I’m sorry you had to miss it, too.

I did see one song, “The Chain,” on video. It sounded so cool, so vital. Not at all “oldies” music.
From the first day on April 1st, I said to myself, if I go up there and it feels like some kind of retro thing, I’m off the stage, I’m out of the hall, I’m not going to do this. But it never felt like that. It felt like we were getting back into rehearsal, just starting up again. Like maybe we’d been off for a year. That’s how it felt.

Continue reading A Time to Dance, Fleetwood Mac is Back | BAM Magazine →
Article Archive Pages, Fleetwood Mac, John McVie, Release Info

A life with Fleetwood Mac – John McVie | Bass Player

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Bass Player
May/June 1995
By Alexis Sklarevski

John McVie has been an integral part of several revolutions in popular music. Born on November 26, 1945, McVie grew up in England. He started playing in a group called the Krewsaders while still in school – and he’s never stopped. In the 1960s, he laid down the bottom for the seminal blues-rock band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, which paved the way for groups like Cream, Led Zeppelin, and the Jeff Beck Group. Then, in the ’70s, he helped Fleetwood Mac to become one of the biggest and most successful pop acts in the world. McVie’s approach to the bass may not be considered “technical” or “schooled” – but there’s no denying that he can inject more heart and soul into one not than more modern “whiz kids” can summon up on an entire record.

Over the past 30 years, partnered with rock-solid drummer Mick Fleetwood, McVie has provided one stellar bass line after another for an astounding array of Fleetwood Mac hits, such as “Rhiannon”, “Say you love me”, and “Dreams”. I had the opportunity to interview John before the start of a Fleetwood Mac recording session in Hollywood, where the band is preparing to add yet another album to its long and colorful history.

What’s the new Fleetwood Mac lineup?

There are actually two entities right now. There’s the road band, with Dave Mason and Billy Burnette on guitar, Bekka Bramlett (Delaney and Bonnie’s daughter) on vocals, Mick, and myself. Then there’s the recording band, which has (singer/keyboardist) Christine McVie in it. This new band has a little more edge to it, and it’s bluesier than before. Bekka’s playing is very R&B, Billy is rock & roll and rockabilly, and Dave is… Well, Dave! The combination seems to work really well; I’m very happy with it.

Continue reading A life with Fleetwood Mac – John McVie | Bass Player →
Archive News, Lindsey Buckingham, Reviews, Solo Activity

LIFE AFTER MAC : At the Coach House, Lindsey Buckingham Will Be Playing His First Concert Since His Old Band Broke Up | LA Times

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By Mike Boehm 

Lindsey Buckingham is scheduled to lose his virginity tonight at 8 in front of 500 people. He says he isn’t nervous.

Before defenders of the public virtue take alarm, it should be noted that Buckingham’s rite of passage, while it may involve some loud noises and sweating, will be purely musical.

At 42, Buckingham is no blushing bride in the world of rock ‘n’ roll. To the contrary, he is a tremendously savvy pop-rock craftsman whose contributions as a singer, songwriter, guitarist and, most crucially, as an arranger and recording studio auteurwere indispensable in transforming Fleetwood Mac from a dogged band of hard-luck barnstormers to a paragon of pop success. This is one guy who chased after musical fame and fortune and found out what it was like to go all the way.

However, he has never played a show in which he had to go all the way on his own. That will change at the Coach House tonight, when he will play the first concert of his life in which he’ll be leading a band by himself (he and the band will be back again Friday). Continue reading LIFE AFTER MAC : At the Coach House, Lindsey Buckingham Will Be Playing His First Concert Since His Old Band Broke Up | LA Times →

Lindsey Buckingham, Reviews

Buckingham plays way out of trouble |  The Canberra Times

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 By BEVAN HANNAN
The Canberra Time
1st Oct 1992

Out of the Cradle. (Phonogram)

FOR THE time it took Lindsey Buckingham to put out this release, the cynics said it should have been called Out of the Rocking Chair rather than Out of the Cradle.

After all, it has been more than four years since Buckingham left super group Fleetwood Mac, went into hiding in his personal studio and set about recording his third solo album.

Buckingham’s insistance on doing things his way — and only his way — was to ensure his guitar playing talents took a higher profile. And if there is one lingering doubt about the whole project, it is why didn’t he do it earlier?

On Out of the Cradle, Buckingham delves into some interesting instrumentals, including Rodgers and Hammerstein’s This Nearly Was Mine from the South Pacific theatre score. This is one of the more gentle acoustic caresses, but the crisp guitar sound ventures into a pounding rhythm reminiscent of Freddie Mercury and Queen in their heyday on This is the Time.

Continue reading Buckingham plays way out of trouble |  The Canberra Times →
Lindsey Buckingham, Release Info, Solo Activity

‘Boy wonder’ puts out a new album | The Canberra Times

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By Greg Kot
Sat 27 Jun 1992
The Canberra Times

Lindsey Buckingham, late of Fleetwood Mac, is back on top, as Greg Kot reports.

IN 1987, when the musical world last heard from Lindsey Buckingham, he was telling Fleetwood Mac he wanted out — and his bandmates were not taking the news well.

The break-up, on the eve of a world tour, was recounted in bloody detail by Mick Fleetwood in a recent autobiography, but the drummer says that, in retrospect, everyone saw it coming.

Buckingham had been the creative hub of the band for 12 years, as songwriter, singer, guitarist, producer and arranger, the “boy wonder” — as Fleetwood described him — who could take one of Stevie Nicks’s raw, rambling stories and sculpt it into a pop song such as Sara or Gypsy.

But he found himself no longer being challenged. “I had not been very happy in that situation for a while,” Buckingham says. His first new music in five years, Out of the Cradle (Warner Bros), is a fresh start for the 42-year-old singer.

Continue reading ‘Boy wonder’ puts out a new album | The Canberra Times →
Article Archive Pages, Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood

Fleetwood Mac by Mick Fleetwood with Stephen Davis

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Rolling Stone
September 20, 1990

In an excerpt from his upcoming book, Mick Fleetwood tells how ‘Rumours’ got started.

IN 1969, the English blues band Fleetwood Mac was one of the top groups in the world, outselling the Beatles and the Rolling Stones in Europe. But within two years, guitarist and chief songwriter Peter Green would leave the band after an LSD-induced religious conversion; second guitarist Jeremy Spencer would disappear into a California hippie cult; and third guitarist Danny Kirwan would suffer a breakdown while the band was touring.

That left drummer Mick Fleetwood, bassist John McVie and singer-key-boardist Christine McVie to somehow carry on. In 1975, after relocating to Los Angeles, they hired a pair of starving American musicians, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham.

Defying all expectations, the first album by the new lineup, Fleetwood Mac, became a huge hit, outselling all of the band’s previous albums. In this excerpt from Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac (which was written with Stephen Davis and will be published in October by William Morrow), Mick Fleetwood describes the volatile emotional climate that led to the artistic and commercial breakthrough of the follow-up album, Rumours.

AH, CRUEL FATE! Bitter destiny!

As Fleetwood Mac crawled and clawed our way back to the top, the gods were laughing at us and having sport. As Fleetwood Mac inched its way to the summit of the charts, our lives were snarled by disharmony and pain. In the year it took us to make our second album with the new lineup, the record that would change all our lives forever, we all got divorced.

Continue reading Fleetwood Mac by Mick Fleetwood with Stephen Davis →
Archive News, Release Info, Solo Activity, Stevie Nicks, UK Articles

In The Nicks of Time | Record Mirror

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Record Mirror
May 20, 1989

Stevie Nicks is one of pop’s most enduring personalities. As she releases her first solo album since 1986, Robin Smith meets the Joan Collins of rock and discovers a born survivor who’s just a romantic at heart


Stevie Nicks’ hotel suite is so large you could land a jumbo jet on the carpet or convert the place into an indoor golf course. But somehow, a smaller room just wouldn’t suit her. After all, Ms Nicks’ vocals have powered Fleetwood Mac to becoming one of the best seling groups of all time and she’s also pursued a very lucrative solo career. Her new single, ‘Rooms On Fire’, is nestling as comfortably in the charts as Stevie reclining on a plush sofa.

Stevie Nicks is the Joan Collins of pop. The struggling musician who scraped together a living as a waitress before she was whisked away to a limousine lifestyle. En route she’s suffered several broken love affairs, extreme loneliness and a drugs problem.

“Sometimes I think that not even the bubbliest, wildest soap opera could compare with being in Fleetwood Mac,” chuckles Stevie. “We’ve done a lot of laughing and a lot of bleeding in the band and I don’t think there are another group of people I could work with. There’s such a chemistry and a feeling of love and respect between us.” Continue reading In The Nicks of Time | Record Mirror →

Archive News, Christine McVie, Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks

Flashback 1989 – Fleetwood Mac’s leading ladies: Stevie Nicks & Christine McVie

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Music Connection Vol. XIII, No. 1
Jan.9-Jan. 22, 1989

In 1975, when Fleetwood Mac entered the studio to begin recording a new studio album, no one could have predicted the massive success that this veteran English band would soon achieve. Following a ten-year, checkered history of changing personnel, which frequently left the band minus key members and a music direction, founding fathers Mick Fleetwood and John McVie recruited a little-known singer-songwriting duo, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. Nick’s bewitching musical persona and Buckingham’s guitar and arrangement talents, coupled with the earlier addition of Christine Perfect (later Mrs. McVie), gave this band all the chemistry and direction it needed. The resulting album, simply titled Fleetwood Mac, spawned the hit singles, “Rhiannon,” “Say You Love Me,” and “Over My Head,” and catapulted a band with a limited sales base into a multi-platinum hit machine.

In the years that followed, the band solidified its superstar status with 1977’s Rumours LP (an incredible twenty million copies sold worldwide); survived the traumatic breakup of two romances within the band – Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham, and John and Christie McVie; dabbled in experimentation with the ambitious, 1979 two-record set Tusk; and recorded the lackluster 1982 LP Mirage that had critics and fans wondering if the band had finally run out of creative steam.

But rumors of the band’s demise proved premature. In 1987, after a five-year layoff, Fleetwood Mac released the excellent Tango In The Night, an album that re-established the band both commercially and artistically. That was the good news. The bad news was Lindsey Buckingham, whose production and instrumental skills had so greatly contributed to their success, would be leaving the Mac fold. Undaunted, the band recruited two musicians, guitarist/vocalists Rick Vito and Billy Brunette, to fill the Buckingham void.

Now, with the release of their current greatest hits LP, Fleetwood Mac spears to be taking stock of its platinum past and looking forward to its future. The album is a reminder of past glories – “Rhiannon,” “Don’t Stop,” “Dreams,” and “Go Your Own Way” – and a harbinger of things to come, with two new tracks, “As Long As You Follow” (the album’s first single) and “No Questions Asked,” featuring the band’s new guitar lineup. We recently spoke to the two first ladies of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie, about the band’s past, present and future.

MC: Tell me about the new Fleetwood Mac. What’s different and unique about Fleetwood Mac as we’re seeing you now?

Continue reading Flashback 1989 – Fleetwood Mac’s leading ladies: Stevie Nicks & Christine McVie →