Lindsey Buckingham
''Law and Order'' (1981) was Lindsey Buckingham's first solo album
Lindsey Buckingham (born October 3, 1949 in Palo Alto, California) is an American guitarist and singer for the musical group Fleetwood Mac. During his career he has also done some independent recording since he first became a member of Fleetwood Mac. He is married to photographer Kristen Messner and has three children.
Early years
Buckingham was the third and youngest son of Morris and Rutheda Buckingham. Lindsey had two older brothers, Jeff and Greg. Growing up in the Bay Area community of Atherton, California, Lindsey and his brothers were encouraged to swim competitively. Though Lindsey dropped out of athletics to pursue music, his brother Greg went on to win a silver medal at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.Lindsey'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, Lindsey'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 practiced the fingerpicking (also known as "travis picking") styles of The Kingston Trio. At 15 he joined a small folk group providing vocals and guitar work.Fritz
Lindsey met Stevie Nicks in high school and later formed The Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band with her and three other friends. Lindsey's fingerpicking style gave him difficulty playing rock guitar, and he was transferred 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, Lindsey and Stevie struck out on their own, and Fritz disbanded in 1971. Lindsey and Stevie became an item, dropping out of San Jose State to pursue a career making music together. In this time Lindsey was stricken with a case of mono, giving him the free time to master his guitar techniques even further.Buckingham Nicks
It took a year for Buckingham and Nicks to record seven demos in 1972. After recording the demos on an analog 4-track, the two drove to Los Angeles to get a record deal. In 1973, Polydor records signed the pair. The album, ''Buckingham Nicks'', was released in September of 1973; soon after its release, Polydor Records dropped Nicks and Buckingham due to poor sales. Life dealt Lindsey another blow soon after, when his father Morris died of a heart attack in 1974 at age 56.To help make ends meet, Lindsey toured with Don Everly's back-up band, singing Phil's parts. Lindsey and Stevie 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'' was never officially released on CD format due to the fact that it has no record company. Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham have "split" ownership of the album. The only song that has been commercially released on digital format is "Long Distance Winner" found on Stevie Nicks' box set ''Enchanted'', released in 1998 (though there is a promotional only CD release from 1992 that includes 'Stephanie' from this LP entitled 'Lindsey Buckingham Words and Music (A Retrospective)' which was released to promote Lindsey's third solo release 'Out of the Cradle'). ''Buckingham Nicks'' is unlikely to see a CD release. LPs of the album are quite valuable to collectors.Joining 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. Lindsey and Stevie were asked to join Fleetwood Mac on New Year's Eve, 1974.Lindsey Buckingham at the time of Rumors in 1977]]