I am currently reading “Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album” by Book by Ken Caillat and Steve Stiefel, a recollection of the drama, drugs, make-ups, break-ups, partying, and band in-fighting that made one of the most iconic and critically acclaimed albums in music history – and there was an Asian woman named Judy Wong who was part of the band’s inner circle.
Born stateside, but raised in England, Wong spoke with an English accent and graduated from UC Berkeley in 1965. She spent time in San Francisco during the late ’60s – arguably a wonderful and “free” time to be in the Bay Area. She owned a boutique called Passion Flower in the North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, which included frequent customers like Janis Joplin and the Cockettes.
Wong was on the staff of Mick Fleetwood and John McVie’s management office, Seedy Management. Along with Gabrielle Aris and Gabby Zinki, she dedicated her life to the band inside and outside the studio. She was a trusted member of the Fleetwood Mac inner circle and handled the band’s tour books and other logistics to support the band. Wong was also Christine McVie’s roommate in an apartment in the Hollywood Hills at one time.
She was with the band before Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks joined. The 1970 song “Jewel Eyed Judy” was dedicated to her when the band consisted of Fleetwood, McVie, Danny Kirwan, and Jeremy Spencer. Christine McVie and Fleetwood’s wife, Jenny Boyd, wrote the song. Wong would later introduce singer-songwriter Bob Welch to the band, and he would join before the final iteration of Fleetwood Mac we know of today.
Wong, who died in 2005, had a distinct style and was featured in the 1965 Rolling Stone article titled “Groupies and Other Girls” – but she was not a groupie. Wong was known as the mother hen of the group and an integral part of Fleetwood Mac’s formative years.
