Any Lindsey Buckingham fans out there?

[saultime]

Well, are there? I know we have some fans of the Rumours / Tusk era Mick & John drum and bass sounds (really, who isn't?), but Lindsey was the engineer / producer on a lot, if not most of that stuff (most of Tusk was done at his house I believe). I?ve always thought of Lindsey as a complete and total Brian Wilson caliber of genius, a hell of a guitar player, and 90% of the reason why Stevie Nicks has made any good music in her life (which she has, don?t get me wrong). I could go on and on about why I like the guy, but first I want to make sure I?m not totally alone?

[JGriffin]

You're not alone. The guy is amazing. Rumours and Tusk are some fine albums. I like some solo Stevie too ("Edge of Seventeen" is still an amazing track), but Buckinham's influence is evident whether he works on her records or not. Great article about him in last months Acoustic Guitar mag.

np: Steve Miller, "Jet Airliner" live. I love VH1 Classic!

[takeout]

Me three.

Amazing guitarist, great arranger and producer, and very cool sonic experimenter.

His Achilles' Heel is lyrics. He's a fair lyricist on a good day. On a bad day, well... as a lyricist, he's a hell of a guitarist.

[friendlybunny]

"Holiday Road" is a classic!

[saultime]

Yes, I think "fair" is an accurate assessment of Lindsey's lyrical skills. He has written some good songs?but he?s a little sentimental, and too much of his catalog falls into the ?songs ?bout relationships? category (Beach Boys, anyone?). But sonically, the guy is just spot on. He was using a Fairlight in his basement WAY before it was cool or affordable (nice to see a 70?s rocker who spent more money on gear than blow), and it?s rare for an icon of popular music to such a DIY enthusiast in his own right. I recently read an interview with him where he was talking about breaking down the stereo image in his tracks like space in cubist painting?or something like that. Really, I?m not a fan of ?Classic Rock? type stuff, but I keep coming back to this guy. Who?s with me?

josh

[Brian Brock]

On Stevie Nicks without Buckingham: look even just at her songwriting on Rumours vs Tusk. On Rumours her songs, written while they were friendly, are near perfect. On Tusk, without Buckingham's help (I assume), her songs are bloated, have no melody, no hook.

Tusk was mostly at Village Recorders in LA (where they apparently had a new studio built for the album), but Buckingham had an early home 4-track, and a lot of the guitar tones on songs like "The Ledge" are overloaded 4-tracks. You can get some information about the Fleetwood Mac recording sessions from a book by Peter Lewry.

On his lyrics: I think his lyrics well serve the Fleetwood Maxim (ohh jeez, bad pun) of "simple things done very well". Look for example at "Save Me a Place" on Tusk. It's very direct, and not poetic or following any of the rules people put out in the Lyrics threads. But it also is dead honest. Compare that to the "Hotel California" type of falsifying that was going on in the rest of music.

[concubine]

i think the guy was a genius, personally. i think all fleetwood mac albums are patchy, regardless of the line-up. for me, roughly half of tusk is exceptional (the rest is self-indulgent). the hooks aren't always immediately noticeable - different melodies and details (and textures) start to pop up after a few listens. i don't know how much input he had with stevie's songs (i always imagined it was a lot, but i don't really know) but stuff like Sara is mindblowing. just a beautiful song full of subtle twists and turns and lot's of atmosphere.

i think lindsey had a lot to do with fleetwood stripping back their sound. none of their pre-lindsey songs were quite as defiantly minimalist as Dreams from Rumours. the song Trouble from lindey's first solo album displays similar minimalist tendencies while managing to be beautifully melodic and rich at the same time.

anyone like mirage? some say it's a bit too commercial, but i think hold me, gypsy, and only over you are amazing (and yes, gorgeous) songs, helped tremendously by varying degrees of minimalism.

but, ultimately, i feel like i don't know how much credit to give lindsey. i imagine he had a hand in producing all of that stuff, and to be sure, there was a definite shift in sound when lindsey/nicks joined, which surely had to be lindsey's doing, but i hesitate to give him too much credit since there were so many songwriters in the band at the time, and i'm not sure how much say christine mcvie had in the outcome of her gorgeous only over you.

[saultime]

"save me a place" is probably my favorite Lindsey Buckingham composition, at least from tusk. It's perfect. "Gypsy" from Mirage remains my favorite of the Lindsey / Stevie collaborations.

[DJEmbarrassment]

If you like the Buckingham/Nicks team, try to find a copy of their (only?) pre-Fleetwood Mac album together. As far as I know, it has never been released on CD (except for some "imports" that are just bootleg copies of the LP).

You'll know you have the right one 'cause you'll see the couple topless on the cover. Enjoy.

DJE

[takeout]

...(nice to see a 70?s rocker who spent more money on gear than blow)...

Oh, I don't know... I think he probably had plenty of money for both.

I've basically stolen John McVie's bass part from "Tusk" for two different albums that I've played on in the last year. Don't tell, 'kay?