Tuesday, August 07, 2018

Mick Fleetwood "In truthful language, we just weren’t happy"

Mick Fleetwood Opens Up About His Rock Photography, Fleetwood Mac's Tour & Lindsey Buckingham's Departure



Billboard

On Saturday night (Aug. 4) in Los Angeles, Fleetwood -- who is in town rehearsing for the upcoming Fleetwood Mac tour -- popped by the Sunset Marquis Hotel in conjunction with the Morrison Hotel Gallery to showcase a selection of his favorite music shots, which included candid photos of the likes of Keith Richards, John Lee Hooker and bandmate Stevie Nicks.
 
Billboard caught up with Fleetwood on site to discuss his love of rock photography, his secret mission to infiltrate the stash of early Fleetwood Mac shots that McVie has been holding hostage and what he’s most looking forward to about his band’s upcoming tour.

What are you most looking forward to about the upcoming Fleetwood Mac tour?

We’re very excited. Obviously this is a huge change with the advent of Lindsey Buckingham not being a part of Fleetwood Mac. We all wish him well and all the rest of it.
In truthful language, we just weren’t happy. And I’ll leave it at that in terms of the dynamic.
And he’s going out on the road more or less the same time I think -- not in the same places, I hope (laughs).
So we’re with Mike Campbell from Tom Petty and Neil Finn from Crowded House -- both really credible gentleman and really talented. We are a week into rehearsals and it’s going really well and we’re looking forward, in true Fleetwood Mac style. If you know anything about the history of this band, it’s sort of peppered with this type of dramatic stuff. It’s a strange band really.
It’s ironic that we have a 50-year package coming out with all the old blues stuff with Peter Green, all the incarnations of Fleetwood Mac, which was not of course planned.
But that’s what we’re feeling, especially myself and John, having been in Fleetwood Mac for 55 years. So it’s exciting, totally challenging in the whole creative part of it, and we’re really loving it.
We’re just looking at a whole 18 months on-and-off of trekking around the world like we normally do and having it be fun.
Full article at Billboard

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

LISTEN LeAnne Rimes and Stevie Nicks Duet 'Borrowed'

Hear LeAnn Rimes and Stevie Nicks' Delicate Duet 'Borrowed (Re-Imagined)'
Collaborative version of bittersweet ballad featured on Rimes' 'Re-Imagined' EP was "our destiny," says Nicks


Rollingstone

The day before LeAnn Rimes releases her Re-Imagined EP, a collection putting unique new spins on some of her best-known songs, the country-pop powerhouse unleashes another surprise track from the collection. And this one comes with a bona fide rock superstar attached. Stevie Nicks, whose work as a solo artist ands as a member of Fleetwood Mac have influenced Rimes for decades, joins her on an updated rendition of "Borrowed," a track originally featured on Rimes' brilliant, yet underappreciated, 2013 LP Spitfire.

Written by Rimes with Darrell Brown and Dan Wilson, and produced by Rimes, Brown and Nicks with famed guitarist Waddy Wachtel, this updated version of "Borrowed" finds the two singers sharing melody and harmony, imbuing the tune with emotional depth yet never overpowering each other. The result is a bittersweet country ballad with just a touch of glittering pop-rock magic.

Nicks, who refers to the "How Do I Live" singer as "the best I have ever sung with," notes that she chose to record "Borrowed" for Re-Imagined after Rimes sang it on The Tonight Show in 2013.

"I stopped in my tracks and sat down on the floor and started to cry," the rock icon tells Rolling Stone. "I understood what she was singing about. I understood that the pain was real... and I understood that it had happened to me. When the song ended, I called my assistant to tell her that one day, I would sing this song with LeAnn. It was our destiny."

Nicks, a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with her Fleetwood Mac cohorts, says of Rimes as a vocalist, "You can't compete with her; you can only keep up with her. To sing with her is to be blessed. She teaches you; she takes you along for the ride. She takes you on her journey and you arrive a much better singer."

"Stevie has been inspiring me as a songwriter and performer since I can remember," adds Rimes. "To know that my music has seeped its way into her heart the way her music has into mine is magical. Connecting with her, not only musically, but on a soul level – understanding what it's like to be a woman with passion, a pen and a desire to tell the most authentic, heartfelt truth through song, has been an experience that's forever left an imprint on my life."

The Re-Imagined EP, also featuring newly crafted versions of such Rimes hits as "Blue," "How Do I Live" and "Can't Fight the Moonlight," is available June 20th.

Check out their interview on Wednesday on BBC Radio 2 in the UK after the 8am hour.


Friday, June 15, 2018

Mick Fleetwood Talks Fleetwood Mac Tour and What He's Looking Forward To

Mick Fleetwood Talks Tour, Recalls How A Helicopter Ride Gave Perspective
By Taylor Fields
iHeartRadio

Fleetwood Mac is back and heading out on the road on their new North American tour, and with a revamped lineup. The tour is the iconic band's first since Lindsey Buckingham's departure from the group. But, visiting major cities across the country this fall and early next year will be Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie, along with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell and Crowded House's Neil Finn.

The 50+ city tour kicks off on October 3rd in Tulsa, Oklahoma at the BOK Center, and stop in places like Chicago, Kansas City, Cleveland, Detroit, San Jose, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, San Diego, Dallas, Nashville, Atlanta, New York City, and Boston, before wrapping up in Philadelphia on April 5th at the Wells Fargo Center. 

And right before their North American trek kicks off the band will be performing in Las Vegas at the iHeartRadio Music Festival this fall, alongside a star-studded lineup of artists. 

Recently, iHeartRadio caught up with Fleetwood Mac's Mick Fleetwood, and he talked about the upcoming trek, what he's looking forward to, one of the most standout moments from the band's incredible 50+ year career (hint: it involves a helicopter ride), and the decision to recruit Mike Campbell and Neil Finn. Read on below.

How does it feel to be going out on tour again?

"The whole premise of going out on the road is something that's actually second nature to everyone in Fleetwood Mac. We're musicians, we love to play, and having the opportunity always to do that is exciting, is thought provocative in terms of what we can do creatively, and we're ready to go. We're going into rehearsals for a couple of months and can't wait to get back out there."

What are you looking forward to the most?

"Going out on the road, what I always look forward to the most is playing and playing regularly. Sometimes, of course, when we come off the road we spend a few months here and there not playing, and so it's really getting back in the saddle and getting into the full music mode, and communicating with other players on stage. That's what I crave. That's what I live for. That's what I was trained for, and that's what I really, really love."

Looking back at your incredible career and back at each tour you've done, do you have a favorite moment or show that was significant or something that you'll always remember?

"I have to say, a memorable moment on the road, was not long after we really had been blessed with the huge, huge success of the Rumors album, and we hadn't really realized what was happening. And we ended up in a helicopter on the way to some huge festival in Texas, and the helicopter [pilot] said, 'Why don't you look down there?' And we weren't in the mood to be really looking anywhere. We were just happy to get there safely. So we gingerly look out of the cockpit and look down. And he said, 'You know what? There's about 350,000 people down there.' At that point, we realized that something had happened that we hadn't really taken notice of, and it was hugely memorable. Then he flew around three or four times over this massive crowd, and at that point, I think it really dawned on, certainly me, and I believe the rest of the band, that we had, as they say in the business, sort of 'arrived.' And with that, was the sense of, 'Oh my god. This is something very different.' It was certainly exciting and I think we played in many ways, almost differently, being conscious of such a vision of so many people where you felt, 'We better deliver something tonight.' That's something that has not only stuck with me that day, but it sticks with me every time we all walk on stage to deliver the goods, and to do what we are as wandering minstrels to play our hearts out, and have people have a great time. That's what it's all about."

You have such an extensive discography. Do you have a favorite song you like to play on the tour? How do you come up with your set list?

"There's such a huge amount of material that we've covered in the last 50 years of the existence of Fleetwood Mac, believe it or not, since 1967, and we're still at it. So, the choice of any particular song, I'm gonna actually pass on, but I will say as a percussionist, as a drummer, I always look to the end of the show. Not because I want it to be over, but usually at the end of the show, you start really cranking out some real serious rock and roll, and I'm a rock and roll drummer, so I'm selfishly always invested in looking forward to the end of the show. And I'm sure on our next tour, we will be cranking out some, some rock and roll, and then finishing off the evening, usually in a nice soulful way as well. 

But the material, we're blessed, again, with having so many songs to choose from. And the curve of the set, which is, I don't want to end up sounding like a school teacher, because what it really has to be, is take people through a journey. We often make choices because we feel a certain way about a certain song, you've always got to imagine, how would it be to be in an audience and be sitting and partaking, and being part of that show. And that's really where we always end up is, how would you feel if you're sitting in the audience, Mick? And would you be motivated? Would you be going forward? Would you be excited? Would you be moved? And I think that's really where we end up. We want to take people through a huge emotional journey that, luckily, we're able to accomplish, we hope. I always believe we can, and we pay a lot of attention to that. That by the end of the evening, it would have been something that if I was a fly on the wall myself, as I often do and go and see other people's shows, that I walk out and go like, 'that really took me on a journey and left me with something memorable.' That emotionally sticks to your heart, and that's what we're all about and we feel well equipped to do that."

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' guitarist Mike Campbell, and Neil Finn from Crowded House are joining you on tour. How did you come to invite them on the road?

"We've had a change in Fleetwood Mac and we've invited, from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Mike Campbell on guitar, and Neil Finn from Crowded House, and of course, both these great musicians and singers have had incredible success on their own in their solo programs they've been doing from time to time. But, really, after the advent of a change in Fleetwood Mac, what was really important was to find out, within the ranks of the existing members, that we really, really, really had a vision of going forward. Once that was thought about, and we thought about it a lot, obviously because it was a huge change from the advent of Lindsey Buckingham leaving the ranks of Fleetwood Mac. And once we'd made that decision, both of these gentlemen just came to us, not instantly, but Mike Campbell, of course, has worked for many years as the mainstay creatively and right hand man of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. A great writer and a great guitar player, and has done work with Stevie [Nicks]. And I had known him a little bit because of that, and it made a lot of sense. I'd suddenly thought that that would be a great match, and the chemistry would be pre-existing, which it is. 

Neil Finn came after much thought. A dear friend of mine, and me being a huge fan of his music and his songwriting and his voice and just his basic talent. And both became very believable in terms of what would be a great match to join Fleetwood Mac. With that in mind, we're tremendously excited. It's very much in the mode of what we've done in Fleetwood Mac over the last 50 years, if you look at the history of this crazy band that's full of change. And this is a lovely, exciting change that we're really looking forward to [it], and getting out there, and blowing away on stage and doing what we love to do with these two great talents, Mike Campbell and Neil Finn."

Mick Fleetwood 'We’re looking forward to putting on an incredibly vibrant show that is truly groundbreaking, for us'

Mick Fleetwood on the new Fleetwood Mac: 'It's important to remain creative and not tread water'

Lyndsey Parker
Yahoo

While the news last month of Lindsey Buckingham’s departure from Fleetwood Mac (with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers’ veteran Mike Campbell and Split Enz/Crowded House’s Neil Finn taking Buckingham’s place) came as a shock to many Mac fans, this is hardly the group’s first major lineup switchup over the past half-century. Buckingham actually didn’t join Mac until 1974 (following the departure of co-founder Peter Green) and left the group once before, in the late ‘80s (he was replaced by Billy Burnette and Rick Vito at that time). As drummer Mick Fleetwood the lineup’s one consistent member since the beginning, says, “If anyone out there has a sort of a track record of the history of this crazy band known as Fleetwood Mac, it is certainly peppered with changes through the years. … We’ve had probably four, five, six, seven major changes!”



Fleetwood is reluctant to go “into all of ups and downs and the details of where we ended up” with Buckingham this time around, but he gives “huge kudos and respect, forever and before and now and into the future, of what Lindsay Buckingham has always been within the ranks.” 

He also reveals that he and longtime bandmates Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie (who took a hiatus from the group from 1998-2013), and John McVie “thought very, very hard and long about going forward.”

In fact, they even considered not going forward at one point, but it didn’t take long before they realized they wanted to stick together.

“Well, it was a huddle, really. It was a team huddle of the existing band members to really not panic into anything, other than really following our hearts as to what this meant — which was huge, any which way you look at it,” Fleetwood muses. “And once we had galvanized that approach amongst the four remaining folks, the ladies and the guys in the band, we took the bull by the horns. It was really as simple as that. But it certainly took a real, meaningful breath. All of us, probably in our various ways, came to that decision that we want to, we need to, we feel good about it.

“And once we all felt that we really wanted to do that, it got hot and heavy as to how this is going to be really musically uplifting for the existing band — the band that we have now — and have it be believable for everyone out there that has been loyal and taken that journey with the crazy band Fleetwood Mac.”

The answer was to recruit Campbell — not a major surprise, considering his long history playing with Nicks — and, as more of a curveball, New Zealand singer-songwriter Finn. Fleetwood seems thrilled to be working with both “lovely gentlemen,” describing the new lineup’s dynamic as being “like a bunch of teenagers doing their thing, coming out of the garage.” 

He hints that Campbell and Finn’s respective catalogs will factor into the forthcoming Fleetwood Mac tour’s “huge” setlist (“their heritage and their background is going to be appropriately part of the show”), and he even says it’s likely that the Campbell/Finn collection will record new tunes together.

“I don’t think you can keep the horse in the trap, so to speak, when it comes to Christine and Stevie,” Fleetwood says of the possibility of new Mac music. “They’re still connected to everything about writing and having a whole new approach to it. Mike is hugely conversant with production and has written way more than I ever, ever knew. And he’s worked with Stevie, writing and producing and a lot of stuff that Stevie did through the years with Tom and of course the Heartbreakers. And Neil is a given; he’s just a hugely connected songwriter that really covers a huge gamut.… 

I truly believe that [new music] will happen. I’m hoping that we can throw out a couple of calling cards before we go out on the road. 

I’m not quite sure that we can apply ourselves to do that, but all of that is to look forward to. It’s hugely important, whichever way you look at it, for a band to remain being creative, not treading water.”

While Fleetwood is enthusiastic about his band’s future, he reveals that Mac’s tour, which officially kicks off Oct. 3 in Tulsa, Okla. (after the new lineup makes its live debut at Las Vegas’s iHeartRadio Festival in September) and will continue into 2019, will delve deep in the band’s archives — dating back to before the famous Buckingham/Nicks era. “We’re really looking forward to doing some spotted revisiting of some of the old blues-based, rock ‘n’ roll stuff we did back in the day,” he says, “like ‘Black Magic Woman’ and ‘Oh Well.’ And I think Stevie’s even threatening to sing ‘Black Magic Woman,’ which sounds more than exciting! … I think everything is just open, looking at what we’ve done since the beginning and no doubt touching on some of the blues stuff that Campbell, very specifically, is insisting that we do. And happily so.”

Fleetwood and his new and old bandmates are still hashing out the setlist (“We’re all exchanging lists, emailing madly backwards and forwards”), but regardless of which songs make the cut, the upcoming tour is bound to be a fascinating look at Fleetwood Mac’s complex and ever-evolving history. And it’s going to be a marathon event. “I was around Stevie’s house the other night with Campbell, and we quietly realized that we were heading towards a three-hour show! It was a sort of comedic moment,” Fleetwood chuckles, adding more seriously: “We’re looking forward to putting on an incredibly vibrant show that is truly groundbreaking, for us, and that’s about as good as it can get for a musician to be in that sort of noncomplacent place.”

Tuesday, June 12, 2018

Fleetwood Mac to Perform at iHeart Music Festival Sept 21st


2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival
When: Friday, September 21 and Saturday, September 22, 2018

Where: T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, NV

Performing: September 21st: Fleetwood Mac, Jack White, Mariah Carey, Jason Aldean, Sam Smith, Panic! At The Disco, Kygo, Rae Sremmurd


Saturday, June 09, 2018

Former Fleetwood Mac Guitarist, Songwriter Danny Kirwan has Passed Away

DANNY KIRWAN
MAY 13, 1950 ~ JUNE 8, 2018
A TRIBUTE FROM MICK FLEETWOOD AND 
FLEETWOOD MAC

Today was greeted by the sad news of the passing of Danny Kirwan in London, England. Danny was a huge force in our early years. His love for the Blues led him to being asked to join Fleetwood Mac in 1968, where he made his musical home for many years.

Danny’s true legacy, in my mind, will forever live on in the music he wrote and played so beautifully as a part of the foundation of Fleetwood Mac, that has now endured for over fifty years.

Thank you, Danny Kirwan. You will forever be missed!

~Mick Fleetwood and Fleetwood Mac




ALBUMS FEATURING THE WORK OF DANNY KIRWAN:

Then Play On ​1969
Blues Jam at Chess ​1969
Kiln House​ 1970
Future Games​ 1971
Bare Trees​ 1972

Fleetwood Mac was already a popular blues band in 1969 when they released THEN PLAY ON, the group’s stellar third studio album. It was the first with guitarist-songwriter Danny Kirwan and ultimately its last with founding member Peter Green. The album’s powerful mix of blues and rock includes standout tracks like “Rattlesnake Shake,” “Searching For Madge” and “Coming Your Way.”

With KILN HOUSE, Fleetwood Mac began moving toward a more melodic pop sound on songs like “Mission Bell” and “One Together.” At the time, the band included: Jeremy Spencer (guitar, vocals, piano), Kirwan (guitar, vocals), John McVie (bass) and Mick Fleetwood (drums). Christine McVie was at the recording sessions and contributed backing vocals and the album’s cover art, but she did not join the band until shortly after the album was finished.

The band’s shift toward pop and folk styles continued on FUTURE GAMES with songs like “Show Me A Smile” and “Morning Rain.” This marks the first Fleetwood Mac album with Christine McVie as a full band member as well as the Mac debut of Bob Welch on guitar.

The line-up stayed the same for BARE TREES, which boasts a consistently strong collection of songs like McVie’s “Spare Me A Little Of Your Love,” Kirwan’s “Dust” and Welch’s “Sentimental Lady.” Although Kirwan was a dominant figure during the recording, penning half of the songs, this would ultimately be his last appearance on a Fleetwood Mac album.