Can I respect Lindsey?
 

I've just read Carol Ann Harris' book for the first time, and I'm really shocked and surprised at the violent portrayal of Lindsey, and sympathize a lot for Carol.

How can a man who I respect so much musically be so violent to someone he supposedly loved? The comparisons to Chris Brown do come to mind...

How did other Lindsey fans cope with this harsh reality when they read the book? Did it affect you at all? I really want a way to be able to respect Lindsey again...

By not believing every single word. Nice recollections don't
translate into sales. It's all about dirt.

Like most books it's a mixture of lies and truth. It's up to the
reader to distinguish which is which.

Unless there are cold hard facts against him (Stevie's stories
don't count), I choose to respect him as an artist.

Maybe this should have gone on the Lindsey forum.
By the way I think respect is something we should practice towards everyone all the time, not only towards those we like.
It's also true that the main reason we appreciate Lindsey is his undeniable musical prowess and that should be kept well distincted from his private life.
My personal opinion is that Lindsey isn't evil but just a very flawed man with an incredible talent and he deserves to be known by fans just for that.

You can
 

Hello there

I read Carol's book as well, when it first came out and it did, for a few weeks, effect me, but I am friends with Carol and she is the nicest person, my answer is yes you can respect LB, you can surely respect him for his music, etc, and my opinion, and its merely a opinion, is that I am sure LB, like the rest of us, has many regrets about how he handles things possibly, and we all make mistakes, but he has moved on, as has Carol, I am not at all saying would LB may or may not have done is right, not at all, I am not condoning that possible behavior, but I am saying that we are all human and all make mistakes, and I didnt let that effect me as far as my respect for him goes, I respect him as a musician and for what his music has meant to me personally, he , from what I gather, went through a lot of personal issues back in the day, and I would assume, and like I am saying, I am assuming, he had some skeletons as some of us do, and he surely could have been a better person, but I dont know him personally nor was I in his shoes so I wont judge him, does it leave a bitter taste ? sure , its not great when your heroes or people you look up to have these dark moments come to life and it does and will leave a bad taste, but I respect him, he has a big family, he appears to be happy with his new wife and Carol is 100 % happy , so I am ok respecting him, I mean, it wasnt the best thing to find out per say, and its ok to maybe not hold some respect for him, but I am willing to put it aside per say, I respect people who dont, because of the violence , etc, so even though I am ok with moving on, I surely also respect others who dont approve or respect him. David

I respect him as a musician, for his work and for the energy he continues to put into his artistic vision. I also respect him for realizing that he needed to change and for trying to change.
I'm pretty sure he is a different person now than he was back then.

Dang, I sound like one of his own speeches :)

You were pretty organic. :laugh:

couldn't have said it better, including sounding like his speeches. ;)

i do believe that's why he always gives that same speech before big love - because it means exactly what you wrote above.

No one is perfect! We all have good and bad traits. The path of life is paved with bumps. Sometimes circumstances surface that cause good people to behave badly -- situations, choices, and acts that they come to regret.

It's likely some of what Carole Anne wrote about Lindsey is true, and some of it is embellished. Her portrayal of him is of that particular time in their lives. It doesn't speak of the entirety of Lindsey's character and who he is now.

People do evolve with age, and circumstances change. Lindsey, no doubt, has a self-involved, controlling presence. But he is not a monster. He's a temperamental artist not unlike Stevie. His ego may have led him to some incidents of disrespectful behavior, but that hardly defines him as a whole.

I think Carol made up and exaggerated a lot in that book.

Carol: What's the matter Stevie
Stevie: Sigh, Jimmy [Iovine] Isn't into cocaine that much.

What the hell? I don't think she said that. I don't think they we're friends.

I don't believe a lot of what's in the book either. Even if some or all of it were true, you have to remember drugs and alcohol were prevalent back then, on top of the stress of creating albums, touring, watching Stevie sleep with every guy in the music business, including his own band mate, etc. There aren't stories of him being violent post 1987. Nothing from Cheri, nothing from Anne (and you know she definitely would have written about it if anything had happened), and nothing from Kristen. He's obviously a different guy today.

Yes, Anne would have written about it as her book gets into descriptions of her abuse by others, but then she and Lindsey didn't live together, so they probably weren't as exposed to each other as much as, for better and for worse, as say Lindsey and Cheri were to each other or Anne and Ellen.

Michele

Carol still talks often about LB, and often in a rather positive way about her experiences on Facebook. If she doesn't have hard feelings about him, I don't see why we'd feel bad. In he said/she said scenarios it's always pretty smart to realize the reality is somewhere in the middle. Not only has LB grown in the past 35 years , I'm betting Carol has too, and maybe some if her choices that didn't happen to be in the book would be different too.

I believe that Lindsey had a violent temper and took it out on Carol Ann and Stevie. However I also believe that people can change, and I cannot imagine that he is still the same way today. I respect him as an artist but he doesn't exactly sound like a prince personally. I've dealt with an abusive relationship and it was difficult because I could see that I was being treated inexcusably but at the same time the guy was struggling so much too. And when you love someone it's hard to not want to help them, and to not forgive their behavior when you know they are sorry. So kinda because I have been through that, I believe Carol Ann. Her book obviously exaggerates a lot but what she says about Lindsey fits with his personality, from what I can see. I don't think Lindsey is evil or anything like that but I think it is very probable that he was struggling with insecurities or anger issues or whatever and took it out physically on his girlfriends.

Lol I'm confused... Why don't Stevie's stories "count"?!

Because Stevie wildly exaggerates, changes her recollections frequently, and makes claims others flat-out refute. Part of this is due to her flamboyant personality; part is due to her long-term drug usage. She was being serious when she sang "long nets of white cloud my memory."

Regarding Lindsey's past treatment of women... I struggled with how I felt about that for a long time. The reality is that multiple women have accused him of physical and psychological abuse. While Carol Ann and Stevie each have their own reasons for bringing this to public attention, I don't think their interests have common threads or roots. So this tends to make me believe that their claims are indeed true.

That being said, each of these women are known to embellish the truth. Both were completely strung out on drugs at the time... as was Lindsey. Drugs not only change behavior amongst people, they can also greatly effect memory. Am I putting some blame on Stevie and Carol Ann? Hardly. However, truth has many facets to examine.

Let's not forget Christine, Mick, and John have all recounted at various times Lindsey's assaulting Stevie on and off stage. All of these stories which have been relayed to the public start to build a broader picture of Lindsey's behavior back then.

However, everything seemed to change for Lindsey after he ended his time with Carol Ann and Fleetwood Mac in the 1980s. I think he finally was able to center himself after all of that- he was able to let go of his anger at losing Stevie, and at his career not quite taking the route he'd hoped. He seems like a different man these days- gone is the neurotic, frazzled, insecure, angst-ridden young man of the 70s and 80s... and in it's place a much more contented man. Part of it is marriage and children. Part of it is maturity. But more than anything, I think it was his walking away from FM for a decade that righted himself.

Regarding how this whole thing affects my opinion of Lindsey and FM is complex. I'm cognoscente of it. I accept it. I don't give him a pass. At the same time, he seems like a wholly different person now. He has conquered his demons, he has become a better person. And for that, he has my respect.

Now if he and Kristin were to split, and she were to relay stories of abuse... that would change everything. However, I just don't think that's going to happen.