Hard to Believe
In the history of the music industry, a lot of bands have come and gone. Some have made an overnight splash and faded away, leaving only the faintest echo for posterity. Many have had a good long run. Very few can claim a forty-year span, often interrupted but never quite gone from the scene. Score one for Fleetwood Mac, back for yet another (possibly) tumultuous tour of the U.S. With the four original members together again, this enduringly popular and charismatic band is back to remind fans of just why they have never been forgotten.
Long Ago, In a Land Far Away
It’s difficult to keep track of all the artists behind the success of Fleetwood Mac. Most of the band members, at some point, have made a name for themselves as individuals with their own performances. To start at the beginning, there was Peter Green, lead guitarist with Eric Claptons’s band. In 1967 he left to start something new, and recruited Mick Fleetwood (drummer) and John McVie (bassist) to begin recording the blues sound that was sweeping the U.K. The band, as Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac (why not?) did quite well in their territory, but did not get much notice in the U.S. until the hit single “Black Magic Woman” came out.
The changes in Fleetwood Mac’s “personnel” will make your head spin, but in the beginning . . . Peter Green left, and Christine Perfect McVie (then John’s wife), came on board as keyboardist by 1969. From then until 1975, two new members were added: Stevie Nicks as vocalist and Lindsey Buckingham on guitar. Five albums were released, and the five members became familiar to fans as the Fleetwood Mac band, and Stevie Nicks’ remarkable voice and style became a “signature sound” for the group.
The Fame and the Fury
From 1975 on, the band put together and released a number of albums and singles, even though there were major disagreements and fallings out among the members. Problems with alcohol and cocaine abuse figured prominently among the reasons for all the difficulties and the virtual revolving door of band members leaving, forming other groups, reforming, and in some cases disappearing off the music scene altogether. The saga is fascinating, but the bottom line is that the band continued to make music, and the music continued to sell. “Fleetwood Mac” the album contained the single:”Rhiannon”, which was a hit for the band and for Stevie Nicks and her sound.
The album “Rumours” was Fleetwood Mac’s greatest hit to that time, and won the 1977 Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Then they came out with “Tango in the Night”, containing four hit singles, and bringing more public and critical acclaim. The storms and dissention among various band members did not prevent them from putting the sound down, though with different artists joining and then leaving, that sound ultimately went through changes. According to most of their fans, it was all good.
In 1993, Fleetwood Mac “pulled it together” with five members including Christine Perfect McVie, keyboardist (and John McVie’s wife) for Bill Clinton’s Inaugural Ball. They performed Clinton’s campaign theme song “Don’t Stop”, one of their many hit singles, to great applause.
More personal problems with the different band members continued to plague the group, but again, in 2004, they “got it together.” They came out with their 15th album (and the first one without Christine McVie). The album is called “Say You Will”, and the band’s behind-the-scenes arguments and hassles were documented on DVD as they were putting it together.
You Can’t Keep a Great Band Down
Now it is 2009, and we can say “Hello!” again to Fleetwood Mac, the real thing! The ‘core’ and key members, John McVie, Mick Fleetwood, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks are together again, and they are “Unleashed”! The U.S. tour is set to begin on March 1st at the Mellon Arena in Pittsburg, and fans can look forward to some grand entertainment. A joint statement released by the band says it all: “We love our band and think the title of the tour “Unleashed” perfectly describes how we all feel when we get on stage together - especially in 2009.
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