It seems that those who suffer loss, especially at an early age, have more empathy for others. And you and your writing overflow with empathy and vulnerability. My condolences on the tragic loss of your sister. I too have an older sister (12 years between us — she is now 76), who influenced me with her taste in music (60's folk), books and art.
Thank You Sherman, though I was into music from Hendrix, Pink Floyd etc., there has always been a spot for Fleetwood Mac, before Christine and with her. Rumors ranks up there with Dark Side of the Moon, and Electric Ladyland, as one of the greatest albums of the 70's and beyond. And I definitely resemble that ancient grandpa asshole remark.
Well I was a young adult when Rumours was released, just like the members of Fleetwood Mac...and that time in my life was just as crazy and disturbing as theirs was!--the difference being that they made their time into art. A couple of their songs are still among my favorites. So I even though I don't enjoy thinking back to when I was a bratty twentysomething, I do appreciate your appreciation of C McV. It's very interesting being "introduced" to her in this spooky way, as I always favored the voice of Stevie Nicks over hers. I see now that it was the Combination of their voices that got me. Ironic!
Your sister: at just about this time of year in 2015, my eldest child died in a house fire at age 29. (He was one of the sweetest guys I ever knew and a lot of trouble too! as his reality was his very own--he could play savant piano by ear but refused to learn to read music, etc.) I definitely hear your sister in your voice when you tell us how much you'll always love her. I'm pretty sure she loves you back.
Oh, damn, condolences on the death of your son. He sounds fascinating. I miss my sister greatly. She was the first to tell me I could be a writer, back when I was in fourth grade and wrote a horror story about a killer bear.
Wonderful photograph and song cuts. She and Stevie Nicks took the soulful ancient blues of Peter Green and original Fleetwood Mac members to other dimensions and worldwide success. A world of loss in her passing. Worse the seeming denial her family was in so that they did not more willingly connect with Stevie about how serious things apparently were.
Been through too many deaths and suicides and life altering diseases...though I grew up in 360 degree denial and do understand what you are saying.
My wife, Debra, once started a group vaguely popular for a time called , People in Reality. Why yes, I was a member.
I do hope you will read my piece sent to your info address, Opposed to September. It is a Memoir suite covering a hurricane, a suicide, and a car crash.
Thinking about the very gifted and beautiful Christine brings up the memory of your sister and her death in a house fire. No wonder this is a deep loss.
I think expressing vulnerability is one of your strongest points.
Thank you! I have an indelible memory of my older brother getting me Heroes Are Hard to Find for Christmas in 1974. Although it's not considered Fleetwood Mac's best album by a long shot, it will always be my favorite. My brother made me unwrap the gift 2 weeks early so we could both listen to it in our shared bedroom. I listened to it nearly everyday, until the day before Christmas, when we carefully wrapped it up and put it back under the tree. I acted surprised when I opened it because my parents would have been pissed if they had known. As the album title suggests, heroes really are hard to find. Thanks again!
Beautifully stated, Sherman. I am a wee lad of 39 (soon to be 40 on NYE) but Fleetwood Mac has had a similar run throughout my life. They’re always there, or often at least. That’s the powerful thing about music: It’s the soundtrack of our lives. For me the major one is Social Distortion; been listening to them since I was 12, in 1995. They’ve been there for every turning point in my life, good and bad.
Anyway: Long live The Mac!
I’m loving the podcast voiceovers; you have a good reading voice.
Thanks for the kind words about my sister. I miss her. And thanks for the kind words about my performance voice. I was in drama and debate in high school so I have a lot of training over the years.
Thanks for sharing. It always amazes me how music, upon hearing the first chord, can zap you into a moment in time of your life. So personal a memory yet collective when you talk of a band like Fleetwood Mac...they owned the radio airways in the late 70's...and everyone listened to the radio.
That's the difference today...sooooooo many ways to hear music and much easier to personally get your music out there (just look at all the talent on Tik Toc, let alone other sources). It's like information overload with no funnel.
As a more ancient grandpa asshole, yep! My past is populated with older voices, but ... yep.
Someone has commented, correctly I think, that grief doesn’t diminish with time, rather we grow around it, and from it. Deaths like Christine’s, and our loved ones’, are painful, always, and diminishing, at least initially, but as your post and various comments illustrate, they can help us grow into our better and larger selves.
I don’t think I ever seriously listened to any of those people. I couldn’t name a Taylor Swift song if you paid me, but I don’t have anything against her. I liked Motown music and don’t know what Spotify is. It’s sad when talented people die.
I've been surprised by how much Christine's death has pained my heart. I'm sure a lot is nostalgia and a lot is not. Rumors came out when I was 15 and brings back memories of those joyful and painful adolescent years. Like you, I also had the same unrealistic hopes that you described in your second point. Finally, when my college age son and his friends listen to Fleetwood Mac, that says a lot about their relevance and persistence across generations.
As a teen I was into hardcore punk. (We’re talking late nineties/early aughts.) I remember my mom giving me her old vinyl collection. At first my friends and I mocked it. But then we discovered Dylan, the Doors, Fleetwood Mac, The Band, the Stones, etc. We were flummoxed--it was all so damn good!
Just hearing “Got a hold on me” instantly transported me back to summer 1984 at a public swimming pool we used to frequent. I smelled the tang of coconut sunscreen and felt the chlorine stinging my eyes.
Thank you for this. I am 100% in agreement with everything you said, minus the part about being a grandpa. Songbird has unfailingly been one of my top five favorite songs for every one of these 45 years.
It seems that those who suffer loss, especially at an early age, have more empathy for others. And you and your writing overflow with empathy and vulnerability. My condolences on the tragic loss of your sister. I too have an older sister (12 years between us — she is now 76), who influenced me with her taste in music (60's folk), books and art.
Thank You Sherman, though I was into music from Hendrix, Pink Floyd etc., there has always been a spot for Fleetwood Mac, before Christine and with her. Rumors ranks up there with Dark Side of the Moon, and Electric Ladyland, as one of the greatest albums of the 70's and beyond. And I definitely resemble that ancient grandpa asshole remark.
Well I was a young adult when Rumours was released, just like the members of Fleetwood Mac...and that time in my life was just as crazy and disturbing as theirs was!--the difference being that they made their time into art. A couple of their songs are still among my favorites. So I even though I don't enjoy thinking back to when I was a bratty twentysomething, I do appreciate your appreciation of C McV. It's very interesting being "introduced" to her in this spooky way, as I always favored the voice of Stevie Nicks over hers. I see now that it was the Combination of their voices that got me. Ironic!
Your sister: at just about this time of year in 2015, my eldest child died in a house fire at age 29. (He was one of the sweetest guys I ever knew and a lot of trouble too! as his reality was his very own--he could play savant piano by ear but refused to learn to read music, etc.) I definitely hear your sister in your voice when you tell us how much you'll always love her. I'm pretty sure she loves you back.
Oh, damn, condolences on the death of your son. He sounds fascinating. I miss my sister greatly. She was the first to tell me I could be a writer, back when I was in fourth grade and wrote a horror story about a killer bear.
Wonderful photograph and song cuts. She and Stevie Nicks took the soulful ancient blues of Peter Green and original Fleetwood Mac members to other dimensions and worldwide success. A world of loss in her passing. Worse the seeming denial her family was in so that they did not more willingly connect with Stevie about how serious things apparently were.
Thank you for this tribute.
I think perhaps folks sometimes have the magical thinking that if you avoid talking about death then death won't happen.
Been through too many deaths and suicides and life altering diseases...though I grew up in 360 degree denial and do understand what you are saying.
My wife, Debra, once started a group vaguely popular for a time called , People in Reality. Why yes, I was a member.
I do hope you will read my piece sent to your info address, Opposed to September. It is a Memoir suite covering a hurricane, a suicide, and a car crash.
Thinking about the very gifted and beautiful Christine brings up the memory of your sister and her death in a house fire. No wonder this is a deep loss.
I think expressing vulnerability is one of your strongest points.
Thank you, Mary.
I’m grateful for your voice about this loss.
Thank you, Tracie.
Thank you for SONGBIRD today. We just stood and listened together.
Thank you, Georgia.
Thank you! I have an indelible memory of my older brother getting me Heroes Are Hard to Find for Christmas in 1974. Although it's not considered Fleetwood Mac's best album by a long shot, it will always be my favorite. My brother made me unwrap the gift 2 weeks early so we could both listen to it in our shared bedroom. I listened to it nearly everyday, until the day before Christmas, when we carefully wrapped it up and put it back under the tree. I acted surprised when I opened it because my parents would have been pissed if they had known. As the album title suggests, heroes really are hard to find. Thanks again!
That is an AMAZING story. Are you a writer? You need to write down that memory!
Beautifully stated, Sherman. I am a wee lad of 39 (soon to be 40 on NYE) but Fleetwood Mac has had a similar run throughout my life. They’re always there, or often at least. That’s the powerful thing about music: It’s the soundtrack of our lives. For me the major one is Social Distortion; been listening to them since I was 12, in 1995. They’ve been there for every turning point in my life, good and bad.
Anyway: Long live The Mac!
I’m loving the podcast voiceovers; you have a good reading voice.
Michael Mohr
‘The Incompatibility of Being Alive’
https://reallife82.substack.com/
Social Distortion! They're like Husker Du with so many hooks at such high speed and volume.
Ha!! Exactly! What I loved about Social D was the perfect mix of toughness and sensitivity, lyrics-wise and lifestyle-wise.
And I’m sorry to hear about your older sister.
Thanks for the kind words about my sister. I miss her. And thanks for the kind words about my performance voice. I was in drama and debate in high school so I have a lot of training over the years.
Thank you. I feel much the same. Be well.
Thank you, Linda.
Thanks for sharing. It always amazes me how music, upon hearing the first chord, can zap you into a moment in time of your life. So personal a memory yet collective when you talk of a band like Fleetwood Mac...they owned the radio airways in the late 70's...and everyone listened to the radio.
That's the difference today...sooooooo many ways to hear music and much easier to personally get your music out there (just look at all the talent on Tik Toc, let alone other sources). It's like information overload with no funnel.
"No funnel" is an accurate way to look at it.
As a more ancient grandpa asshole, yep! My past is populated with older voices, but ... yep.
Someone has commented, correctly I think, that grief doesn’t diminish with time, rather we grow around it, and from it. Deaths like Christine’s, and our loved ones’, are painful, always, and diminishing, at least initially, but as your post and various comments illustrate, they can help us grow into our better and larger selves.
Yes, I honor my grief and other people's grief.
I don’t think I ever seriously listened to any of those people. I couldn’t name a Taylor Swift song if you paid me, but I don’t have anything against her. I liked Motown music and don’t know what Spotify is. It’s sad when talented people die.
I couldn’t pick out a Swift song, either. My teenage niece is obsessed though.
Yes, and as we age, more and more of our artist heroes die.
I've been surprised by how much Christine's death has pained my heart. I'm sure a lot is nostalgia and a lot is not. Rumors came out when I was 15 and brings back memories of those joyful and painful adolescent years. Like you, I also had the same unrealistic hopes that you described in your second point. Finally, when my college age son and his friends listen to Fleetwood Mac, that says a lot about their relevance and persistence across generations.
As a teen I was into hardcore punk. (We’re talking late nineties/early aughts.) I remember my mom giving me her old vinyl collection. At first my friends and I mocked it. But then we discovered Dylan, the Doors, Fleetwood Mac, The Band, the Stones, etc. We were flummoxed--it was all so damn good!
Yes, that multiple generations listen. Great point.
Just hearing “Got a hold on me” instantly transported me back to summer 1984 at a public swimming pool we used to frequent. I smelled the tang of coconut sunscreen and felt the chlorine stinging my eyes.
Nice details 🙌
Ah, a lovely memory.
Thank you for this. I am 100% in agreement with everything you said, minus the part about being a grandpa. Songbird has unfailingly been one of my top five favorite songs for every one of these 45 years.
Yes!