Thursday, April 30, 2015

Photos, Video... Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham at USC with Trojan Marching Band

Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham reunites with USC band for 'Tusk'
LATimes


Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham reunited with some old bandmates Wednesday night -- the USC marching band, to be exact.

After a Q&A session in USC's Bovard Auditorium, Buckingham and the Trojan musicians tore through USC favorite "Tusk," followed by "Go Your Own Way," to the delight of the students in attendance and the parents they brought along.

"Tusk" has long been associated with the private school, with brass chords as familiar to USC devotees as the university's actual fight song. The original 1979 version was recorded with the USC band at Dodger Stadium and has been a game-day staple since.

Leading up to the short performance, Buckingham answered questions from David Belasco, a professor at USC's Marshall School of Business. Throughout, Buckingham sprinkled in solo acoustic renditions of "Never Going Back Again," "Bleed to Love Her" and "Big Love."

The event was part of Belasco's USC course "The Leap," a series of discussions with business leaders and innovators about the "entrepreneurial mindset." Guests have included Quincy Jones, Pete Carroll and Jessica Alba.

But the Buckingham visit was less about straight-ahead business advice than the successes and setbacks of the rock star's long career. Still, he did deliver some wisdom about maintaining artistic credibility in the face of commercial pressures and public expectations.

He cited the creation of the double-album "Tusk" -- the far less commercially successful follow-up to "Rumours" -- as an example.

"What happens with artists, or people who start off doing things for the right reasons, is that you slowly start to paint yourself into a corner by doing what people outside of the creative world are asking you to do, and I think that's antithetical to being an artist," he said.

"['Tusk'] is my favorite album of all these albums, because of the reason it was done," Buckingham said. "It started me down the path I still try to aspire to, which is to be an artist and not just a craftsman who is doing business."



Lindsey Buckingham serenades Bovard crowd
Daily Trojan
By ISABELLA ALVAREZ


Lindsey Buckingham, the guitarist of the renowned ’70s band Fleetwood Mac, took a break from the band’s tour to speak to a packed crowd in Bovard Auditorium on Wednesday night.

Fleetwood Mac is best known for its Grammy Award-winning album Rumours which was released in 1977.

At USC, however, Fleetwood Mac is best known for having recorded the song “Tusk” alongside the Trojan Marching Band.

The talk was hosted by the Lloyd Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies as part of David Belasco’s class, BAEP 470: The Entrepreneurial Mindset – Taking the Leap.

Upon introducing Buckingham, Belasco remarked that that night was special because it was all about the USC family and the experiences they share.

Taylor DuPont, a sophomore majoring in business administration, said that she attended the event because Fleetwood Mac was an important part of her childhood.

“Fleetwood Mac is my favorite band. I grew up listening to them and continue to do so. When I found out that Lindsey would be on campus, I jumped at the opportunity of seeing him talk and play,” she said.

During the talk, Buckingham discussed his youth, how he met his bandmate and former lover, Stevie Nicks, and how he came to join Fleetwood Mac.

He then discussed the success of Rumours and how it was also a difficult time for the band members because their romantic relationships were disintegrating.

Buckingham said this difficult time affected his career. Belasco asked him whether great art required great pain.

“At the very least, emotional experiences will only broaden your creative landscape,” Buckingham said.

After every topic, Buckingham performed a song related to it. Among them were “Never Going Back Again,” “Bleed to Love Her” and “Big Love.”

For every song that he performed, he received a standing ovation from the audience.

Because of Fleetwood Mac’s unique connection to USC, Buckingham also discussed how Fleetwood Mac came to collaborate with the Trojan Marching Band to play “Tusk.”

“We wanted something that would sound like a jungle roll and hypnotic. How Bartner got in the picture, I don’t know. Maybe Mick?” he said, referring to the band’s drummer.

A video from USC’s archives that showed the day that “Tusk” was recorded at Dodger Stadium was shown. Belasco explained that through “Tusk,” the Trojan Marching Band was able to set two unique records, one for the first collegiate marching band with a Grammy-winning record and one for the most musicians collaborating on one single.

Following the talk, students asked Buckingham questions. He provided them with advice regarding the definition of success.

“I was never really [goal-driven]. I was focused, but not necessarily trying to do anything for anything other than my own success,” Buckingham said.

The talk ended with Buckingham performing “Tusk” and “Go Your Own Way” with the band.

Earlier in the talk, Buckingham said the work of Fleetwood Mac has been able to reach such a wide array of generations.

“We have gotten teenagers whom our body of work seems to make sense to,” Buckingham said.

Students said after the event that they were very pleased with Buckingham’s talk and performance.

Jake Simon, a junior majoring in business administration, said that he felt very fortunate to have been able to attend.

“I was in the second row and it was beyond incredible,” he said.

Cristina Gomez said she was impressed by the uniqueness of the event.

“This was like a personal concert for ourselves along with stories. It was so impressive!” she said.

At the event, the Lloyd Greif Center awarded Buckingham with a trophy that recognized his contributions to the university, as well as his musical entrepreneurship.

Correction: An earlier version of this article quoted Cristina Gúzman. Her name is actually Cristina Gomez. The Daily Trojan regrets the error.

Saturday, April 25, 2015

'It's going to be a very constructive period for the band' - Lindsey Buckingham on Fleetwood Mac

Lindsey Buckingham interview on "The Big Interview with Dan Rather" will premiere Tuesday, April 28th at 8PM ET on AXS TV.  Additional air dates and times listed below:





Tue, Apr 28th - 8:00 PM ET - Premiere
Wed, Apr 29th - 3:00 AM ET
Wed, Apr 29th - 10:30 AM ET
Fri, May 1st - 4:00 AM ET
Fri, May 1st - 9:30 AM ET

Stevie Nicks admits she is still searching. (Young men are too dumb, older men are too, well, old!)

Living Legend Stevie Nicks
by Liz Smith
Quest Magazine
(Spring, 2015)

“I live in the world of romantic possibility,” says Stevie Nicks. Nicks is one of the most successful and iconic (overused word, but it’s appropriate here) singer-songwriters of the past fortysomething years. She was born in Phoenix, Arizona—but her millions of besotted fans know that cannot be true! Not only does Stevie live in a “world of romantic possibility,” she lives in a world of unicorns and benevolent magic; of flowing scarves and eternally windswept hair. She is a one-woman magical mystery tour.

Few artists have maintained the consistency of Stevie Nicks, in her presentation and in the quality of her distinctive voice (a compelling, keening sound: not quite beautiful, but seductive and soul-catching).

Stevie has been consistently linked—since her high-school days!—to Lindsey Buckingham. Both would be linked, this very moment, to the band Fleetwood Mac. Nicks and Buckingham joined the group in 1975, after several years of writing and performing on their own. The inclusion of the couple—romantically involved at that time—galvanized the group. Nicks’ songs “Landslide” and “Rhiannon” became instant classics, and drove the album to the top of the charts.  Her dreamy onstage look (created by designer Margi Kent) was at odds with her powerful, impassioned delivery. (The platform boots she favored gave her not only height—she’s tiny—but a certain grounded, solid quality. She still wears those boots!)

Yet success, as always, was a cruel mistress. Tension wracked the Nicks-Buckingham relationship and they parted, personally, during the recording of the follow-up album Rumors. This record, another hit, addressed some of the inside gossip about the end of their affair. But this was nothing compared to what came later, during the tour for that album. Nicks and Mick Fleetwood (who was married with children) began an affair. Nicks was horrified it had happened and anger from friends was a daily burden. The relationship would end, but, in a sick twist—it’s only rock ‘n’ roll!—Mick would eventually leave his wife for Stevie’s best friend!

Stevie, almost comically prolific—how much could a woman write and know and express?!—now began branching out. She appeared occasionally with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and in 1981 released her first solo album, Bella Donna. It was a smash. Her second solo effort The Wild Heart, came in 1983.  Another smash, more hit singles. Then came Rock a Little in 1986, which continued her streak of solo successes. Her lyrics were—and are—deeply personal but universal. “I write songs that people can’t write for themselves,” she has said.

Still working with Fleetwood Mac, Nicks faced a variety of issues, personal (i.e. cocaine, chronic fatigue syndrome) and professional. But the band played on, seemingly unstoppable despite the fact that Buckingham had left.

In 1995, Nicks and Buckingham reunited for the duet “Twisted” which is heard on the soundtrack to the popular tornado movie, Twister.

Stevie continued to split her creativity between Fleetwood and her own solo career, which she managed with apparent ease. When Fleetwood began a new album in 2001, Nicks was, for the first time, the sole woman in the band—Christine McVie had left, Buckingham had returned. The subsequent tour was successful but fraught.

Married only once, briefly to musician Kim Anderson in 1983, Stevie Nicks seemed to float above the gritty, grimy world of bruised egos, shattered dreams, and an industry that worships the new obsessively. Even when she’d speak of her once-upon-a-time drug habit, or about love or sex or growing older, there seemed to be a distance—great candor through gauze, so to speak.

I once sat in a room with Stevie, in the office of her press representative, Liz Rosenberg. I wasn’t there to interview Stevie, so I didn’t feel right about repeating, afterward, the conversation that poured out. There’s an old expression, “Ask a question, get a pageant.” Stevie definitely is a pageant. It’s almost stream-of-consciousness. She often asked and answered her own questions. She was quirky, fascinating, intelligent, and yet…the gauze was up.

As I write this, Stevie is back on the road with Fleetwood Mac. McVie has returned and—so far!—nobody’s backed out of the tour. One sophisticated woman I know fairly well took me by surprise when she told me she was a huge Stevie Nicks fan, and was rapturous after seeing her in concert. “A goddess, this woman is a goddess!” (The goddess also appeared on the popular and fabulously bizarre T.V. series American Horror Story: Coven. She played herself. Well, the fan fantasy version of herself, singing to a coven of witches. She was mesmerizing.)

A few years back, contemplating her enviably long career, Nicks said, “I never wanted to be just some ‘girl singer.’”

Stevie has talked now and then about writing her memoirs. On the one hand, she says she wants to wait until everybody who could be hurt “is too old, no longer cares,” about what she might reveal. On the other hand, she demurs on the basis of sex—she won’t write about her sex life, she insists! Well, why not keep up that mysterious quality? (Madonna she ain’t!)

Personally, Stevie Nicks admits she is still searching. (Young men are too dumb, older men are too, well, old!) But professionally, Stevie got her wish. She never was, never will be, just some “girl singer.”

READ THE DIGITAL VERSION OF THE MAGAZINE ON-LINE:


STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"
Out Now! Order from Stevienicksofficial.com

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Lindsey Buckingham to speak at USC on his life in music and Fleetwood Mac - April 29th

Lindsey will speaking with at USC on Wednesday, April 29th.

Register to attend at usc.edu/esvp; code rockandroll. 


Pre-Order LIMITED EDITION "Crystal Visions…The Very Best of Stevie Nicks " Double Vinyl




LIMITED EDITION CRYSTAL VISIONS VINYL BUNDLE
Previously out of print, Crystal Visions…The Very Best of Stevie Nicks is available in a one time limited pressing in transparent “crystal clear” double vinyl. Vinyl includes live versions of "Landslide" and "Edge of Seventeen." Half-speed mastered by Stan Ricker.
 
Vinyl Messenger bag is 14” x14” x 3” with a 54” adjustable strap. 11” x 17” Limited edition portrait poster printed on heavy stock paper.
 
Pre-order item – release date: May 19th, 2015

Bundle Includes:
  • Stevie Nicks 11x17 Litho
  • Stevie Nicks Vinyl Messenger Bag
  • Crystal Visions: The Very Best of Stevie Nicks



STEVIE NICKS "24 KARAT GOLD - SONGS FROM THE VAULT"
Out Now! Order from Stevienicksofficial.com

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

PHOTOS Fleetwood Mac Live in Los Angeles 4/14 + North Little Rock 4/19

Fleetwood Mac Live in Los Angeles, CA - April 14, 2015
141 Photos by Alex Kluft Photography
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Alex Kluft Photography: Part 3 &emdash; Alex Kluft Photography: Part 1 &emdash; Alex Kluft Photography: Part 1 &emdash;

Fleetwood Mac Live in North Little Rock, AR - April 19, 2015
46 Photos by Brian Chilson
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