Okay, so today I decided to dig into the management situation surrounding Fleetwood Mac, you know, the band? It’s always seemed like a soap opera behind the scenes, and I wanted to get a clearer picture of how it all worked, or didn’t work, throughout the years.
I started by just doing some general searching online. Reading a bunch of articles. Honestly, It’s pretty wild stuff.
The Early Days and Multiple Managers
First, I traced back to the very beginning. Back in the Peter Green days, they had a manager, Clifford Davis. Then there was constant shifting, and things got complicated quickly with band member changes. I mean, they went through guitarists like Spinal Tap goes through drummers!
- 1967-1970: Clifford Davis, seemed pretty standard for the time.
The “Bob Welch” Era and the Fake Fleetwood Mac
Then, I discovered something unbelievable about the band Fleetwood Mac, which happened during the period when Bob Welch was involved. Apparently, their manager, Clifford Davis, put together a completely fake Fleetwood Mac to tour! This was while the real band was taking a break.
I spent some time trying to find the details.I was really interested in this part!
- The “Fake” Fleetwood Mac: I discovered that the whole thing became a HUGE legal mess. I mean, who owns the name Fleetwood Mac?
The Buckingham Nicks Era and Self-Management (Sort Of)
Then, of course, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined, and things exploded. But who was managing them then?
From what I gathered, during their biggest years, the Rumours era, they were largely self-managed, with Mick Fleetwood taking on a big role. But it wasn’t that simple.
- Mick Fleetwood as “Manager”: More of a bandleader/manager hybrid, it seems.
The Later Years and Continuing Drama
I kept digging, looking into the later albums, the solo careers, the reunions. It seems like the management story never really settled down.
- Different managers over time: I see names popping up, but no one figure seems to have stayed with them for a very long time after the ’70s.
My Realization
After all this reading and searching, I’ve realized that the story of Fleetwood Mac’s management is almost as dramatic as their music! It’s a story of shifting power, lawsuits, internal struggles, and probably a lot of shouting. Maybe that’s part of why their music is so emotionally charged—they lived it!
It seems that their creative brilliance was matched by a kind of chaotic management style. I’m not sure I’d recommend it as a business model, but hey, it worked for them…in a messy, rock-and-roll kind of way.
