Customer Reviews

Never Break the Chain: Fleetwood Mac and the Making of Rumours (The Vinyl Frontier series)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First, a confession: author Cath Carroll interviewed me for this book and when my Amazon.com copy arrived yesterday, I shamelessly looked up in the index the references to my name and read those parts first. Not only did she get everything right, she caught the spirit, the humor and the nuance of our conversation. What a hoot to see in print for the first time some of my favorite nuggets from my years as a Rolling Stone contributor.

More to the point, in addition to delivering the goods to Fleetwood Mac's fans, Never Break the Chain is entertaining, literate and, I submit, a significant contribution to pop culture letters. What is so impressive is that Cath Carroll has written a book about something that happened nearly 30 years ago, centered around an ostensibly small event, and yet she used it as a touchstone to beautifully capture the the energy, the gestalt and, strangely, a sense of relevance and importance of that special time that endures to this day.

The funny thing is, I don't think any of us at the time, neither FM or me, had a clue that what was going down was THAT significant. But I suspect in such times, few of any of us do.

No doubt part of my enthusiasm for the book derives from my having been there during that incandescent period, but my appreciation owes in far greater measure to Cath Carroll's skill as a journalist, her ear for a story, and her passion for her subject. Flat out gifted journalism. I hope the band reads this gem of a book. Highest recommendation.

An interesting & absorbing read. To a long-time fan like me a lot of the detail was already known & there were items that were clearly sourced from other publications but, to be fair, this was made clear & not hidden at all. I was pleased that some time was given over to other albums & not only "Rumours". Having said that I think the casual reader, drawn-in by the reference to "Rumours", would think it was an enjoyable & informative read & well presented. To be honest I found there were some elements that were new to me - which raised an eyebrow - so a "thumb's up" all round.

First of all, I was pleasantly surprised to have received this book about a week ago from Amazon. I wasn't expecting it until October. This book is well written and I learned a few new things about what went on during the making of Rumours. I was disappointed that there are so few photos in this book but it includes some I had never seen. If you are a Fleetwood Mac fan, this isn't a bad item to add to your collection.

After reading Don Felder's book, "Heaven and Hell, My Life in the Eagles," I was excited to order and read Cath Carroll's book, "Never Break the Chain: Fleetwood Mac and the Making of Rumours" as The Eagles and Fleetwood Mac are my favorite two bands. I was thoroughly disappointed. It reminded me of a sterile term paper a high school or college student would write to summarize the history of the band. I found it very "matter of fact," and quite BORING (only took me four months to FORCE myself to finish the book). I saw a PBS special about the making of "Rumours" and was hoping this book would follow a similar, interesting path. Members of the Fleetwood Mac band were going through so much personal turmoil at various times, and I know that there were very intense emotions behind the lyrics in their songs. Unfortunately, the author didn't share the genesis of songs like, "The Chain," "You Make Loving Fun," etc., etc. There is sooooooo much more to tell about the story of Fleetwood Mac. Very few details about their lives outside of the recording sessions were included in the book. I also attended a live Fleetwood Mac concert in 2007. Ooooooooh the look and emotion on Stevie and Lindsey's faces when they sung "The Chain!!!" This book totally missed the boat, in my opinion, and was NOT what I was expecting/hoping for.

Although the title of this book misleads potential readers into believing that it deals exclusively with the making of Fleetwood Mac's classic album RUMOURS, I still enjoyed reading it. The author actually devotes a good chunk to telling the concise history of the formation of the original Fleetwood Mac, and the other pre-Buckingham/Nicks lineups. Few, if any, juicy details regarding drug and alcohol abuses and band infighting.

Carol Ann Harris' STORMS is much more comprehensive and effective in recounting the RUMOURS,TUSK, and MIRAGE periods, because she was Lindsey Buckingham's girlfriend at the time. But that book doesn't delve much into the pre-Buckingham/Nicks days.

If you have the time and funds for both books, go for it. If not, STORMS is the best choice.