Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Mick Fleetwood's "The Visitor" turns 43
Thursday, March 25, 2021
INTERVIEW - MICK FLEETWOOD LA TIMES
Before Stevie and Lindsey, Peter Green was the soul of Fleetwood Mac. Just ask Mick Fleetwood
Before he founded Fleetwood Mac, guitarist Peter Green replaced Eric Clapton in John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, a band that was a way station for many of the best white British blues musicians of the 1960s. In the Bluesbreakers, where he earned the nickname “The Green God,” Green wrote “The Supernatural,” an instrumental showcase in which, midway, he halts his stately pace and resolutely holds a single note for 4½ bars. Other guitarists wanted to prove how fast they could play; Green was proud to show how slowly he could.
“It’s a perfect description of Peter,” says drummer Mick Fleetwood, 73, a former Bluesbreaker who has been, for 53 years, the only constant original member of Fleetwood Mac. “That’s Peter’s adage that I inherited from him as a musician and as a friend: Less is more. Say something with one note, or with a perfect vibrato.”
There are musicians who rate Green ahead of Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck as the greatest British blues guitarist of the ’60s, due to his singular combination of tone, touch and taste. But Green isn’t as well known as his contemporaries, an injustice Fleetwood has often tried to correct, most recently with an all-star tribute concert.
Green’s career and life are mysteries no one has solved. Fleetwood Mac debuted in August 1967 and within two years became the biggest band in Europe, outselling the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. A second guitarist, Jeremy Spencer, also wrote and sang, and Danny Kirwan soon joined and did the same, but the group’s success was chiefly due to Green’s songs, which varied between melancholy and menacing: “Black Magic Woman,” the U.K. No. 1 hit “Albatross,” “Man of the World,” “Need Your Love So Bad” and “Oh Well.”
In 1970, Green, who like many musicians had been taking LSD, came to believe that playing for money was immoral. He started wearing a white robe onstage (it made him look like Rasputin), gave away much of his money and tried to persuade the band to do the same. He quit and was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent time in mental institutions. His treatments included electroconvulsive therapy, during which doctors use electric currents to spark a brain seizure, and also narcotizing drugs. He moved to Israel and lived on a kibbutz, then returned to England, where he worked as a hospital orderly and a cemetery gardener. He was sent to prison after a 1976 incident in which he threatened to shoot his accountant. (In some accounts of this incident, Green is said to have demanded the accountant stop sending him money.)
Green toured and recorded now and then, but never again at a high level. “I just zombie around,” he told an interviewer in 1994, adding that his prescription meds made him fall asleep. His remarkable peak lasted less than three years, and some of his songs are known better for cover versions, notably Santana’s “Black Magic Woman,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Oh Well” and Judas Priest’s version of “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown),” the haunted hard-rock song that was Green’s finale with Fleetwood Mac.
In the decades since Green left, the Fleetwood Mac lineup has changed regularly, which Fleetwood — sitting for a video conference from the kitchen of his home in Hawaii, wearing a black shirt and Kangol, and aviator glasses — calls “one of the most magical things about the band — the insanity of it.” And even after Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham joined and Fleetwood Mac became massive stars with the 1977 release of “Rumours,” Fleetwood kept reminding people that the band began with Peter Green.
His latest tribute is Mick Fleetwood and Friends Celebrate the Music of Peter Green and the Early Years of Fleetwood Mac, a concert that took place at the London Palladium on Feb. 25, 2020; the concert will stream at nugs.net starting April 24, followed the next week by Blu-ray, CD and LP releases. The guest performers include Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac, Pete Townshend of the Who, Steven Tyler of Aerosmith, Noel Gallagher of Oasis, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Kirk Hammett of Metallica and David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.
When I ask Fleetwood how long it took him to organize the concert, he replies, only half-jokingly, “most of my adult life, since Peter left the band.” For decades, he’s carried the responsibility of keeping Green’s name alive.
Tuesday, March 02, 2021
MICK FLEETWOOD “I would love the elements that are not healed to be healed”
Mick Fleetwood Open to Reunion With Lindsey Buckingham, Imagines Fleetwood Mac Farewell Tour
“Fleetwood Mac is such a strange story,” says the drummer. “I would love the elements that are not healed to be healed”
Rollingstone
With the concert industry shut down for the foreseeable future and his bandmates spread to various spots around the planet, Mick Fleetwood truly doesn’t know what the future holds for Fleetwood Mac. But that hasn’t stopped the drummer from looking ahead and sketching out a possible farewell tour in his mind.
“I’m very aware that we’ve never played that card,” he tells Rolling Stone on the phone from his Hawaii home. “I think the vision for me, and I think it would be hugely appropriate, is that we actually say ‘this is goodbye’ and go out and actually do that. That has always been my vision and I’m a flatly confident that we can do that. We owe it to the fans.”
The comments appear to contradict Christine McVie’s recent statements to the BBC where she said that bassist John McVie was “a little bit frail” and no longer had “the heart for it.” She also said, “If we do it, it’ll be without John and without Stevie [Nicks], I think…I’m getting a bit old for it now. I don’t know if I can get myself back into it.”
McVie later walked back the comments, and Fleetwood says they shouldn’t be taken literally. “I think she got out of bed on the wrong side that day,” he says with a laugh. “She meant to say, ‘We’ve done so much. I don’t know whether or not we can keep going.’ Anything other than that, she can speak for herself. But I can assure you we are alive and well. And she has no regrets. She just got caught up in whatever she was saying and she also felt she had been misunderstood.”
Christine McVie also said that John McVie was focused largely on sailing the world on his boat, but Fleetwood says that’s never once stopped him from participating in band activities. “He’s always more interested in going sailing until you put it in front of his face,” he says. “He’s so not caught up in the drama of the workings of the band. That has always been my world. I’ve never not known John to answer the call and say, ‘Show me the gig and I’ll plug my bass in.'”
There hasn’t been any reason for McVie to plug his bass in since Fleetwood Mac ended their last world tour in November 2019. It was their first tour since parting ways with Lindsey Buckingham and bringing in Neil Finn of Crowded House and Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers to fill the void. “It was a massive, really lovely world tour that was beyond successful in every way,” says Fleetwood. “And a happy tour.”
They initially planned on booking about eight stadium shows with other big artists the following year, but the pandemic made that impossible. Last July, Fleetwood Mac founding guitarist Peter Green died just months after Fleetwood staged a massive tribute concert in his honor at London’s Palladium.
It was a devastating blow to Fleetwood, but it also caused him to get back in touch with Buckingham after two years of bitter estrangement. “I’ve really enjoyed being re-connected with Lindsey, which has been gracious and open,” says Fleetwood. “And both of us have been beautifully honest about who we are and how we got to where we were.”
The reconciliation leads to an obvious question: Might Buckingham come back into Fleetwood Mac for the farewell tour that Fleetwood is plotting out in his mind? “Strange things can happen,” says Fleetwood. “I look at Fleetwood Mac as a huge family. Everyone plays an important role in our history, even someone like [early Seventies] guitarist Bob Welch, who was huge and sometimes gets forgotten. Lindsey’s position in Fleetwood Mac will, for obvious reasons, never been forgotten, as it should never be forgotten.”
“My vision of things happening in the future is really far-reaching,” he continues. “Would I love to think that [reunion] could happen? Yeah. I’d love to think that all of us could be healed, and also respect the people who are in the band, Neil Finn and Michael Campbell.”
The major impediment to a reunion with Buckingham is his relationship with Stevie Nicks, which had been strained for decades and finally reached a breaking point in early 2018. No reunion tour can proceed without the two of them arriving at some sort of detente. “I can’t speak for the dynamic with Stevie and him,” says Fleetwood. “I don’t even need to protect it. It’s so known that they’re chalk and cheese in so many ways, and yet not.”
For now, Fleetwood is just happy he’s back on speaking terms with Buckingham. “I know for a fact that I intend to make music and play again with Lindsey,” he says. “I would love that. It doesn’t have to be in Fleetwood Mac. And Fleetwood Mac is such a strange story. All the players in the play are able to talk and speak for themselves. Somehow, I would love the elements that are not healed to be healed. I love the fantasy that we could cross that bridge and everyone could leave with creative, holistic energy, and everyone could be healed with grace and dignity.”
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Mick Fleetwood Sells Song Catalog To BMG
Mick Fleetwood Becomes Third Member of Fleetwood Mac to Sell Song Catalog
By Jem Aswad - Variety
BMG announced that it has acquired “outright” Fleetwood Mac co-founder Mick Fleetwood’s interests in the band’s recordings.
The deal gives BMG Fleetwood’s royalty interest in over 300 recordings, including the hits including “Dreams” — which enjoyed a massive resurgence due to recent popularity on TikTok — “The Chain,” “Go Your Own Way” and “Landslide” from albums including the multiplatinum albums “Fleetwood Mac,” “Rumours,” “Tango in the Night” and others. It includes Fleetwood’s interest in all of their recorded work apart from their first two albums.
While Fleetwood did not write any of the above songs and has relatively few songwriting credits, his recorded-music rights as bandmember and drummer on the tracks yield him royalties connected to album sales, downloads and streaming.
BMG already has a relationship with the band, re-releasing its classic 1970 album “And Play on” and the theatrical, record and mediabook release of Mick Fleetwood & Friends, 2020’s tribute event to legendary guitarist Peter Green and the early years of the band. Fleetwood and bassist John McVie cofounded the band with Green in 1967; its most commercially successful lineup formed when Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham — both of whom recently sold their publishing rights for undisclosed amounts, although Nicks’ is reported to be $100 million — joined in 1975.
BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said, “Mick Fleetwood is the bedrock of one of the greatest bands in rock, he has a unique talent to bring together musicians of all genres and of course he is one of rock’s greatest drummers. BMG is proud to represent his greatest work and excited about the forthcoming launch of Mick Fleetwood & Friends.”
Mick Fleetwood said, “This is a wonderfully inspiring marriage between two creative partners that understand all aspects of the business. Foremost, BMG understands the artistry and puts the artist first. If this partnership is any indication of my past, and now future, working relationship with BMG, it’s that they truly ‘get it’.”
The sale of Mick Fleetwood’s recorded interests was brokered by his manager Carl Stubner of Shelter Music Group. Said Stubner: “For over 50 years Mick’s works continue to be introduced to legions of new fans while BMG continues to ensure its artists are paid their fair share. In an industry, not always known to look after its iconic artists, BMG continues to maximize their income streams.”
BMG EVP Group Strategy and M&A Justus Haerder said, “This acquisition highlights the value of timeless recordings in a streaming market which is increasingly benefitting established rather than newer artists. While recent acquisition activity in the music market has focused on music publishing, this is a pure recorded investment which will get the full benefit of streaming growth. Catalogues such as Fleetwood Mac’s which connect with every generation are benefiting disproportionately from that growth.”
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
MICK FLEETWOOD AND LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM RECONNECTED RECENTLY OVER PETER GREEN
Mick Fleetwood on viral video and whether Lindsey Buckingham will return
Fleetwood, who says he spoke to Buckingham recently, “has no idea” if Buckingham will ever return.
Monday, October 05, 2020
MICK FLEETWOOD RECREATES VIRAL DREAMS VIDEO
Mick Fleetwood recreates viral "Dreams" TikTok;
original video guy can now afford a car & place to live
The viral video of that guy on a skateboard lip-syncing to Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" while swigging Ocean Spray juice has inspired the band's own Mick Fleetwood to recreate the scenario.
The drummer made his own TikTok, in which he glides along while drinking Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice from the bottle and lip-syncing to the song that's, to date, his band's only number-one U.S. hit. Mick captioned it, "@420doggface208 " -- the original guy's TikTok name -- "had it right. Dreams and Cranberry just hits different," and added the hashtag #CranberryDreams.
Posting the video on Instagram, Mick added, "Had way to[o] much fun with this!! More to come."
Ocean Spray commented, "Love this! Hope you enjoyed your juice. We have really enjoyed listening to Fleetwood Mac on repeat lately."
Meanwhile, TMZ tracked down @420doggface208, whose life has now been completely changed by his video. His name is Nathan Apodaca, and he says since the video went viral, people have sent him $10,000 in donations, which he can now use to get a proper place to live -- at the moment, he's living in an RV with no running water, parked in front of his brother's house.
In addition, Nathan, who works at a potato factory, plans to upgrade his car -- that's the reason he was on a skateboard in the first place. He plans to give his mom $5,000, and he gave his girlfriend a washer/dryer and bought some clothes for his daughter.
Nathan's also been contacted by Footlocker, and hopes to get some free clothes out of the deal -- but he tells TMZ he's still waiting for Ocean Spray to call.
By Andrea Dresdale - Abc News Radio
View this post on InstagramWell played @mickfleetwoodofficial 😂😂😂 @doggface208 #tiktok #fleetwoodmac #mickfleetwood
A post shared by FLEETWOOD MAC NEWS (@fleetwoodmacnews) on
Fleetwood Mac's 'Dreams' Triples in Sales, Nearly Doubles in Streams in Days Following Viral TikTok Clip ...
A whopping 43 years after its initial release, "Dreams" remains one of the most consumed rock songs in America on a regular basis.
Monday, September 28, 2020
Mick Fleetwood Releases New Music/Video - 'These Strange Times'
Rock & Roll Icon Releases New Recording of
“These Strange Times”
Available on Spotify and Apple
Mick Fleetwood Official Website
September 25, 2020 -- Rock & Roll Hall of Fame drummer Mick Fleetwood released today a new recording and video for Mick Fleetwood’s Da*da*ism “These Strange Times,” available on Rhino Records. Originally released on Fleetwood Mac’s 16th studio album Time in 1995, the song was re-recorded adding thirty seconds of Peter Green’s “Albatross” to the end of the song and set to a brand-new video.
Inspired by an eighteenth-century painting, the newly released video and accompanying single artwork are centered around the idea of something greater than us, which lies at the core of our very human struggle to be our best selves.
“The project is about the energy of choice, of deciding if you want to be a part of the dark or the light when push comes to shove, which seems very apropos at this moment in history,” Fleetwood says. “It’s about how you read things, which is very important today. Everyone needs to be carefully paying attention to the information coming our way. There is subtext to everything and we need to be aware of that. When I first encountered the painting that inspired the photoshoot, it was a soul-searching exercise that I was driven to do but I didn’t know when would be the time to release it. Now I know why: the when is now.”
The spoken-word poem at the center of the song finds the narrator, Fleetwood, questioning his feelings and his thoughts, as he has found himself stuck between the dark and the light. The video is meant to be as thought provoking as the song is hypnotic, as the lyrics detail the struggle of the narrator.
“I hope the song conveys that life is about choice,” Fleetwood says. “God is everything, no matter what your belief system is. Being in love is God, no matter your creed. There’s a rejoicing at the end of the song when the narrator chooses the side of the light. The song is about all of us making that choice ourselves and the relief we feel when we are no longer caught in the middle.”
“This is something I wrote many years ago,” Fleetwood says, “and I want it to be nothing more than thought provoking. I want people to see and hear what they will in it. My hope is that by haring these thought-provoking moments in my world that I can somehow open the eyes of others to things in their world and to the existence we all share, which is more and more endangered with each passing day.”
Song Credits:
Title: These Strange Times
Composers:
Executive Producers:
Produced by:
Recorded and Mixed by:
Additional Engineering:
Recorded in the USA
Vocals:
Lead Guitars:
Acoustic Guitars, Drums & Percussion:
Bass Guitar:
Background vocals:
GOD IS NOWHERE/GOD IS NOW HERE
Mick Fleetwood Releases Apt Video for ‘These Strange Times’
Mick Fleetwood shares new version of ‘These Strange Times’
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Peter Green, Fleetwood Mac Founder has died at 73
"For me, and every past and present member of Fleetwood Mac, losing Peter Green is monumental! Peter was the man who started the band Fleetwood Mac along with myself, John McVie, and Jeremy Spencer. No one has ever stepped into the ranks of Fleetwood Mac without a reverence for Peter Green and his talent, and to the fact that music should shine bright and always be delivered with uncompromising passion!!!
Peter,
I will miss you, but rest easy your music lives on. I thank you for asking me to be your drummer all those years ago. We did good, and trail blazed one hell of a musical road for so many to enjoy.
God speed to you, my dearest friend.......
Love Mick Fleetwood"
Wynne Davis - NPR
Statement from Stevie Nicks
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Mick Fleetwood Will Host Concert Honoring Peter Green and Early Fleetwood Mac
Wednesday, September 11, 2019
Adding Neil Finn to Fleetwood Mac has been a huge and lovely success
The New Zealand Herald
Sept 12, 2019
Mick Fleetwood talks to Karl Puschmann about the new-look band and touring with Neil Finn Downunder
Thursday, August 08, 2019
INTERVIEW Fleetwood Mac Sunday Night Australia TV Special
Saturday, April 27, 2019
INTERVIEW Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie speak with the UK's Independent
Cocaine, fights, love affairs and break-ups. Mick Fleetwood and Christine McVie speak to Chris Harvey about the success, the hardship and the torment of the band as they prepare to play Wembley in June
The Independent