Another Fleetwood Mac Album That's 'Worth A Damn'

This year saw the reissue of two vintage albums by Fleetwood Mac: the hugely popular Rumours,and the last

Then Play On Re-issue
Available at Amazon

album to feature the band's founder, Peter Green, called Then Play On.

"I think it's one of the most beautiful records and exciting records ever made," Rolling Stone senior writer David Fricke says. He wrote the liner notes for the reissue.

"I think as a statement of searching — within blues, within rock, within the possibilities of the electric guitar — like I said, I think it's one of the best records ever made," Fricke says. "I've got three copies of it — I wouldn't be caught with anything less."

Then Play On was recorded in the spring and summer of 1969, and the story of the album is the story of a band at a turning point. The previous fall, Fleetwood Mac added 17-year-old guitarist and singer Danny Kirwan, giving the band a powerful three-man front.

"You had Peter Green playing the B.B. King-style Chicago blues, mainly; Danny Kirwan with his more melodic rock, as it turned into; and then Jeremy Spencer doing these remarkable Elmore James impersonations is what they were, really," says Peter Green's biographer, Martin Celmins. "And for all that package to be in one band was a huge draw. And the response they got from the audience was wild. You know, they were just the top live band."

Continue to the full article at NPR by Tom Cole

"When people ask me in interviews to this day what's the most favorite album, I say, 'Well, I can't pick one album but I'll pick two. And one is Then Play On, and two is the Tusk album because they were really pushing the envelope," Fleetwood says. "And that is part and parcel of why bands keep going. And certainly can look back on their work and say, 'We did something that was worth a damn.' And Then Play On was worth a damn."

Fleetwood Mac will bring famous catalog, new songs to MGM Grand show

Tonights The Night!

Welcome back John! Have a great show!

By Jason Bracelin
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

It’s maybe the sweetest song that Stevie Nicks ever wrote about her relationship with Lindsey Buckingham, and like their love itself, it was eventually lost.

Penned more than four decades ago, “Without You” is a blown kiss to Nicks’ former beau, written with a constellation of stars in her eyes.

“If I’d not heard your laughter / Maybe I wouldn’t love you,” she wrote, her i’s practically dotted with little hearts. “If I’d not sung your music / I’d not come rolling after you.”

The song was demoed in the early ’70s, and Nicks recalls performing it live on numerous occasions.

“We did it onstage 62 times,” she remembers. “The audience seemed to really love it. We told the whole story of where we lived and how we moved down here. It was like they really got to walk with us through that song. It should have been on a Fleetwood Mac record. But, you know, sometimes things get lost.”

And sometimes they get found.

Full Article at Las Vegas Review Journal

Chart Updates: Fleetwood Mac | Stevie Nicks Albums and DVD's Charting Around The World

Albums and DVD's this week charting on various charts around the world. Previous week in parenthesis.

UK - January 4, 2014
TOP 100 ALBUMS CHART
#70 (63) Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of

TOP 40 CATALOGUE CHART
# 16 (13) Fleetwood Mac - Rumours

USA - January 4, 2014
TOP MUSIC VIDEO SALES
# 18 (12) Stevie Nicks - In Your Dreams

AUSTRALIA - December 30, 2013
TOP 100 ALBUMS CHART
# 10 (11) Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years The Chain [box set]
(Fleetwood Mac's 25 Years The Chain sold 14,303 copies during this chart week in Australia)
# 65 (75) Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of

TOP 50 CATALOGUE ALBUMS CHART
# 2 (2)  Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years The Chain [box set]
#12 (12) Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best Of

TOP 40 MUSIC DVD CHART
# 30 (28) Fleetwood Mac - The Dance
# 37 (40) Sound City - Real to Reel

NEW ZEALAND - December 30, 2013
TOP 40 ALBUMS CHART
# 9 (10) Fleetwood Mac - 25 Years The Chain [box set]

Fleetwood Mac are back... and still settling old scores + Christine McVie sent Lindsey new songs!

You make fighting fun: OK, Lindsey Buckingham admits, I did kick Stevie Nicks... Fleetwood Mac are back... and still settling old scores

By ADRIAN DEEVOY
Daily Mail

Look for this 4 page spread in Dec 29th UK Paper The Mail on Sunday Event magazine

Despite the acrimony and excesses, and after 45 years as soft rock’s favourite soap opera, the legendary band have reunited.

Fleetwood Mac are fighting again. Rock-star fur is flying. But this is no ordinary argument. For one thing, the contretemps is being conducted in three different countries. Stevie Nicks fights her corner from an elegant apartment in Paris, Lindsey Buckingham boxes clever in his Californian study and Christine McVie counterpunches from her riverside penthouse in London.

Founder band members Mick Fleetwood and John McVie are keeping out of it. Fleetwood is licking his wounds after his fourth divorce and McVie is in hospital engaged in a more serious battle, with cancer.

The disagreement, believe it or not, concerns one of Fleetwood Mac’s few physical altercations. After 45 years of soft rock’s favourite soap opera, it’s astonishing that the players haven’t come to blows more often.

‘I was dancing on stage,’ begins Nicks, now 65, in the salon of her rented Parisian pied-à-terre. ‘It was the Tusk tour, 1980, Auckland, New Zealand. I was doing my thing with my shawl and Lindsey pulled his jacket up over his head and started mimicking me, behind my back. 'I thought, “Well, that’s not working for me.” But I didn’t do anything. This must have infuriated him, because he came over and kicked me. 'And I’d never had anyone be physical with me in my life. Then he picked up a black Les Paul guitar and he just frisbee’d it at me. He missed, I ducked – but he could have killed me.’

‘I’m not sure that happened,’ Buckingham, 64, states flatly at his gated LA estate.

‘Oh, it happened, all right,’ asserts Christine McVie, 70, drinking in a glorious view of the Thames. ‘I threw a glass of wine in his face.’

3 Photos: Vanessa Carlton is now a married woman! Stevie Nicks presided over the event!

Check this out... 
A) Vanessa Carlton just got married to John McCauley! AND B) Stevie Nicks officiated the ceremony!

Vanessa Carlton tweeted the above pic Friday evening saying "Thank you Stevie for marrying us!" The wedding took place in Phoenix.  How cool is that!  Congratulations to Vanessa and her new husband John!

Vanessa Carlton Marries John McCauley, Stevie Nicks Officiates

Vanessa Carlton takes the cake when it comes to wedding surprises -- by a landslide! The "A Thousand Miles" singer tied the knot with Deer Tick's lead singer and guitarist John McCauley on Friday, Dec. 27, her rep confirms to Us Weekly. Plus, the new bride shared that Miss Stevie Nicks officiated the ceremony!  "Married this gentleman two hours ago xo," the 33-year-old musician wrote via Twitter late Friday night. Alongside the caption, the newlywed shared a photo of herself and her new husband beaming at each other while holding hands. Carlton looked stunning for her special day, wearing a tight-fitting, long-sleeved white wedding gown, and donning a purple head piece and matching flowers. Shortly after, the blushing bride also posted a picture of the couple saying "I do" in front of the Fleetwood Mac songstress. "Thanks Stevie for marrying us!" Carlton gushed. In the photo, Nicks, 65, is seen smiling at Carlton as she officiates the ceremony. She also wears a matching head piece, while McCauley dresses casual in green pants and a brown button-up.

US Magazine

Glastonbury Founder Michael Eavis Confirms Fleetwood Mac will not be headlining Glastonbury

Michael Eavis says Fleetwood Mac will not play Glastonbury 2014 
Though the festival founder says he's hoping to get them to perform in 2015

Poll:

A) The band won't be touring in 2014 all together
B) The band will be touring, just not the UK/Europe in 2014
C) The band will be touring in the UK/Europe in 2014 just not hitting Glastonbury
D) The band will be taking a year off returning to the road in 2015 and possibly Glastonbury
E) The band will take 2014 to produce a new album, then tour in 2015 and possibly Glastonbury

Full article at NME
Taken from an interview at The Guardian

Fleetwood Mac | Stevie Nicks | Sound City: The Best of 2013

Fleetwood Mac made a few "Best Of" lists this year either with new music like "Sad Angel" or the re-issued "Rumours" box set or the "Then Play On" reissue. They were also mentioned in a couple lists of best of photography and live shows.  On the TV and Film front, the band made a couple of best of lists for the Budweiser commercial and the use the Stevie's "Landslide" plus other TV shows featuring their music. Sound City is mentioned in more than a few lists which featured quite heavily Fleetwood Mac and included interview footage of Lindsey, Stevie and Mick. 

What were your top 5 Fleetwood Mac (or individual member) moments from the last year?

The Ten Best Box Sets To Give in 2013

Esquire

Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (35th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)

When Rumours was first released in 1977, it would have been hard for anyone to imagine Fleetwood Mac's multi-million-selling behemoth sharing space on the same list as The Clash. And honestly, for some that may still hold true. But the Mac's masterpiece is certainly an album worthy of all the attention it's gotten over the years (multiple reissues and "making of" documentaries), and this deluxe edition is the perfect gift for anyone who has fond memories of those lazy, hazy, California-soaked times. Earlier this year, Rhino went back to the vaults and came up with by far the best edition of Rumours thus far. It boasts 40 tracks, including CDs of the remastered original album, the stunning B-side "Silver Springs," a 12-track Rumours-era concert, a load of demos, rough mixes and outtakes, and a DVD that includes the infamous 1977 Rosebud documentary about the album. But best of all is the vinyl remaster of the album. It beats even an original first pressing of Rumours with warm, rich textures, and probably the best-sounding remaster of this entire list.

Best Music Box Sets of 2013

The Telegraph

Fleetwood Mac: Rumours (35th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)

Many regard this to be the Fleetwood Mac masterpiece, and this collection is a must for anyone who wants no-holds-barred access to an infamous soundtrack of raw pain and evocative emotional tensions. This Super Deluxe 4CD/1DVD/1LP set comes in a beautiful, 12x12 box and includes the remastered version of the original album including B-side Silver Springs, a disc of previously unreleased live performances from the 1977 tour, newly compiled recording sessions, the DVD of the 1977 promo film Rosebud and the vinyl of the original album. Perhaps most interestingly, new liner notes feature a track-by-track commentary from the band themselves, giving an insight into the personal struggles that informed the lyrics of each song.

SPIN's Best Box Sets and Expanded Editions of 2013

Spin

Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (Warner Bros.)

Whatever your memories of Rumours (having no memories of Rumours is un-American and therefore not allowed), something amazing awaits you in this box — early takes on Lindsey's celebration of post-breakup revelry "Second Hand News," an incipient version of Nicks' rebuke of said news ("Dreams"), live and formative versions of everything else, and multiple takes of Nicks' "Silver Springs," which didn't make the original album. This is such the ideal of what a rock record should be that it's jarring, albeit thrilling, to hear these unpolished, inchoate pieces of it. G.K.

Top Reissues of 2013

Ultimate Classic Rock

No. 1 - Fleetwood Mac 'Rumours: Deluxe Edition'

One of the greatest albums ever made gets a face-lift, complete with extra discs of outtakes and alternate versions. There's even a CD of live cuts recorded during the band's massive tour in support of its blockbuster record. The early versions of 'Rumours' favorites are eye-opening, especially Stevie Nicks' abandoned 'Silver Springs,' her best song, which gets bigger, better and stronger with each successive take.

Chart Updates: Fleetwood Mac | Stevie Nicks - UK, Australia, New Zealand and USA

UK - December 28, 2013

Fleetwood Mac's "The Very Best Of" reached a new certification level in the UK this month. As of December 6, 2013 the 2CD package has reached 5x Platinum signifying 1.5 million units sold in the UK.

This week in the UK on the Top 100 Albums Chart the album moves up 16 spots to No.63 from No.79 last week.

On the Top 40 Catalogue chart "Rumours" is currently No.13

AUSTRALIA - December 23, 2013

Fleetwood Mac's "25 Years The Chain" 4CD box set (Which was just certified platinum December 2nd) spends a second week at No.11 on the Top 100 Albums Chart in Australia. "The Very Best Of" moved up to No.75 from No.88 last week.

On the Top 50 Catalgue Albums Chart "25 Years The Chain" holds on to the No.2 spot over Christmas, while "The Very Best of" moves up to No.12 from No.18.

"Greatest Hits" re-enters the Top 50 Digital Albums Chart this week at No.45.

"The Dance" moves up one spot to No.28 on the Top 40 Music DVD Chart.

NEW ZEALAND - December 23, 2013

Fleetwood Mac's 4CD platinum selling "25 Years The Chain" box set moves back into the top 10 this week at No.10 in it's 36th week of release.

USA - December 28, 2013

Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams DVD in it's second week of release in the U.S. finishes 2013 at No.12 on the Top Music Video Sales Chart. The DVD debuted last week at No.7.

Stevie Nicks on the Fleetwood Mac Christmas Gift Exchange: No Scarves, but Plenty of Jewelry

The members of Fleetwood Mac are famous for their dysfunctional relationships, and it seems as though they

have an equally dysfunctional time exchanging Christmas gifts -- at least according to Stevie Nicks.

Asked if there's an annual Christmas gift exchange among the members of the Mac -- that's Nicks, guitarist Lindsey Buckingham, drummer Mick Fleetwood and bass player John McVie -- Stevie tells ABC News Radio, "There is, between Mick and I.  I buy Lindsey things...I've probably bought him 25 cashmere scarves...He doesn't like them.  He won't wear them.  And he says, 'Don't buy me any more cashmere.'"

Explaining why she keeps giving her former lover scarves, Nicks laughs and says, "It's the only thing I can think that he might wear when we're in Sweden and it's cold.  Everybody buys [him] a scarf.  He must have drawers of scarves!"  She adds that, ultimately, "I wouldn't even know what to buy Lindsey, so I don't bother.  He doesn't buy me anything."

But when it comes to Fleetwood, with whom she also had a romantic relationship, Stevie says she goes completely over the top.  "Mick and I, we love to buy presents for each other, because we like the same things," she tells ABC News Radio.  "We like 24-carat gold jewelry.  We like opals and jade.  We like diamonds.  You know, Mick and I are one and the same.  We're kind of the same person."

And even if the two are feuding, expensive gifts are still on the agenda, reveals Nicks.

"Once, I was mad at Mick about something and I bought him a red skull, with diamond eyes, on a 24-carat-gold chain," she laughs.  "And I said, 'This is just so you know I'm always watching you!'  And that was a fantastic gift.  And he loved it!  So, you know, Mick and I have the same taste."

Fleetwood Mac will close out the year with a December 30 show in Las Vegas. 

2013 ABC News Radio

How Fleetwood Mac became one of the most influential bands of 2013

Haim, Ladies of the Canyon, Mumford and Sons and others referenced Fleetwood Mac, although the band’s own EP barely made a dent in public consciousness

By: John Sakamoto
The Toronto Star

A week after closing the annual mud bowl that is the Glastonbury Festival, Mumford and Sons surveyed the 60,000-strong throng at Olympic Park, the sporting complex built for the 2012 Summer Games, and proceeded to lead a couple of dozen musicians — every act on the bill that day — through an epic communal sing-along on Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.”

Two months later, one of those acts, a trio of L.A. sisters collectively known by their surname, Haim (rhymes with “rhyme”), released Days Are Gone, one of the year’s most acclaimed and successful debuts.

Reaction to the album tended to be preoccupied with the band’s influences, which ranged from Motown to TLC but most often coalesced around Southern California rock in general and Fleetwood Mac in particular.

Continue to the full article

What Do You Get For The Man Who Already Has The Complete Fleetwood Mac Discography?

By David Fleischmann
The Onion

Well, Christmas is almost here, and as usual I’ve put off my holiday shopping until the last minute. It took me a while to figure out what I was going to get for everyone, but I’m just about ready to head over to the mall: I’m thinking a new pair of earrings for my wife, or maybe a bottle of that fancy perfume she likes, and for my kids, there’s always some hot new toy or video game gizmo that they just have to have, but I’m still completely out of ideas for what I’m going to get my brother Michael. I mean, this is someone who already owns the entire Fleetwood Mac discography, so what else is left to give him?

Continue to the full article

Video: Santa Claus is Coming To Town... Stevie Nicks with Chris Isaak

Santa Claus is Coming To Town

Stevie with Chris Isaak - filmed for Soundstage and released on DVD/CD in 2008. Available at Amazon

Stream the full show on-line for FREE until December 26th at Qello

She also performs on "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Stars Pick Favorite Albums of 2013 - And Stevie Nicks Likes...

Music stars lined up to tell Billboard what they liked music wise in 2013. Stevie Nicks likes John Mayer's "Paradise Valley" (because she comes from Paradise Valley in Phoenix) and she likes Lady Gaga's "Applause". Check out the video below.