{"id":294993,"date":"2025-12-02T14:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/294993\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T14:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T14:22:10","slug":"the-one-drummer-mick-fleetwood-thought-was-out-of-his-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/294993\/","title":{"rendered":"The one drummer Mick Fleetwood thought was out of his league"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mick<\/p>\n

(Credits: Far Out \/ Fleetwood Mac)<\/p>\n

Tue 2 December 2025 12:36, UK <\/p>\n

Sometimes a legacy can outperform the talent of the musician in question. For one band, in particular, that\u2019s certainly the case. The world knows Fleetwood Mac<\/a> for two things: their songs and their disruptive behaviour. <\/p>\n

The name Fleetwood Mac immediately brings to mind the bitter romantic break-ups and infighting that produced their 1977 masterpiece,\u00a0Rumours.\u00a0Elsewhere, mention of the band might prompt the image of their founder and original frontman, Peter Green, a revolutionary guitar player who\u2019s inspired the likes of Radiohead and Noel Gallagher but does not get the plaudits he deserves due to his severe mental decline. <\/p>\n

Yet, one thing a discussion of the group certainly doesn\u2019t often stoke is a discussion about\u00a0Mick Fleetwood\u00a0and the drums. Without him, the group simply wouldn\u2019t have been able to function at the high level they did. But while his position as one of the main components of their success is confirmed, signed, sealed and delivered, his prowess as a percussionist is often forgotten. <\/p>\n

When we talk about the towering figure who gave the band half their name, usually, it\u2019s about his position as the captain of the yacht. Following Green\u2019s tragic mental collapse after\u00a0that fateful night in Munich<\/a>, it was Fleetwood who took the mantle as their leader, carrying them through losing bandmates, increased drug abuse, and, during the mid-1970s, the weird interpersonal clusterfuck the group became.<\/p>\n

This added to the fact that Fleetwood has always been regarded as one of the nicest men in rock. While it is a nice moniker to have, it also means that people often overlook that the Cornish rocker is actually a great drummer. Inspired by early rock drummers such as The Shadows\u2019 Tony Meehan\u00a0and later given more fire by The Rolling Stones and The Yardbirds, he is such an excellent percussionist that in 1960s London, he was hot property.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Fleetwood<\/a>Mick Fleetwood with Fleetwood Mac in 1972. (Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube)<\/p>\n

For this reason, after Fleetwood\u2019s band, the short-lived Shotgun Express broke up, their guitarist Green wanted him to join one of the most storied bands of the era, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers. <\/p>\n

Recalling that moment in\u00a0Classic Rock<\/a>\u00a0in 2021, Fleetwood, despite being lauded around the city, recalled that he could not believe he was being asked to replace the outgoing Aynsley Dunbar, who had joined The Jeff Beck Group, a drummer he thought he couldn\u2019t match. However, that was precisely the point.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fleetwood explained: \u201cYeah. They had Aynsley Dunbar, an incredible drummer, technically astounding. So when Greeny said he wanted me in the Bluesbreakers I was like: \u2018What do you mean? I can\u2019t do that!\u2019 But very quickly, Greeny said: \u2018That\u2019s exactly why we want you \u2013 because you can\u2019t do that.\u2019 Peter Green had a well-worn phrase that we still use, especially me and John, as a blueprint. He used to say: \u2018Less is more\u2019. And that\u2019s what he saw in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Famously, Fleetwood\u2019s time with the constantly changing blues rock group was brief. He was fired after just two months, which set the wheels in motion for the formation of Fleetwood Mac, as Green joined him to form their own group. The drummer revealed that he and John McVie, the future Fleetwood Mac bassist who gave the group the other half of their name, drank far too much in the Bluesbreakers.<\/p>\n

McVie was so unruly with his drinking that Mayall fired him on a couple of occasions, but he always took him back because he\u2019s a great bassist. However, when you added Fleetwood to the mix, things became too much for\u00a0the great band leader<\/a>\u00a0to bear. One night, Fleetwood was too drunk and sat in the back of the band\u2019s Transit van; he knew he\u2019d squandered his chances. Looking at the gig sheet, he wrote \u201cI\u2019m fired\u201d under a date, and almost to the day, he was right. <\/p>\n

Little did he know, even greater success was on the way.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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