One of the most enduring groups in rock history is Fleetwood Mac. The group has the unique distinction of having had one of the most fluid lineups through the years. At its core are its founders, leaders and guiding forces, bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood. As 2004 turns into 2005, the group is still very much together. Having been together since 1967, it has released its latest double DVD/CD, Live in Boston (Reprise), and a DVD documentary, Destiny Rules (Sanctuary). The group’s titular leader, Mick Fleetwood, is as excited about the present and the future of the group as he as ever been.
      For several years now I have been trying to interview Mick Fleetwood. For some reason or other, up till now it just hadn’t happened. Scheduling and the constant demands to be interviewed since the release of Say You Will in 2003 have made it nearly impossible for anyone to talk to the 57-year-old drummer. When it finally looked like Fleetwood would agree to talk to me briefly, primarily about his newest Mick Fleetwood Band solo album, Something Big (Tallman/Sanctuary), I jumped at the chance even though I was told it would only be for about 20 minutes. When we were finally able to talk, however, it became clear that Mick felt comfortable with me. Nearly an hour and a half later, even though it was October, Mick was wishing me a wonderful Christmas and regaling me with stories of he and his family spending the past several holiday seasons at his home in Hawaii with Stevie Nicks. Our conversation was a loose, wide-ranging talk during which Mick apparently felt no need to be guarded. He talked at length about the long Mac ride with an openness I have never heard from him before.
      We began our talk discussing Fleetwood’s latest solo project, Something Big. Primarily a collaboration with Todd Smallwood, the recording is a departure from previous solo works on which Fleetwood explored various rhythmic ideas and mostly focused on his drumming. The new project is very much a collaboration and is easily the best solo effort Fleetwood has ever made. The album has a very organic sound and bears a striking similarity to the kind of loose sound that Delaney and Bonnie had. Old Mac fans will also be delighted to know that John McVie guests on the album as does Jeremy Spencer, who left the Mac over 30 years ago.
      The sessions grew out of concerts Fleetwood was involved in about four years ago in Cuba, where over 40 musicians performed. It was there that he met Smallwood. The album was recorded at Smallwood’s avocado farm just outside of Santa Barbara, Calif. The process for Fleetwood was very reminiscent of the way Fleetwood Mac and others used to record in the 1970s. "We went to the country and made an album like Traffic or Blind Faith," he explained. "The vibe is much preferred to working in a studio." The sound, like that he has achieved with Fleetwood Mac, had a "controlled looseness," which Mick said is "easier said than done."
      Fleetwood said he hopes to tour with his current band. That comment started a long discussion about how Fleetwood Mac has made some of rock’s most polished recordings yet has always been a great live band. For Fleetwood, it all comes back to the rhythm section. "It’s a great rhythm section," he said with a slightly sheepish laugh. "We do the right thing for whoever we play with through the years." The rhythm section has had to be adaptable, as Fleetwood Mac has gone through so many lineup changes. It has flourished from the early days of the bluesy Peter Green-era Fleetwood Mac with Jeremy Spencer, through the joining of Christine McVie and Bob Welch, and through the departure of Welch and the addition of Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, with many others along the way. The rhythm section also endured the group’s rise to superstardom and more recent changes that even included Dave Mason briefly joining.
      Fleetwood talked about his excitement when the group recorded its first album with Nicks and Buckingham and the resistance he met from Warner Brothers when he wanted to tour with that new lineup even before the album came out. As for Rumours, Fleetwood said, "That was about making an album that spoke as a piece of work." The album was a long time coming, and Fleetwood said that if the group had started in today’s music business climate, "We would have been thrown off any of these labels selling the amount of albums that we sold when we first started." Fleetwood said the group’s attention to detail has extended to all of its works. "They’re pretty crafted pieces of work," he noted, "and we take a lot of trouble making the albums."
      One of the key reasons Fleetwood Mac has endured is the foundation the group built as one of the key groups of the British blues scene of the 1960s. "There was a work ethic that came out of England," Fleetwood stated. "We’d work for peanuts and travel. We would never not turn up. We were just so hungry to be playing in America where all our music came from. We were so proud to be even playing America."
      The change from a blues-based band to the ultimate polished studio group was gradual. Fleetwood could not be more effusive in his praise for Peter Green, the group’s first guitarist. He said that the changes in Fleetwood Mac that would eventually result in the breakthrough of the mid-1970s began thanks to Peter Green’s musical ideas on such songs as "Green Manalishi," "Man of the World" and the group’s first hit, "Black Magic Woman," which would eventually go on to be a big hit for Santana. Fleetwood also said that when the band moved from being based in England to being based in California and developed its three-part vocal harmony delivery with Bob Welch, Christine McVie and Danny Kirwan, that was a big change.
      As for the future of Fleetwood Mac, Fleetwood said, "We’ll do it again." He felt that making Say You Will and not just going out with the old hits is what made a difference on the last tour. He added, in regard to making sure the group made a solid album behind which to tour, "Lindsay should be given a lot of credit—he pushed and sometimes he pushed a little too hard." Fleetwood also gained even more respect for Nicks on the last tour, since she became even more of the focus with Christine McVie’s departure. He added, "She was a bit lonely from time to time, being the lone female in the group now."
      As for Christine’s departure, Fleetwood said, "She’s not going to go out and tour and probably won’t bother much about promoting [her new album] In The Meantime [Koch] and talking to people." That’s what she wanted to get away from in Fleetwood Mac," he continued, "and she’s happy to be gone from it. She was probably the least problematic person. She was always a team player. I think Chris would make another album with us if she knew she wasn’t going to be asked to go on the road. But that’s no good for us, because we make albums and go out and work and project a band."
      As our talk was winding down, Fleetwood realized he was holding back nothing in talking about the history of the group and said, "We have bared our bones way too much." He then added, "There’s a lot of affection and history that no matter how strange it sometime gets, we’ve gone way too far and way too deep for it to ever disappear. It’s not just about business relationships," he continued. "These people are incredibly interrelated. These are people who lived and breathed their lives together literally as partners. It feels like family."