'King of Toot' Mick Fleetwood spills on his band, his lovers and $60 million habit

October 26, 2014 issue of New York Post

Mick Fleetwood on sex, rock ‘n’ roll and his $60M drug habit
By Larry Getlen
New York Post
October 26, 2014

When drummer Mick Fleetwood joined the popular UK band John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers in 1967, he replaced a well-liked drummer named Aynsley Dunbar.

At his first gig with the band, the audience made their displeasure clear.

“Where’s Aynsley?” people yelled. “Who the hell is that?”

As the crowd booed through the first song, the band’s bassist “stopped and started waving his arms until the rest of the band halted as well.” Then, he stepped up to the mic.

“‘Hey,’ he shouted. ‘Why don’t you f— off? Just listen. Listen to him play. Then boo if you want.”

Fleetwood and the bassist, John McVie, had known each other for a bit. But in Fleetwood’s eyes, this one courageous act cemented their friendship, setting the course for one of rock ’n’ roll’s greatest and most tumultuous odysseys.

In his new memoir, Fleetwood documents his wild life, including how the creation of 1977’s “Rumours,” one of the best-selling albums of all time, almost drove the band insane.

Fleetwood, born in England in the wake of Nazi destruction, was dyslexic at a time before the condition was easily recognized. This led to tough times at school and the beginnings of a casual, non-technical, inexplicable drumming style that none of his collaborators would ever be able to fully comprehend.

He dropped out of school at 15, moved into his older sister’s attic in London and played with a band called the Cheynes, which opened for the Yardbirds and the Rolling Stones back when they were little more than local cover bands.

Shy, geeky, and 6-foot-6, Fleetwood didn’t lose his virginity until 18 despite the looseness of the era and the growing popularity of his own bands, which he calls, “kind of pathetic.”

Still, he was quickly hanging with the hip crowd. He became good friends with Stones guitarist Brian Jones, who he calls “a special soul, in many ways far too sensitive and perceptive for this world.” Who drummer Keith Moon was also a friend and introduced Fleetwood to “a little pill called methadrin.”

Full article at New York Post