PREFACE

Fleetwood Mac was founded in 1967, and in the nearly fifty years since, it's gone through so many personnel changes, it would make a Foreigner fan's head spin. The only original band members left are Mick Fleetwood and John McVie.

McVie's wife Christine joined the band in the early 70s, and the band replaced Peter Green with Bob Welch as its lead singer. Welch subsequently left the band in 1974, and Mick tried to bring in Lyndsey Buckingham. Buckingham insisted that he and Stevie Nicks were a team and wouldn't come in without her. That line-up change started the most successful period for "The Mac", with lead vocals shared by Buckingham, Nicks and Christine McVie

But great success brought with it great pressures, resulting in abhorrent behavior from every one of the band members. From binge drinking to serious drug use to sordid affairs with one another, it was a soap opera deluxe until it all crashed in the late 80s. Oddly, it was Bill Clinton who provided the impetus for the band's reconstitution by using "Don't Stop" in his first presidential campaign. The band reunited in 1997 and continues to tour today

This account, written in the six word short story format, tells the story of The Mac's great success and great failure of the 70s and 80s, and what's become of their music in the 21st century. Each chapter in this story consists of just six words



Chapter One

Young Stephanie sang country with grandpa

Stevie with Grandpa and Grandma Nicks:) Chapter Two

Met a guy at Menlo High

Stevie (circa 1968): Chapter Three

Had an unusual name, Lindsey Buckingham

Lindsey Buckingham (circa 1968) Chapter Four

Their hearts were full of music

Stevie and Lindsey (1973 photo from their Buckingham-Nicks album) Chapter Five

They visited Aspen for a while

Stevie - 1972: Chapter Six

Stevie wrote 'Rhiannon' and 'Landslide' there Chapter Seven

Mick Fleetwood offered Lindsey a job

(Mick Fleetwood, shortly after the Bob Welch period:) Chapter Eight

But Lindsey wouldn't break the chain

(Buckingham-Nicks always operated as a team.) Chapter Nine

She became the gold dust woman Chapter Ten

It's not that funny, is it? Chapter Eleven

Lindsey said: "Go your own way." Chapter Twelve

Stevie: "Stop draggin my heart around." Chapter Thirteen

The mess finally crashed in ugliness Chapter Fourteen

Stevie moved on with solo success Chapter Fifteen

They've tried to recapture the glory Chapter Sixteen

And "Say You Will" is great Chapter Seventeen

But Country is the new Pop

(Lady Antebelum is representative of the slide of pop toward country music.) Chapter Eighteen

So Stevie sings about Houston, Texas

(Sheryl Crow and Stevie Nicks are just two of many pop and rock artists who've joined that movement.) Chapter Nineteen

And finds she is "Golden" again

Hillary Scott and Stevie Nicks: Chapter Twenty

And the others say, "Oh Well" Chapter Twenty One

Fleetwood Mac: For what it's worth