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Play On: Now, Then, And Fleetwood Mac
"After forty-six years of being on the road, this is the right time to look back in a way I've never done before: now and then. This is the story of my life in rock and roll -- and how the band that has meant everything to me came to define me. I'm looking forward to sharing it with you."
Mick Fleetwood has been a member of the ever-evolving Fleetwood Mac, one of the world's most successful and adored bands, for over four decades. Here he tells the full and candid story of his life as one of music's greatest drummers and bandleaders, the cofounder of the deeply loved supergroup that bears his name and that of his bandmate and lifelong friend John McVie.
In this intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Fleetwood vividly recalls his upbringing tapping along to every song playing on the radio, his experiences as a musician in '60s London, and the earliest permutation of the band featuring Peter Green.
Play On sheds new light on Fleetwood Mac's raucous history, describing the highs and lows of being in the band that Fleetwood was determined to keep together. Here he reflects on the creation of landmark albums such as Rumours and Tusk, the great loves of his life, and the many incredible and outrageous moments of recording, touring, and living with Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood describes these moments with honesty and immediacy, taking us to the very heart of this multilayered journey that has always been anchored in music.
Through it all, from intense love to plaintive heartaches, from collaborations to confrontations, it's been the drive to play on that has prevailed. Now, then, and always, it's Fleetwood Mac.
Mick Fleetwood has been a member of the ever-evolving Fleetwood Mac, one of the world's most successful and adored bands, for over four decades. Here he tells the full and candid story of his life as one of music's greatest drummers and bandleaders, the cofounder of the deeply loved supergroup that bears his name and that of his bandmate and lifelong friend John McVie.
In this intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Fleetwood vividly recalls his upbringing tapping along to every song playing on the radio, his experiences as a musician in '60s London, and the earliest permutation of the band featuring Peter Green.
Play On sheds new light on Fleetwood Mac's raucous history, describing the highs and lows of being in the band that Fleetwood was determined to keep together. Here he reflects on the creation of landmark albums such as Rumours and Tusk, the great loves of his life, and the many incredible and outrageous moments of recording, touring, and living with Fleetwood Mac. Fleetwood describes these moments with honesty and immediacy, taking us to the very heart of this multilayered journey that has always been anchored in music.
Through it all, from intense love to plaintive heartaches, from collaborations to confrontations, it's been the drive to play on that has prevailed. Now, then, and always, it's Fleetwood Mac.
344 pages, Hardcover
First published September 26, 2014
194 people are currently reading
1661 people want to read
About the author
Mick Fleetwood
11 books17 followersMick Fleetwood (born Michael John Kells Fleetwood in Cornwall, June 24, 1947) is the longtime drummer in rock band Fleetwood Mac .
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 230 reviews
August 2, 2021
If you're looking for a definitive history of Fleetwood Mac, this is not the book for you. It is very much a personal tale of Mick Fleetwood's existence, with as many pages given to his love life than the actual band.
Fleetwood begins this memoir with his childhood, which seemed quite a happy one. His father was in the RAF and the family moved around a lot, but he found it easy enough to make friends. He admits that he had no real academic ability, and that once he started to learn the drums, he knew he had found his purpose in life. He moved to London and drummed in various blues groups, before meeting up with Peter Green and John McVie to form the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac.
This era of the band I am not as familiar with and I found it quite fascinating to read about. Green began to suffer mentally, which has often been attributed to his LSD usage, something Fleetwood denies. The sad fates of two other members, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan are also discussed. Spencer left an LA hotel one day to buy a magazine and never returned. He was later discovered to have joined a religious cult. Kirwan struggled with alcohol addiction and the pressures of being in a band, which resulted in him having a breakdown. At this point Fleetwood Mac seemed doomed, but they were eventually resurrected in a new lineup, featuring the mercurial talents of Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. And once the album Rumours came out, they were unstoppable.
Fleetwood married Jenny Boyd (sister-in law of George Harrison) in 1970. They had two children together, but their relationship was quite a tumultuous one. He explains that they were never very good at communicating with one another, breaking up and reuniting several times. But his admission of an affair with Stevie Nicks seemed to be the final straw for Boyd, who finished with him for good. He then complicated things further by having a fling with Nicks' best friend Sara. It's hard to feel much sympathy for him - his womanizing got him into trouble more than once.
Contrary to other reviewers, I found Fleetwood quite a self-deprecating and self-critical narrator. He often refers to his lack of musical ability and seems genuinely remorseful over his failed marriages, particularly to Boyd. His rock'n'roll life style often took priority over his family and you do get the feeling that he has some regrets over this. I suppose it's hard not to be affected by the that level of fame, when every whim is catered for. For example while on tour, the band used to insist on having hotel suites repainted pink before their arrival, specifically for Nicks and Christine McVie. And the mountains of cocaine they all consumed would surely make a dramatic impact on anyone's personality.
I would have enjoyed a more forensic account on the music side of things, especially around the recording of some of my best-loved albums like Tango in the Night. However, that's not really what this book is. It's Mick Fleetwood telling you his story, about what it's like to be a member of one of the biggest rock bands and about all of the temptations and excess that such a lifestyle brings. An entertaining read, but it left me wanting a more substantial and comprehensive chronicle of one of my favourite groups.
Fleetwood begins this memoir with his childhood, which seemed quite a happy one. His father was in the RAF and the family moved around a lot, but he found it easy enough to make friends. He admits that he had no real academic ability, and that once he started to learn the drums, he knew he had found his purpose in life. He moved to London and drummed in various blues groups, before meeting up with Peter Green and John McVie to form the first incarnation of Fleetwood Mac.
This era of the band I am not as familiar with and I found it quite fascinating to read about. Green began to suffer mentally, which has often been attributed to his LSD usage, something Fleetwood denies. The sad fates of two other members, Jeremy Spencer and Danny Kirwan are also discussed. Spencer left an LA hotel one day to buy a magazine and never returned. He was later discovered to have joined a religious cult. Kirwan struggled with alcohol addiction and the pressures of being in a band, which resulted in him having a breakdown. At this point Fleetwood Mac seemed doomed, but they were eventually resurrected in a new lineup, featuring the mercurial talents of Christine McVie, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks. And once the album Rumours came out, they were unstoppable.
Fleetwood married Jenny Boyd (sister-in law of George Harrison) in 1970. They had two children together, but their relationship was quite a tumultuous one. He explains that they were never very good at communicating with one another, breaking up and reuniting several times. But his admission of an affair with Stevie Nicks seemed to be the final straw for Boyd, who finished with him for good. He then complicated things further by having a fling with Nicks' best friend Sara. It's hard to feel much sympathy for him - his womanizing got him into trouble more than once.
Contrary to other reviewers, I found Fleetwood quite a self-deprecating and self-critical narrator. He often refers to his lack of musical ability and seems genuinely remorseful over his failed marriages, particularly to Boyd. His rock'n'roll life style often took priority over his family and you do get the feeling that he has some regrets over this. I suppose it's hard not to be affected by the that level of fame, when every whim is catered for. For example while on tour, the band used to insist on having hotel suites repainted pink before their arrival, specifically for Nicks and Christine McVie. And the mountains of cocaine they all consumed would surely make a dramatic impact on anyone's personality.
I would have enjoyed a more forensic account on the music side of things, especially around the recording of some of my best-loved albums like Tango in the Night. However, that's not really what this book is. It's Mick Fleetwood telling you his story, about what it's like to be a member of one of the biggest rock bands and about all of the temptations and excess that such a lifestyle brings. An entertaining read, but it left me wanting a more substantial and comprehensive chronicle of one of my favourite groups.
November 18, 2014
Yet another celebrity autobiography published with the sole purpose of generating income for someone who truly doesn't need it.
I read Mick's first autobiography "My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac" back in 1991 and really enjoyed it. It took a lot of guts for Mick to let people get a real good look at the man behind the magic - warts and all. He came across as a quirky, charming misfit and I loved him for it. I loved reading about the history of the band from the Peter Green years all the way up to his accidental discovery of Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks.
When "Play On" hit the bookshelves, I was really excited to see where his life had taken him since then. I was seriously disappointed to see that the first 270 pages were nothing more than his first biography - almost word for word. Come on, Mick! A LOT has happened in the past 24 years since you last penned your memoirs, and your fans would have loved a chance to hear it! The last 25 pages or so just skimmed over the last quarter century and I'll be honest . . . I felt cheated. There was one noticeable difference between his first and second book. Mick seems to have undergone a bit of an attitude change - and not for the better. His alcoholism, drug use, multiple bankruptcies, and multiple failed marriages were tainted with a "But it wasn't really MY fault! I was a victim!" vibe.
I know there are a lot of good reviews out there for "Play On", but I'll bet the grocery money those reviewers never read his first book.
My advice to Fleetwood Mac fans is to scope out Mick's first autobiography. If you're a Fleetwood Mac fan, it's absolutely worth tracking down. Then go to your local bookstore and read the last 25 pages of "Play On". You're welcome.
Two stars because, hey, it's Mick and no matter what I'll always be a fan.
I read Mick's first autobiography "My Life and Adventures in Fleetwood Mac" back in 1991 and really enjoyed it. It took a lot of guts for Mick to let people get a real good look at the man behind the magic - warts and all. He came across as a quirky, charming misfit and I loved him for it. I loved reading about the history of the band from the Peter Green years all the way up to his accidental discovery of Lindsey Buckingham & Stevie Nicks.
When "Play On" hit the bookshelves, I was really excited to see where his life had taken him since then. I was seriously disappointed to see that the first 270 pages were nothing more than his first biography - almost word for word. Come on, Mick! A LOT has happened in the past 24 years since you last penned your memoirs, and your fans would have loved a chance to hear it! The last 25 pages or so just skimmed over the last quarter century and I'll be honest . . . I felt cheated. There was one noticeable difference between his first and second book. Mick seems to have undergone a bit of an attitude change - and not for the better. His alcoholism, drug use, multiple bankruptcies, and multiple failed marriages were tainted with a "But it wasn't really MY fault! I was a victim!" vibe.
I know there are a lot of good reviews out there for "Play On", but I'll bet the grocery money those reviewers never read his first book.
My advice to Fleetwood Mac fans is to scope out Mick's first autobiography. If you're a Fleetwood Mac fan, it's absolutely worth tracking down. Then go to your local bookstore and read the last 25 pages of "Play On". You're welcome.
Two stars because, hey, it's Mick and no matter what I'll always be a fan.
February 10, 2015
I have read A LOT of memoirs and biographies of musicians, and this one was hands-down the most frustrating. It was a reasonably fun read, and I love Fleetwood Mac, but not only is Mick Fleetwood very self-congratulatory but the man just does not learn! For example, after going flat broke the first time and having his credit card cut off in Singapore, his manager gets on the phone with the bank and manages to get an emergency line of credit, which they use to have an absolutely wild party in Singapore that winds up with Fleetwood buying a gold Rolex at the duty-free shop. Which he then took to Ghana and smashed it on a bar in front of several dozen poverty-stricken Ghanaians, one of whom he later took up to his room and (I am not making this up) painted white. I can only hope he was making that up. Anyhow, the whole book was full of him making the same mistakes over and over and it was so frustrating to read.
He's also weirdly dismissive of the women in his life. For example, toward the beginning he talks about consulting Jenny Boyd to corroborate his memories of their time together, stating that because she's got an advanced degree in psychology and has published two books of her own, her memories are just as valid as his. Um, how about they are as valid as yours just because she was there? And later, he states that while Stevie Nicks is a vocalist (referring to the fact that she doesn't play an instrument), everyone else in the band is a musician. As if vocalists are not musicians. I hope he said that to her face so she could clock him.
Anyhow. It was fun to read about the band, but Mick himself, not so much. Although I must say that as a young man, he was HOT. Very tall, thin, and looking mildly deranged. I don't quite know why that look is so attractive to me but IT IS.
So there you go. Read it if you're a Fleetwood Mac fan but otherwise don't bother.
He's also weirdly dismissive of the women in his life. For example, toward the beginning he talks about consulting Jenny Boyd to corroborate his memories of their time together, stating that because she's got an advanced degree in psychology and has published two books of her own, her memories are just as valid as his. Um, how about they are as valid as yours just because she was there? And later, he states that while Stevie Nicks is a vocalist (referring to the fact that she doesn't play an instrument), everyone else in the band is a musician. As if vocalists are not musicians. I hope he said that to her face so she could clock him.
Anyhow. It was fun to read about the band, but Mick himself, not so much. Although I must say that as a young man, he was HOT. Very tall, thin, and looking mildly deranged. I don't quite know why that look is so attractive to me but IT IS.
So there you go. Read it if you're a Fleetwood Mac fan but otherwise don't bother.
April 2, 2015
Description: Mick Fleetwood, the drummer and cofounder of the mega-selling band Fleetwood Mac, tells all.
In this candid, intimate portrait of a life lived in music, Mick Fleetwood sheds new light on well-known points in his history, including many incredible moments of recording and touring with Fleetwood Mac, as well as personal insights from a man who has been a major player in blues and rock n roll since his teens.
The group Fleetwood Mac has sold over 140 million records worldwide, and they continue to attract a huge following, selling out their biggest arena tour ever in 2013, decades after their debut. Finally, the group s admirers will have a unique portrait of what made Mick and the rest of the group tick in the midst of their massive success and personal trials."
Yet I love the music...
Then!
Now!January 13, 2015
Oh dear, did anyone else find this a tedious read.
As a fan of Fleetwood Mac I received this book as a Christmas gift and was really looking forward to reading it.
Yes it charts Micks life from his peripatetic beginnings and the start of Fleetwood Mac, his multiple marriages and affairs but manages to say very little of any substance. Although there is plenty about substance abuse and excess.
His on again off again relationships with his wives (3), who he professes to be still be madly in love with, ad nauseum, whilst having affairs with the next prospective spouse, made me want to throw the book out the window. His main love affair seemed to be with himself and cocaine.
For a book about one of the most enduring/exciting bands and its leader, it's is colourless and in the end tells very little. Anything you might have wanted to know about the many stories and anecdotes surrounding the band over the last four decades he dismisses as "been there, done that, not worth telling again". WHAT! Isn't that the point of an autobiography.
His angst ridden tale of "I've been a terrible husband and father, but it's all for the music", in the end doesn't make for much of a story
Great band, great music, but sorry Mick not a great read.
As a fan of Fleetwood Mac I received this book as a Christmas gift and was really looking forward to reading it.
Yes it charts Micks life from his peripatetic beginnings and the start of Fleetwood Mac, his multiple marriages and affairs but manages to say very little of any substance. Although there is plenty about substance abuse and excess.
His on again off again relationships with his wives (3), who he professes to be still be madly in love with, ad nauseum, whilst having affairs with the next prospective spouse, made me want to throw the book out the window. His main love affair seemed to be with himself and cocaine.
For a book about one of the most enduring/exciting bands and its leader, it's is colourless and in the end tells very little. Anything you might have wanted to know about the many stories and anecdotes surrounding the band over the last four decades he dismisses as "been there, done that, not worth telling again". WHAT! Isn't that the point of an autobiography.
His angst ridden tale of "I've been a terrible husband and father, but it's all for the music", in the end doesn't make for much of a story
Great band, great music, but sorry Mick not a great read.
December 16, 2018
I want to start by saying that even though I was only born in 1992, my favorite band always has been and probably always will be Fleetwood Mac. No, I did not live during the time when they were at their prime. No, I do not know what it was like to live during that time. No, I do not have the connection with the band members as many people around during that time have. However, my dad raised me on this music and it has always brought love and magic into my life. My heart feels at its best when I'm listening to their songs and there can be no denying that they bring something to their music that is like nothing else. And there's nothing about today's music that can even compare.
With that said, this is the first book I've read on either the band itself or any of its band members. As much as I love music, I've never been one to read too much into the people behind the music. People are people in my eyes and I try not to give myself unrealistic ideas of who the people are behind the sound. I'm glad I picked this one up though. I have a feeling Mick is leaving quite a lot out of his life story, but it did feel like he was being as honest as he felt comfortable with. He admitted to a lot of disgraceful things he had done. The hell he put Jenny, Stevie, and Sara through sincerely makes my heart hurt and I can't even imagine what his children must have been going through during his excessive cocaine and alcohol habits, his cheating and abandoning of his partners, and his lack of communication skills and ability to show his true emotions for those he loved. It's shocking to me he was willing to put all this out there as he has done. And even though I would by no means call this book inspiring, I respect his willingness to write about it, no matter how poorly written it was.
Aside from Mick's personal life, I enjoyed the build up of what made Fleetwood Mac what it is today. Learning about the band members from early on and how they were lost was heart breaking. Learning about how Mick met Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks gave me goosebumps. Hearing the meaning behind some of their most profound songs was eye opening for me. I sincerely feel that I learned a lot about what makes Fleetwood Mac what it is as well as learned a lot about how things work within a band in general. Understanding what makes it so incredibly difficult for band members to stick together made me respect them and their decisions as a team more than I have in the past. This isn't an amazing book by any means, but a good read for anyone wanting to learn more behind the members of Fleetwood Mac.
With that said, this is the first book I've read on either the band itself or any of its band members. As much as I love music, I've never been one to read too much into the people behind the music. People are people in my eyes and I try not to give myself unrealistic ideas of who the people are behind the sound. I'm glad I picked this one up though. I have a feeling Mick is leaving quite a lot out of his life story, but it did feel like he was being as honest as he felt comfortable with. He admitted to a lot of disgraceful things he had done. The hell he put Jenny, Stevie, and Sara through sincerely makes my heart hurt and I can't even imagine what his children must have been going through during his excessive cocaine and alcohol habits, his cheating and abandoning of his partners, and his lack of communication skills and ability to show his true emotions for those he loved. It's shocking to me he was willing to put all this out there as he has done. And even though I would by no means call this book inspiring, I respect his willingness to write about it, no matter how poorly written it was.
Aside from Mick's personal life, I enjoyed the build up of what made Fleetwood Mac what it is today. Learning about the band members from early on and how they were lost was heart breaking. Learning about how Mick met Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks gave me goosebumps. Hearing the meaning behind some of their most profound songs was eye opening for me. I sincerely feel that I learned a lot about what makes Fleetwood Mac what it is as well as learned a lot about how things work within a band in general. Understanding what makes it so incredibly difficult for band members to stick together made me respect them and their decisions as a team more than I have in the past. This isn't an amazing book by any means, but a good read for anyone wanting to learn more behind the members of Fleetwood Mac.
September 17, 2022
A few of Fleetwood Mac’s famous songs are on my daily drive playlist. So, come rain or shine, I often listen to at least one of their songs every day. Even though I enjoy the music, I’ve never read about the band, and I know only the basics about them. Keep that in mind, Play On turned out to be a great book. Granted, it's more personal and focuses on Mick, but there’s enough in it about the band for an amateur fan to gobble it all up.
April 6, 2025
The heart and soul of Fleetwood Mac. I really enjoyed hearing the band’s history through Mick and the story of his younger days. I learned a lot of new things about the first incarnation of the band, London in the late 60s and early 70s, how Mick grew to become the band’s center. The White Album, Rumours, Tusk…all fascinating history told in a linear and very direct way from his perspective. A really good read.
January 24, 2021
One of the unfortunate truths of reading about creative people is that those who create art that one deeply enjoys are often people whose lives are loathsome and not worthy of emulation, and regretfully that is the case here. If the author can be praised for his honesty, a lot of that honesty is simply very unpleasant. Rock stars, and musicians in general, and creative people still more in general, tend to live disordered lives because for many people creativity means developing an antipathy to order and propriety rather than simply recognizing one's creativity as a re-ordering of elements in existence and a role in expanding the order and propriety that exist. There is a certain pattern to many people whose memoirs one reads about in the realm of popular music and this book hits most of the high points, including rampant drug abuse, relationship drama, and the tension between careerist ambition and a hostility to that which provides order and structure in life and in one's world. To the extent that this book offers something that is worthy of praise, it is the author's desire to keep playing and keep creating and to overcome the divisions and interpersonal struggles that so often divide, and if Fleetwood Mac's history has not been a picture of stability, it at least has the advantage of having been a consistent going concern despite its turmoil.
This book is more than 300 pages long and explores the life of Mick Fleetwood from his birth to the 2010s, when he believes that the core Fleetwood Mac band would keep going into the future. This was, alas, not to happen, but the author did not know that the band's internal drama would not improve with age. Included are rather detailed discussions of Mick Fleetwood's struggles with school, his development of his craft as a drummer, which included enough practice to give him an intuitive feel for drumming, and of his general careerist ambitions within Fleetwood Mac itself. He discusses his relationship history, including a fling with Stevie Nicks, in a somewhat disjointed fashion that reveals his inability to keep a relationship going for as long as he would wish. This book is also useful in discussing his own fondness for the more experimental albums within the discography of the group, although it must be admitted that the author has kind words to say about just about every aspect of the band's recordings, noting with compassion the way that the relationships between different band members throughout the group's history led to drama and struggles and to frequent lineup changes.
And it is not hard to see where this turmoil comes from. It has always been a telling and intriguing irony that Fleetwood Mac was named after its rhythm section, and it has been precisely this section that has remained consistent throughout the band's history--Mick Fleetwood calls it, rather aptly, a successful marriage between himself and bassist McVie--even if the rhythm section has had the least influence on the band's sound. Most of this history consists of a rather blunt tell-most approach about the recording of the band's music and the struggles between different members of the band to stay sane and stay creative and be able to work together. If Fleetwood appears to be one of the more grounded members of the group, he certainly has experienced his own share of turmoil and his three marriages suggests a desire to find something that lasts without quite being able to know how to do it. He confesses his own struggle to communicate and his troubles with dyslexia are unfortunate, in that they robbed him from the sort of success in school that might have given him a less chaotic way forward in life. Yet, at the same time, it is nearly certain that had he lived a less chaotic life, he would certainly not be known by as many people. It is this rub that draws people to fame even if that fame is ultimately self-destructive.
This book is more than 300 pages long and explores the life of Mick Fleetwood from his birth to the 2010s, when he believes that the core Fleetwood Mac band would keep going into the future. This was, alas, not to happen, but the author did not know that the band's internal drama would not improve with age. Included are rather detailed discussions of Mick Fleetwood's struggles with school, his development of his craft as a drummer, which included enough practice to give him an intuitive feel for drumming, and of his general careerist ambitions within Fleetwood Mac itself. He discusses his relationship history, including a fling with Stevie Nicks, in a somewhat disjointed fashion that reveals his inability to keep a relationship going for as long as he would wish. This book is also useful in discussing his own fondness for the more experimental albums within the discography of the group, although it must be admitted that the author has kind words to say about just about every aspect of the band's recordings, noting with compassion the way that the relationships between different band members throughout the group's history led to drama and struggles and to frequent lineup changes.
And it is not hard to see where this turmoil comes from. It has always been a telling and intriguing irony that Fleetwood Mac was named after its rhythm section, and it has been precisely this section that has remained consistent throughout the band's history--Mick Fleetwood calls it, rather aptly, a successful marriage between himself and bassist McVie--even if the rhythm section has had the least influence on the band's sound. Most of this history consists of a rather blunt tell-most approach about the recording of the band's music and the struggles between different members of the band to stay sane and stay creative and be able to work together. If Fleetwood appears to be one of the more grounded members of the group, he certainly has experienced his own share of turmoil and his three marriages suggests a desire to find something that lasts without quite being able to know how to do it. He confesses his own struggle to communicate and his troubles with dyslexia are unfortunate, in that they robbed him from the sort of success in school that might have given him a less chaotic way forward in life. Yet, at the same time, it is nearly certain that had he lived a less chaotic life, he would certainly not be known by as many people. It is this rub that draws people to fame even if that fame is ultimately self-destructive.
January 4, 2015
I thought I knew everything about Fleetwood Mac—but I was wrong. I thought this new autobiography might be a re-hash of his earlier one, with a few extras thrown in—but I was wrong.
In “Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac,” written with Anthony Bozza, the Mick Fleetwood we meet is the definitive wizened elderly gentleman. He is reflective, focused and self-aware, but it’s not all about him. The love and admiration he has for his bandmates, and many others, exudes forth throughout the book. He acknowledges their past mistakes, their overindulgences, without re-treading the same ground we’ve all read about for the past several decades.
This book offers an intimate glimpse into the personal life of a man in his late sixties who only recently became aware of the consequences of his actions in the past. It is a portrait of a man looking back on his life with honesty. In many ways, as Fleetwood said in an interview, this is the story of his first wife, Jenny. It was through her eyes, through her stories, that Fleetwood was finally able to come to understand their tumultuous marriage and his role in its demise.
Wonderful — but what about Fleetwood Mac, you may ask. Is there really anything left to uncover? I would say yes. Nothing shocking—all the dirty secrets have come out over the years—but what’s new is seeing it all from Fleetwood’s current perspective. He is not a man of regret, at least not when it comes to the band to which he has devoted his life since he was twenty. But devotion isn’t a strong enough word. Mick Fleetwood loves his band with a passion that goes far beyond money or fame. It is his life. Fleetwood Mac is one of his children, and it has fallen ill many times—but Mick Fleetwood has always been there to nurse it back to life.
In “Play On: Now, Then, and Fleetwood Mac,” written with Anthony Bozza, the Mick Fleetwood we meet is the definitive wizened elderly gentleman. He is reflective, focused and self-aware, but it’s not all about him. The love and admiration he has for his bandmates, and many others, exudes forth throughout the book. He acknowledges their past mistakes, their overindulgences, without re-treading the same ground we’ve all read about for the past several decades.
This book offers an intimate glimpse into the personal life of a man in his late sixties who only recently became aware of the consequences of his actions in the past. It is a portrait of a man looking back on his life with honesty. In many ways, as Fleetwood said in an interview, this is the story of his first wife, Jenny. It was through her eyes, through her stories, that Fleetwood was finally able to come to understand their tumultuous marriage and his role in its demise.
Wonderful — but what about Fleetwood Mac, you may ask. Is there really anything left to uncover? I would say yes. Nothing shocking—all the dirty secrets have come out over the years—but what’s new is seeing it all from Fleetwood’s current perspective. He is not a man of regret, at least not when it comes to the band to which he has devoted his life since he was twenty. But devotion isn’t a strong enough word. Mick Fleetwood loves his band with a passion that goes far beyond money or fame. It is his life. Fleetwood Mac is one of his children, and it has fallen ill many times—but Mick Fleetwood has always been there to nurse it back to life.
January 12, 2020
While I was reading (and enjoying) this book, I got food poisoning. (Not the book's fault.) I spent about two days not only wishing I were dead but lamenting that I couldn't finish this book. I know I could have just Googled Mick Fleetwood's life, but I wanted to read it from Mick's friendly and yet slightly off-kilter perspective.
For example, Mick takes a while to explain his learning disabilities, especially his problems with math. Later on, he then firmly states that he was an excellent manager of Fleetwood Mac and has no idea where the missing millions went and why his bandmates insisted on new management. Hmmm.
But anyway, soon as I could read after getting deathly sick, this was the first book I picked up and managed four pages until my eyes blurred. The next day I managed to finish it. In one sense, I was glad to get it back to the library on time (despite my illness) but on the other I was sorry this book had to end.
I am not a big Fleetwood Mac fan, so I do not know how accurate Mick's side of the story is. He does hint at more stories being hidden away so as not to get guilty parties upset but what remains is still a ripping yarn. He gives more information about the band's bizarre past than most Fleetwood Mac documentaries I've seen.
For example, Mick takes a while to explain his learning disabilities, especially his problems with math. Later on, he then firmly states that he was an excellent manager of Fleetwood Mac and has no idea where the missing millions went and why his bandmates insisted on new management. Hmmm.
But anyway, soon as I could read after getting deathly sick, this was the first book I picked up and managed four pages until my eyes blurred. The next day I managed to finish it. In one sense, I was glad to get it back to the library on time (despite my illness) but on the other I was sorry this book had to end.
I am not a big Fleetwood Mac fan, so I do not know how accurate Mick's side of the story is. He does hint at more stories being hidden away so as not to get guilty parties upset but what remains is still a ripping yarn. He gives more information about the band's bizarre past than most Fleetwood Mac documentaries I've seen.
June 10, 2015
In den 25 Jahren seit seiner ersten Autobiographie ist viel passiert:
Zwei Scheidungen, zwei Wiedervereinigungen von Fleetwood Mac, eine endgültige Abkehr von den Drogen, auch wenn die Abstinenzzeiträume für dieselbe Phase in unterschiedlichen Kapiteln nicht immer ganz kongruent sind, ein Umstand der so manche Zweifel am Rest des Buches, bzw. dem Erinnerungvermögen von Mister Fleetwood weckt.
In Sachen Bandgeschichte und Aufnahmeprozesse bis 1990 ist das alte Buch detaillierter, als Drogenbeichte mit echter Reue und einigen Nekrologen hat das Buch schon seine Berechtigung. Wie viel davon Dichtung oder Wahrheit in dem Update der Bandsoap mit etlichen scheinbar endgültigen Austritten und langjährigen Abstinenzen vom Business oder Tourstress steckt, das steht auf einem anderen Blatt, eine ganz nette Lektüre war das Buch allemal.
Ein echter Minuspunkt ist der Bildteil, z.T. briefmarkengroße Abbildungen, in vier Sektionen, auf denen lernen die Leser Ehefrau Nummer drei und aktuelle Lebensgefährtin und Kinder und Enkel besser kennen, leider nicht am passenden Ort. Vermutlich bin ich zu sehr durch gut zwanzig Jahre mit der früheren Bio versaut, aber die mitten in den Text geknallten großformatigen Bilder brachten mehr Atmosphäre.
Leider gibt es auch dieses mal kein Register und da das Buch ein paar chronologisch spätere Wiedersehen mit Peter Green oder Jermemy Spencer im spontanen Gestus zwischendrin einstreut, gerät die Faktensuche auf 400 Seiten manchmal zur umständlichen Blätterei. Erst recht ohne die optischen Hilfen der Bilder im Text.
von daher drei Sterne für die Lebensleistung und die frischen Fakten, im Vergleich zum mit vier Sternen bewerteten ersten Wurf wären es eher zwei.
Zwei Scheidungen, zwei Wiedervereinigungen von Fleetwood Mac, eine endgültige Abkehr von den Drogen, auch wenn die Abstinenzzeiträume für dieselbe Phase in unterschiedlichen Kapiteln nicht immer ganz kongruent sind, ein Umstand der so manche Zweifel am Rest des Buches, bzw. dem Erinnerungvermögen von Mister Fleetwood weckt.
In Sachen Bandgeschichte und Aufnahmeprozesse bis 1990 ist das alte Buch detaillierter, als Drogenbeichte mit echter Reue und einigen Nekrologen hat das Buch schon seine Berechtigung. Wie viel davon Dichtung oder Wahrheit in dem Update der Bandsoap mit etlichen scheinbar endgültigen Austritten und langjährigen Abstinenzen vom Business oder Tourstress steckt, das steht auf einem anderen Blatt, eine ganz nette Lektüre war das Buch allemal.
Ein echter Minuspunkt ist der Bildteil, z.T. briefmarkengroße Abbildungen, in vier Sektionen, auf denen lernen die Leser Ehefrau Nummer drei und aktuelle Lebensgefährtin und Kinder und Enkel besser kennen, leider nicht am passenden Ort. Vermutlich bin ich zu sehr durch gut zwanzig Jahre mit der früheren Bio versaut, aber die mitten in den Text geknallten großformatigen Bilder brachten mehr Atmosphäre.
Leider gibt es auch dieses mal kein Register und da das Buch ein paar chronologisch spätere Wiedersehen mit Peter Green oder Jermemy Spencer im spontanen Gestus zwischendrin einstreut, gerät die Faktensuche auf 400 Seiten manchmal zur umständlichen Blätterei. Erst recht ohne die optischen Hilfen der Bilder im Text.
von daher drei Sterne für die Lebensleistung und die frischen Fakten, im Vergleich zum mit vier Sternen bewerteten ersten Wurf wären es eher zwei.
November 4, 2014
Just finished this... right after I finished Joe Perry's and Neil Young's books. The difference between Fleetwood's and the others is that it felt personal. You feel like you got to know Fleetwood - not just the tall tales (pun intended) that come with Fleetwood Mac lore and legend.
The early-Mac / Peter Green years were great - learned lots. The pop-Mac years were done well: not the same old stuff, but more personal stories from Fleetwood's point of view. Fleetwood was also not shy about talking through his mistakes and bad personal and business decisions that he made.
This was a good one - I think the audible.com means of taking it all in helps - and the narration was done well.
The early-Mac / Peter Green years were great - learned lots. The pop-Mac years were done well: not the same old stuff, but more personal stories from Fleetwood's point of view. Fleetwood was also not shy about talking through his mistakes and bad personal and business decisions that he made.
This was a good one - I think the audible.com means of taking it all in helps - and the narration was done well.
June 20, 2015
As an absolutely massive fan of Fleetwood Mac, this book was everything I could have asked for, and what is even sweeter is that I own a signed version of it.
March 5, 2017
The best damn autobiography I have ever read!
While reading this...you feel like you are sitting in a room with Mick, and he is openly reminiscing about his life and music career. He is so down to earth, and you can't help but fall just a bit in love with him. He is an amazing storyteller...and engages you from page to the next.
While reading this...you feel like you are sitting in a room with Mick, and he is openly reminiscing about his life and music career. He is so down to earth, and you can't help but fall just a bit in love with him. He is an amazing storyteller...and engages you from page to the next.
December 8, 2022
By no means is this a Fleetwood Mac biography. This is Mick's life in all its indulgent glory. A captivating read and rather surreal as I finished this not long after hearing of Christine McVie's death. I can't say I respect him more for his honesty, but I definitely appreciate that he didn't rose- tiny anything in his past. I would recommend this to any Mac fan or any fan of rock n roll, really.
February 25, 2015
This is one of the best autobiographies I've read in years, especially the early Fleetwood Mac years. I would have given it five stars easily, but he never once mentioned the Brits/Sam Fox debacle, which is unforgivable. YOU CAN'T ERASE IT FROM HISTORY, FLEETERS!
October 7, 2022
Really interesting read about the history of the original band with Peter green (rip) and had no idea that Jenny his wife's sister is Pattie Boyd
July 5, 2025
I Just finished this one and I enjoyed the hell out of it. talking to my brother about what I was reading he asked which one? I told him and he said well the first book was bulshit well okay. I dunno how much of that is true or this one as well but I'd like to think this one is more honest. anyways upon reading some of the reviews on here many said this is Mick saying oh woe is me I don't think it is that's not how I read it. well listened to and read it.
I took it as he really has a lot of regrets on things he should have done or said. for example his 1st wife Jenny he admitted he spoke with her before started to write the book and even put in how she first saw him using her words. that was smart of him I think it was also smart of him to talk to her before he wrote anything because he was able to put feelings to page as well as putting her feelings as well.
does he have a lot of regrets? hell yeah he does but than so do I and everyone else I'm sure reading this does as well. I've read his first Bio but not in years that one only went up to (1990). because that is when that book came out. this one goes up I think (2014) when this one came out so it's more up to date. for those who wanted a complete history of the band you get that to an extent it's from Mick's Perspective he of course talks about the band quite a lot but there's no doubt shit left out and that's fine. during this book he talks about his divorces and he doesn't go into full detail and I don't expect him to give all the goods but with Sara his divorce from her he doesn't speak that much about it. he does mention he was going through another divorce during the writing and with her he admitted they both drifted apart from one another. that's how you do it you don't have to bad mouth an ex just to get a book written.
this book also has a nice history of the early Mac years as well I remember nothing from the first bio he wrote 35 years ago. but he's cold sober now he wasn't than, anyways this book is a lot about his love life but having said that it's not only about his love life he talks about the band quite a lot. you kind of get the impression that he's still in love with Jenny. upon looking her up she's been married since (1997) so I doubt they ever will get back together. it's a shame really because he's been clean sober for years. would I Recommend it? yeah I would but be warned that he talks quite a lot about as I said his love life. he doesn't talk about the relationships for example Stevie was in during whatever year and doesn't go into detail about her and Lindsay's breakup but let's be honest quite a lot of that already has been talked about by both Lindsay and Stevie through the years.
the book ends on a positive note with Christine McVie joining the band again after not having been on a plane in 15 years. he ends it with saying they are going to work on a new album and he can't wait to start unfortunately Stevie didn't want to put vocals down or even write new songs for a new album. which is how we got Buckingham/McVie in (2017) this book had been out 3 years at that point. nor does it talk about Chris's Death either I would love if he did an updated version of this book though.
it's always fun to get into the head of a Celebrity and understand what they went through such as Matthew Perry's Bio as well that one was a hard read and to use that book as an example that one ended with hope as well when that did end I missed being up to date on his life. the same with this book even though it's over 10 years old now. I think it was in my opinion a well written book and the bios I read are generally written by the celebrity because most of them are garbage that aren't. not all but a lot are because they can only go by what they are told and the research they do and the research can often be wrong.
I took it as he really has a lot of regrets on things he should have done or said. for example his 1st wife Jenny he admitted he spoke with her before started to write the book and even put in how she first saw him using her words. that was smart of him I think it was also smart of him to talk to her before he wrote anything because he was able to put feelings to page as well as putting her feelings as well.
does he have a lot of regrets? hell yeah he does but than so do I and everyone else I'm sure reading this does as well. I've read his first Bio but not in years that one only went up to (1990). because that is when that book came out. this one goes up I think (2014) when this one came out so it's more up to date. for those who wanted a complete history of the band you get that to an extent it's from Mick's Perspective he of course talks about the band quite a lot but there's no doubt shit left out and that's fine. during this book he talks about his divorces and he doesn't go into full detail and I don't expect him to give all the goods but with Sara his divorce from her he doesn't speak that much about it. he does mention he was going through another divorce during the writing and with her he admitted they both drifted apart from one another. that's how you do it you don't have to bad mouth an ex just to get a book written.
this book also has a nice history of the early Mac years as well I remember nothing from the first bio he wrote 35 years ago. but he's cold sober now he wasn't than, anyways this book is a lot about his love life but having said that it's not only about his love life he talks about the band quite a lot. you kind of get the impression that he's still in love with Jenny. upon looking her up she's been married since (1997) so I doubt they ever will get back together. it's a shame really because he's been clean sober for years. would I Recommend it? yeah I would but be warned that he talks quite a lot about as I said his love life. he doesn't talk about the relationships for example Stevie was in during whatever year and doesn't go into detail about her and Lindsay's breakup but let's be honest quite a lot of that already has been talked about by both Lindsay and Stevie through the years.
the book ends on a positive note with Christine McVie joining the band again after not having been on a plane in 15 years. he ends it with saying they are going to work on a new album and he can't wait to start unfortunately Stevie didn't want to put vocals down or even write new songs for a new album. which is how we got Buckingham/McVie in (2017) this book had been out 3 years at that point. nor does it talk about Chris's Death either I would love if he did an updated version of this book though.
it's always fun to get into the head of a Celebrity and understand what they went through such as Matthew Perry's Bio as well that one was a hard read and to use that book as an example that one ended with hope as well when that did end I missed being up to date on his life. the same with this book even though it's over 10 years old now. I think it was in my opinion a well written book and the bios I read are generally written by the celebrity because most of them are garbage that aren't. not all but a lot are because they can only go by what they are told and the research they do and the research can often be wrong.
February 27, 2025
To hear Mick Fleetwood tell it in his memoir, the first of the many Fleetwood Mac biographies that I've found to be in the first person, if there was one unifying theme about the band and its many members, it's that none of them were classically trained...but especially not the blockbuster Buckingham Nicks incarnation of the band. Even Fleetwood himself, being dyslexic, came to learn the drums almost entirely by ear, and by his own admission, he would never play the song the exact same way twice. Any song. Which of course, caused no small irritation to a productionary perfectionist like Lindsey Buckingham. But what surprises me the most is learning that Fleetwood, far from the wild-eyed English giant we all know him to be, began as a shrinking violet of a boy before he matured into the rockstar we all know him as today.
September 23, 2022
It was fine. I learned some things, but was wishing for more details on other places. Mick seems like a sweet clueless weirdo. There were a few interesting anecdotes, one of them early on with Jeff Porcaro, but the dialogue is often meh. He has lived an interesting life, but he’s not a songwriter for a reason.
October 18, 2018
A lot of self-congratulating B.S. throughout. It's especially hard to take his vaunted closeness with the unceremoniously jettisoned Lindsey Buckingham with any more than a grain of salt. Good as an overview of the band's early days, however.
December 2, 2025
I enjoyed learning about Fleetwood Mac through the eyes of Mick Fleetwood. He’s a humble, hardworking rock- star who is a bit gullible at times but I appreciate how he poured his heart on the page for everyone to see.
June 14, 2025
As told by the founding member, the drummer, the story of one of the greatest (or the #1 Greatest in my opinion) band of all-time. Very well done.
August 14, 2022
An interesting read. A candid account of Mick Fleetwood’s life with Fleetwood Mac, one of my all time favourite bands. I learnt so much about the band that I had no idea about, especially the early years. I enjoyed reading it, Play On!
October 19, 2022
Indispensable pels fans de FM.
April 21, 2023
I'm a long-time Fleetwood Mac fan (who isn't) and enjoyed reading this detailed memoir on the history of Fleetwood Mac and one of its original creators, Mick Fleetwood. He certainly is an odd character who has lived an interesting life - and continues to do so. This was a nice light read that I enjoyed quite a bit.
Now, when are we getting a Lindsey Buckingham memoir?
Now, when are we getting a Lindsey Buckingham memoir?
June 3, 2023
Oh, Mick. You gangly, goofy, goober. Respectfully.
I have read many books and in depth magazines on Fleetwood Mac. So of course there was info that I already was well aware of in this book, but with every new book comes new tid-bits on the band and band members you never knew. The fact that this was an autobiography and not an unauthorized biography makes a difference.
The difference?
Bias and unreliable narrating.
Unauthorized biographies, so long as they are not written by an overly smitten fan with no writing credentials, tend to be more apt to consciously tell the truth. Whereas autobiographies or authorized biographies written in a tandem with the subject are more apt to unconsciously fib and fabricate in the subject's favor. That said, who knows the truth better than the person that lived it? So long as you know there will be a romantic aspect of nostalgia that needs to be taken with a grain of salt (and perhaps a little fluffing of the sins or absolving of the sins...depending on if they want to look like a hellraiser or a hero) I'm all for a first person account of events.
I enjoyed this book. I would love for every member of Fleetwood Mac to write their own account. I would enjoy every one. Because they are a band I've loved my whole life, a love passed down from my mother, and I'm a person who in my own right loves how works of art are conceptualized. The process. The pain. The pleasure. I liked learning about his relationship with John McVie (who has always seemed notoriously quiet). You forget that Mick and John are the Fleetwood and The Mac. They typically get overshadowed by the impassioned performers that are Stevie and Lindsey, and the beautiful voice that was Christine. But everyone in this band was talented in their own right. I mean, a surplus of talent. Not a talent deficiency among 'em. I got a tickle out of him and John impatiently waiting for the writers---Stevie, Christine, and Lindsey---to have the balls to release their scorned lover lyrics so they could get on with making Rumors.
There were many parts in this book that were cheesy. Mick is kinda like the boy who cried love. I was deeply in love with the first, second, third, and four hundred and eighty-eighth wife. I was deeply in love with Sara. I'm now deeply in love with the new girl...who in all honesty has probably been replaced at least 5 times since this book released. I was deeply and madly and hopelessly in love with Stevie, soul mates, kindred spirits, a love affair for the ages, yadda yadda. I wonder if Stevie was flattered by all that or if she'd rather their private moments remain private. It's not new for Stevie to have rockers publicly profess their feelings in regards to her, while she respectfully kept her feelings to herself or channeled them through the music. Not only that, but Stevie to me has always seemed like the type of woman who does not wish to possess men but experience them. So I'm not sure if these fantasies of starting a new life together---thus stirring up more controversy in the band and having Mick run away from his wife and family responsibilities---was really up her alley. Plus, as an outside observer, you see where the chemistry was at. No shade to Mr. Fleetwood.
There were parts in this book that were corny. I don't need to know when you and your would-be-third wife finally became intimate. Does that matter? (It might have been the second wife...lost track.)
There were parts in this book that were cringe. Like the passage about him and the African woman. Why did you include that? Why?
In conclusion, it kept me amused. I'm going to generalize here, so sue me if you feel a way. Men of a certain age love to look in the rear view mirror, whether to relive the glory days or glamorize the "what ifs" that weren't seen to full fruition; getting high on both what they did and didn't do. This book is probably 60% that.
But if you love this band, you will at least like this book. I feel.
I have read many books and in depth magazines on Fleetwood Mac. So of course there was info that I already was well aware of in this book, but with every new book comes new tid-bits on the band and band members you never knew. The fact that this was an autobiography and not an unauthorized biography makes a difference.
The difference?
Bias and unreliable narrating.
Unauthorized biographies, so long as they are not written by an overly smitten fan with no writing credentials, tend to be more apt to consciously tell the truth. Whereas autobiographies or authorized biographies written in a tandem with the subject are more apt to unconsciously fib and fabricate in the subject's favor. That said, who knows the truth better than the person that lived it? So long as you know there will be a romantic aspect of nostalgia that needs to be taken with a grain of salt (and perhaps a little fluffing of the sins or absolving of the sins...depending on if they want to look like a hellraiser or a hero) I'm all for a first person account of events.
I enjoyed this book. I would love for every member of Fleetwood Mac to write their own account. I would enjoy every one. Because they are a band I've loved my whole life, a love passed down from my mother, and I'm a person who in my own right loves how works of art are conceptualized. The process. The pain. The pleasure. I liked learning about his relationship with John McVie (who has always seemed notoriously quiet). You forget that Mick and John are the Fleetwood and The Mac. They typically get overshadowed by the impassioned performers that are Stevie and Lindsey, and the beautiful voice that was Christine. But everyone in this band was talented in their own right. I mean, a surplus of talent. Not a talent deficiency among 'em. I got a tickle out of him and John impatiently waiting for the writers---Stevie, Christine, and Lindsey---to have the balls to release their scorned lover lyrics so they could get on with making Rumors.
There were many parts in this book that were cheesy. Mick is kinda like the boy who cried love. I was deeply in love with the first, second, third, and four hundred and eighty-eighth wife. I was deeply in love with Sara. I'm now deeply in love with the new girl...who in all honesty has probably been replaced at least 5 times since this book released. I was deeply and madly and hopelessly in love with Stevie, soul mates, kindred spirits, a love affair for the ages, yadda yadda. I wonder if Stevie was flattered by all that or if she'd rather their private moments remain private. It's not new for Stevie to have rockers publicly profess their feelings in regards to her, while she respectfully kept her feelings to herself or channeled them through the music. Not only that, but Stevie to me has always seemed like the type of woman who does not wish to possess men but experience them. So I'm not sure if these fantasies of starting a new life together---thus stirring up more controversy in the band and having Mick run away from his wife and family responsibilities---was really up her alley. Plus, as an outside observer, you see where the chemistry was at. No shade to Mr. Fleetwood.
There were parts in this book that were corny. I don't need to know when you and your would-be-third wife finally became intimate. Does that matter? (It might have been the second wife...lost track.)
There were parts in this book that were cringe. Like the passage about him and the African woman. Why did you include that? Why?
In conclusion, it kept me amused. I'm going to generalize here, so sue me if you feel a way. Men of a certain age love to look in the rear view mirror, whether to relive the glory days or glamorize the "what ifs" that weren't seen to full fruition; getting high on both what they did and didn't do. This book is probably 60% that.
But if you love this band, you will at least like this book. I feel.
April 22, 2023
The drumming bandleader
Mick Fleetwood, who along with John McVie, has been the constant driving force behind all the variations in style and lineups of Fleetwood Mac, co-writes, with Anthony Bozza, a very engaging autobiography that tracks his life at least up through 2014, the year it was first published. I want to make special mention of Anthony Bozza, because Mick explains that when he was growing up he had a learning disability that would eventually be diagnosed as dyslexia. He says that he always had verbal challenges and difficulty following directions. The book is written in the first person so Mick is not as tongue-tied as he has always believed himself to be.
This dyslexia informs even the way he approaches playing drums:
‘What I didn’t know was that my dyslexia would later serve me well once I turned to playing drums. It wasn’t clear to me until years later, when I really began to think about drumming, which was something I found myself doing quite naturally. After I’d become known for drumming, and had a ‘style’ that people talked about, I began to ponder, wonder exactly what that style was…I really had no idea, nor the ability to explain in musical terms, what I was ever doing in a particular song.’
Mick grew up with two older sisters in the post-war years of Britain. The father was an RAF pilot and the family moved with him to Egypt and Norway. To their credit, his parents understood that Mick was not academically inclined and supported his plan to move to London to live with his sister and try to get gigs playing drums because he said it was the only thing he was good at. Surprisingly, Mick did not need to suffer in poverty for very long and began to get gigs. He was fortuitously located near the center of swinging London where there were revolutions in fashion and music. Through a chain of circumstances, Mick became the drummer for John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, where he met guitarist Peter Green and bass player John McVie.
Due to arriving for rehearsal drunk too many times, Mayall had to fire him. Peter Green and John McVie also left and Peter Green invited his favorite rhythm section to join his new band which he named Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, later shortened to simply Fleetwood Mac. After attaining a degree of success with a couple of hit singles and spots on ‘Ready, Steady, Go’, Peter felt he had already attained the goal he set out to achieve and, with the chemical aid of some LSD, felt he didn’t want to play the same music night after night. Fortunately, by the time he left they had already added second guitarist Jeremy Spencer. Mick suspects that it may have been Peter’s plan from the beginning to name the band after the rhythm section, making them the focus of the band regardless of whoever else was in it. Peter Green would become the first of a series of guitarists with mental instability, as Jeremy Spencer, then guitarist Danny Kirwin, both had mental breakdowns.
On the personal level, Mick fell in love ‘at first sight’ with model Jenny Boyd, whose sister Pattie, also a model, would marry Beatle George Harrison. After a series of misunderstandings for which Mick takes full responsibility, he and Jenny married. Being a brother-in-law to a Beatle would provide a front row seat to Ground Zero of the cultural revolution of the Sixties. Appearing in clubs, either as a performer or as part of the audience, there was a communal awareness that you were part of seismic social change.
Jenny was an introvert and felt socially isolated when traveling with the band. Another of the Fleetwood guitarists, Bob Weston, began to be friendly with her and Mick noticed that she finally seemed like she fit in. Being the last to find out that Jenny and Bob were having an affair, Mick tried to continue playing with Bob in the band but then decided he had to fire him.
Another guitarist whose tenure with the band overlapped with Bob Weston’s, Bob Welch, another ‘Bob,’ was the first American to join Fleetwood Mac. This Bob was easy to get along with but wanted to start a solo career so that toward the end of 1974, he announced that he was leaving the band. As the band had relocated to the U.S., where they always had a greater following than back in the UK, they were once again shopping for a new guitarist. This led them to Keith Olson, a producer friend of Mick’s, who played him a song called “Frozen Love,” from an eponymous album named Buckingham Nicks. Mick was very impressed with the guitarist and asked to meet him. This led to a group meeting with Lindsay Buckingham and his girlfriend/co-singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks. Lindsay made it clear that he and Stevie were a package deal. If they wanted him, they had to take both of them.
From the time that Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, everyone’s lives in the band would change dramatically. At that time, John and Christine McVie’s marriage was breaking up, Lindsay and Stevie’s relationship was falling apart, and Mick’s marriage to Jenny was also breaking up. Musically, the combination was brilliant as well as enormously lucrative as the band ascended to monster heights of success. Everyone was essentially forced to work through internecine personal conflicts while creating music with these same people.
Mick seems to be honest about his shortcomings in all of his relationships, personal as well as musical. He went through two marriages and at the time of writing his third marriage was breaking up. He had a brief relationship with Stevie that, even though Lindsay and Stevie were officially broken up, caused hurt feelings all around. He doesn’t try to minimize the effects of all the drugs and debauchery on everyone’s physical and mental health. He fathered four children throughout three marriages. Being the manager as well as member of Fleetwood Mac, he navigated through minefields of conflicts of interest and lost millions of dollars because he was a gullible victim to a confidence man in one of his business ventures.
In many respects this memoir seems like part of a twelve-step program for an alcoholic. Mick and his co-author have written a very articulate, analytical attempt to make amends. Based on what he’s written, he has been blessed to have very supportive parents and siblings. He captions a photo of himself with John McVie as “The longest marriage I’ve ever had.” Indeed, that is the most stable union he’s ever managed to keep. Because Fleetwood and McVie were the drummer and bass player, respectively, leaders of the band but not songwriters, the personality of the band and styles of music have changed over the years based on whoever the singers and songwriters were at any given time in the band. He states that he sold his soul to the company store:
‘I have to accept that reality and make peace with it. For the most part I have, because I’ve realized that I am the store and the store is me, but there is a sadness in truly understanding the collateral damage that caused, from the emotional suffering brought upon my children, to the lifestyle that inadvertently injured people I loved.”
That is a good place to start, Mick.
Mick Fleetwood, who along with John McVie, has been the constant driving force behind all the variations in style and lineups of Fleetwood Mac, co-writes, with Anthony Bozza, a very engaging autobiography that tracks his life at least up through 2014, the year it was first published. I want to make special mention of Anthony Bozza, because Mick explains that when he was growing up he had a learning disability that would eventually be diagnosed as dyslexia. He says that he always had verbal challenges and difficulty following directions. The book is written in the first person so Mick is not as tongue-tied as he has always believed himself to be.
This dyslexia informs even the way he approaches playing drums:
‘What I didn’t know was that my dyslexia would later serve me well once I turned to playing drums. It wasn’t clear to me until years later, when I really began to think about drumming, which was something I found myself doing quite naturally. After I’d become known for drumming, and had a ‘style’ that people talked about, I began to ponder, wonder exactly what that style was…I really had no idea, nor the ability to explain in musical terms, what I was ever doing in a particular song.’
Mick grew up with two older sisters in the post-war years of Britain. The father was an RAF pilot and the family moved with him to Egypt and Norway. To their credit, his parents understood that Mick was not academically inclined and supported his plan to move to London to live with his sister and try to get gigs playing drums because he said it was the only thing he was good at. Surprisingly, Mick did not need to suffer in poverty for very long and began to get gigs. He was fortuitously located near the center of swinging London where there were revolutions in fashion and music. Through a chain of circumstances, Mick became the drummer for John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, where he met guitarist Peter Green and bass player John McVie.
Due to arriving for rehearsal drunk too many times, Mayall had to fire him. Peter Green and John McVie also left and Peter Green invited his favorite rhythm section to join his new band which he named Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac, later shortened to simply Fleetwood Mac. After attaining a degree of success with a couple of hit singles and spots on ‘Ready, Steady, Go’, Peter felt he had already attained the goal he set out to achieve and, with the chemical aid of some LSD, felt he didn’t want to play the same music night after night. Fortunately, by the time he left they had already added second guitarist Jeremy Spencer. Mick suspects that it may have been Peter’s plan from the beginning to name the band after the rhythm section, making them the focus of the band regardless of whoever else was in it. Peter Green would become the first of a series of guitarists with mental instability, as Jeremy Spencer, then guitarist Danny Kirwin, both had mental breakdowns.
On the personal level, Mick fell in love ‘at first sight’ with model Jenny Boyd, whose sister Pattie, also a model, would marry Beatle George Harrison. After a series of misunderstandings for which Mick takes full responsibility, he and Jenny married. Being a brother-in-law to a Beatle would provide a front row seat to Ground Zero of the cultural revolution of the Sixties. Appearing in clubs, either as a performer or as part of the audience, there was a communal awareness that you were part of seismic social change.
Jenny was an introvert and felt socially isolated when traveling with the band. Another of the Fleetwood guitarists, Bob Weston, began to be friendly with her and Mick noticed that she finally seemed like she fit in. Being the last to find out that Jenny and Bob were having an affair, Mick tried to continue playing with Bob in the band but then decided he had to fire him.
Another guitarist whose tenure with the band overlapped with Bob Weston’s, Bob Welch, another ‘Bob,’ was the first American to join Fleetwood Mac. This Bob was easy to get along with but wanted to start a solo career so that toward the end of 1974, he announced that he was leaving the band. As the band had relocated to the U.S., where they always had a greater following than back in the UK, they were once again shopping for a new guitarist. This led them to Keith Olson, a producer friend of Mick’s, who played him a song called “Frozen Love,” from an eponymous album named Buckingham Nicks. Mick was very impressed with the guitarist and asked to meet him. This led to a group meeting with Lindsay Buckingham and his girlfriend/co-singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks. Lindsay made it clear that he and Stevie were a package deal. If they wanted him, they had to take both of them.
From the time that Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, everyone’s lives in the band would change dramatically. At that time, John and Christine McVie’s marriage was breaking up, Lindsay and Stevie’s relationship was falling apart, and Mick’s marriage to Jenny was also breaking up. Musically, the combination was brilliant as well as enormously lucrative as the band ascended to monster heights of success. Everyone was essentially forced to work through internecine personal conflicts while creating music with these same people.
Mick seems to be honest about his shortcomings in all of his relationships, personal as well as musical. He went through two marriages and at the time of writing his third marriage was breaking up. He had a brief relationship with Stevie that, even though Lindsay and Stevie were officially broken up, caused hurt feelings all around. He doesn’t try to minimize the effects of all the drugs and debauchery on everyone’s physical and mental health. He fathered four children throughout three marriages. Being the manager as well as member of Fleetwood Mac, he navigated through minefields of conflicts of interest and lost millions of dollars because he was a gullible victim to a confidence man in one of his business ventures.
In many respects this memoir seems like part of a twelve-step program for an alcoholic. Mick and his co-author have written a very articulate, analytical attempt to make amends. Based on what he’s written, he has been blessed to have very supportive parents and siblings. He captions a photo of himself with John McVie as “The longest marriage I’ve ever had.” Indeed, that is the most stable union he’s ever managed to keep. Because Fleetwood and McVie were the drummer and bass player, respectively, leaders of the band but not songwriters, the personality of the band and styles of music have changed over the years based on whoever the singers and songwriters were at any given time in the band. He states that he sold his soul to the company store:
‘I have to accept that reality and make peace with it. For the most part I have, because I’ve realized that I am the store and the store is me, but there is a sadness in truly understanding the collateral damage that caused, from the emotional suffering brought upon my children, to the lifestyle that inadvertently injured people I loved.”
That is a good place to start, Mick.
August 15, 2024
Half of it was about Mick’s personal life, which I’m really uninterested in hahhaa but all the behind the scenes facts and events of the band made the book a 5/5 easily
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