John McVie (born 26 November 1945) is a British bass guitarist best known as a member of rock groups John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Fleetwood Mac. His nickname “Mac”, combined with Mick Fleetwood’s surname, was the inspiration for the band’s name. He joined Fleetwood Mac shortly after its formation by guitarist Peter Green in 1967, replacing temporary bassist Bob Brunning. In 1968, he married blues pianist and singer Christine Perfect, who became a member of Fleetwood Mac two years later. John and Christine McVie divorced, however, in 1977. Around this time the band recorded the album Rumours, a major artistic and commercial success that borrowed its title from the turmoils in McVie’s and other band members’ marriages and relationships. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 for his work in Fleetwood Mac. (More from Wikipedia)
John Mayall’s band was a revolving door of famous British musicians; but even more remarkably, bandmembers who left John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers often helped form other rock bands. For instance, shortly after Eric Clapton left for good, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers consisted of John Mayall plus three of the founding members of Fleetwood Mac: Peter Green, John McVie, and Mick Fleetwood.
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The new direction for Fleetwood Mac was not limited to personnel changes or new musical experimentation; this has been common in bands long before rock and roll came along. Fleetwood Mac relocated to Los Angeles in the mid-1970’s; also, Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks were Americans. Thus, it is difficult to know even how to define the band. Wikipedia calls them “a British-American rock band formed in 1967 in London”, but more than a few comments in the Wikipedia “Talk” section grumble about even calling their latter-day music “rock”. In Allmusic, their article starts off: “While most bands undergo a number of changes over the course of their careers, few groups experienced such radical stylistic changes as Fleetwood Mac. Initially conceived as a hard-edged British blues combo in the late ’60s, the band gradually evolved into a polished pop/rock act over the course of a decade. Throughout all of their incarnations, the only consistent members of Fleetwood Mac were drummer Mick Fleetwood and bassist John McVie – the rhythm section that provided the band with its name.”
