Mick Fleetwood looks back on 50 years of Fleetwood Mac

NEW YORK -- Over the past half-century, they've sold more than 100 million records. But Fleetwood Mac first came together one August afternoon in England in 1967 at Windsor Jazz Festival.

Drummer Mick Fleetwood looks back at the band's origins in his new book, "Love That Burns," reports CBS News' Anthony Mason.

Their first hit, "Black Magic Woman," was written by the group's founding father, Peter Green, who left suddenly in 1970.

"When we lost Peter Green, we were devastated as people, and our music was -- what are we going to do?" Fleetwood said.

They regrouped. And after bassist John McVie married keyboard player Christine McVie, she was brought into the band.

"Christine just sort of fit?" Mason asked.

"Yeah, done," Fleetwood said.

But the McVies would divorce, one of many romantic crises that nearly wrecked the band.

"There's no way they would survive all this stuff," Fleetwood said.

"Why have you survived?" Mason asked.

"Because I think it's just like me and John just wouldn't stop," Fleetwood said.

Fleetwood and John McVie remained the rhythm section through many cast changes. In 1975, Fleetwood invited Lindsey Buckgingham and Stevie Nicks to join the band.

"Why were you so convinced that was going to work?" Mason asked.

"They had what we would call in early Fleetwood Mac, 'it,'" Fleetwood said.

With what's now considered their classic lineup, Fleetwood Mac's next 1977 album "Rumours" would be their biggest, selling 40 million copies.

Fifty years on, Fleetwood is the one band member who has been there from the very beginning.

"That anniversary mean anything to you?" Mason asked.

"Oh yeah, it's huge ... It's reflective. It's prideful," Fleetwood said. "And the journey, it has been worth a damn."

"Love That Burns -- A Chronicle of Fleetwood Mac, Volume One: 1967-1974" by Mick Fleetwood is published by Genesis Publications. It will be released on September 12, 2017.