Neil Finn on Fleetwood Mac internal politics

[tango87]

From a new interview in Mojo magazine with Neil Finn:

Did joining Fleetwood Mac surprise you?
I was gobsmacked. I was 60 and I’d had a wonderfully diverse musical life when Mick called and said, “We’ve got rid of Lindsey, would you play with us?” I’d just done Lightsleeper with Liam so he had a vested interest in me not doing it, but he said, “Give it a shot,” so I auditioned.

What? Neil Finn auditioned?
It’s the only audition I’ve ever done. I went to Hawaii and Mick spent an hour telling me it wasn’t an audition, but it was. I was auditioning them too: I wasn’t sure it was the right thing, I was quite conflicted, but I liked the people and the welcome was universal.

What did you bring?
The naysayers said, “No Lindsey Buckingham, no Fleetwood Mac,” but I brought personality and the ability to sing with Stevie and Christine. I could never be capable of sounding like Lindsey but I put a similar intensity into his songs.

Any contact with Lindsey?
No, but I’d really like to have a dinner with him. There’s a lot of ill-will, but I don’t think he bears any towards me and I do think he had prior appreciation of the music I‘d made. Hopefully, once he got over the massive disappointment, he’d have thought, “At least someone with something going for them is singing my songs.”

Who’s running Fleetwood Mac these days?
It doesn’t currently exist, but when I was there Mick carried the flag. He always has and he’s the heart and soul. Yet Stevie’s the leader in many ways, because Stevie wants it the way Stevie wants it and that’s the way it’ll be. She couldn’t bear to be in a band with Lindsey any more, but she still wanted to do it exactly the way he would have. 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. Sometimes Mike’s solos would go on and Stevie would get exhausted playing tambourine. She’d be, “F***ing hell, Lindsey only did 12 bars!”

Notable parts for me: Mick saying 'We've got rid of Lindsey' (sounds awfully like a firing to me...), and 'She couldn’t bear to be in a band with Lindsey any more, but she still wanted to do it exactly the way he would have.' - I call that having your cake and eating it...



https://www.mojo4music.com/magazine/...024-kate-bush/ (Great article on Kate Bush too, for those of you who have taste.)