Lindsey Adams Buckingham
(born October 3, 1949) is an American guitarist, singer, composer and producer, most notable for being a member of the musical group Fleetwood Mac. Aside from his tenure with Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham has also released five solo albums and a live album. He is married to photographer Kristen Messner and has three children. As a member of Fleetwood Mac, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.
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LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM TICKETS
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Early years
Born in
Palo Alto, California, Buckingham was the third and youngest child of Rutheda (
née Elliott) and Morris Buckingham. He had two older brothers, Jeff and Greg. Growing up in the
Bay Area community of
Atherton, California, Buckingham and his brothers were encouraged to swim competitively. Though Buckingham dropped out of athletics to pursue music, his brother
Greg went on to win a
silver medal at the
1968 Olympics in
Mexico City.
Buckingham's first forays into guitar playing took place on a toy Mickey Mouse guitar, playing along to his brother Jeff's extensive collection of 45s. Noticing his talent, Buckingham's parents bought their son a $35 Harmony guitar.
Buckingham never took guitar lessons and does not read music. By age 13, he became interested in
folk music and, influenced by banjo methods, practiced the
fingerpicking styles of
The Kingston Trio. At 15 he joined a small
folk group, providing vocals and guitar work.
Fritz
Buckingham met
Stevie Nicks while they both attended
Menlo Atherton High School, and later formed The Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band with her and three other friends. Buckingham's fingerpicking style gave him difficulty playing rock guitar, and thus he moved to bass. After gaining popularity at Menlo-Atherton High School, "Fritz" became a popular local act and even opened for such acts as
Santana,
Jimi Hendrix and
Janis Joplin.
After cutting some demos with Fritz for producer
Keith Olsen, Buckingham and Nicks struck out on their own, and Fritz disbanded in 1971. Buckingham and Nicks became involved romantically, dropping out of
San Jose State to pursue a career making music together. Buckingham was stricken with
mono, which forced Nicks to begin waiting tables and cleaning houses to support the couple, while allowing him the free time to master his guitar techniques.
Buckingham Nicks
Buckingham and Nicks recorded seven
demos in 1972 on an
analog 4-track. They drove to
Los Angeles to pursue a record deal. In 1973,
Polydor Records signed the pair. Their album,
Buckingham Nicks
, was released in September 1973; soon after its release, Polydor dropped the duo due to poor sales.
Despite the record company misstep,
Buckingham Nicks
has been championed by rock critics since its release. It features gorgeous two-part harmonies backed by notable LA session musicians, including superstar drummer
Jim Keltner. Other session musicians include: Ron Tutt, Drums (Elvis Presley TCB Band); Peggy Sandvig, Keyboards;
Waddy Wachtel, Guitar; Jorge Calderon, Percussion; Jerry Scheff (Elvis Presley TCB Band), Bass; Monty Stark, Synthesizer; Gary Hodges, Drums; and Mark Tulin, Bass. (from the album jacket)
Although money was tight, the hardworking duo caught the attention of many budding musicians, including
Warren Zevon, who is rumored to have been a roommate of Nicks and Buckingham in a Fairfax district apartment.
A short tour promoting the
Buckingham Nicks
album commenced shortly after the joining of Buckingham and Nicks with Fleetwood Mac. Bootlegs of two concerts in Mobile and Tuscaloosa exist and are widely distributed on peer-to-peer networks and fansites. The touring band included drummers Bob Aguirre (from Fritz) and Gary Hodges playing simultaneously, bassist
Tom Moncrieff (who later was featured playing bass on Stevie Nicks' album
Belladonna
), and, of course, Buckingham and Nicks.
To help make ends meet, Buckingham toured with
Don Everly's back-up band, singing
Phil Everly's parts. Buckingham and Nicks were eventually forced to move in with record producer Keith Olsen, who helped the pair work on several demos for the next Buckingham/Nicks album, including "I'm So Afraid", "Monday Morning", and "Rhiannon".
Buckingham Nicks
has never been released on CD (although a bootleg version exists). Both Buckingham and Nicks have hinted at a possible remix and re-release on CD in the near future. Buckingham has also suggested a tour in support of the collection could be something the two may be interested in. Moncrieff and Hodges, from the original Buckingham Nicks touring band have also expressed interest.
Fleetwood Mac
While checking out the Sound City recording studio in California,
Mick Fleetwood heard the song "Frozen Love" from the
Buckingham Nicks
album. He asked who the guitarist was, and immediately stated that he wanted him to fill a recent vacancy. Buckingham insisted to Fleetwood that he and Nicks were a package deal—if Fleetwood didn't want Nicks, he wouldn't get Buckingham. The duo was quickly asked to join Fleetwood Mac on New Year's Eve, 1974.
Fleetwood Mac released their eponymously titled album in 1975, which became a hit. However it was the second album of this new line-up,
Rumours
, that propelled the band to superstar status when it became one of the best-selling albums of all time. Buckingham's "Go Your Own Way" was the lead-off single, soaring into the national Top Ten. After the resounding commercial success of
Rumours
(during the making of which Buckingham and Nicks famously split), Buckingham was determined to avoid falling into repeating the same musical pattern. The result was
Tusk
(1979), a double album that Buckingham primarily directed. Once again, Buckingham wrote the lead-off single, the title track that would peak at #8 on Billboard's Hot 100. It was during this time that Buckingham moved in with record company secretary and aspiring model, Carol Ann Harris, with whom he lived until 1984. Though by most standards a hit,
Tusk
failed to come anywhere close to what
Rumours
had done.
After a large world tour that ended in 1980, the band took a year long hiatus before reconvening to record their next album
Mirage
, a more pop-friendly work that returned the band to the top of the US album chart. However, by this time various members of the band were enjoying success as solo artists (particularly Nicks) and it would be five years before the release of the next Fleetwood Mac album. By the time
Tango in the Night
was released in 1987, Buckingham had already made two solo albums and had given up much of the material for what would have been his third solo album for the project, including "
Big Love", "Tango in the Night", "Family Man", "You and I", and "Caroline". On several of these tracks Buckingham played every instrument . "Big Love", released as the first single from the album, became a top ten hit in the US and the UK. Many believed (including talk show host
David Letterman) the "love grunts" on the track were sung by Stevie Nicks. However, the vocals on the song were all, in fact, sung by Buckingham, who used studio technology to alter the pitch of his voice.
Propelled by a string of hit singles,
Tango in the Night
became the band's biggest album since
Rumours
ten years earlier. However, just prior to embarking on a world tour for the album, Buckingham left Fleetwood Mac
[1] due to long running interpersonal conflicts within the band . Fleetwood Mac continued without him, and Buckingham was replaced by guitarists
Rick Vito and
Billy Burnette.
Solo projects
During the time he worked on
Tusk
, Buckingham also produced albums for
Walter Egan and
John Stewart in the late 1970s as well as beginning work on his own solo album.
In 1981, Buckingham released his first solo album
Law and Order
, playing nearly every instrument and featuring guest appearances by bandmates
Mick Fleetwood and
Christine McVie. The album pursued the quirky, eclectic, often lo-fi and new-wave-influences of
Tusk
, and spawned the hit single "
Trouble", a slice of Southern California Beach Boys-inspired pop that reached #9 on the US Charts and #1 in Australia (for three weeks). Two years later, he wrote and performed the songs "Holiday Road" and "Dancin' Across the U.S.A." for the film
National Lampoon's Vacation
. "Holiday Road" was released as a single, but reached only #82 on the ''
Billboards Hot 100. He did other soundtrack work, including the song "Time Bomb Town" from
Back to the Future'' (1985).
In 1984, after ending his 7-year relationship with Carol Ann Harris, he released his second solo album,
Go Insane
. The title track was a modest hit, reaching #23 on the Hot 100. The last track of the album, D.W. Suite, was a tribute to the late
Beach Boys drummer
Dennis Wilson.
[2] The next year, Buckingham performed on
USA for Africa's fundraising single, "
We Are the World".
Following his split with
Fleetwood Mac in 1987, Buckingham spent much of the next five years in the studio, working on his third solo album,
Out of the Cradle
, which was released in 1992. Many of the songs seem to deal with the death of his father and the sudden death of his brother Greg in 1990. "Wrong" was a gentle rebuke of former bandmate Mick Fleetwood's tell-all biography.
Out of the Cradle
received some favorable reviews but did not achieve the sales levels associated with Fleetwood Mac. However, Buckingham toured throughout 1992-93 for the first time as a solo artist; his band included an army of seven other guitarists (Buckingham himself calls them "the crazy band" on his
Soundstage
DVD), each of whom he individually taught the entire two-and-a-half hours of music from the concert (
Lindsey Buckingham: Behind the Music
documentary for
VH-1, 2001).
A subsequent solo album, entitled
Gift of Screws
, was recorded between 1995-2001 and presented to Warner Bros./Reprise for release. Executives at the label managed to persuade Buckingham to hold the CD back and instead take several tracks from
Gift of Screws
and re-record them with Fleetwood Mac. Thus, seven songs from
Gift of Screws
appear on the Fleetwood Mac album
Say You Will
and in substantially the same form as Buckingham had recorded them for his solo release. Excellent bootleg copies of
Gift of Screws
—taken from an original CD-R presented to Warner Bros/Reprise—are known to exist and have been widely distributed among fans through the use of
torrent sites and other peer to peer networks.
On his 57th birthday, (October 3, 2006) Buckingham's fourth solo album, an acoustic album entitled
Under the Skin
was released.
Under The Skin
features Buckingham on almost all instruments, with the exception of two tracks that feature Fleetwood Mac rhythm section
John McVie and Mick Fleetwood. The album includes a cover of
The Rolling Stones classic "
I Am Waiting". Three days after the album's release, Buckingham embarked a tour in support the album that lasted until the end of June 2007.
[3] A live album,
Live at the Bass Performance Hall
, was released documenting a show from this tour.
[4]
In 2008,
Gift of Screws
was finally released, containing three tracks from the originally planned album, as well as seven others.
Rejoining Fleetwood Mac
In 1992, newly-elected president
Bill Clinton asked
Fleetwood Mac to come together to perform the song he had chosen for his campaign, "
Don't Stop", at his inaugural ceremony. Buckingham agreed to be part of the performance, but the experience was something of a one-off for the band, who were still very much at odds with one another and had no plans to reunite officially.
While assembling material for a planned fourth solo album in the mid 1990s, Buckingham contacted Mick Fleetwood for assistance on a song. Their collaboration lasted much longer than anticipated, and the two eventually decided to call upon Stevie Nicks,
John and
Christine McVie. The band's old chemistry was clearly still there, and plans for a reunion tour were soon in the works. In 1997, Buckingham and all four of his bandmates from the original
Rumours
line-up of Fleetwood Mac went on the road for the first time together since 1982 in a reunion tour titled
The Dance
. The tour was hugely successful and did much to heal the damage that had been done between Buckingham and his bandmates. However, Christine McVie had opted to leave the band in 1998, essentially now making the band a foursome. In 2003, the reformed band released the first studio album involving Buckingham and Nicks in 15 years,
Say You Will
. Buckingham's song "Peacekeeper" was the first single from the album, and the band went on a world concert tour that would last almost a year and a half.
The band plans to tour and then record a new studio album in 2009, rehearsals begin in Jan '09 and the tour is expected to start in Apr '09.
Christine McVie will not be involved in this eventual project.
Musical style
Unlike many rock guitarists, Buckingham does not use a
plectrum, or a pick. Instead, he uses his fingers and fingernails. By his own admission, Buckingham does use a
fingerpick in the studio. Before and initially after joining Fleetwood Mac, Buckingham used a
Gibson Les Paul. In 1979, he worked with
Rick Turner, owner of Renaissance Guitars to create the Model One. He has used it extensively since, both with Fleetwood Mac and for his solo efforts. He has also used an
Ovation Celebrity for acoustic performances and a
Fender Telecaster.
His influences include
The Beach Boys and
The Kingston Trio.
Family
On
July 8,
1998, Buckingham's girlfriend, Kristen Messner, gave birth to their son, William Gregory Buckingham. Buckingham and Messner subsequently married in 2000, and she gave birth to a daughter, Leelee, the same year. Their third child, Stella, was born on
April 20,
2004.
Discography
As Buckingham Nicks
Year
| Album
| US
| UK
| Additional information
|
1973
| Buckingham Nicks
| -
| -
| Debut album featuring duo of Buckingham and partner Stevie Nicks. Both would later join Fleetwood Mac, after this album failed commercially and label Polydor dropped them as they were recording tracks for follow-up LP
|
With Fleetwood Mac
Albums
Year
| Album
| U.S.
| UK
| AUS
| CAN
| GER
| SWI
| AUT
| FRA
| BPI / RIAA Certification [5]
|
1975
| Fleetwood Mac
| 1
| 23
| 3
| 15
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
1977
| Rumours
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 6
| -
| 25
| 27
| -
|
1979
| Tusk
| 4
| 1
| 2
| 2
| 3
| -
| 4
| 6
| -
|
1982
| Mirage
| 1
| 5
| 2
| 4
| 12
| -
| -
| 5
| -
|
1987
| Tango in the Night
| 7
| 1
| 5
| 2
| 2
| 7
| 25
| 25
| -
|
2003
| Say You Will
| 3
| 6
| 24
| -
| 10
| 51
| -
| -
| -
|
Live albums
Year
| Album
| U.S.
| UK
| AUS
| CAN
| GER
| SWI
| AUT
| FRA
| Certifications
|
1980
| Live
| 14
| 31
| 20
| -
| 51
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
1997
| The Dance
| 1
| 15
| 4
| 19
| 20
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
2004
| Live In Boston
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
Solo albums
Year
| Album
| US
| UK
| Additional information
|
1981
| Law and Order
| 32
| -
|
|
1984
| Go Insane
| 45
| -
| -
|
1992
| Out of the Cradle
| 128
| 51
| -
|
2006
| Under the Skin
| 80
| 154 [6]
| -
|
2008
| Live at the Bass Performance Hall
| 186
| -
| -
|
Gift of Screws
| 48
| 59 [7]
|
|
Soundtrack appearances
Year
| Song
| Soundtrack
| Additional information
|
1983
| "Holiday Road, "Dancing Across The USA"
| National Lampoon's Vacation
| -
|
1985
| "Time Bomb Town"
| Back to the Future
| -
|
1994
| "On the Wrong Side"
| With Honors
| -
|
1996
| "Twisted"
| Twister
| Duet with Stevie Nicks
|
2005
| "Shut Us Down"
| Elizabethtown
| Un-Cut Version
|
2006
| "Big Love"
| Elizabethtown Vol 2
| Live Soundstage Performance
|
Singles
Year
| Song
| US Hot 100
| US Mainstream Rock
| UK Singles
| AAA Charts
| Album
|
1981
| "Trouble"
| 9
| 12
| 31
| -
| Law and Order
|
1983
| "Holiday Road"
| 82
| -
| -
| -
| ''National Lampoon's Vacation soundtrack
|
1984
| "Go Insane"
| 23
| 4
| -
| -
| Go Insane
|
"Slow Dancing"
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
1992
| "Wrong"
| -
| 23
| -
| -
| Out of the Cradle
|
"Countdown"
| -
| 38
| -
| -
|
2006
| "Show You How"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| Under the Skin
|
2008
| "Did You Miss Me"
| -
| -
| -
| 45
| Gift of Screws
|
References
- "Fleetwood: My Life and Adventures with Fleetwood Mac" by Mick Fleetwood and Stephen Davis
- Madness Fades - Lindsey Buckingham, In His Words
- The 2006-2007 Lindsey Shows
- Reuters Press Release
- RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Fleetwood Mac
- Chart Log UK
- Official Album Chart for the week ending 27 September 2008