I realized I was in his domain and began to have the feeling I did not belong. This time he stared into the room making it clear that someone had done something wrong. He stuck his head in to see what was going on and then walked away only to come back again. But out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blond haired man with steely eyes pacing outside. Christine McVie dropped in to say hello and others began arriving. McVie was gracious and told me of his life story. I approached him and after a few minutes, he invited me up to his dressing room to chat. I recognized John McVie who was onstage tuning up his bass guitar. I took a few steps inside and realized I was approaching the stage. I quickly realized it was the backstage door and instinctively opened it. I arrived at the show early and walking down the block behind the theater, I noticed a door was ajar. The band was getting ready to head to California. It was nearing the end of the debut tour of the band with their new guitarist Lindsey Buckingham and vocalist Stevie Nicks. It was a cold Sunday October night in New York City in October 1975 when Fleetwood Mac was playing at the Beacon Theater. Like many who crossed his path, I had a run-in of sorts with him, the tour director notoriously referred to as “The Colonel” and “J.C.” to Fleetwood Mac’s inner circle. I can’t say I knew John Courage but it felt like I did.
When I heard the news and saw a picture of the younger Courage, they were the first words that came to me, permanently ingrained from the heydey of some of the most exciting live shows I’ve ever seen. The voice heard by millions of fans during the Rumours and Tusk era, is permanently enshrined on Fleetwood Mac Live. And they belonged to one person–John Courage, the band’s longtime road manager who passed away earlier this Fall. There was a slight pause in the phrasing before the last three words whose enunciation would enthrall thousands nightly. It was more of a declaratory set of words than a question. It was a line repeated nightly to introduce the world’s biggest band.
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