A coffee table book with the usual plethora of familiar-ish Rumours-related photographs but more obscure prints too, giving visual context to the less well-publicised aspects of this blues band turned mega-selling mainstream act.
Where the book works best as an actual read is in outlining those cast members whose roles are less well publicised these days. The three man guitar line-up was not something Southern rock bands created but by Fleetwood Mac when under the stewardship of Peter Green; he brought in both Jeremy Spencer then Danny Kirwan to share the six-string spotlight.
Quite what strengths they added overall seems to be in some contention though, whereas Chistine Perfect, later Mrs then Ms McVie, proved a passively positive contributor from the start, and it’s she who probably best defined the heart of the band as we know it today.
Nicks and Buckingham brought 70s sparkle and lifetime glory, but before them both Bob Welch and Bob Weston as guitarist/vocalists helped pave the way for that to happen, as well explained in the book, possibly its best piece of reportage. Importantly too, singer Dave Walker’s short stint is also given enough lip service and catching sight of some video footage of him performing with his previous band Savoy Brown suggested why a frontman’s stage personality wouldn’t have worked on what have chiefly been anonymous faces within this band.
The sympatico unelaborate Fleetwood and McVie rhythm section is acknowledged; the drummer’s financial management mismanagement noted in non-libellous passing (and affiliated to that, the bogus-Mac, who became Stretch, given a few lines that are important for those of us still dubious about the innocence of certain parties with regards to that story),while the bass player’s long-established troubles with alcoholism are noted but his personality largely bypassed.
The shadow of Peter Green does not hang over this slim tome. That’s not its chief target readership. However, he was never quite the vanished-without-a-trace, hiding-out-with-Syd Barrett character too many weekly music papers of my youth claimed. While he may well have left, and shied from the limelight for a myriad of reasons, not all drug-casualty related, he jumped back in from time-to-time, playing tracks on band albums and a Fleetwood solo one, and touring with them briefly during one of their frequent guitarist spillage periods.
As with most biographical books, there’s a tendency to fast forward to the present. Albeit, while the hits may largely have gone, enough salacious relationship bust-ups remain to fill several pages. That is, until Christine McVie died and with it the heart of this band who’ve fascinated, beguiled, and even sometimes disgusted even casual observers also became an entity to be referred to in the past tense.
When the account of her passing is given, it’s allowed the time and commemorative quotes from band members for it to bear relevant weight, reflection, and conclude the book satisfactorily.
Not a book for rabid fans, they’ll want more, and there are several available. But, if you’ve ever been intrigued and want the record setting straight on some, not all, of the tittle-tattle real-life rumours about Fleetwood Mac this is a decent place to start, or suitable conclusion.
Fleetwood Mac Everywhere by Mike Evans, was published by Palazoo.
