Blurb from American Songwriter
Born into a family of esteemed songwriters, Billy Burnette – whose father and uncle were two
thirds of influential ‘50s rockabilly group The Rock and Roll Trio – has written songs
for everyone from Roy Orbison and Tammy Wynette to Alan Jackson and Faith Hill.
After years touring alongside Bob Dylan and John Fogerty, the Nashville-based guitarist,
singer-songwriter and Fleetwood Mac member has released his first solo album in a decade,
Rock & Roll With It. We talked to the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee
about producing his own record, Fleetwood Mac’s off-stage tiffs and how Bob Dylan kept him on his
toes.
You come from a songwriting family. Did you always think you’d be in the
business?
I was in it before I can even remember because it’s all I thought
anybody did. I started performing when I was three-and-a-half years old and I cut my first
record for a major label when I was seven.
How many solo albums have you
put out?
I’ve lost count. I did my first about a week out of high
school in Memphis when I was 18. I’ve been on just about every label in the business.
What was the impetus for the new album?
I haven’t done
a studio album in about 10 years. I’ve been with John Fogerty for the last five years
and before that with Dylan’s band. It had been a while and I just had to do a record.
I’ve never done one that I produced and did everything myself.
So did
you play all of the instruments?
No, I had Dave Roe, Kenny Vaughan,
and Chad Cromwell on drums. We did all the tracks in three sessions. Then I took it
home, worked on it, added guitars and additional background vocals. I did a lot of
the guitars by myself at home.
Do you prefer the older, vintage style
of recording or the new, digital style?
When we’re mixing and
recording we use a lot of vintage equipment. We cut it on tape, moved it to
Pro Tools, and then mixed it back. I have my process of doing it and believe
tape has a richer quality.
Are you into country as much as you
are rockabilly?
Country music has changed. I came to Nashville
in ’72 and people like Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn cut the songs. They would
hear a song, go in, cut it and it would be out the next week. Now it’s what I call “slow business” – they think about something for so long, they cut it, and then think about it again.
How did you get to be a part of Fleetwood Mac?
A month after I’d been nominated for ACM Best New Male vocalist [in 1985] I got
the call to join. It was a big life change, and it was exciting – it was a great
band and I was huge fan. They were a tight knit family and Lindsey [Buckingham]
was a fan of mine from my rockabilly records. I’d sung on a couple of albums and
they’d had me out on the road before I was part of the band.
Fleetwood Mac is famous for their inter-band drama. Did you witness any of that?
Oh yeah. I remember when a book came out exposing all of that.
We were in Austria and they weren’t too happy that day. There’s drama in every band
– overall we got along really good.
Was it more fun than being in Dylan
or Fogerty’s band?
With Fogerty and Dylan I was a sideman, but of course
… he’s Bob Dylan. I loved playing with his band and I’d been a fan of Fogerty since
before high school. Fleetwood Mac was a pretty democratic way of working things out
– we would have meetings about everything and we were equal members. With John
and Bob, they made the decisions.
Did Dylan change his arrangements
to suit your playing style?
No, but he changes stuff every set.
We didn’t get the set list until about 20 minutes before we went on. You never know
what’s going to happen with that deal – you’re always on your toes with Dylan.
Did you have to learn his whole catalog?
I did learn it all. The band laughed because I told
them I learned the songs on the records and they said, “that’s been different for years!” I even
had a minor case of carpal tunnel because I was in my room all of the time learning songs. We had
our staples though – we did “All Along the Watchtower” pretty much every other night and “Highway 61”.
So the other band members just ignored the album recordings?
Well, the guys who are playing with him now
have been with him for 10, 15 years. When I started working with him, he was playing guitar and I could
follow him. Then he decided to play piano half of the set, but the guys were great helping me learn it.
When you’re with somebody like Dylan, living and breathing it every day, it’s an incredible experience.
Talk about it on The LegBoard
RIP Original Mac Bassist Bob Brunning
Blurb from Gibson.com
Fleetwood Mac’s original bassist is dead. Music Week magazine in England reports that Bob Brunning passed away at his home
in England last week. He was 68.
Brunning had joined Peter Green in 1967, to be later replaced by John McVie.
Brunning then quit life as a full-time musician and became a headmaster at several schools in London.
Later,
he played again with The Brunning-Sunflower Blues Band. He also wrote several books about the music business including, Blues –
The British Connection and Fleetwood Mac: The First Thirty Years.
Talk about it on The LegBoard
Several Reviews Of Mac Tribute CD!
San Francisco Chronicle
Rolling Stone
USA Today
AV Club
Madison.com
Hitflix.com
B-Sides
Guardian UK
Southern California Public Radio
Las Vegas Weekly
Timeout
Dunners Music Blog
KEXP.org
Metacritic
Toledo Free Press
Contact Music
Drowned In Sound
Mxdwn.com
All Music
Boston Globe
The Globe and Mail
New Music Express
BBC
Talk about it on The LegBoard
Tributes To Bob Weston
Blurb from Times Series
HEARTFELT tributes have been paid to ex-Fleetwood Mac
guitarist Bob Weston who has died aged 64.
Bob, who was a member
of the band in the Seventies, was found dead at his home in Brent Cross
on January, 3.
Musician and electronics engineer Steve Fairhead
first met Bob in the early Nineties when they both lived in Brighton.
Speaking to the Times Series, Mr Fairhead said: “Bob came to live with my
family for about nine months in 2007. My wife was a little bit worried
because she didn’t know him terribly well, and she thought he might
be this arrogant ex-rock star. But he charmed the socks off her and
they winded up being firm friends. Bob was an absolute gentleman.
“I can’t get my head round the idea he’s gone – I keep expecting
to bump into him or see him at the weekend.
“We shared a daft
sense of humour and a sense of the absurd. He was gregarious and
he was compassionate. He will definitely be missed – more than
missed – my hearts broken.”
Photographer Fin Costello first
met Bob when he was photographing Fleetwood Mac in London in the
early Seventies.
He said: “He was seen as the wunderkind
of the time and much talked about.
“He was one of the
great underrated guitarists of his time and great company
as well. Lots of Rock and Roll tales. He and I had travelled
the same road for many years so the sessions were long
and entertaining.”
Both Mr Fairhead and Mr Costello
said they have received many emails mourning the loss of Bob.
Talk about it on The LegBoard
Stevie Headlines AIDS Benefit
Blurb from Ultimate Classic Rock
Stevie Nicks was the main attraction at Elton John‘s 11th annual
An Enduring Vision benefit Monday night (Oct. 15) in New York, and the singer’s addition to the
bill helped net over $2 million for John’s AIDS Foundation.
John and Nicks go way back, and the singer welcomed his guest by telling the audience,
“I think we used to hang out and do drugs together many years ago — if I could remember when
Fleetwood Mac's ‘Tusk’ came out. We’ve never asked her to do anything. The last few years
we’ve had R&B performers, and they’ve been brilliant. We thought, let’s just go
the other way this year and ask Stevie, and she said yes, so we’re thrilled.”
Rolling Stone reports that Nicks played an hour-long set for those in attendance, working her way through
such classics as ‘Stand Back,’ Rhiannon,’ ‘Dreams,’ ‘Gold Dust Woman,’ ‘Landslide,’ and ‘
Edge of Seventeen.’ The evening also featured one special track called ‘Soldier’s Angel’
that Nicks dedicated to John’s AIDS efforts. The vocalist told the crowd, “I started going
to visit the soldiers at Bethesda from 2005. Elton’s a soldier’s angel too, for AIDS, because
we wouldn’t get anything done without him.”
Speaking of John’s dedication to the fight against AIDS, the singer told the audience,
“We’re going to keep shouting for as long and as loud as we need to end this epidemic.”
The event was hosted by Anderson Cooper, and featured a star-studded audience that included
Brooke Shields, Alan Cumming, Courtney Love, Lance Bass, and Cheyenne Jackson among others.
Talk about it on The LegBoard
Ken Caillat, Still An In-Demand Producer!
Blurb from PR Web
Internationally acclaimed and Grammy award winning record producer, Ken
Caillat has been stirring up quite a buzz with his recently released memoir,
Making Rumours, highlighting his experiences producing Fleetwood Mac’s Grammy
Album of the year, Rumours. On top of that, Caillat is the father of
singer-songwriter Colbie Caillat and has produced her three hit albums, which
include Coco (2007), Breakthrough (2009) and All of You (2011).
Ken and his team recently signed a recording contract with noteworthy new contemporary artist,
Stephanie Stack peaking a lot of curiosity. Stephanie is expected to start
recording in mid to late June in LA after Ken’s first round of Making Rumours
book tours. The collaboration has Stack’s fans bursting with anticipation.
Stephanie Stack made her debut last year with her Album "I Can".
The album’s
song “Crazy Love” quickly became a hit, reaching number 31 on the United States
National Radio Charts in A/C (adult contemporary). In February 2012, Stephanie
was featured in the Washington Post and was nominated by the Washington Area
Music Association (WAMA) for a Wammie Award in the Best Pop Recording category.
Stephanie has just released her new single "What I'd Rather Do," which is a
departure from Mainstream A/C to (CHR) Contemporary Hit Radio.
Just a week ago,
Stephanie released a new teaser video for “What I’d Rather Do,”
Talk about it on The LegBoard
"In Your Dreams" Documentary Premiere!
Blurb from Marketwatch
Rock legend Stevie Nicks in collaboration with musical wizard Dave Stewart have
co-produced and co-directed "In Your Dreams - Stevie Nicks," a documentary
portrait of the illusive Nicks as they embark on a musical journey to write and
record the critically acclaimed album "In Your Dreams." The film will premiere
at the 35th International Hamptons Film Festival on Sunday, October 7th and at
the 20th annual Mill Valley Film Festival on Friday, October 12th which has
already sold out.
Nicks, a multi Grammy Award winner and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee,
lead singer and emotional catalyst and vocalist for Fleetwood Mac and one of the
most recognizable female rock stars and revered songwriters in the world,
allowed cameras into her home as she holed up in a magical old mansion high atop
the hills of Los Angeles with Stewart and a wild cast of characters. The vibrant
documentary tracks the year (2010) which Nicks calls "the best year of my life."
The result is a rare study of a fascinating artist on par with D. A.
Pennebaker's classic Dylan documentary "Don't Look Back" or Madonna's notorious
"Truth or Dare."
Stewart and Nicks, co-directors of the film, also co-wrote many of the songs
on "In Your Dreams." The inner life of the legendary Nicks has by her design
long been kept at a distance from the public. We learn in "Dreams" that her
world features, costume parties, joyous dinner feasts, tap dancing, fantasy
creations and revealing songwriting and recording sessions all of which are
captured on film. Also cameos by Edgar Allan Poe, Mick Fleetwood, Reese
Witherspoon, a massive white stallion in the backyard, owls and naturally a few
vampires who appear in several "home movie" style music videos.
Along with tracking the Nicks/Stewart creative partnership, "In Your Dreams"
includes plenty of other cinematic payoffs including rare never before seen
personal scrapbook stills from Nicks' childhood and family life, and a wealth of
candid backstage and performance shots taken over the last 35 years.
Nicks, who has sold millions of records as a solo artist, writer of such
iconic songs as "Landslide," "Gold Dust Woman" and "Edge of 17," is regularly
cited by stars as diverse as Taylor Swift, Kid Rock, Courtney Love, Sheryl Crow,
The Dixie Chicks and John Mayer as an iconic favorite and heroine and is a
continuous inspiration to the world's top fashion designers.
"I think you see in this film that Stevie just tells it like it is. She is
who she is, and she doesn't change," commented Stewart.
"In Your Dreams - Stevie Nicks" Hamptons Film Festival - Sunday, October 7th
at 3pm Sag Harbor Cinema
"In Your Dreams - Stevie Nicks" Mill Valley Film Festival - Friday, October
12th at 6:30pm at Smith Raphael Film Center
Talk about it on The LegBoard
Stevie Bio Coming...
Blurb from ClassicHitsandOldies.com
Stevie Nicks has yet to put pen to paper and write her own life story, but now someone else is doing it for her.
PublishersWeekly.com reports that St. Martin’s Press will release what is described as “the first comprehensive” take
on the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s life and career.
The book will be written by Stephen Davis, who helped Nicks’ Fleetwood Mac band mate Mick Fleetwood pen his 1990
autobiography. Davis, whose most famous work is probably the notoriously scandalous
Hammer of the Gods: The Led Zeppelin Saga, first met Nicks in 1988 while traveling
with Fleetwood Mac.
There’s no word on when the book will hit stores.
Talk about it on The LegBoard
The Mac Will Tour in 2013!
Here are a collection of articles about the Mac's plan to tour in 2013:
Music News
KYGL
Uncut
RTT News
Belfast Telegraph
Anti-Music
Aria Charts
Vintage Vinyl News
Mirror UK
Contact Music
Talk about it on The LegBoard
Explore LegNews Then Play On
This Page Will Be Updated Regularly. Got a news or charting scoop? Did you find a good article or hear some good gossip? Well if you did, we want to hear about it.
