125 - Stevie Nicks & Fleetwood Mac with Rachel Brodsky

125 - Stevie Nicks & Fleetwood Mac with Rachel Brodsky

Author: Rock n Roll Book Club July 20, 2026 Duration: 51:26

We are joined by author Rachel Brodsky to talk about the life & career of Stevie Nicks. Rachel’s new book Lessons & Lace is out now. 


Stevie Nicks was born in Phoenix & moved around a lot as a child, finally settling in Los Angeles. 


Her grandfather AJ Nicks was a country singer who would take her to saloons her played in as a child. 


She grew up listening to the likes of the Everly Brothers & Buddy Holly before receiving her first guitar at age 16 & begins to take music more seriously. 


After meeting Lindsay Buckingham at Menlo-Atherton High School she ends up joining local band Fritz. They achieve a degree of success in the LA area opening for Jimi Hendrix & Janis Joplin. 


Before long Stevie Nicks & Lindsay Buckingham break off on their own & perform as a duo, releasing one album on Polydor. 


The album is not a success & they both join Fleetwood Mac shortly after, Mick Fleetwood being the driving force in getting them to join. 


The strong relationship between Stevie Nicks & Christine McVie becomes the backbone of Fleetwood Mac for decades to come. 


The first album featuring Buckingham & Nicks is self-titled & becomes a success spawning the hit single Rhiannon. 


However it is the second album they are a part of Rumours which propels them into the stratosphere & makes Stevie a huge star. 


Follow up Tusk does not achieve the same level of commercial success but becomes a cult classic over time, meanwhile Stevie embarks on a successful solo career including a hit with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. 


Tango In The Night is another success with Fleetwood Mac & there are various reunions, tours, fallouts & dramas over the years. 


Stevie Nicks continues to be hugely influential today & has appeared with Harry Styles & been name checked by Taylor Swift & Olivia Rodrigo. 



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Hosted, Produced & Edited by Simon Cardwell

Music by Andy Maxwell


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The Music Maps Podcast from the Rock n Roll Book Club isn't your typical music show. It's an audio expedition where geography is the guide. Every episode starts with a specific location-a city, a venue, a forgotten roadside attraction-and uses that place as a launchpad to explore the sounds, stories, and scenes connected to it. You might find yourself deep in the blues clubs of Chicago one week and tracing the underground punk threads of a small European town the next. The conversations are wide-ranging, connecting the dots between iconic artists and obscure movements, all anchored to a point on the map. Listening to this podcast feels like adding a new, richly detailed pin to a global atlas of musical influence. It’s about the context behind the chords and the cultural soil from which genres grow. The result is a continuously evolving, deeply human portrait of how music and place are inextricably linked, one fascinating destination at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Music Maps Podcast
Podcast Episodes
93 - The Beach Boys with Peter Doggett (Hawthorne, California) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 49:44
The story of the Beach Boys begins in Hawthorne, California in the late 1950s as the band come together led by Brian Wilson, originally as The Pendletones & Dennis Wilson suggests they focus on surfing themed material. T…
92 - Pamela Des Barres [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:51
Join us to discuss a music book classic ‘I’m With The Band - Confessions of a Groupie’ with Pamela Des Barres. Pamela’s first touchstone in music was the Beatles & she became on obsessive Beatlemaniac after the Fab Four…
91 - Pink Floyd with Mark Blake [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:55
Join us & writer Mark Blake to hear about the formation & early years of Pink Floyd - from their beginnings in Cambridge, ultimately relocating to London where the band gets going. Syd Barrett's songwriting develops quic…
90 - Ride with Steve Queralt (Oxford) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:29
This week we are joined by Ride bassist Steve Queralt to discuss his new album Swallow - which is out now on Sonic Cathedral featuring contributions from Emma Anderson (Lush) & Verity Susman (Memorials). We also delve in…
89 - Live 8 with Paul Vallely [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:56
This week we travel back 20 years to 2005 with writer Paul Vallely to hear about Live 8, the G8 summit, Bob Geldof & Bono & more. So it starts in 1997 with the landslide general election win for Tony Blair & New Labour.…
88 - R.E.M. Twin Tone Records, Big Star & more with Peter Jesperson [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:07
We are joined by Peter Jesperson as he tells us about his time spent with R.E.M. & his role in Twin Tone Records in the twin cities of Minneapolis/St.Paul. We also squeeze in a couple of stories about his time around Ale…
87 - The Wild Swans with Paul Simpson (Liverpool) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:53
This week we get to talk about one of the best music books of recent years Revolutionary Spirit by Paul Simpson. Paul was born in Liverpool but grew up in Lancashire alongside future members of Echo & the Bunnymen - Les…
86 - Donovan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:34
It is truly a pleasure to welcome Donovan to Music Maps - a true legend of the 60s. His book The Hurdy Gurdy Man is available on Penguin.We start with his early life in Glasgow in the 1950s & the family relocate to Hatfi…
85 - The Everly Brothers with Barry Mazor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:43
This week we travel back to the 1950's & 60's to hear all about one of the most influential acts of all time The Everly Brothers with biographer Barry Mazor. Don & Phil's Dad Ike was a musician & the brothers are already…