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?

SN: That it’s still together.

MC: Why release a greatest hits album now?

CM: Well, we’ve thought about doing a greatest hits album in the past, but we’ve never actually got around to making that decision. Because Lindsey left the band, it seemed like a very appropriate time to do a collection of stuff from the past, along with a couple of songs from right now.

MC: So along with the old hits, you’ve given your fans an indication of the future. Why choose to debut your new lineup on a collection of songs from the past?

SN: After playing on the road for four and a half months, we felt that we needed to go in and spend a little time in the studio. And it wasn’t like we were going in for 13 months to redecorate a studio or completely change our lives. We were going to do two specific songs, and we were under the pressure of time. It was disciplined, and we had a lot of fun doing it. You walk out of the studio feeling like you’ve done something besides just giving people the old songs that they love. You’ve given them something new from your heart.

MC: Greatest hits collections not only give the record-buying public a nice overview of an artist’s career, it also gives the artist a chance to look back on his or her own career and assess it. Are there any songs that you “rediscovered” when assembling the tracks?

CM: Well, hearing them back to back like that is very refreshing. I mean, I think that we’re pretty familiar with most of the songs on the album, most of which we play live. But I think it’s just listening to them in that particular running order that made it really fun. It spans twelve years or something. It’s really interesting.

MC: “As Long As You Follow” is the first single. It was written by you, Christine and…

CM: And my husband, Eddy. It’s yet another love song. It’s just something which I relate to, have always related to – telling different stories about relationships.

MC: You’re not known as a collaborator; that’s something which has happened more in the last few years. How is it writing with your husband?

CM: It’s fun. We like it. If we didn’t, we’d be in big trouble. I go through phases where I like writing with people, then I can’t stand to be around someone when trying to work out a song. But at the moment it’s fun collaborating – because you get the bonus of two heads instead of one.

MC: This is the first time in the studio with this configuration. How was it different?

SN: Nobody argues.

MC: What else? You’ve got two guitarists now; that’s different.

SN: That’s wonderful. That allows both guitar players to play what they do best. It means that all guitar parts on the record we’ve done over the last ten years can be reproduced. When you only have one guitarist, there’s something lacking because there’s a lot of parts not being played.

MC: Lindsey Buckingham was often credited as the architect of Fleetwood Mac’s sound, by the band itself as well as critics. While recording the new tracks, I wonder if his role in the studio – his arrangement and production touched – were missed?

CM: Not yet. Lindsey was probably the prominent architect if you want to use that word, but we all tried our hand at production as well. And I think it’s forcing us to come out of ourselves a bit now that Lindsey’s not there anymore. And so far, we haven’t missed Lindsey in that way. I’m hoping that it’ll go on like that.

MC: Lindsey’s layered guitar was an integral part of the band’s recordings. Rick Vito’s playing is very different from Lindsey’s style. How will that effect the band’s sound?

CM: I think that Rick’s an incredibly versatile guitar player, and I think we’ve missed that in the last twelve years. Lindsey is brilliant at what he does, but Rick brings us back a little bit more to the blues days. With Rick, we can cover practically any musical field. To be able to play some of that old blues stuff is a killer. I love it.

MC: When the six of you finally had the opportunity to record together for the first time, what was the chemistry like?

CM: I think the chemistry has always been good among the six of us. I don’t think we really had a problem at all with that. I think in the beginning stages, we had a couple of hiccups with the production – with the people working around us. It was kind of a scary time to be going into the studio having never really recorded with Rick and Billy.

MC: Fleetwood Mac has this interesting way of taking in new members. On your last tour in support of the Tango in the Night LP, you had two new guitarists going out for months and months on the road. How did you get along, and how did you develop together on the road?

CM: Even in the rehearsal stage, we got on really well. As far as Billy goes, we’ve known him for years, and when we met Rick, it seemed like we’d known him for years, too. So, we didn’t have to really work anything out. We had a very warm, wonderful tour – both in American and Europe.

MC: Stevie, there were rumors during the last tour that you were leaving the band. What prompted this series of rumors, and what do you say to people who are constantly asking you that?

SN: Well, first of all, during the first tour, I was very sick. I had pneumonia and bronchitis and I was in the hospital in Denver for five days. And that had nothing to do with the rest of Fleetwood Mac. I was just very ill. But I’m not about to cancel. We canceled two concerts and that broke my heart. And we tried to make them up, too. I think people like to jump on people that stay together, and I think they like to find reasons why they shouldn’t stay together. The fact was, I was very ill, and no, I wasn’t in very good humor. I didn’t really feel like performing every night. I was sick. I should have been home in bed.

MC: Do you ever have time off?

SN: Never.

MC: Does that mean we’ll never see your poetry publishing?

SN: I’m trying. I’m working on it, I really am. It’s just been so busy for the last year. I still write, but I don’t want to go back and edit it. I just want to keep writing. So, I suppose the only time that I’ll ever have to do it is when this all stops.

MC: How about your painting?

SN: The painting, I do in spurts. Like, on the first tour, I drew and painted every night. I was sick and that gave me something to do, because I had to rest. But I haven’t done any drawing for awhile.

MC: So do you think we’ll ever see a gallery show of your art?

SN: Oh, yeah. I have about 150 drawings that I’ve done in the last five years. But I don’t like to finish them, just like I don’t like to finish books. And I really don’t even like to finish songs, because then they’re done, and they’re handed over to somebody else. As long as they’re still not quire finished, whether it’s a song or a painting, or anything – it’s still mine.

MC: Tell me about the song “Rhiannon?”

SN: I hate to re-tell this story, because everybody already knows about it. It’s about a mythological Welsh goddess of steeds and maker of birds who came from the bright world above and decided to give it all up – being a queen – to marry a king from the mortal world. Because of that, she had a lot of trouble with the underworld. It’s an incredible story. Rhiannon live.

MC: Where does the next Fleetwood Mac studio album fit into your future plans?

SN: Well, I fit everything into everything. I manage because I want to. If I didn’t want to be in Fleetwood Mac, and tour, and make records, I wouldn’t be. In order to do both, I have to organize my time and make myself useful to both. If I’m going to do a half-assed job on both, then I might as well get out of the business.

MC: What about solo projects?

CM: Stevie’s already in the middle of doing a solo album while working with us. And I’m sure at some point or other, Mick Fleetwood’s Zoo will do another album. I know I’ll do a solo record, too. But the prime goal at the moment is the next Fleetwood Mac album. I’m not thinking beyond the record and touring with the band.

MC: What is it that makes solo projects such an important part of keeping Fleetwood Mac together and healthy?

SN: Why, I never thought about it that way, but in fact, it does. When people talk about me, they also talk about Fleetwood Mac. So it’s like, if I do a good solo album, it’s the greatest advertisement in the world for the next Fleetwood Mac album. If Fleetwood Mac does a great album, it’s the greatest advertisement for me. So amazingly, it works.

“…if I do a good solo album, it’s the greatest advertisement in the world for the next Fleetwood Mac album.” 

MC: What attracts you to this band?

SN: No matter who’s in it, it’s still Fleetwood Mac. For me, it’s the only band that I’ve ever been in, and the only one I want to be in. I certainly wouldn’t want to start over. We’ve managed to work out all the problems. We all know where the different problems lie. All of the men and women in our lives at one time or another have said, ‘You’re obsessed with Fleetwood Mac.’ And the only answer that you can come back, really, is, ‘Yes, I am. And you either take it or you leave it.’

MC: I think all bands are like that. Many artists tell me that they’ve suffered through breakups because their wives or husbands or boyfriends or girlfriends couldn’t…

SN: Couldn’t take it. And it is hard to take, when you’re on the outside. It’s very hard to be left behind. It’s like, ‘I’m going on the road for six months – goodbye!’ and the other person is going, ‘And I’m just going to sit here every day, while you’re out doing big concerts and driving around in limousines?’ they don’t understand. Being on the road is no fun unless you’re on that stage. It’s not fun to tag along. So you don’t want to tag along. You may have family out for two or three days, but then it’s like, ‘I’m about as useful out here as a donut hole. So I’m going home.’

MC: Stevie, you once said that no matter what happens, the band manages to creep back up every time, because we all believe in this dream of Fleetwood Mac.

SN: No one wants to end a dream; everybody wants to end a nightmare. But a dream I something that if you really believe in it, you really want it to work. And I don’t think any of us here would ever want to be the reason that this dream stopped.

“No one wants to end a dream; everybody wants to end a nightmare.”

MC: have you already made plans for the next Fleetwood Mac studio album?

CM: It’s in the pre-production stages. I think we’re planning to go in the studio in mid-January to start another studio record. But at the moment we’re just getting material together. We’re sorting all that out and getting Christmas out of the way.

MC: Is this greatest hits LP your way of ringing out the old and ringing in the new?

CM: Yeah… the passing of an era.

MC: What will the new Fleetwood Mac album sound like?

SN: It’s a very elusive thing, making a record. We don’t make music to sell records or to make money – we never have. We’ve had the limousines and the great hotels. The only reason now for us to make music is because we love it.

MC: Thus far, Fleetwood Mac has lasted some 21 years. It’s gone through several personnel changes, musical styles and popularity changes. Can it last 21 more years?

SN: It can last 100 more years, if that’s what we want. The only reason it’s lasted this long is because we wanted it to. And if you really want something badly, you can do it.

Published at this link – https://www.musicconnection.com/stevie-nicks-christine-mcvie/