Sunday, February 14, 2010

MICK FLEETWOOD "In My Own Words"

MICK FLEETWOOD
SUNDAY MAGAZINE
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

After surviving his fair share of band in-fighting and rock’n’roll excess, this 62-year-old drummer is following up the Fleetwood Mac renaissance with a blues revival of his own

I was a Royal Air Force brat. My father served in the RAF and we moved a lot. When people ask me where I’m from, I say, “Not really anywhere.” So I was well suited to the rock’n’roll life, because travelling and being in strange places is a very comfortable thing for me. 

My upbringing was universal – Egypt, all over England, Norway. As a young chap, I spoke fluent Norwegian. I can’t remember a word now.

My school days were always numbered. Today it would be known as a learning disability; I loved discussion and drama, but I couldn’t put it down on paper. As a result, I left school at 15 and went to London with my drum kit. Luckily, I was supported by my parents. 

By happenstance, I met [keyboard player] Peter Bardens. He lived next door to my sister, with whom I was staying, and he heard me play my drums. Peter had just crossed over into early R’n’B and blues and we listened to loads of his records. I blundered into blues. It suited me as a musician and, later on, I realised it suited me as a person, in terms of less is more; I was never a great technician. 

The Fleetwood Mac story is unique. We’ve had many changes stylistically and we’ve been blessed with many talented people. 

The original line-up was only really known in Europe and Australia. When we lost founding member Peter Green, we spent the next few years touring and concentrating on working in America; I decided we should make a stand there. Then came the fairytale story of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joining. 

We made Fleetwood Mac, our first album with Lindsey and Stevie, in 1975 and it sold well. Then we made Rumours in 1976 and all hell broke loose. It was to be the success story. It was incredibly gratifying. 

We also made lifestyle changes – not all of which were good. We had a lot of fun, which for many of us turned into a nightmare mist of alcohol and drugs, mixed with the belief in what we did. That’s what ended up saving us, but there were ramifications; trying to juggle a career, travelling and family is hard for anyone. 

I was first married to Jenny, who I ended up marrying twice. We have two daughters [Amy Rose, 38, and Lucy, 36], but it was dysfunctional in the later years. Then I married Sarah and, eventually, my present wife, Lynn. We have beautiful seven-year-old twins, Ruby and Tessa. I’m surrounded by ladies I love. 

My role in Fleetwood Mac has often been as piggy in the middle. It’s a fascinating story and hasn’t been, as Lindsey would say, “always easy”, but we’re emotionally connected people. The past year on the road together has been tremendous and could be the reason why there will hopefully be more music to put on an album. 

God knows why but, at 62, I’m playing harder and louder than ever. I can’t work it out. I feel blessed to have come through the patchwork of trying my best to kill myself in good shape. 

These days, we travel in style. We have our own plane, as opposed to driving in a van for 20 hours. When I tour with my blues band [The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band], I do exactly that. 

I live in Hawaii and I’m where I dreamed of being at this point in my life. I’m fortunate to have pulled that off. I have a lovely home, I play golf and I socialise, and I get to play with my band quite a lot. 

I also have a wine company. Not a winery, as it’s a very wealthy man’s game. When I started, many people thought I was another celebrity sticking my name on a bottle. It wasn’t that – we work very hard and about 80 per cent of the wines are blended by me. Sometimes I have to do short tasting sessions while I’m out on tour. 

I met Billy Thorpe though a friend. I was looking for someone to fulfil the singing chores in a band and he fitted really well. In truth, I had no idea of his stature in Australia; he truly was an icon. It’s fair to say that the AC/DCs of the world listened to a few of his records. 

Billy was a very talented man. Sadly, he departed in 2007. I saw his wife and children the last time I was in Australia. He’s definitely missed in my world.

The sort of humour I love is fairly stupid, really. It’s being able to laugh at yourself and end up with tears pouring down your face. It’s not very sophisticated. 

CLAIRE BRADLEY

The MickFleetwood Blues Band album, Blue Again (Universal Music), is out now. See them live with Boz Scaggs and Michael McDonald, February17 to 28. For tour details, visit www. ticketek.com.au and www.ticketmaster.com.au.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

MICHELLE BRANCH PRODUCED BY STEVIE NICKS - FLEETWOOD MAC TRIBUTE ALBUM

Over the last few hours, Michelle Branch has been dropping hints as to what she's been up to.  A few photos surfaced - one of which was the lyrics to "Say You Love Me" by Fleetwood Mac, the other was the snapshot below of Waddy Wachtel.

Now... According to Michelle Branch's twitter page, she's in the studio singing "Say You Love Me" for a Fleetwood Mac Tribute album.... And the cool thing is Stevie Nicks is producing the track for her.

Q&A WITH MICK FLEETWOOD AND RICK VITO

Q&A: THE MICK FLEETWOOD BLUES BAND FT. RICK VITO
BY LAUREN TABAK
Rhapsody.com

The 2010 Grammys were a splendid time. We here at Rhapsody HQ headed down to Los Angeles for the event, where we had the opportunity to interview one cool pop star after another. The coolest of them all just might’ve been Mick Fleetwood, whose album Blue Again, recorded with guitarist Rick Vito, was nominated for Best Traditional Blues Album.

Wait a minute. Did you say Mick Fleetwood? The blues?

That’s right. Long before “Rhiannon” and Stevie Nicks’ sexy-witch dance, the legendary drummer served time backing some of the great musicians in the British blues scene, including John Mayall. In fact, the Mac actually started life as a hardcore electric blues band, featuring Peter Green, mercurial guitarist and No. 1 rival of Eric Clapton. So yeah, Mick has kind of come full circle as of late.

We were lucky enough to sit down with both Mick and Rick, who gave us the scoop on Blue Again -- plus lots more on the blues, Peter Green and the long, tangled history of Fleetwood Mac. 

Check out the video here: Rhapsody

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Stacy's "Silver Springs" - Stevie Nicks cover

This is really nice!!!

Eisley’s Stacy DuPree performs a stunning version of the Stevie Nicks classic “Silver Spring”.




"Get mp3 of Stacy DuPree's "Silver Springs" - Stevie Nicks cover here: http://tinyurl.com/ygr967n"

UK CHART UPDATE: FLEETWOOD MAC'S "THE VERY BEST OF"

UK TOP 75 - Week of February 8th:
"The Very Best Of" is UP 9 positions over last week to #22 in the UK.

UK TOP 75 CHART RUN (2009 Best Of Version):
Week 1 #6 Debut
Week 2 #10
Week 3 #12
Week 4 #15
Week 5 #26
Week 6 #29
Week 7 #31
Week 8 #25
Week 9 #21
Week 10 #23
Week 11 #37
Week 12 #42
Week 13 #31
Week 14 #35
Week 15 #31
Week 16 #22

No data available for Australia.

Saturday, February 06, 2010

NOW THAT'S A BARGAIN!!! STEVIE NICKS "BELLA DONNA" $2.99 AMAZON

(mp3 download) Amazon Daily Deal - it's a steal!  And an awesome album.  First solo album by Fleetwood Mac's Stevie Nicks.  Go Get It!  AMAZON

BACKSTAGE WITH STEVIE NICKS, ROBERTA FLACK AND MAXWELL

It's brief... But it's a glimpse of Stevie backstage at the Grammy Awards. She's watching Roberta Flack and Maxwell sing together. This is part of Taylor Swifts backstage video that she sent in to the Ellen show.




Friday, February 05, 2010

MICK FLEETWOOD BLUES BAND TOUR POSTER PHOTO SHOOT

A couple of interesting shots of Mick Fleetwood, Rick Vito and John McVie.

According to this blogger and profession photographer Tony Novak-Clifford "chase the light" these are shots for the tour poster for The Mick Fleetwood Blues Band.

In the notes on the site, it indicates John McVie is in the band and Lenny Castellanos subs for John on bass for some dates. I didn't realize that John was initially in the band!?  I know Lenny Castellanos has been the only visible bass player thus far in the group.

These photos are from April, 2008 and were taken by tour manager William Pie in Hawaii.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

IN DEFENSE OF STEVIE NICKS - SWIFT LABEL CONFIRMS TAYLOR HAD PROBLEMS

Stevie did her best to pull Taylor back on key - you can only do so much in a short amount of time - it happens.... Stevie needs to get out there and do something amazing this year so that 2010 isn't defined by this.

Taylor Swift Defended by Record Label Executive

"Mr. Borchetta told The Associated Press that Ms. Swift had a technical problem during her duet with Ms. Nicks and was unable to hear the complete mix of the song as she performed it."

Wednesday, February 03, 2010