Lindsey Buckingham Sues Fleetwood Mac Over Dismissal from Band

I have (not Lindsey's but a Turner Model One just like it) and this is true.

 

I have wondered this too. Maybe she was afraid she’d get sued or really needed the paycheck.

 

Does Christine really have much leverage?
Did ticket sales go down during her absence?

 

Maybe Christine feels time running out and this is her last tour, period, no matter who's on board .... ?
I doubt she "needed" the paycheck.

 

I think this is more the case. She came back because she was sick of being retired and I'm sure she wasn't ready for it to be over especially considering how little time left there is.

 

Lindsey Buckingham Calls Current Fleetwood Mac 'A Cover Band'

 

It is a cover band, you've got Neil Finn over there taking the balls away from Lindsay Buckingham's songs and Mike Campbell doing--whatever. It's nothing but a cover band.

Really, FM reminds me of a band soldiering on when a vital member has died. We know that Lindsay is still with us--but it's all so joyless to me.

 

See, Im reading again the things that Lindsey has said about this, and frankly it all seems just a little passive-aggressive. So his band mates dont care about his genius and what hes doing? So they only want the money from Fleetwood Mac [says the man who sued to get his cut of the tour he's not doing*]? So, compassionate Lindsey is, he says theyre lacking perspective and are sort of weak - even though Lindsey being the swell guy that he cant help but loving them despite their obvious flaws.

He was pleased to hear from Christine, but doesnt expect to hear from the embarassed and a little weak-willed Mick. No mention of John. And of course Stevie... well he doesnt expect to hear from her because shes needy for a certain kind of attention and doesnt want to compete with Lindsey's vitality. Oh what a gem of a man Lindsey truly is. A shining knight who has been done down, in the eyes of his fans, by that evil, old, fat, goat-throated Stevie.

If this is an indication of what Stevie - and to a lesser extent the rest of the band - has had to put up with for all these years, this sort of smarmy and slightly snide condescension, then no wonder when she gave them an ultimatum they chose her. It's no wonder she hasnt wanted to be in the studio with him for the last 20 years. She's finally had enough, but somehow its all her fault? Well... maybe Lindsey feels that way, but I dont agree. I think theres more than enough fault to go all round.



*Not that Lindsey isn't perfectly entitled to it, he is obviously.

 

I'm pretty sure that Christine did not "choose" Stevie. She just chose not to quit when the situation was presented to her. After over 50 years together, John probably just goes along with whatever Mick does. This is really all about Mick choosing between Stevie and Lindsey. He went with the most commercially viable option. Just a few years ago he was just as frustrated as Lindsey and Christine that Stevie wouldn't commit to a studio album that they were already working on.

 

No, from all reports, Christine was not directly involved. She found out afterwards and decided to live with it and not challenge it, publically anyway. I agree that its mostly about Mick choosing, but it doesnt just have to be because Stevie is the most commercially viable option. Its also the easier situation to deal with personally, not least because of Mick and Stevie's own relationship.

And of course, the two situations are not the same as now. Stevie would tour because she believes in Fleetwood Mac, but wouldnt commit to a studio album because of Lindsey. Whatever her other public excuses, this seems to have been at the heart of it. Lindsey and the band naturally wanted Stevie to commit to what became Buckingham/McVie, perhaps the others just hoped Stevie would come around, whereas clearly she didnt want to do it. Stevie recorded and toured solo during this time so its not as if she refused to go into a studio. She just didnt want to go into a studio with Lindsey. Thats a sad thing for Fleetwood Mac fans who love the classic five, but its a reality. In some ways, it would have been eye-opening if Stevie had quit and Lindsey had stayed. It would have been very interesting to see what Stevie would have said if she were in Lindsey's situation.

 

The flights of fancy dispensed by people who don’t know any members of the band boggles the mind. They’re assuming they understand a band dynamic they know nothing about. I’m all for debating am interview or interviews but assuming knowledge of them as people is just sad.

Ed

 

Of course none of us know them but on the other hand they’re not exactly tight-lipped about their interpersonal dynamics. There’s more than enough to go on when speculating about them.

 

It’s really not. You know only what they’re telling you. You aren’t there and you don’t know them as people. You have no sense of their nuances so you can’t judge why they do as they do.

Ed

 

Yeah I got the same impression. Condescending and egotistical. Lindsey Buckingham's greatest admirer is probably Lindeey Buckingham.

 

If Rumours was the great "break up/divorce" album of the 1970's, just as many of that 60's generation were experiencing the same thing, just think what a great "mortality/old age" album could have been, had all the recent events not happened. All that history, loss, love and hate, all channelled into a series of pop songs that would reflect what a fading generation must be dealing with on a day-to-day basis. If they could have achieved that, with a sense of reconciliation and humour, it would have been a huge achievement.

 

I have always considered that everytime a band makes a record, they then go out and cover it, so he is right but he is a cover act as well so there's that.

 

Cocaine is expensive.

 

You're right of course. We arent there and we don't know them as people. Even then though, we would still be judging them by what they say and what we see them do. I'm not imagining things for them, I'm not making things up, I'm sinply telling what I see, how I see it. It would be a much smaller forum if we were only able to discuss direct personal experiences.

 

I saw Lindsey on Sunday. His voice was anything but ragged. Very strong and at times quite impressive, with the feeling and energy you described.

That said, he did lower the key on two or three of the Fleetwood Mac songs. More artists need to consider doing this on their "must play" songs.

 

How do you know this for a fact? Just curious. You personally know any of these people?

 

Again, though, I'm just talking about people's assumptions about how they're feeling, why they do what they do, what they're thinking. None of us can know that. I mean...we wouldn't want anyone doing that with us, right?

Ed

 

They copped out. From the outside, it seems like it would be easier to make an album in one place than to constantly tour. If you don't agree with someone in the studio, you work it out or storm out and then regroup to work it out. Maybe it's just too much 'work', but you gotta give to get.

 

Mick probably never fell out of love with Stevie and she probably uses that at will.

 

I thought I made this clear in my earlier post, but apparently not. If she had refused to tour without Lindsey then the band would not be able to play arenas without a co-headliner. How am I wrong on this? Do you really think Fleetwood Mac with only Stevie as the sole vocalist from the classic era would fill arenas?

 

It's not about Christine specifically, it's about not having 2 of the 3 vocalists and songwriters from the classic era in the lineup if she had decided not to participate. When she was retired the band still had both Stevie and Lindsey so it wasn't an issue.