Fleetwood Mac Toured Europe on Adolf Hitler’s Old Train to Avoid Drug Searches
Fleetwood Mac was once as famous for drug use as they were for their music, and the classic rock band even used Adolf Hiter’s train to avoid drug searches. Here’s what Lindsey Buckingham’s ex-girlfriend said about Hitler’s train and how it fits with what we know about Fleetwood Mac’s drug use.
Fleetwood Mac toured Europe on Adolf Hitler’s old train
In her book Storms: My Life with Lindsey Buckingham and Fleetwood Mac, the guitarist’s ex-girlfriend, Carol Ann Harris, detailed the time the band toured on Adolf Hitler’s old train.
“It was Mick [Fleetwood] and J.C. [tour manager John Courage]’s genius idea to have us travel by train through Germany and into France and Holland,” Harris wrote. “At least it would have been a genius idea if not for one small macabre fact. The lounge car of our private train once belonged to Adolf Hitler.”
At first, the band was impressed by the luxury vehicle. “When we first boarded we oohed and ached [sic] over the luxurious velvet curtains and sofas, the gilded lighting fixtures and the gleaming wood interior of the perfectly preserved coach.”
But the group became sick when they learned that the train once belonged to Hitler. “Then we found out who the original owner was and we all felt like vomiting,” Harris wrote. “It was totally sick and no one – not even the Third Reich collector maniac John McVie – could stand spending more than one minute within its walls.”
The train Fleetwood Mac used even came with Adolf Hitler’s former attendant
Not only did Fleetwood Mac tour Europe on Adolf Hitler’s old train, but the dictator’s former attendant even served them.
“And it got worse,” Harris continued. “The elderly and distinguished white-jacketed attendant on board was once the Führer’s own servant. It was like being on a train from hell.”
Buckingham’s ex-girlfriend said the group could barely stand their time on the train. “Needless to say, we spent the entire time in the dining car and in our separate tiny sleeping rooms, trying to avoid the train’s ghastly lounge car and its polite but creepy manservant,” she wrote. “We counted the minutes until we could get off and leave the Twilight Zone for our hotel in the cities scheduled on this leg of the tour.”
The band was known for their flagrant drug use
Why did the highly successful band agree to travel on Adolf Hitler’s old train? Ostensibly, they felt safer from drug searches on the vehicle.
Various members of Fleetwood Mac have been open about their drug use. Keyboardist Christine McVie said her drug of choice was “champagne and cocaine,” and she thought the combination improved her performance. Stevie Nicks snorted so much cocaine she burned a hole in her nose the size of a coin and nearly died.
Drummer and founding member Mick Fleetwood once joked that if they combined all the powder the group inhaled and cut it into a single line, it would stretch seven miles long.
Fleetwood later told The Sun that he came to realize how risky the band’s drug abuse was. “In some ways I’m happy I got through it and didn’t bite the big bullet,” he said. “But I just had a profound awareness and a realization that enough is enough.”
The drummer said he’s careful not to romanticize his past drug use. “I’m conscious that I want to speak appropriately about this. Because the romance of those war stories can adulate something which is not a good idea.”
How to get help: In the U.S., contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration helpline at 1-800-662-4357.
