Go your OWN WAY

Legendary drummer Mick Fleetwood hits our cinema screens this summer for two nights only performing with a host of music industry heavyweights to revisit the music of Fleetwood Mac and its founder Peter Green. It’s amazing to think that it all began for Mick in Redruth.

Is there no end to the talent that stars in Cornwall and finds fame around the world? Actors, singers, writers and so many others who have risen to the top in their chosen careers began life in Cornwall and Mick Fleetwood was one of them.

“I was born in Redruth,” said Mick. “I don’t honestly remember much about it because my father was in the RAF and we moved around a lot. He was a Wing Commander which is pretty exciting and he was often transfered to various parts of the world. You might find yourself in Egypt and then you were off to Norway, a great way of learning about different countries and cultures but it always fascinated me to know more about Cornwall.

“I was mostly educated at boarding schools to give me some stability as I was growing up but it was only a little later that I appreciated Cornwall rather more.

“I liked music from as early an age as I can remember and I grew up during the time of the late50s and 60s so you could say that I was influenced by that period of music history. My Dad also helped because he bought me my first drum mit when I was 13. It was set up in our garage and I used to play along to records of the Everly Brothers and Cliff and The Shadows. I liked all sorts of music including the Rolling Stones, Bo Diddley and others. I was into drama too and when I was boarding at Sherborn School I got a part in the school production of Hamlet – I was cast as Ophelia, a young Danish noblewoman. It was a boys’ school so any female parts had to be played by lads. There I was, tall for my age and with a hint of a stubble, trying to be taken seriously as Ophelia!