Mick said Rick left to launch his own solo career. In the past, Stevie has said that Rick was not happy when Mick refused to let Stevie have the Silver Springs recording and that Rick sided with Stevie over Mick.

Michele

This is the one thing Rick won't comment on in his career. You can ask him anything else and he'll answer it but not this. Sure makes you wonder...

John

yes you are right. I did not mean to imply Billy since they are friends and they played together. She meant the new guitarists. Billy was established with the band them.

And of course Rick toured with Stevie on the Street Angel tour.

Michele

I think I read him saying something once about not having enough creative space or something. Could be misremembering though. Certainly he only had the one solo lead vocal on BTM - Stand On the Rock which was very much my favourite track on the album when it came out. Still think it's a real shame that line-up didn't last another album or two. Rick brought such an edge to Fleetwood Mac and gelled really well musically with Mick and John.

Yes well "creative differences" was the blurb given to the press at the time but what the real reason was is anybody's guess. I'm sure it didn't help in this regard that many recorded but unused RV tracks (that had leaked out on boots) were considered by fans to be much better than what was used on BTM but based on what I've pieced together is that it was mainly due to a personal family matter as to the main reason he quit. I guess we'll never know for sure though.

John

Billy and Bekka made a nice country album together! They have similar musical pedigrees.

Fleetwood Mac severely under-utilized Rick's talent and contributions to the band. He brought the blues back to the band full circle, but he was painted into a small corner. Had that configuration of the band evolved, it would have been fascinating to see them adopting a more bluesy style -- a little more heavy and a little less poppy.

He's a very respected musician and much in demand sessions player. I have almost all of his solo albums.

The Bekka And Billy album is not only a great country album, it's a great album in general. Bekka's vocals are superb, particularly her backing vocals on Heart To Call Home. Billy doesn't get nearly enough credit for his abilities as an artist and a songwriter. He's always been able to fit himself into different music genres seamlessly and with authenticity.

I have mixed feelings about this whole period. I liked most of Time. Christine delivered, on a song-by-song basis, better material than on BTM, and she did make an effort to appear on Bekka and Billy's (very subtly in his case, but I can hear her here and there in the mix). Mason is just out of place, like the previous Dave, but Mick's These Strange Times captures the confusion of the era perfectly. So taken in its entirety, the album makes a passable case for a change of direction after yet another personnel change, with a heavyweight holdover from the previous regime taking on the burdern of carrying the torch (think Danny Kirwan on Future Games).

I would have to concede that the newcomers do not deliver material that stands comparison with Chris and Bob Welch's contributions to FG, so the comparison falls down a little. I do think Billy's songs are much better than his BTM songs, however.

The main problem is the fact that there was a studio entity and a touring Mac. I don't blame Chris at all for not touring. They never played in the UK during this period, so I never saw them live, but I wonder if I would have been able to summon up the emotional belief to buy into their performance. Out of loyalty and curiosity I would probably have gone, but the performances I've seen on youtube lack a certain chemistry and I'm kind of glad I never had the chance. With Chris it would have made some sort of sense and they might have got away with it, but Billy, as the sole front-line survivor from the BTM front line didn't or couldn't make enough of a stamp musically to justify them carrying on. Although Mick and John were there, there wasn't enough of the musical blood-line carrying on to to hook in the punters.

One thing I just thought of regarding Mick's comments on this time in the new book is that he basically says due to the fighting with Mason/Bekka etc. he couldn't keep this going. So how come fighting was tolerated for Rumours etc. but not this?

John

I think it came down to money (or rather the lack of it) and artistic failure, don't you? I just wish that Rick had stayed and Billy had left permanently instead. No Mason/Bramlett incarnation, but maybe, just maybe we could have had a Rick/Chris/John/Mick blues combo touring smaller venues for a couple of years or so. That would really have worked, and people would have bought into the idea. Congratulations, John on your imminent 2000th post!

Mike (Scarrott)

1. Mick, John, and Christine were still dealing with the lawsuit over who owned the name Fleetwood Mac during Rumours.

2. The band had finally broken through and were touring behind a hit album when the personal relationships fell apart. They were able to use that as creative inspiration.

3. There's a big difference between couples breaking up and two people who don't like each other. Neither is pleasant, but the couples were able to maintain professional relationships.

4. Lindsey Buckingham was back in the picture by that point. A Buckingham-Fleetwood tour would have been more respectable than a Fleetwood Mac tour that didn't feature any of the Rumours singers while still relying heavily on that material.

Probably. The fact is they never toured in support of that album, so we'll never really know what potential it had, if any. Given the weak sales numbers of the solo albums by Stevie and Lindsey, I doubt it would have done a lot better.

The problem with that is Christine had retired from touring by that point. I wish Rick and Billy had both stayed and the band still brought Bekka on board.

The problem with the whole era, starting with the Tango tour, is that they were too subservient to the Rumours legacy, which was understandable, but not something that they had done during the previous personnel changes. They didn't do any Peter Green songs on the Kiln House tour, for example. As a result, the new members were allowed to develop their own identities within the context of Fleetwood Mac.

Thanks Mike, didn't even notice. here it is I guess! :)

John

I was on a roller coaster excursion at Six Flags in California and was surprised to see that Fleetwood Mac was performing there, later that day,along with REO Speedwagon and Pat Benatar. I was both elated and skeptical.

I knew that Stevie, Lindsey and Christine were gone, and felt crestfallen that their status was now at level where they were performing shows at an amusement park with two somewhat has-beens from the 1980s. The only saving grace was that they were the headliners.

The show was fine for what it was. But it was a little disconcerting when they performed classic Fleetwood Mac songs. Most of the audience was likely very confused and not informed about drastic line up change. Only a fraction of the venue was filled, and I saw people walking out during the show. It was sad. I recall feeling so worried about what kind of future was in store for the band.

I can't recall, but I thought I already had the Time album when I saw this show. But I've seen some posts saying that the album didn't come out until after their tour.