TAKE FIVE: Lindsey Buckingham

Monday, Jan. 15, 2007 | 7:18 a.m.

By Jerry Fink

Las Vegas Sun

Who: Lindsey Buckingham

When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Where: Luxor

Tickets: $49.50-$60.50; 262-4900

Lindsey Buckingham, off-and-on frontman for Fleetwood Mac for three decades, brings his acoustic guitar to the Luxor this weekend - one stop on a national tour promoting his first solo album in almost 15 years, "Under the Skin."

The engagement is part of the Luxor's well-received Spotlight Series, which for the past six months has featured an interesting array of entertainment, including Liza Minnelli, Earth, Wind and Fire (twice), the Beach Boys, Styx, Drew Carey and Olivia Newton-John.

Buckingham, 57, may be the most interesting of the lineup - a consummate artist who refuses to compromise his art and lives by his own high standards of artistic integrity.

Early in his career, the San Francisco Bay Area native hooked up with high school classmate Stevie Nicks and three other musicians to form the Fritz Rabyne Memorial Band. The group disbanded in 1971 and Buckingham and Nicks formed a group called Buckingham Nicks.

"Buckingham Nicks," an album by the couple and released by Polydor in 1973, is approaching urban-legend status. Poor promotion resulted in poor initial sales for the album, which drew rave reviews from critics and eventually became a hit, but has never been released on CD. Fans have clamored for such a release for a long time to no avail. Buckingham says that it probably will happen some day, but there must be a reason besides making money. That artistic integrity at work again.

In 1975 Buckingham and Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac, the legendary group that was formed in 1967 as a blues band. When Buckingham came aboard, the band's direction changed and it became known for its pop/rock sound. It became one of the most popular bands in the world.

Buckingham left Fleetwood in 1987 over artistic differences, striking out on a successful solo career, but occasionally rejoining the band for extended tours - the last in 2003. He's also scheduled to join the group for a tour next year.

The acoustic "Under the Skin" was released in October and quickly became No. 47 on Rolling Stone magazine's Top 50 "Essential Albums" list for 2006. Editors commented that "the eccentricity of 'Skin' suits Buckingham's reflections on his past life and current blessings."

While the album is almost all Buckingham, two tracks feature the Fleetwood Mac rhythm section - John McVie on bass and Mick Fleetwood on drums. After finishing his current tour, Buckingham expects to change directions again - not unusual for him - and release an album that features electric guitar selections.

From time to time Buckingham's music can be heard in movie theaters. In 1983 he created "Holiday Road" and "Dancin' Across the U.S.A." for "National Lampoon's Vacation." In 1985 it was "Time Bomb Town" for "Back to the Future." Most recently he wrote "Shut Us Down" (co-authored by Cory Sipper) for the 2005 Cameron Crowe film, "Elizabethtown."

For such a well-respected instrumentalist and vocalist, Buckingham's body of work as a solo artist is not voluminous.

He's out for quality rather than quantity. His only other solo albums include 1981's "Law and Order," 1984's "Go Insane" and his 1992 project, "Out of the Cradle."

While with Fleetwood Mac he was the creative force behind such classics as "Rumours" (1977), "Tusk" (1979) and "Tango in the Night" (1987).