Chords for Stevie Nicks on VH1s 'Before They Were Rock Stars'

_ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ _
_ [D] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _
_ _ [B] _ _ _ [F] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ I knew when I was [C] 16 [Bb] and my parents [Cm] gave me a guitar on my 16th birthday and [Bb] I went in
and wrote a song.
I knew that day [Eb] that I was going to be a [F] songwriter. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Bb] As lead singer of Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks [Cm] inspired plenty of female [G] rockers.
For Stevie, the road to rock stardom began back in high [A] school. _ _ _ _
I went to Arcadia High School for 10th and 11th grade _ and I sang at several different assemblies.
I mean, people were aware that I sang.
You know, it was something I did a lot.
I wasn't in a band or anything, but I played [B] guitar and I [Bb] sang.
_ _ _ Then my family was transferred up to San Francisco right before my senior year, [C] which was a bummer
because I had just started to [Eb] feel like I was happening.
_ Six months after I got there, I met Lindsey [Bb] Buckingham at some kind of a function on a
Wednesday night and Lindsey was sitting in a chair in a corner.
I was vaguely aware that Stevie had transferred from Southern California and she was [Eb] a year
older _ and one night, [Bb] knowing that she was a singer as well, I [D] approached her and [Bb] said,
Hi, how are you doing?
And introduced myself and told her that [Gm] I played guitar.
He started to play [Bb] California [E] Dreaming. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Abm] _ _ _ And of course, I knew it, word for word, harmony for harmony.
[E] And I guess, I [Eb] don't really remember how it started, [A] but I must have just [Db] walked up and
burst into song.
_ _ [Ab] _ _ _
_ _ [Ebm] So we sang a whole song together [A] _
and [B] met [Bb] and went home [Eb] and I was [Bb] aware of him because I
knew people that [Ab] knew him, but I never really saw him [B] again.
_ _ _ [Eb] _
_ I didn't hear from Lindsey [B] again from the day I met [D] him for two and a half years.
High school ended.
I went to junior college.
[Bb] I guess Lindsey had formed a band and they had had a band for two years and they called me.
And the answer to join, _ that's when [B] we hooked up again.
And I joined Lindsey's band, Chris, [Em] in 1968.
[F] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
_ When I [D] first went to practice at Lindsey's [G] house, where I was learning the songs, [F] I realized
that [G] _
_ Lindsey and I had [F] something special.
And [Dm] I think everybody else realized it [C] right away, too. _ _ _ _
_ _ [Dm] _ _ [F] _ _ _ _
[C] We played three solid years [G] every week.
[D]
Practiced every day and played every week.
Everyone else had _ sacrificed school to be a rock star.
They [C] didn't care about my school [F] very much.
So I really had to keep my grades up or my parents [G] would absolutely [F] pull the plug on [Bb] me.
So at the end of that three years, we went to Los [E] Angeles and did [D] some showcases.
Those people in Los Angeles _ [B] looked at Stevie and myself and [Eb] pretty much figured, [D] well,
this is [Em] what's interesting about [Cm] this band.
The [G] people that [Bb] saw us [B] _
[D] kind of in the mean, evil way that the music business can [D] be pretty
much [Gm] said to Lindsey and I, we want you guys [B] and we don't want the rest of the [D] band.
In 1970, when _ _ [Gm] _ _
[Bb] the band actually [Dm] broke up and Lindsey and I spent the better part of 1970
[Gm] making a demo [Bb] tape of 12 [Dm] songs.
And then we packed our things and got in the car and drove to Los Angeles.
That's when it [Bb] got very serious.
_ [F] _ _
_ _ _ In 1973, the couple recorded their first album, Buckingham Mix.
We made the record and got to go to [Gm] the big studio and really feel like we were on our
way to the big [F] time.
Being as inexperienced as we were, we probably figured, well, we've made it, we [Gm] have this
album and it's going to come out and it's great and that's going to be it.
[F] Several months later, the albums dropped.
So we really had no money.
That was [Gm] 1974.
So that was a very bad year because we really thought that, you know, [F] maybe this wasn't
going to happen after [E] all.
_ [B] _ _ [A] _ _ _ New Year's [Gb] Eve, _ _ [Db] 1974.
Keith [E] Olsen, [B] the man who produced Buckingham [A] Mix, _ called us and said, I have Mick Fleetwood
here and he would like to [B] talk to you because they need a guitar player and they think [E] Lindsey
would be terrific.
[Em] He basically said, Lindsey, the guitar player is really [A] good and he sings really good.
And [B] I said, yeah, but they're kind of [D] a pair.
[A] _
And he said, [Em] well, maybe we could take over.
[B] _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] Mick already had a female singer, Christine McVie. _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
But Mick saw the advantages of keeping the Buckingham Mix [D] combination intact.
Stevie was _ [Eb] as responsible as Lindsey for writing the songs.
It was a very _ [A] powerful package.
[D] We would write the most _ magnificent rhythm section available.
_ [Dm] _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
We joined Fleetwood Mac the first day of [Bb] 1975.
Something in me said, [Dm] you're going to be very famous.
This whole band is going to be very, very famous.
[Dm] _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ [B] _ _ _ _ _ _ [N] _