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-   -   New Billy Burnette interview in Rolling Stone (http://ledge.fleetwoodmac.net/showthread.php?t=59767)

SteveMacD 12-08-2022 05:39 PM

For me, it all comes down to either Stevie has full control over Fleetwood Mac or she doesn’t. There’s no in-between.

People have been bitching ad nauseam for nearly five years about Stevie power tripping and getting Lindsey fired. If she had that kind of power and she really wanted Billy back in Fleetwood Mac, Billy would have been back in Fleetwood Mac.

Macfan4life 12-08-2022 05:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD (Post 1279961)
The opening night of the 1987 tour was in six weeks when Billy and Rick joined.

Billy was already deep in their inner circle. He’d played with all of them and had recorded with most of them. Mick knew Billy was very familiar with the songs and that he could sing with the girls. Mick also knew Rick and that he was a highly in-demand sideman. In other words, he knew they could pull it off.

However, it was the first Fleetwood Mac tour in five years and they were touring behind a hit album. In that five year absence, Stevie had four Top Twenty hits and Christine had one, and the band (at that moment) had three Top 20 songs from their current release. They were still commercially vibrant. Plus, Lindsey quit the band. Nobody was going to fault them for continuing without him. It didn’t matter nearly as much.

In 2018, they knew there was going to be blowback from Lindsey’s firing and that they would lose some fans as a result. Billy and Rick weren’t going to make up the difference. Mike Campbell and Neil Finn very easily could, especially in the wake of Tom Petty’s death. Again, there was never a serious consideration for bringing back Billy.

You are inferring that Campbell and Finn are better guitarists than Rick and Billy?
Maybe Campbell has a better style but if you talk about comfort, the Mac would have been like an old shoe for Billy. I dont follow your logic here. You are saying because the US leg of the Tango tour was only 6 weeks so it was an easier gig than the 2018 tour?
Rick and Billy had all the pressure stepping in for Lindsey while Tango was still cranking out hits. No one knew who they were (outside of Mac world). Finn had it easier. Lindsey had been gone before and were more like hired contractors than members. IMHO Fleetwood Mac sounded more like a cover band with Finn.

SteveMacD 12-08-2022 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macfan4life (Post 1279967)
You are inferring that Campbell and Finn are better guitarists than Rick and Billy?

I don’t see how that was remotely inferred. It has nothing to do with abilities as guitar players.

Neil Finn and Mike Campbell have had massively successful careers outside of Fleetwood Mac. Billy and Rick are primarily remembered as the guys who replaced Lindsey Buckingham in Fleetwood Mac in 1987. Neil and Mike could put enough people in seats to offset Lindsey fans boycotting the tour. Billy and Rick couldn’t. It’s really that simple.

Quote:

You are saying because the US leg of the Tango tour was only 6 weeks so it was an easier gig than the 2018 tour?
No. I was clearly saying that the opening night of the TITN tour was six weeks (actually closer to eight) away from the day Lindsey quit. Fleetwood Mac didn’t have time to conduct auditions and very luckily didn’t need to, since they all knew Billy, while Rick was a highly regarded, in-demand sideman.

SteveMacD 12-08-2022 07:43 PM

You be the judge. Here’s a video of Billy with Todd Sharp and Bekka Bramlett from 2018 (the lineup ChiliD wished had happened in 1994).

How would Billy have fared compared to Neil Finn?

https://youtu.be/YR6uoLYkzEo

vivfox 12-08-2022 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD (Post 1279954)
Do you really believe it was Mick’s management and not Irving Azoff? Irving wasn’t about to put two guys who are best remembered for replacing Lindsey Buckingham on a tour of that magnitude.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD (Post 1279961)
There was never a serious consideration for bringing back Billy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD (Post 1279966)
For me, it all comes down to either Stevie has full control over Fleetwood Mac or she doesn’t. There’s no in-between.

People have been bitching ad nauseam for nearly five years about Stevie power tripping and getting Lindsey fired. If she had that kind of power and she really wanted Billy back in Fleetwood Mac, Billy would have been back in Fleetwood Mac.

I agree with all your statements 100% and I think the ladies probably wanted to spare Billy's feeling by blaming it on Mick's management.

vivfox 12-08-2022 09:15 PM

How fascinating to read about Billy's "involvement" with Charlie Manson and his "Family" in this article. First time I ever heard him talk about that.
But hands down my favorite part of this entire interview was this: "When you step onstage with Fleetwood Mac, you know that Stevie is the star of that show. Everybody knows that, in the band, and outside the band."

Long live my Queen. The Queen of Rock & Roll.

HomerMcvie 12-08-2022 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivfox (Post 1279976)
"When you step onstage with Fleetwood Mac, you know that Stevie is the star of that show. Everybody knows that, in the band, and outside the band."

Long live my Queen. The Queen of Rock & Roll.

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Macfan4life 12-09-2022 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivfox (Post 1279976)
How fascinating to read about Billy's "involvement" with Charlie Manson and his "Family" in this article. First time I ever heard him talk about that.
But hands down my favorite part of this entire interview was this: "When you step onstage with Fleetwood Mac, you know that Stevie is the star of that show. Everybody knows that, in the band, and outside the band."

Long live my Queen. The Queen of Rock & Roll.

I know that was crazy. The second member of Fleetwood Mac that had a connection to Charles Manson. Chris's boyfriend used to be roommates with Manson.
Tells you everything about the band doesn't it ;)

BTW, Billy is just truthful. As being at those Mac shows with Billy and even today, the vast majority of "fans" are there for Stevie. The band knows this and so does Stevie. Its frustrating but its the truth. In 1987 as I waited in line for Tango tickets people raving about Stevie. When someone commented on Christine, I heard someone say "no one comes to see her."

GypsySorcerer 12-09-2022 01:01 PM

Late to the thread, but what an enlightening interview. Billy may not be a household name, but he's made a living playing music, so good for him.

Re: the Vito/Burnette discussion, I remember Vito saying in one of his q and a's here that he runs into Billy occasionally, but that they don't hang out. Vito also wouldn't elaborate on the circumstances of his leaving the band.

UnwindedDreams 12-10-2022 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD (Post 1279966)
For me, it all comes down to either Stevie has full control over Fleetwood Mac or she doesn’t. There’s no in-between.

If she had that kind of power and she really wanted Billy back in Fleetwood Mac, Billy would have been back in Fleetwood Mac.

I agree. I do think it was Mick who mentioned Neil Finn's name at the FM meeting table. Mick seems to be a big fan of Neil's work. They've played live together too.

There probably was an attraction for Stevie to sing Don't Dream It's Over every night and I Got You, since she loves those songs. I'd bet they rehearsed Something So Strong as well.

Billy is abundantly talented and he's impressive but Stevie wanted a person that at least millions knew a song or even two by. That's not Billy, nor is it Rick (but he and Mick weren't talking in 2018 anyway)

And for who else Stevie put forward for lead singer names, in my gut, I think she offered Keith Urban and Harry Styles.

anusha 12-11-2022 01:32 PM

Man oh man. It would have been a bad career move for Harry Styles to do an FM tour! He’s young and on his way up! I don’t know if Keith Urban would have benefited much but he’s also a much bigger star.

Neil was a good choice commercially. He is a name but not so huge that he wouldn’t do it. And he kind of did it as a lark and a big payday and has used the momentum to really push his own projects as well as Crowded House with the momentum. As much as I love Neil and I love FM, I don’t regret giving that tour a pass. But there’s no way Stevie will do an FM tour. She was put off by the backlash from the Lindsey firing and can make money and be worshipped as a solo artist.

bombaysaffires 12-11-2022 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UnwindedDreams (Post 1280004)
I agree. I do think it was Mick who mentioned Neil Finn's name at the FM meeting table. Mick seems to be a big fan of Neil's work. They've played live together too.

There probably was an attraction for Stevie to sing Don't Dream It's Over every night and I Got You, since she loves those songs. I'd bet they rehearsed Something So Strong as well.

Billy is abundantly talented and he's impressive but Stevie wanted a person that at least millions knew a song or even two by. That's not Billy, nor is it Rick (but he and Mick weren't talking in 2018 anyway)

And for who else Stevie put forward for lead singer names, in my gut, I think she offered Keith Urban and Harry Styles.


She loves every song she's ever asked about..... Maybe she did love singing those songs, but honestly, either way she'd say she did, because that's her doing her "good soldier" thing and selling whatever the latest project is.

HomerMcvie 12-11-2022 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by anusha (Post 1280024)
Man oh man. It would have been a bad career move for Harry Styles to do an FM tour! He’s young and on his way up!

Makes me think of why Deacon Frey chose to leave the Eagles. Even though selling out arenas every night would be a dream come true for any musician, you're only young once, and that's the window in which you "make it".

Keith Urban could've pulled it off, vocally and as a (THE)guitar player. Wouldn't have hurt his career at all

SteveMacD 12-11-2022 06:48 PM

Harry was way too young. Unless someone has a Deacon Frey (or even Colbie Caillat) connection to a band, it wouldn’t be credible.

As for Keith, isn’t pretty close to Lindsey? I can’t see him doing it.

RockyRaccoon 12-11-2022 11:21 PM

Someone contemporary to the band like Steve Winwood or Steve Miller might have been great, both still great singers in their old age who could probably take on Lindsey’s vocal parts. I like Neil Finn but I don’t think he fit in well with the band at all.

Bruce Hornsby would have been another good choice.

SteveMacD 12-12-2022 08:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockyRaccoon (Post 1280049)
Someone contemporary to the band like Steve Winwood or Steve Miller might have been great, both still great singers in their old age who could probably take on Lindsey’s vocal parts. I like Neil Finn but I don’t think he fit in well with the band at all.

Bruce Hornsby would have been another good choice.

Mike Campbell suggested Steve Winwood and the band looked at him like he was nuts. I think they thought he was too big for Fleetwood Mac.

David 12-12-2022 03:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockyRaccoon (Post 1280049)
I like Neil Finn but I don’t think he fit in well with the band at all.

I think Neil Finn was a good choice because he hasn’t yet reached that age at which the voice is shot, so the band was able to go out and play with one good voice and two shot voices on the front line.

On another level, I didn’t think it mattered who was chosen to tour the multiplex circus in 2018. Any of their choices would have disappeared into the whole. With all that hardware and commotion onstage, perhaps only Bruce Springsteen would have made much of an individual statement. Everybody else, including Stevie and Christine, gets swamped by how gigantic and impersonal the sound is, especially when the majority of the people making music onstage are trying to sound like Rumours or Then Play On or Tango in the Night, so that the entire night becomes a pastiche of earlier songs and essentially different bands. It happened to Stevie in 1975, too — if you watch the Capital concert on YouTube, Stevie only makes a personal impression on Rhiannon. The rest of the concert, she’s just window dressing. (The band was still too trapped in its earlier incarnations for Stevie to force herself to dominate more.)

SteveMacD 12-12-2022 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David (Post 1280061)
I think Neil Finn was a good choice because he hasn’t yet reached that age at which the voice is shot, so the band was able to go out and play with one good voice and two shot voices on the front line.

On another level, I didn’t think it mattered who was chosen to tour the multiplex circus in 2018. Any of their choices would have disappeared into the whole. With all that hardware and commotion onstage, perhaps only Bruce Springsteen would have made much of an individual statement. Everybody else, including Stevie and Christine, gets swamped by how gigantic and impersonal the sound is, especially when the majority of the people making music onstage are trying to sound like Rumours or Then Play On or Tango in the Night, so that the entire night becomes a pastiche of earlier songs and essentially different bands. It happened to Stevie in 1975, too — if you watch the Capital concert on YouTube, Stevie only makes a personal impression on Rhiannon. The rest of the concert, she’s just window dressing. (The band was still too trapped in its earlier incarnations for Stevie to force herself to dominate more.)

She was a glorified backup singer on the 1975-76 tour, even though she gradually became the star.

jbrownsjr 12-13-2022 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveMacD (Post 1280067)
She was a glorified backup singer on the 1975-76 tour, even though she gradually became the star.

That's the truth.


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