St Petersburg Times, August 26, 1994
Section: WEEKEND
NEXT UP IN OUR VISIT TO YESTERYEAR: FLEETWOOD MAC
TONY GREEN: A QUICK LOOK AROUND THIS WEEKEND
Like a lot of the '70s acts hitting the road during this time-displaced summer, Fleetwood Mac's lineup required some retooling.
Flaxen-haired frontwoman Stevie Nicks is gone, as is guitarist/songwriter Lindsey Buckingham. Keyboardist Christine McVie has limited her input to the studio. Former Traffic guitarist Dave Mason and singer Bekka Bramlett are testing the waters, as the group prepares to release an album this year.
All this actually isn't anything new to drummer Mick Fleetwood. He's gone through the reconstruction process since the band's inception. The band has been through defections, romantic turmoil and artistic squabbles, still managing to produce some of the most finely crafted, tuneful pop of the '70s, on albums likeFleetwood Mac and Rumours.
Fleetwood Mac was originally a blues band, arguably the hottest to come out of the British scene in the '60s. The linchpin was guitarist Peter Green, who in those days rivaled fellow Brit Eric Clapton in the blues-rock finesse category.
Green, and then fellow guitarist Jeremy Spencer, dropped out of the group in 1970, both joining religious sects. Danny Kirwan, who joined the group in 1968, departed after a skirmish with guitarist Bob Welch.
""When Peter made that album called The End of the Game, it was the end of the game,'' Fleetwood told the St. Louis Post Dispatch. ""From that moment on, he ceased to perform in the world that you and I really choose to be in. He functions, but he functions on a level that makes him feel comfortable. He's very quiet. He does what he wants to do, enjoys his walking, enjoys listening to music, and that's about it. He doesn't play anymore, which is a real drag - one could say a tragedy because it's such a loss.''
The lineup now includes vocalist Bramlett, daughter of '70s duo Delaney and Bonnie, out front. It was Mason who wrote their hit Only You Know and I Know, which the band has performed on some stops on this tour.
"She's excited, but she's fearful in that artistic sort of way,'' Fleetwood told the Post Dispatch before the tour began. ""She's thinking, "Oh, God, I hope they're going to like me,' because she is the girl out in the front and she is taking over for someone (Nicks) who is mega-mega, an aura that goes from here to Timbuktu.
""But she's thrilled. She was dressing up in Stevie clothes when she was a kid. It's pretty wild.""
Fleetwood Mac will play Jannus Landing in St. Petersburg at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20 advance, $25 day of show.
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