Neil Finn on Fleetwood Mac internal politics

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

And I'd heard RUMOURS that she was giving Mike a hard time. I didn't really believe my source, at the time. I didn't believe Stevie was that much of a moron...

If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

And yes, she's a complete moron.

Please don't let FM ever reunite. Ever.

[elle]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

And I'd heard RUMOURS that she was giving Mike a hard time. I didn't really believe my source, at the time. I didn't believe Stevie was that much of a moron...

you mean:

"Mike, play more like Lindsey!"
"Why can't you play like Lindsey?"

Neil confirmed it all, in few short sentences!

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by tango87

It was more difficult for Mike Campbell: she was really happy with the way it sounded between me and her, but she put a lot of pressure on Mike to be more like Lindsey.

I wonder if there are old articles, interviews, where Rick or Billy told about Stevie putting the same pressure on them.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I wonder if there are old articles, interviews, where Rick or Billy told about Stevie putting the same pressure on them.

Probably not.

Rick was a sideman who only had 55 days from the day he joined to opening night. He didn’t expectations from the crowd.

Mike is a legendary guitarist in his own right and was trying to put his own spin on the songs. However, Lindsey’s solos, basic as they are, don’t leave a lot of room for interpretation. That said, BMW, TMATTYD, and “Oh Well” were fine and I liked his R&B touches on “Everywhere.”

As for Billy, he was an associate and a fanboy, so he knew exactly what he was getting into.

[UnwindedDreams]

Originally Posted by Villavic

I wonder if there are old articles, interviews, where Rick or Billy told about Stevie putting the same pressure on them.

Was Stevie lucid from 87 through 1990 to even put pressure on them?

[Wdm6789]

It’s always been my theory that Stevie used Christine’s return to finally get rid of Lindsey.

Stevie let us have Christine’s comeback tour, but after that she was done with Lindsey. She couldn’t get rid of him before because then it would have just been Stevie with Mick and John, they need at least Lindsey or Christine there to be Fleetwood Mac. So Stevie finally got what she wanted.

[UnwindedDreams]

Christine's final interview comments:
"I'd always want Lindsey back," she said. "He's the best. Neil [Finn] and Mike [Campbell] were such a cheerful couple, but Lindsey was missed."


If Mick, John, and Stevie hated Lindsey well before 2018, I suppose they couldn't fire him because Mike Campbell was in The Heartbreakers. Or the Me Too Movement didn't exist.

[jbrownsjr]

Lindsey's playing and artistry has a lot of character and some very fast soloing skills. He stood out in a very quirky band. At one time he had great vision and arranging skills with Ken and Richard. He was an absolute gem for this band. Those visions and guitar riffs were limited, in my opinion. As time went on, his motif's kept showing up everywhere. (or, playing Trouble or NGBA at slow speed).. uhhh..

And that's not a bad thing, I just don't see the "visionary out there" stuff like he does. I think of David Bowie or Prince when I think in those "rock visionary terms".

It just shows how good the core was to play to with all different styles and characters. And.... allow them sound amazing. Green, Spencer, Kirwin, Welch, Buck, Vito, etc. You have to be pretty flexible to handle all that for 50 years!

I feel like FM was a lot farther in talent and musicianship than B/N. The lift in success was mutual. Two women, 3 writers, 3 singers, great harmony, sex appeal, the 70;s, explosive live shows, and rumours. (The album and the drama.)

Lightning strikes, maybe once. maybe twice.

[jbrownsjr]

Imagine Christine McVie telling Lindsey he needed to sound like Bob Welch?

[Villavic]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Imagine Christine McVie telling Lindsey he needed to sound like Bob Welch?

Even though Lindsey was not in 1974 what Neil was in 2018, I can already imagine the face Lindsey would have made.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by Villavic

Even though Lindsey was not in 1974 what Neil was in 2018, I can already imagine the face Lindsey would have made.

Imagine when Lindsey joined in 1975, Christine saying "We need you to play as if you were Bob."

He didn't even like playing the old hits, let alone sounding and mimicking Bob.
That's such an insulting thing to say to an artist. That truly would be karaoke.

[anusha]

I actually enjoyed hearing what Neil had to say about his time in Fleetwood Mac. I’ve been a huge Neil/Crowded House fan for decades, but I could not bring myself to see that tour. I’m sure that Neil was paid well for his efforts with him, and probably more than he would earn on any of his own tours these days. Not to mention, it was a chance to play areas that he might’ve never gotten to play on his own and tour in a super luxurious way. And maybe even if you got 5% of the audience who didn’t know him before to check out his music, that would also be a win for him.

I think we’ve been trying to read the leaves on the Lindsey firing and hiring of Mike and Neil came to be. I’m sure I’ve said this earlier, but I think that Stevie has probably always had some thought that her life would be easier if she didn’t have to deal with conflict with Lindsey in FM. I think there were enough changes in the industry and the world at large that helped around 2017–2018 And made it possible for her and her management to push Lindsey out. Before, then, as much as Lindsay annoyed her, she probably felt he was necessary for the tours to be financially successful, because FM lean on the Stevie Lindsey dynamic to sell tickets since The Dance.

But, in the late 2010s, you saw other bands be able to go on the road with replacement members after core members died or left, especially the Eagles with Vince Gill. And they still did a ton of business. Then you had Lindsey pissing off Irving Azoff and Stevie by calling The Classic shows a cash grab. It was the truth, but it’s the part that most people don’t say out loud. Also, Stevie was getting a big profile with younger artists like Harry Styles and HAIM, and Working on American horror story. So her level of audience compared to the band as a whole was growing. Then you add to that a lot of the me too revisiting of bad male behavior in the past — And Lindsey has had some bad episodes in terms of treatment of women. I think the fact that you have someone like Vanessa Carlton tweeting about Lindsey in that context shows that it’s probably something that Stevie had in mind at the time that she pushed for Lindsey to be fired. I’m not saying Stevie did it to stand up for women or anything (After all, she knew about all this stuff for decades and continued to profit off of having him in the band), this was purely self interest, but a lot of people who do self interest in things like to wrap it in a cloak of self-righteousness. And I’m sure Stevie did that because she realized that kicking out somebody that she’s known since she was a teenager and he was a big part of her success, that’s a lot to ask an audience to tolerate when you’ve spent the better part of five decades talking about the everlasting connection between the members of the band. But I don’t think she regrets it to this day because ultimately she didn’t need Lindsey anymore and she doesn’t need him now to tour and make money and be adored. She only regrets that there was a blip in time where people called her out for firing him. But even that is long gone For the general public.

I’m only sad for Mick, John, and Chris, because their final tour as FM was overshadowed by the Stevie Lindsey drama again. But even they took it to the bank, so I don’t feel that bad. Everyone here made their choices.

[SteveMacD]

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

Imagine Christine McVie telling Lindsey he needed to sound like Bob Welch?

You say that, but Mick and John told him to get a Les Paul and Mick tried to make him use a pick.

[jbrownsjr]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

You say that, but Mick and John told him to get a Les Paul and Mick tried to make him use a pick.

I always assumed that was due to his "blues chops" being a bit primitive (for their core songs at that point) . Where Mike and Rick had no trouble whatsoever doing either blues, or Lindsey pop.

[HomerMcvie]

Originally Posted by SteveMacD

You say that, but Mick and John told him to get a Les Paul and Mick tried to make him use a pick.

That's because Tele's suck. Too thin sounding. I have three, and the only one I play is my B-bender. Mick was right to get him to change.