“I did not have a great time”: Stevie Nicks on the troubles of Fleetwood Mac comeback album ‘Say You Will’
The biggest strength for any artist comes with how many times they can get back up. Even if it’s hard trying to ride the waves of the music industry, anyone loves a success story from someone who had spent years in the musical doldrums looking to find their voice again. While Stevie Nicks never lost an ounce of shine on her trademark pipes, seeing her star rise once more was something that came during an era that she would much rather forget.
By the time Nicks was done with Fleetwood Mac after Behind the Mask, she was not in a good place anymore. It was clear that she and Lindsey Buckingham were never going to be the same, but even when making her solo material, an album like Street Angel got bogged down by her struggles with drugs and getting more and more disconnected from her creative muse.
Once she had a better handle on her health, though, that old flame sparked up again once The Dance began. While the classic lineup of ‘The Mac’ coming together for a reunion show may have been fun at the time, there was always the feeling that it would be a one-off, especially since none of them were willing to give up their solo careers. So that meant Nicks going back to make her next classic, Buckingham venturing down the studio rabbit hole, and Mick Fleetwood left with a rudderless ship when making the abysmal Time.
As with all musical relationships, though, distance makes the heart grow fonder, or in this case, a producer does. While Buckingham had everything squared away for a new solo project, producer Rob Cavallo suggested that he turn the demos into a Fleetwood Mac album since Fleetwood had been performing with him again. Although Say You Will does have its moments of brilliance, it’s not exactly perfect, either.
Nicks certainly comes away with some of the best tunes on the record, but considering how long it is and how much filler could have been axed, it feels like an album that wasn’t going to be finished until everyone had their way. And if you ask the ‘Gold Dust Woman’, the marathon album wasn’t exactly the easiest one to make, either.
When talking about her work on the record, Nicks said that Buckingham had been up to his usual controlling ways whenever he walked into the studio, saying, “Lindsey knows that I did not have a great time during Say You Will. Because he was just not being very nice or friendly to me. And at my old age, I’m like, ‘Please! I can’t do it’. If [he] wants to be the Lindsey Buckingham that he was a long time ago—and be happy with me and enjoy what I do—then I will do it again. I will also walk away so fast that the palm tree tops will fall on his head.”
It’s not hard to see that tension coming from Buckingham’s songs as well. There are occasionally moments where the record reaches the same heights that their classic albums did, but listening to a tune like ‘Murrow Turning Over In His Grave’ is as heavyhanded as the guitarist ever got, especially when insinuating that the media is to blame for the problems in the same manner that most celebrities talk.
But Say You Will was never about trying to remind the audience of that tension. This was all about reliving the good times, and even if it took a few arguments to get there, it’s nice to see this version of the band having one last truly great record under their belts.
